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Jumbled sentences

The words of a sentence are mixed up, and one extra word has sneaked in. Here's how to find the word that isn't needed every time.

Rush doesn’t practise jumbled sentences yet. These games practise related skills: Word Types, Word Forms and Missing Word.

Start the guide Practise 8 questions

Chapter 1

What are jumbled sentence questions?

The words of one sentence are mixed up, and one extra word has been slipped in. Put the right words in order and they make a sentence. One word has no place in it: that’s your answer.

You don’t need to write the sentence out. You only need the word that’s left over.

  1. The jumble. A sentence’s words in no order, usually with no capital letter or full stop.

  2. The question. Which word isn’t needed?

  3. The answers. Five of the words, A to E. Some papers letter every word and you choose from all of them.

The ISEB Pre-Test asks it too, as a shuffled sentence. Chapter 4 covers the other kind, where two words have swapped places.

Put these words in order to make a sentence. One word isn't needed. Which one?

garden the children football in played the sang

  • played
  • garden
  • sang
  • football
  • children

Three kinds of word to spot

Doing words (verbs) say what happens. Naming words (nouns) say who or what. Little words join them up. The grammar page teaches every kind of word.

  • Doing words
  • Naming words
  • Little words

Chapter 2

Solve it in 4 steps.

Here’s the question, one step at a time.

The question

Put these words in order to make a sentence. One word isn't needed. Which one?

garden the children football in played the sang

  • played
  • garden
  • sang
  • football
  • children

  1. Step 1

    Find the doing words.

    Look for the words that say what happens. Here there are two, played and sang. A short sentence like this has room for one, so one of them is likely to be the extra word. (Helper words like was and will can join it: was playing, will play.)

    Two doing words: played and sang.

  2. Step 2

    Ask who did what.

    Who is doing something? The children. Try each doing word with the other words: “the children played football” makes sense. “The children sang football” doesn’t.

  3. Step 3

    Add the little words.

    Each “the” needs a naming word after it, and “in” needs words after it too: the children, in the garden. Fit them round the words you have.

    The children played football in the garden.

  4. Step 4

    Check every word.

    Tick off each word as you use it. Seven words are used once, and one is left: sang. If two words are left, go back to step 2 and try the other doing word.

    Seven words used, one left over.

Two traps in the options

The mistakeDo this instead
Building the wrong sentence. “The children sang in the garden” sounds fine, so played looks like the extra word. But then football is left over too.Two words left over means you built the wrong sentence. Try the other doing word.
Taking out a word the sentence could lose. “The children played in the garden” still makes sense, so football looks spare. But sang still has nowhere to go.Look for the word that can’t fit anywhere, not one you could do without.

So it’s sang. “The children played football in the garden” uses every other word once, and nobody sings football.

Remember: Every word has a job but one.

Chapter 3

The catches.

The harder questions use these. Each card gives the rule, an example and the trap.

  • The extra word suits the scene

    Read your finished sentence for sense, not only for grammar.

    In mat the sat barked cat on the, “the cat barked on the mat” sounds like a sentence, but cats don’t bark. The cat sat on the mat, so barked is extra. Trap: the extra word is picked to fit the topic, or to be the opposite of a word you need.

  • Was or were? Find the doer

    One doer takes was, is or has. More than one takes were, are or have.

    In were the to was school girls walking, the girls are more than one, so they were walking to school. Was is extra. Trap: the nearest naming word. In “the box of chocolates was on the table”, the doer is the box, so it’s was.

  • Time words choose the form

    Yesterday or last week: kicked, went. Tomorrow or next week: will kick, will go.

    In next week the will visit we zoo visited, next week hasn’t happened yet, so it’s “next week we will visit the zoo”. Visited is extra. Trap: “will” always takes the plain word: will visit, never will visited.

  • Count the little words

    Each “the”, “a” or “my” needs its own naming word.

    In the dog the cat chased the up tree the, there are three naming words but four of “the”. The dog chased the cat up the tree, and one “the” is extra. Trap: a word printed twice can still be the answer, so count how many you need.

  • Some words come in pairs

    Woke up, fell asleep, looked after: the second word belongs to the doing word.

    In up woke early slept the boys, the boys woke up early, so slept is extra. Trap: “up” looks like a spare little word. But “the boys woke early” leaves both up and slept over.

