Ordering of Sentences

About Ordering of Sentences

An ordering of sentences question gives four sentences that form a paragraph and asks for the order they belong in. Nothing is missing and nothing is wrong, so the answer cannot be reached by spotting a fault. What settles it is what the sentences say to each other: the connectives, the pronouns and the articles all point at a place in the paragraph, and only one arrangement puts every one of them where it belongs.

What you need to understand

A sentence that opens with a connective of sequence names its own place. After that cannot come first, and finally cannot come anywhere but last.

A sentence that opens with this, these, it, they, their or both points at something already said, so it cannot open a paragraph.

A sentence that begins with the and names something definite presupposes that the paragraph has already mentioned it.

The opening sentence has to stand on its own. It introduces rather than refers, so it usually names something with a or an.

The closing sentence often carries a word that settles the matter - finally, in the end, eventually, today.

Every option uses all four sentences, so no arrangement can be rejected for containing a sentence that does not belong. The order is the only thing that differs.

How to work through these questions

Read all four sentences before deciding anything. Two of them will usually announce their own position as soon as you see them.

Find the sentence that can open the paragraph. It is the one that needs nothing before it, and it is the sentence with no connective pointing backwards.

Find the sentence that must close it, which is the one carrying finally, in the end or today.

Follow the references between the two. A sentence beginning the something needs the sentence that first mentioned that thing, and it comes after it.

Place whatever is left in the gap that remains, and check that its own connective is satisfied there.

Read the paragraph through in the order you have chosen. If a sentence reads oddly after the one before it, a connective has been misread.

Mistakes that cost marks

Choosing the arrangement that reads most smoothly rather than the one the connectives actually require.
Putting a sentence that begins with this or their at the front, where it has nothing to point at.
Reading after that as though it could open a paragraph.
Treating the first sentence of the printed list as the opening sentence of the paragraph, which it very often is not.
Settling the order of two middle sentences by feel when a definite article already decides it.
Forgetting that the answer is a sequence of letters, and answering with the sentence you think reads best.

Worked example

Put these sentences in order: P. After that it was kneaded on a heavy stone wheel. Q. A potter once dug a lump of clay from the river bank. R. Finally the shaped pot was baked in a shallow kiln. S. The clay was then left in the sun until most of the water had gone.

Look for the sentence that announces its own position. R begins with Finally, so it must be last.
Look for the sentence that can open the paragraph. Q needs nothing before it, and it introduces the clay with a rather than the. So Q is first.
Now follow the references. S begins with The clay, which presupposes the clay already mentioned, so S follows Q.
P begins with After that, which requires a step before it, so P follows S.
The order is Q, S, P, R. Read it through and each sentence follows from the one before it.

Answer: Q S P R

Practice questions with answers

A few Ordering of Sentences questions with the full solution shown, so you can see how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.

Question 1

The sentences below belong to one paragraph but are out of order. Choose the correct order: P. Today the readings are logged automatically.
Q. A weather station once opened on the ridge above the valley.
R. After that daily readings were sent down by radio.
S. The station was equipped with a rain gauge and a wind vane.

A Q P R S
B P R Q S
C P Q S R
D Q S R P

Answer: Option D — with explanation

The paragraph is held together by what each sentence says about the one before it. A sentence beginning 'After that' or 'Finally' names its own place, a sentence beginning 'This' or 'Their' points at something already said and so cannot open the paragraph, and a sentence beginning 'The ...' with a definite article needs the thing it names to have been mentioned already. Only one arrangement satisfies all of those. Common mistakes - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: Q P R S - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P R Q S - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P Q S R

Question 2

These sentences form a paragraph when they are put in the right order. Which order is correct? P. The tower was built of the local grey stone.
Q. After that a bell was hung in the upper chamber.
R. Today the bell is rung only on the first of January.
S. A town once raised a clock tower in the middle of the market square.

A Q R P S
B S P Q R
C P R Q S
D Q P R S

Answer: Option B — with explanation

Question 3

Choose the arrangement that turns these sentences into a coherent paragraph: P. Finally the sheets were hung up to dry.
Q. A papermaker once collected old cloth and cut it into strips.
R. The strips were then beaten in water until they broke down.
S. After that the pulp was lifted out on a fine wire screen.

A R P Q S
B Q P R S
C Q R S P
D P R S Q

Answer: Option C — with explanation

The paragraph is held together by what each sentence says about the one before it. A sentence beginning 'After that' or 'Finally' names its own place, a sentence beginning 'This' or 'Their' points at something already said and so cannot open the paragraph, and a sentence beginning 'The ...' with a definite article needs the thing it names to have been mentioned already. Only one arrangement satisfies all of those. Common mistakes - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: R P Q S - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P R S Q - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: Q P R S

Question 4

Choose the arrangement that turns these sentences into a coherent paragraph: P. A parish once built a small school beside the churchyard.
Q. After that a second room was added for the older children.
R. Eventually the building became the village hall.
S. The school had one room and one teacher.

A P Q S R
B P S Q R
C P R Q S
D P R S Q

Answer: Option B — with explanation

The paragraph is held together by what each sentence says about the one before it. A sentence beginning 'After that' or 'Finally' names its own place, a sentence beginning 'This' or 'Their' points at something already said and so cannot open the paragraph, and a sentence beginning 'The ...' with a definite article needs the thing it names to have been mentioned already. Only one arrangement satisfies all of those. Common mistakes - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P R Q S - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P Q S R - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P R S Q

Question 5

Choose the arrangement that turns these sentences into a coherent paragraph: P. Today the reading room is the quietest place in the town.
Q. After that a reading room was added along the south side.
R. The library was designed to hold thirty thousand volumes.
S. A college once built a library with money left by a former student.

A S R Q P
B P R S Q
C P R Q S
D P S Q R

Answer: Option A — with explanation

The paragraph is held together by what each sentence says about the one before it. A sentence beginning 'After that' or 'Finally' names its own place, a sentence beginning 'This' or 'Their' points at something already said and so cannot open the paragraph, and a sentence beginning 'The ...' with a definite article needs the thing it names to have been mentioned already. Only one arrangement satisfies all of those. Common mistakes - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P R S Q - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P R Q S - this arrangement puts a sentence where its connective does not allow it: P S Q R

Frequently asked questions

How do I find the opening sentence quickly?

Rule out every sentence that points backwards. One beginning with this, they, their or both cannot be first, and neither can one whose first noun takes the. Whatever survives is the opening sentence.

What is the single most useful connective to look for?

Finally, or any of its relatives - in the end, eventually, today. A sentence carrying one of those is the last sentence, which fixes one end of the paragraph straight away.

Does the meaning of the sentences matter?

It helps you read the finished paragraph and notice that something is wrong, but it does not decide the answer. The connectives and the articles decide it, and they decide it exactly.

What if two arrangements both read well?

One of them breaks a rule you have not applied yet. Check the definite articles: a sentence beginning the something must follow the sentence that first mentions it.