KS1 Alphabetical Order of Words | Lists from A through to Z

English Quiz - Alphabetical Order (Words) (Questions)

This quiz looks at the alphabetical order of words. It asks children to alphabetise groups of words. This game builds upon the National Curriculum's expectation that all KS1 children know the order of the alphabet. This quiz is an extension to the Alphabetical Order (Letters) quiz and is designed for Year 2 pupils. It will help with their command of literacy and, of course, the English language.

When putting words in alphabetical order, we focus on the first letter of each word. To make sure the words are in the correct order, you may need to sing the alphabet in your head each time.

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'Apple, banana...' If these words are in alphabetical order, which word comes next?

[ ]	dog
[ ]	cactus
[ ]	elephant
[ ]	snake

'dog, fox...' If these are in alphabetical order, which word would come next?

[ ]	zebra
[ ]	helicopter
[ ]	army
[ ]	mango

Put these words in order: face, nose, eyes, mouth.

[ ]	eyes, face, nose, mouth
[ ]	face, eyes, mouth, nose
[ ]	eyes, mouth, nose, face
[ ]	eyes, face, mouth, nose

Put these words in order: seat, car, wheel, engine.

[ ]	car, engine, seat, wheel
[ ]	wheel, engine, seat, car
[ ]	engine, car, seat, wheel
[ ]	car, engine, wheel, seat

Put these words in order: school, teacher, pupil, book, work.

[ ]	book, pupil, teacher, school, work
[ ]	book, pupil, school, work, teacher
[ ]	school, work, teacher, pupil, book
[ ]	book, pupil, school, teacher, work

Put these words in order: snow, ice, cold, winter, freezing

[ ]	cold, ice, freezing, snow, winter
[ ]	cold, freezing, ice, snow, winter
[ ]	cold, freezing, ice, winter, snow
[ ]	snow, freezing, winter, cold, ice

Look at the second letter to help you. Put these words in order: gas, grass, gold, gum.

[ ]	gas, gold, grass, gum
[ ]	gum, gold, grass, gold
[ ]	gas, gum, grass, gold
[ ]	gas, gold, gum, grass

Put these words in order: red, yellow, pink, purple

[ ]	pink, red, yellow, purple
[ ]	pink, yellow, red, purple
[ ]	pink, purple, red, yellow
[ ]	pink, purple, yellow, red

Put these words in order: cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, farm.

[ ]	farm, pigs, sheep, chickens, cows
[ ]	chickens, cows, farm, pigs, sheep
[ ]	pigs, sheep, cows, chickens, farm
[ ]	cows, chickens, farm, pigs, sheep

10.

Put these words in order: ship, captain, sea, open, sailors, ocean.

[ ]	captain, ship, ocean, open, sailors, sea
[ ]	captain, ocean, open, sailors, sea, ship
[ ]	ocean, open, sailors, sea, captain, ship
[ ]	captain, sea, ship, sailors, open, ocean

English Quiz - Alphabetical Order (Words) (Answers)

'Apple, banana...' If these words are in alphabetical order, which word comes next?

[ ]	dog
[x]	cactus
[ ]	elephant
[ ]	snake

The next letter would be 'c'. We don't always order words that come after each other (like abc), sometimes we find the next nearest letter.

'dog, fox...' If these are in alphabetical order, which word would come next?

[ ]	zebra
[x]	helicopter
[ ]	army
[ ]	mango

We look at the words available and see which one would be the next nearest letter.

Put these words in order: face, nose, eyes, mouth.

[ ]	eyes, face, nose, mouth
[ ]	face, eyes, mouth, nose
[ ]	eyes, mouth, nose, face
[x]	eyes, face, mouth, nose

Even though there are many letters in-between 'f' and 'm', we have to order the words we have available.

Put these words in order: seat, car, wheel, engine.

[x]	car, engine, seat, wheel
[ ]	wheel, engine, seat, car
[ ]	engine, car, seat, wheel
[ ]	car, engine, wheel, seat

If you get stuck, it's worth writing the words down and highlighting, with a pencil, the first letter of each word.

Put these words in order: school, teacher, pupil, book, work.

[ ]	book, pupil, teacher, school, work
[ ]	book, pupil, school, work, teacher
[ ]	school, work, teacher, pupil, book
[x]	book, pupil, school, teacher, work

If you have large groups of words to order, it's worth putting them in groups: you know words that have 'wxyz' would be towards the end and 'abcd' would be at the beginning.

Put these words in order: snow, ice, cold, winter, freezing

[ ]	cold, ice, freezing, snow, winter
[x]	cold, freezing, ice, snow, winter
[ ]	cold, freezing, ice, winter, snow
[ ]	snow, freezing, winter, cold, ice

If there are two words that start with the same letter, then we look at the second letter in those words.

Look at the second letter to help you. Put these words in order: gas, grass, gold, gum.

[x]	gas, gold, grass, gum
[ ]	gum, gold, grass, gold
[ ]	gas, gum, grass, gold
[ ]	gas, gold, gum, grass

Because all the words we are ordering begin with the letter 'g', we look at the second letter each time.

Put these words in order: red, yellow, pink, purple

[ ]	pink, red, yellow, purple
[ ]	pink, yellow, red, purple
[x]	pink, purple, red, yellow
[ ]	pink, purple, yellow, red

It is easier to order all the first letters and then, if there are words that begin with the same letter - order them next.

Put these words in order: cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, farm.

[ ]	farm, pigs, sheep, chickens, cows
[x]	chickens, cows, farm, pigs, sheep
[ ]	pigs, sheep, cows, chickens, farm
[ ]	cows, chickens, farm, pigs, sheep

The library is alphabetised to help you find a book. Without that order, it could take a very long time to find your favourite story.

10.

Put these words in order: ship, captain, sea, open, sailors, ocean.

[ ]	captain, ship, ocean, open, sailors, sea
[x]	captain, ocean, open, sailors, sea, ship
[ ]	ocean, open, sailors, sea, captain, ship
[ ]	captain, sea, ship, sailors, open, ocean

This was a hard one because there were three words beginning with 's' and two beginning with 'o'. Now imagine how hard it must have been to alphabetise all the words that are in the dictionary!