  • Two orders? Either will do

    If the words make two sentences, you don’t need to choose. The extra word is the same in both.

    In the chased cat dog the ran, the dog chased the cat, or the cat chased the dog. Either way, ran is left. Trap: spending time on who chased whom. The question only asks for the extra word.

Chapter 4

Two words swapped.

You may also meet another kind: the sentence is in order except for two words that have changed places. You find the pair.

Which two words need to swap back?My sister to likes swim in the sea.A My and sisterB sister and toC to and likesD likes and swimE swim and sea

  1. Step 1

    Read until it stops making sense.

    “My sister… to”: after who comes the doing word, so “to” is in the wrong place. It’s one of the pair.

  2. Step 2

    Find the word that belongs there.

    The doing word is likes, right next door. Swap the two and read the whole sentence again: “My sister likes to swim in the sea.”

So it’s C, to and likes. Swapped back, the sentence makes sense from start to finish.

Remember: Stop where the sense stops.

Read for sense too

In “The ball kicked the girl across the field”, every word sits where its kind should go. But a ball can’t kick anything. Ask who can do the doing word: the girl. So girl and ball have swapped.

Chapter 5

Try it yourself.

Easier ones first. Try each one before you open its answer.

  1. Question 1Level 1

    Put these words in order to make a sentence. One word isn't needed. Which one?

    nets fishermen swam their caught in the fish

    • caught
    • nets
    • swam
    • fishermen
    • fish
    Show answer

    Answer: swam.

    How to answer it

    1. The doing words are swam and caught. Who does it? The fishermen.
    2. The fishermen caught fish in their nets. Swam is left over, a word that suits the sea but not this sentence.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • caughtWithout caught, the fishermen swam fish, which makes no sense.
    • netsWithout nets, in their has nothing to finish it.
    • fishermenWithout fishermen, the fish would have to do the catching.
    • fishWithout fish, caught has nothing to catch, and swam is still left over.

  2. Question 2Level 1

    Put these words in order to make a sentence. One word isn't needed. Which one?

    cot cried baby the asleep fell her in

    • cot
    • fell
    • baby
    • cried
    • asleep
    Show answer

    Answer: cried.

    How to answer it

    1. Fell and cried are both doing words. Asleep goes with fell: fell asleep.
    2. The baby fell asleep in her cot. Cried is the extra word.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • cotWithout cot, in her has nothing to finish it.
    • fellWithout fell, asleep has nothing to go with: the baby cried asleep isn't English.
    • babyWithout baby, nobody falls asleep.
    • asleepWithout asleep, fell and cried are both left as doing words.

  3. Question 3Level 1

    Two words in this sentence have swapped places. Which two need to swap back?

    I my brush teeth every morning.

    • I and my
    • my and brush
    • brush and teeth
    • teeth and morning
    • every and morning
    Show answer

    Answer: my and brush.

    How to answer it

    1. Read from the start: I my. A doing word should come after I, and brush is one.
    2. Swap my and brush: I brush my teeth every morning.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • I and myMy I brush teeth isn't a sentence. I has to start it.
    • brush and teethI my teeth brush still has my straight after I.
    • teeth and morningThis leaves I my brush at the start, which still makes no sense.
    • every and morningMorning every is wrong, and the start is still I my brush.

  4. Question 4Level 2

    Put these words in order to make a sentence. One word isn't needed. Which one?

    kicks into yesterday the ball Sam goal kicked the

    • ball
    • kicks
    • yesterday
    • goal
    • kicked
    Show answer

    Answer: kicks.

    How to answer it

    1. Kicks and kicked are two forms of one word, so one of them goes.
    2. Yesterday means it has already happened, so it's kicked. Yesterday Sam kicked the ball into the goal.
    3. Kicks is the extra word.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • ballWithout ball, Sam kicks nothing, and one the has no noun to go with.
    • yesterdayWithout yesterday, kicks and kicked both still want the one doing-word place.
    • goalWithout goal, into the has nothing to finish it.
    • kickedWithout kicked, the sentence says yesterday Sam kicks, which mixes past and present.

  5. Question 5Level 2

    Put these words in order to make a sentence. One word isn't needed. Which one?

    beach will tomorrow we to go went the

    • will
    • went
    • tomorrow
    • go
    • beach
    Show answer

    Answer: went.

