Sentence Rearrangement
🔒 Log in to trackMandatory pairs: the links that never break
🔒 Log in to trackRearrangement questions are solved through 2–3 unbreakable links. Learn the pair types:
| Pair type | Example | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Noun → Pronoun | '…the crow.' → 'It flew away.' | pronoun follows its noun immediately or near |
| A → The | '…found a piece of bread.' → 'The bread was sweet.' | 'the' needs the earlier 'a' |
| Cause → Effect | '…machines replaced workers.' → 'This led to unemployment.' | 'This/As a result/Therefore' follows cause |
| Contrast pair | '…banned plastic.' → 'Yet people use it.' | Yet/But/However follows the claim |
| General → Specific | 'Museums store history.' → 'Coins, weapons and paintings …' | example after claim |
| Question → Answer | 'Who will bell the cat?' → 'No one came forward.' | answer follows question |
| Name → Role | '…the eldest villager.' → 'He told stories.' | role description follows introduction |
Pronoun gender and number are free checks: a chain that has 'he' pointing at 'the boys' is broken. So is 'its' pointing at 'workers'.
The definite-article cascade: once a noun appears with 'a', every later mention uses 'the' — so inside the options, scan which part mentions the noun FIRST with 'a'; that part precedes all 'the + same noun' parts.
Demonstrative pairs: 'this decision, that scheme, these problems' — the demonstrative locks onto an earlier abstract noun (decision, scheme, problems). Find the noun, find the pair.
Detailed notes
Not all links are equally strong
A mandatory pair is two parts that must sit side by side. Rank the links you find, and trust the strong ones first:
| Strength | Link | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Very strong | Personal pronoun -> its only noun | a stray dog ... It sat down |
| Very strong | a + noun -> the + same noun | a small bag ... The bag was full of gold |
| Very strong | this/these/such + noun -> the part that names it | a huge challenge ... this challenge |
| Strong | As a result / Because of this / This has led to -> the cause | sewage flows in ... This has filled |
| Strong | Place words: There, Here, Inside -> the place named | moved to the US ... There she earned a doctorate |
| Medium | But / Yet / However -> the claim it contradicts | reach in seconds ... Yet a letter carries... |
| Weak | Same topic, no grammar link | two parts both about trains |
When two links point to different orders, the stronger one wins. Never break a pronoun pair to satisfy a weak topic link.
Hidden pointers
Some pointer words are easy to miss:
- also, too, as well — the part is a second item and needs a first one before it.
- Others, Some, the rest — 'Others have built study halls' needs 'Many now lend e-books' before it.
- Even — 'Even the principal could not keep a straight face' needs others laughing first.
- the same, such, so many — they point back to a noun or number already given.
Pairs join into chains
Pairs link up: if P-S is a pair and S-Q is a pair, then P-S-Q is one block of three. Most items are designed so that pairs cover three of the four parts and one more fact places the last part. Write the blocks down as you find them — PS, SQ -> PSQ — and the answer is almost complete.
Checking a pair
Read the two parts together aloud. A true pair reads as one smooth thought. A false pair makes you ask 'which one?' or 'what is this about?' Check number and gender too: 'its' cannot refer to 'workers', and 'she' cannot refer to 'the farmer' if the farmer is a man.
Contrast pairs need care
'But', 'Yet' and 'However' are only medium-strength links, because the claim they contradict can sometimes be in S1 rather than in a part. Confirm with the content: 'Yet a letter carries something a message cannot' contrasts with the speed of messages, so it must come right after the part about emails.
Quick revision
- Rank links: pronoun, a->the, this + noun, as a result, place word > contrast > same topic.
- Hidden pointers: also, others, even, such, the same.
- Pairs join into blocks (PS + SQ = PSQ); two or three blocks usually decide the item.
- Read the pair together; check number and gender.
- The stronger link always wins.
Types of questions asked
Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.
Type 1: Noun -> pronoun / place-word pairvery common2 practice Q
One part names a person, animal or place; another begins with He/She/It/There referring to it.
- List each pronoun or place word and find the only part that names what it refers to.
- Join those two parts as a block.
- Check number and gender (she -> the science teacher, not Ravi).
Why it works: a pronoun has to come after its noun, and usually straight after it.
Example: S1: Ravi found an injured sparrow. Parts: He carried it to the science teacher / She cleaned its wing / ...
'She' can only be the science teacher, so the two parts form a pair.
Type 2: a -> the pairvery common2 practice Q
A noun appears first with a/an in one part (a small bag, a small room) and with 'the' in another (The bag, the room).
- Scan for nouns that appear twice.
- The part with 'a + noun' comes before every part with 'the + same noun'.
- If the 'the' part adds detail about the object, place it directly after.
Why it works: English introduces a thing with 'a' and refers back to it with 'the'.
Example: Parts: the old man left a small bag on the doorstep / The bag was full of gold coins.
'a small bag' introduces it; 'The bag' refers back, so the order is fixed.
Type 3: this / these + abstract nouncommon2 practice Q
A part begins with 'this challenge', 'this effort', 'this system', 'this decline', and exactly one other part describes that challenge, effort or system.
- Underline the abstract noun after 'this'.
- Find the part that describes it without naming it that way.
- Join them; a chain of 'this' words can link three parts.
Why it works: 'this + noun' sums up the idea just before it.
Example: Parts: Keeping so many trains on time is a huge challenge / To meet this challenge, the railways track trains by satellite / This system shows every engine's position.
Challenge -> this challenge -> this system: a chain of three.
Type 4: Contrast pair (claim -> but / yet / however)common2 practice Q
One part begins with But/Yet/However and contradicts something — speed vs feeling, promise vs suitability.
- Identify exactly what the contrast part contradicts.
- Place it directly after the part that says that, or after S1 if S1 says it.
- The explanation of the contrast follows it.
Why it works: a contrast only makes sense straight after the claim it contradicts.
Example: Parts: Emails reach people in seconds / Yet a letter carries something a message cannot / The handwriting and the paper bring the writer closer.
Speed claim -> 'Yet' contrast -> what the something is: a fixed chain.
Shortcut tricks
⚡ Noun-first scan
List the nouns/pronouns across P, Q, R, S. Circle pronouns and 'the'-nouns; draw arrows to the part that introduces each noun. The arrows ARE the answer skeleton.
⚡ This/That noun hunt
For every 'this + abstract noun', find which part contains that abstract noun. The order is forced.
⚡ a→the cascade
The part containing 'a + noun' must come before every part containing 'the + same noun'. Instant orderer for food-and-trick passages.
Where students lose marks
Breaking a noun→pronoun pair for the sake of time markers.
Missing the second mention of a noun ('the bread' after 'a piece of bread').
Letting an effect part precede its cause because the cause reads well alone.
Ignoring number agreement in pronoun chains (its/their).
Practice sets — 14 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 7 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.