Para Jumbled Sentence
Para Jumbled Sentence
Para Jumbled Sentence
1). Try to find out the topic addressed by the paragraph. This can be done by
looking for the words that are repeated often in the given sentences.
2). If a particular word is repeated in more than one sentence then the
sentences can be placed one by one in the paragraph
3). If a sentence starts with a ‘name’ of a person, then that sentence will
definitely be the 1st sentence in the paragraph to be formed
4). If a sentence starts with pronouns other than ‘I’ and ‘You’, then that
sentence will not be the 1st sentence of the paragraph
5). The sentences starting with the words ‘That’, ‘These’,
‘Thus’ and ‘Those’ , then those sentences will not come 1st in the paragraph
6). If an article namely ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’ is present at the starting of a sentence.
Then the chances of that sentence to be the 1st in the arrangement is more
7). If all the articles (a, an, the) are present as the starting words of different
sentences then they are arranged as follows
● The sentence starting with ‘A’ comes first
● The sentences starting with ‘An’ and ‘The’ will follow the sentence starting
with ‘A’ according to their content
8). If there are 3-sentences starting with the words ‘But’,
‘So’ and ‘Now’ respectively. Then those 3-sentences will be arranged in the
following order
● 1=> sentence starting with ‘But’
● 2=> sentence starting with ‘So’
● 3=> sentence starting with ‘Now’
9). If the given set of sentences consists of simple, compound and complex
sentences they are arranged in the following order
● Arun realized that the bus was late while he waited at the bus stop. (Or)
● While he waited at the bus stop, Arun realized that the bus was late.
10). If a sentence starts with the words Hence, Finally or Therefore then that
sentence comes last in the arrangement.
When the purpose is to explain something – the author would start with a line that presents a general
approach to the idea, and progresses from that to a narrower or more specific reference.
When the purpose is to raise awareness – the author would first present information and detail that
would then bring the issue or problem into focus.
When the purpose is to raise anxiety or concern -the author would focus on the issue or problem in a
manner that raises the reader’s concern, and would then present the features of the issue that are the
reasons for the concern or anxiety.
When the purpose is to present solutions – the author would first explain the issue or problem, and
then move to the possible rectification or solutions.
When the purpose is to surprise, or amaze, or cause wonder – the statement of surprise would be
presented first and would be followed by the features of the idea or issue that would explain
why the surprise….and so on.
With this recognition, in the case of PJQs, identifying the opening sentence (sometimes the closing
sentence, sometimes the clear link between 2 sentences) becomes possible.
The application of such recognition becomes important for paragraph completion questions too,
whether one is trying to spot intermediate sentences, or last sentences. When identifying last
sentences it is important to pick that line that effectively brings the thought-flow and the discussion,
in the paragraph, to a close (and not a line which continues with the thought-flow but leaves the
discussion incomplete).
The recognition of thought flow and context would also help them in summaries and in cloze
passages.
Read the sentences and try to understand the message of the paragraph.
Identify the topic and theme. Eg. Topic – Inflation (general); Theme –Congress responsible for
Inflation (Specific)
Quickly identify the tone (emotional aspect of the paragraph) and style (manner of writing)
Look for crucial clues or linking words, mandatory pairs, Introductory statement or Conclusion
statement as discussed earlier.
Take the help of the options to solve the question.
1. Forming a mandatory pair: Mandatory pair is a set of statements which seem to come one after the
other. Whenever you sense a mandatory pair, just look at the choices. If only one choice has the pair,
that might be the answer. But obviously if more than one choice has the same mandatory pair then
we should adapt some other tactics as follow:
a.) Pronoun – antecedent method: The noun that precedes a pronoun is called antecedent to the
pronoun. Let us take an example.
Now, ‘Shahrukh khan’ is the antecedent to the pronoun ‘He’. You need to look for a male
antecedent. If there is a ‘she’ then – female antecedent, they – plural antecedents and so on. The
sentence with pronoun will come after the sentence containing the respective ‘noun’
b.) Linking words: Whenever two sentences come one after the other, there is usually a word which
links them. If you can observe these links then you may be able to arrive at a mandatory pair easily.
c.) Chronological order: Many times it is easy to form a mandatory pair based on Chronological
dates,words like “initially, then, later” etc. Most of the times these words appear at the start of the
lines.
d.) Logical relationships like cause effect: Many times mandatory pair can be identified by logical
flow of ideas/cause effect relationship. (Use your own examples/creativity to explain this)
2. Identifying an obvious opener or Topic sentence or introductory sentence or Lead sentence: Here
we are defining an obvious opener as one which can be a good starting point for the jumble. An
obvious opener could be one which seems like a relatively independent statement which introduces
something. It would normally not start with the following words.
a.) Carry forward words: Words like “and, so, moreover” which carry forward a line of thought
expressed in the earlier statement.
b.) Contrast words: Words like “but, however, nevertheless” which create a Contradiction with the
earlier line of thought.
c.) Conclusive words: Words like finally, thus, eventually etc. which conclude. If a particular
statement looks like a good starting point, then look at the choices to eliminate wrong options.
3. Obvious conclusion: If a particular statements looks like one which has to come at the end then
that is called an obvious conclusion. It usually happens when one of the conclusive words comes in
the sentence.
4. Logical flow: Even though 1 and 2 can provide good clues, many students are able to look at the
logical flow of ideas and crack the Para-jumble. 1 and 2 are tools which can supplement logic.
5. Make use of options: In case you cannot identify the Topic or Introductory sentence for whatever
reason (may be the text is difficult to comprehend or the Para-jumble is taken from the middle of the
passage); look at the options. If you can see a pattern in the choices then you can sequence the
statements based on the choices or see which of the choice sequence makes sense