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Alphabetical Sorting 01
In an alphabetical sort 'butter' comes before 'butterfly'.

Alphabetical Sorting 01

Alphabetical order helps you find and file words, names, and titles quickly. Practise sorting by the first letter, then the next, to organise lists with confidence.

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Fascinating Fact:

Bookshops and libraries use alphabetical sorting so an author like Malorie Blackman is shelved before Michael Morpurgo.

In KS3 English, alphabetical sorting supports clear organisation of names, titles, and terms. You will practise comparing letters in sequence, moving from the first letter to the second and beyond to order lists accurately.

  • Alphabetical order: Arranging words by A to Z, comparing one letter at a time.
  • Key letter: The letter you compare at a given step, often the first different letter.
  • Tie-break: The rule for words that start the same, compare the next letter to decide.
How do I put words in alphabetical order?

Compare the first letters. If they match, compare the second, then the third, continuing until a difference appears. Place A earlier than Z at each comparison.

Do I ignore small words like a, an, the in titles?

Many catalogues ignore “A”, “An”, and “The” at the start of titles. If no rule is given, keep them but apply the same letter by letter comparison consistently.

How do I sort names with the same surname?

Order by surname first. If surnames match, sort by the first names, comparing letters in sequence until you find a difference.

1 .
Which of the following lists is in alphabetical order?
Anger, angered, angry
Maintain, maintaining, maintained
Pencil, pen, penned
Using, used, user
The fourth letter of "angered" and "angry" decides the order
2 .
Which of the following lists is not in alphabetical order?
Ice, iced, icy
Latitude, latter, letter
Spice, spiced, spicy
Veto, vet, vetted
Vet/veto/vetted is the correct alphabetical order
3 .
Which of the following lists is in alphabetical order?
Capitals, commas, colons
End, exclamation, exit
Persuade, punctuate, pretend
Speech, semi-colon, subordinate
Third letter of "exclamation" and "exit" decides the order
4 .
Which of the following lists is not in alphabetical order?
Rule, ruler, rules
Slip, slipped, slipping
Snap, snapped, snapping
Voiced, voice, voices
The correct alphabetical order would be voice/voiced/voices
5 .
Which of the following lists is in alphabetical order?
Add, added, additional
Decide, deduce, decipher
Mean, might, map
Product, people, place
You have to look at the fourth letter of "added" and "additional" to decide the order
6 .
Which of the following lists is in alphabetical order?
Boxing, boxed, box
Mat, mate, material
Never, near, nevertheless
Talking, talk, talked
Look at the third, then fourth, then fifth letters here
7 .
Which of the following lists is in alphabetical order?
Advanced, advancement, advance
Commonly, common, commoner
Jig, jiggled, jiggle
Jog, jogged, jogging
The fifth letter of "jogged" and "jogging" decides the order
8 .
Which of the following lists is not in alphabetical order?
Full, follow, flash
Leave, lesson, letter
Person, predict, preview
Separate, single, strong
Alphabetical order would be flash/follow/full
9 .
Which of the following lists is not in alphabetical order?
Differ, different, differentiate
Eat, eaten, eats
Stop, stopped, stopping
Understood, understand, understanding
The eighth letter of each word decides the order here!
10 .
Which of the following lists is not in alphabetical order?
Essence, essential, essentially
Head, header, headline
Point, pointed, pointer
Quotation, quota, quote
Quota/quotation/quote would be the correct alphabetical order

 

Author:  Sue Daish (English Teacher, Principal Examiner & Published Author)

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