    How to answer it

    1. Go and went are two forms of one word. Tomorrow hasn't happened yet.
    2. Will goes with go: we will go. Tomorrow we will go to the beach. Went is the extra word.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • willWithout will, tomorrow we went makes no sense, and go is left over.
    • tomorrowWithout tomorrow, will, go and went still can't all fit.
    • goWithout go, the sentence needs we will went, which isn't English.
    • beachWithout beach, to the has nothing to finish it.

  6. Question 6Level 2

    Two words in this sentence have swapped places. Which two need to swap back?

    The postman the delivered letters early.

    • The and postman
    • the and delivered
    • postman and the
    • delivered and letters
    • letters and early
    Show answer

    Answer: the and delivered.

    How to answer it

    1. Read slowly. The postman the: a second the can't come straight after postman.
    2. The word that should be there is the doing word, delivered. Swap them: The postman delivered the letters early.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • The and postmanPostman the the delivered is worse, with two the words together.
    • delivered and lettersThe postman the letters delivered still has the after postman and puts the doing word late.
    • letters and earlyThis leaves The postman the delivered at the start.
    • postman and theThe the postman delivered starts with two the words.

  7. Question 7Level 3

    Put these words in order to make a sentence. One word isn't needed. Which one?

    juicy she yesterday an apple ate a

    • apple
    • a
    • juicy
    • an
    • ate
    Show answer

    Answer: an.

    How to answer it

    1. A and an do the same job, so one of them goes. An apple looks right, which is the trap.
    2. Juicy has to go somewhere, and the only place is before apple. Now the word after a or an is juicy, which starts with J, so it must be a.
    3. Yesterday she ate a juicy apple. An is the extra word.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • appleWithout apple, a, an and juicy have nothing to describe.
    • aWithout a, the sentence needs she ate an juicy apple. An only goes before a vowel sound.
    • juicyWithout juicy, she ate an apple works, but a is left over.
    • ateWithout ate, there's no doing word.

  8. Question 8Level 3

    Two words in this sentence have swapped places. Which two need to swap back?

    The bone buried the dog in the garden.

    • The and bone
    • bone and dog
    • buried and dog
    • dog and garden
    • bone and garden
    Show answer

    Answer: bone and dog.

    How to answer it

    1. Every word sits where a word of its kind should go, so read for sense, not grammar.
    2. A bone can't bury anything. The one doing the burying is the dog, so dog and bone have swapped.
    3. The dog buried the bone in the garden.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • The and boneBone the buried isn't English.
    • buried and dogThe bone dog the buried isn't a sentence.
    • dog and gardenThe bone still does the burying, now of a garden in a dog.
    • bone and gardenThe garden buried the dog in the bone makes no sense.
Next in verbal reasoning Synonyms and antonyms How to answer 11+ synonym and antonym questions: say the meaning first, cross out the trap option, then test your choice in a sentence. Read the guide

For parents.

What parents ask us about jumbled sentences.

Questions parents ask

What are jumbled sentences in 11+ verbal reasoning?

A sentence with its words mixed up, plus one word that doesn't belong. The child sorts the words into a sentence in their head and names the word left over. A related question gives a sentence with two words swapped and asks which two.

What if the words can go in more than one order?

That's fine. Yesterday Sam kicked the ball into the goal and Sam kicked the ball into the goal yesterday use the same words. The question asks for the extra word, and it's the same whichever order your child picks.

Should my child write the sentence out?

Not in full, because it takes too long. Underlining the doing word and crossing out the extra word is enough. If they want to write something, the doing word and who does it are enough to build the rest around.

Why does my child pick the word that fits the topic?

Because a topic word feels like it belongs, and setters choose extra words for exactly that reason. Practise asking one question of each word: what job does it do in this sentence? A word with no job is the answer, however well it suits the scene.

Practise the related skills in Rush.

  • Word TypesThe method starts by finding the verb and the noun that does it, and Word Types drills telling verbs, nouns and adjectives apart.
  • Word FormsMost extra words are the wrong form of a word you need, such as was for were or kicks for kicked, and Word Forms trains choosing the right one.
  • Missing WordEach round asks whether a sentence makes sense with one word in it, the same check you finish every jumbled sentence with.

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