Arrange the following words in dictionary order and choose the second word:

Correct — C.
Rule: compare letter by letter; the first letter that differs decides.

All four begin go. Third letters: gold l, golf l, gone n, good o.
l comes first, so gold and golf lead, then gone (n), then good (o).

gold against golf: 4th letters d and f, and d comes before f.
Order: gold, golf, gone, good → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  gold — gold is first, not second. It ties with golf on g-o-l, and at the 4th letter d comes before f.
• (b)
  gone — gone is third. Its 3rd letter n comes after the l shared by gold and golf, so both of those go ahead of it.
• (d)
  good — good is last. Its 3rd letter o comes after l and n, so it follows gold, golf and gone.

Dictionary order compares two words one letter at a time from the left. The first position where they differ decides the order, and every letter after it is ignored.

When the first two letters tie, as go does in all four words here, move to the third letter, and to the fourth only for words still tied. Length matters only when one word is the start of another.

Key facts

• Dictionary order is decided at the first letter where two words differ.
• Sorted, the four words read gold, golf, gone, good.
• A word that is the start of a longer word comes first: go comes before gold.

Common traps

• Deciding on the 4th letter instead of the first difference: gold d, good d, gone e, golf f wrongly puts good ahead of golf
• Reading 'second word' as second from the end, which lands on gone

No directly related past PYQ was found.