Parts of a sentence are given below. While the first part is in the correct…
2026
Parts of a sentence are given below. While the first part is in the correct place, the remaining parts (labelled P, Q, R and S) are jumbled up. Arrange the parts in the correct order to form a meaningful and coherent sentence.
She quickly walked to the station,
trying to catch the train (P)
before it departed (Q)
checking the time (R)
on her phone (S)
Answer: B. RSPQ — Concept: In a sentence-rearrangement item the order of the parts is fixed by grammatical dependency, not by meaning alone. A prepositional phrase must stand…
- A.
RQSP
- B.
RSPQ
- C.
QPRS
- D.
PRSQ
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept:
In a sentence-rearrangement item the order of the parts is fixed by grammatical dependency, not by meaning alone. A prepositional phrase must stand beside the word whose meaning it completes; a subordinate clause introduced by a time conjunction such as “before” must stand beside the action it limits; and a pronoun may be used only after the noun it stands for has already appeared. Two parts locked together by such a dependency form an inseparable block, so identifying the blocks first fixes most of the order before the full sentence is even read.
Application:
“on her phone” (S) is a prepositional phrase of place that completes “checking the time” (R) by saying where the time was checked, so S must come immediately after R. This locks the block “checking the time on her phone”.
“before it departed” (Q) is a time clause whose pronoun “it” stands for “the train”, and the train is named only in “trying to catch the train” (P). So Q must come immediately after P, locking the block “trying to catch the train before it departed”.
The fixed opening “She quickly walked to the station,” is the main clause, and the two blocks are modifiers of that walking: the action performed on the way (checking the time on her phone) comes first, and the purpose of the walking (trying to catch the train before it departed) closes the sentence — the natural English order of an accompanying action followed by a purpose.
Joining the two blocks in that order gives R → S → P → Q, that is RSPQ: “She quickly walked to the station, checking the time on her phone, trying to catch the train before it departed.”
Cross-check:
Every offered order can be tested against the two locked blocks:
Order | R–S block intact | P–Q block intact |
|---|---|---|
RQSP | No — “before it departed” comes between “checking the time” and “on her phone” | No — nothing follows “trying to catch the train” |
RSPQ | Yes | Yes |
QPRS | Yes | No — “before it departed” precedes “trying to catch the train”, so “it” has no antecedent |
PRSQ | Yes | No — “checking the time on her phone” separates the two parts |
Only RSPQ keeps both dependency blocks intact, so it is the order that yields one coherent sentence.