Rearrangement of Sentences

 

Rearrangement of Sentences is one  of the important components of many competitive examinations. Extensive practice is the key to solve these questions, if your common sense and you speed is good then these questions will be the score maker. There is no such strategies or logic to solve these type of questions just study them and use them in the exercise that follow and you’ll be comfortable with them.

·    When solving jumbled sentences or "Sequence of Words" type questions, first determine the "Subject" and the "Predicate".
SUBJECT - The part which names the person or thing we are speaking about.
PREDICATE - The part that tells something about the subject.

·    A central Theme around which the passage is framed. Identify the central theme, which is usually the first sentence.

• A logical sequence is present which usually describes the central theme.
• If there are pronouns like (it, this, that etc) in the sentence, then it simply means that they have already discussed about the subject. So in maximum cases it won't be the first sentence (I and You are exceptions for this rule).
• Sentences that begin with 'And', 'But' etc usually follow the central theme with an explanation to the same or give additional information.
• Sentences that have full names mentioned are either the starting or come in the first few sentences of the paragraphs. Similarly, the sentences that have 'they', 'him' or 'her' or the short names would only come after the proper introduction of the person.
• In maximum cases Last sentence ends with some conclusion / statement
• It is always a good idea to read the answer options to figure out the most correct sentence, than to try solving the jumbled sentence yourself.

·    Sentence Rearrangement Common Example

·    A. Miss Sullivan arrived at the Keller home when Helen was seven.
B. The deaf and blind Helen learned to communicate verbally.
C. But, eventually, Miss Sullivan's effort was rewarded.
D. Before Helen Keller was two years old, she lost her sight and her hearing.
E. Miss Sullivan worked closely with Helen, her new student.
F. At times the teacher became frustrated.

1. DEFACB
2. DAEFCB
3. ACFDEB
4. CFDABE
5. FDACEB

 

Explanation:

·    Upon reading the above paragraph, we come to see that in A, B, E, F, the names mentioned are short while in D, the full name is mentioned. Hence D is the first sentence.

·    Next we see that Ms. Sullivan comes into the picture when Helen is seven years old and hence A is the second sentence.

·    The paragraph revolves around Helen's learning and hence E states what joins Helen and Ms. Sullivan.

·    Sentence F states that the teacher became frustrated at times which is followed by C (starts with 'But' which indicates that in spite of something Ms. Sullivan's efforts were rewarded).

·    Sentence B follows stating how the teacher's efforts were rewarded and is the conclusion to a set of events.

 

Types of Sentence Rearrangement

To solve sentence rearrangement questions efficiently, there are four types of variations that you must know about:

• In the basic first type of sentence rearrangement, 4-5 sentences will be provided in jumbled-up form & all the applicants have to rearrange them in the correct sequence.
• In the second variation, the first sentence will be fixed & other sentences will have to be arranged in a way that the first sentence doesn’t move & the whole paragraph is relevant.
• This is another form of sentence rearrangement in which there is a fixed sentence and the remaining sentences have to rearrange logically that the constant sentence doesn’t move from its designated place in the paragraph.
• The fourth variation is a mixture of the second & third ones. In this variation, the first & last sentences are constant & other sentences have to be rearranged.

Sentence Rearrangement Tricks

Sentence rearrangement is a scoring topic in competitive exams but if not practised well, it can be a bit confusing & time-consuming. Here are some useful sentence rearrangement tricks and toppers that you use to crack this topic!

• Read the jumbled sentences with proper focus and at least twice. This will help you to identify the theme of the paragraph and thus it will be easier to arrange the sentences afterwards.
• Sometimes the first sentence is constant, this makes it easy to identify the sequence of the lines. In case there are no starting sentences, you have to identify the first sentence. You can also opt for the elimination method by removing the wrong choices and from the remaining sentences choose the correct one.
• Always remember most of the sentences will start with a fact, issue, idea, narration, quote.
• After fixing your first sentence, move on to the body of the paragraph. It should mainly include more information about the topic, issues, or problems.
• To complete the whole paragraph you will need a conclusion. The last sentences will include feedback, comment, suggestions, etc.
• It is always advised to connect one sentence to another, connecting the dots will help you to solve the sentence rearrangement easily.