Alphabetical Order Of Words

You already know the alphabet from A to Z. Now you will use that order to put whole words in a line, from the word that comes first to the word that comes last. This is called putting words in alphabetical order.

Alphabetical order means words are lined up the same way letters are lined up in the alphabet. If you look at the first letter of each word, the word whose first letter comes earliest in the alphabet goes first.

Look at these three words: dog, ant, fish. The first letters are d, a, and f. In the alphabet, a comes before d, and d comes before f. So the alphabetical order is: ant, dog, fish.

Sometimes two words start with the same letter. When this happens, you cannot stop at the first letter. You must look at the second letter to decide which word comes first.

Look at bat, bear, and bird. All three start with b, so you look at the second letter: a, e, and i. Since a comes before e, and e comes before i, the order is: bat, bear, bird.

Once in a while, even the second letters match too. Then you look at the third letter of each word.

Look at can, cap, and car. The first two letters are the same in all three: c and a. So you check the third letter: n, p, and r. Since n comes before p, and p comes before r, the order is: can, cap, car.

You can practice this same skill with more word lists in alphabetizing words and letter order, where you sort longer lists step by step.

Alphabetical Order: Putting words in a line to match the order of letters in the alphabet.

First Letter: The very first letter you see at the start of a word.

Second Letter: The letter right after the first letter in a word.

Third Letter: The letter that comes after the second letter in a word.

Alphabet Strip: A row of the letters A to Z that you can point to when you are not sure which letter comes first.

Try sorting your own short list of words, such as the names of your classmates or your favorite animals. Write the first letter of each word above it, then line the words up from the letter closest to A to the letter closest to Z.

You can also play a matching game with word cards. Mix up a small set of cards, then race to put them back in alphabetical order, checking the second and third letters whenever two words start the same way.

Related lessons

• Naming And Forming Letters Alphabet Order