Question

put the words in alphabetical order. mat walked match matter material

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze first letters

Check the first letter of each word. "mat", "match", "matter", "material" start with 'm', "walked" starts with 'w'. Since 'm' comes before 'w' alphabetically, "walked" will be last.

Step2: Compare 'm' words by next letters

For words starting with 'm': "mat" (m-a-t), "material" (m-a-t-e-r-i-a-l), "match" (m-a-t-c-h), "matter" (m-a-t-t-e-r). Compare the third letter (after 'm' and 'a'):
- "mat" has 't' as third letter, then next letters? Wait, let's list the words with 'm' and their letter sequences:
- mat: m, a, t (length 3)
- material: m, a, t, e, r, i, a, l (length 8)
- match: m, a, t, c, h (length 5)
- matter: m, a, t, t, e, r (length 6)
Compare the third letter (index 2, 0-based) which is 't' for all. Now compare the fourth letter (index 3):
- mat: no fourth letter (length 3), so it's the shortest here.
- material: fourth letter 'e'
- match: fourth letter 'c'
- matter: fourth letter 't'
Alphabetically, 'c' (from match) comes before 'e' (material) and 't' (matter). Then 'e' (material) comes before 't' (matter). Then "mat" is first as it's shorter (no fourth letter) than the others with 'm'.
So order of 'm' words: mat, material, match, matter. Then add "walked" at the end. Wait, wait, let's re - check:
Wait, "mat" (m - a - t), "material" (m - a - t - e...), "match" (m - a - t - c...), "matter" (m - a - t - t...). Let's compare letter by letter:
1. First letter: all 'm' except "walked" (w). So "walked" is last.
2. For 'm' words:
- "mat": length 3.
- "material": length 8, starts with m - a - t - e...
- "match": m - a - t - c...
- "matter": m - a - t - t...
Compare the fourth character (index 3, 0 - based):
- "mat" has no fourth character, so it's the first among 'm' words.
- "match" has 'c' at index 3, "material" has 'e' at index 3, "matter" has 't' at index 3.
- Alphabetical order of fourth characters: c (match) < e (material) < t (matter). Wait, no: 'c' is before 'e'? Wait, 'c' is the 3rd letter, 'e' is the 5th. So 'c' comes before 'e'. Then 'e' comes before 't'. So the order of 'm' words:
- mat (shortest, no fourth letter)
- match (fourth letter 'c')
- material (fourth letter 'e')
- matter (fourth letter 't')
Wait, I made a mistake earlier. Let's list the words with 'm' and their full spellings:
- mat: m a t
- material: m a t e r i a l
- match: m a t c h
- matter: m a t t e r
Now, compare each letter position by position:
Position 0: m (all)
Position 1: a (all)
Position 2: t (all)
Position 3:
- mat: no character (end of word), so it's the first.
- match: c
- material: e
- matter: t
Now, among the words with position 3: 'c' (match) comes before 'e' (material) which comes before 't' (matter). So the order of 'm' words is mat, match, material, matter. Then add "walked" at the end. Wait, let's check with a dictionary - like order:
mat, match, material, matter, walked? Wait, no, let's check "material" and "match":
"match" is m - a - t - c - h, "material" is m - a - t - e - r - i - a - l. At position 3: c vs e. Since 'c' is before 'e' in the alphabet, "match" comes before "material". Then "material" comes before "matter" (position 3: e vs t, e is before t). Then "mat" is first as it's shorter. Then "walked" is last.
Wait, let's list all words: mat, match, material, matter, walked? Wait, no, let's check the length and letters again.
Wait, the words are: mat, walked, match, matter, material.
Let's list them with their spellings:
1. mat
2. walked
3. match
4. matter
5. material
Now, let's sort them alphabetically:
- First, sort by first letter: m (mat, match, matter, material) and w (walked). So walked is last.
- Now sort the m - words:
- mat: m a t (length 3)
- match: m a t c h (length 5)
- material: m a t e r i a l (length 8)
- matter: m a t t e r (length 6)
Compare mat with match: mat is shorter, and when comparing, mat is "mat" and match is "match". At position 3 (after m, a, t), mat has no character, so mat comes before match.
Then match vs material: at position 3, match has 'c', material has 'e'. 'c' < 'e', so match comes before material.
Then material vs matter: at position 3, material has 'e', matter has 't'. 'e' < 't', so material comes before matter.
Then walked is last.
So the alphabetical order is: mat, match, material, matter, walked.
Wait, but let's check with another approach. Let's list all words:
mat, walked, match, matter, material.
Let's write their first few letters:
- mat: m a t
- walked: w a l k e d
- match: m a t c h
- matter: m a t t e r
- material: m a t e r i a l
Now, sort by first letter: m - words first, then w - word.
Among m - words:
Sort by the word itself:
mat (m a t)
match (m a t c h)
material (m a t e r i a l)
matter (m a t t e r)
Yes, because when you compare "mat" and "match", "mat" is shorter and the first three letters are same, so "mat" comes first. Then "match" (m a t c h) vs "material" (m a t e r i a l): at the fourth letter, 'c' (match) is before 'e' (material). Then "material" (m a t e r i a l) vs "matter" (m a t t e r): at the fourth letter, 'e' (material) is before 't' (matter). Then "walked" (w...) comes last.

Answer:

mat, match, material, matter, walked