Word Order Problems: Urutan Kata Bahasa Inggris untuk TOEFL

Word Order Problems adalah jenis soal yang menguji pemahaman Anda tentang urutan kata dalam bahasa Inggris—mulai dari susunan noun phrase (urutan kata sifat/adjektiva sebelum nomina), posisi adverb (keterangan), hingga pola inversi pada kalimat tertentu. Dalam format TOEFL (Structure & Written Expression), ciri khasnya: pilihan jawaban tampak “mirip” dan sama-panjang karena semuanya tersusun dari kata/frasal yang sama, hanya urutannya yang diacak. Tugas Anda adalah memilih urutan yang paling gramatikal dan paling sesuai konteks.

Artikel blog ini memandu Anda untuk:

• mengenali pola soal word order TOEFL,

• menata urutan adjektiva dalam noun phrase,

• menempatkan adverb (Manner–Place–Time) & adverb of frequency,

• memahami inversi setelah adverb negatif (never, hardly, rarely, not only, not until, dll.),

• plus contoh dan strategi mengerjakan.

1) Apa Itu “Word Order Problems” (Dalam TOEFL)?

Secara ringkas, word order adalah aturan menyusun kata agar kalimat, frasa, dan klausa gramatikal. Pada pelajaran ini, fokusnya pada:

• mengurutkan adjektiva untuk membentuk noun phrase,

• menempatkan adverb pada posisi yang tepat di kalimat.

Format soal biasanya meminta Anda menyisipkan frasa ke dalam tempat kosong; setiap opsi berjenis sama (mis. sama-sama frasa preposisional), hanya urutannya berbeda, sehingga strategi membandingkan urutan internal frasa menjadi kunci. Ilustrasi pilihan yang tampak serupa (mis. so far away from / away so far from / from so far away / away from so far) menuntut kepekaan urutan yang idiomatik.

2) Word Order pada Noun Phrase: Urutan Adjektiva yang Benar

Salah satu sumber kesalahan paling umum adalah menata urutan adjektiva sebelum nomina. Buku rujukan ini merangkum urutan komponen noun phrase sebagai berikut:
D O Car Ad Sub Si A-T Sha C Or Ma N.

2.1 Tabel Urutan Adjektiva dalam Noun Phrase

Contoh terstruktur (dari buku):

• A very beautiful small old round yellow golden watch (D–Ad–Sub–Si–A–Sha–C–Ma–N)

• Those first two charming tall Italian men (O–O–Car–Sub–Si–Or–N)

2.2 Prinsip Praktis (Agar Sejalan dengan TOEFL)

• Determinasi → kuantitas → kualitas → ukuran → usia/suhu → bentuk → warna → asal → bahan → nomina. Ikuti urutan besar-ke-kecil: dari informasi paling “umum” (determiner, jumlah) ke yang paling dekat dengan benda (bahan & nomina).

• Intensifier (Ad) seperti very, quite mendahului adjektiva yang diterangkannya (sejalan dengan skema “Ad” sebelum “Sub/Si/…”, pada tabel di atas).

• Uji kealamian: pindah-pindahkan dua adjektiva dan rasakan “kejanggalan” semantis. Pelanggaran urutan sering tetap “terbaca”, tetapi tidak idiomatik dalam standar tertulis TOEFL.

Tip cepat saat mengerjakan: Jika dua opsi sama-sama “masuk akal”, pilih yang paling tepat urutannya menurut tabel di atas—itulah yang biasanya diincar penulis soal.

3) Word Order pada Adverb: Manner–Place–Time (M–P–T)

Di tingkat kalimat, rumus umum penempatan tiga adverb utama adalah Manner → Place → Time (M–P–T).

3.1 Tabel Core Order Adverb

Contoh pola M–P–T:

• He delivered the keynote confidently at the auditorium yesterday.

• The residents sent flowers faithfully to the cemetery each week. (contoh pola pada buku)

Catatan penting: Adverb of time boleh di awal atau akhir kalimat:
Last night, he delivered the keynote confidently at the auditorium.

Tambahan referensi eksternal: Pembahasan posisi adverb (awal/tengah/akhir klausa) juga dirangkum oleh Cambridge Grammar. Cambridge Dictionary

4) Adverb of Frequency & Pengecualian Posisi

Adverb of frequency (always, often, usually, sometimes, generally, rarely, seldom, never, occasionally, dll.) memiliki penempatan khas:

• Umum: muncul sebelum kata kerja utama (We always arrive early).

• Dalam pertanyaan & perfect: berada setelah have/has (mis. Have you ever been…?), atau sesudah do/does/did ketika auxiliary hadir di permukaan (Do you usually study at night?).

Penekanan (Inversi): adverb frekuensi bermakna negatif (never, hardly, rarely) dapat ditempatkan di awal kalimat sehingga memicu inversi (susunan balik). Contoh dari buku: Never has she met us. (buku juga menampilkan Seldom he study at night sebagai ilustrasi, tetapi secara standar perlu penyesuaian menjadi Seldom does he study at night untuk menjaga tata kalimat formal).

Tambahan: untuk konstruksi used to/have to, adverb frekuensi bisa:

• sebelum “used to” (I always used to drink coffee),

• di antara “used” dan “to” (I used always to drink coffee),

• sebelum “have to” atau di antara auxiliary dan have dalam kalimat tanya (Do you always have to…?).

Referensi eksternal: ringkasan fungsi/jenis adverb dan variasi penempatan juga dijelaskan di Cambridge Grammar. Cambridge Dictionary+1

5) Inversi: Setelah Kata Negatif/Restriktif di Awal

Dalam soal word order, inversi sering “menjebak”. Prinsipnya: ketika klausa diawali kata/ekspresi negatif atau restriktif, subjek dan auxiliary bertukar posisi (seperti pada pertanyaan). Contoh pemicu umum: never, not only, rarely, not until, dll.

Pola umum (declarative → inversi):

• Normal: She had never seen such a view.

• Inversi: Never had she seen such a view.

Contoh lainnya:

• Not only did he finish early, but he also submitted a brilliant report.

• Not until did we reach the summit did we realize the storm had cleared. (lebih alami: Not until we reached the summit did we realize…)

Kaidah praktis: bila kata bermakna negatif/terbatas diletakkan di awal, cek apakah ada auxiliary untuk mendahului subjek (do/does/did, have/has/had, is/are/was/were, modal). Jika tak ada, perkenalkan do-support.

6) Superlative Adjective/Adverb dalam Soal Word Order

Materi ini sering diujikan pada bagian word order. Intinya:

• Struktur superlatif: the + superlative (most/least + Adj; -est) atau the + superlative + Noun.

• Penanda kelompok pembanding: in + kelompok umum (the tallest in the class), of + himpunan terbatas (the oldest of the three siblings).

• Untuk adverb: the most/least + adverb (the most carefully, the least efficiently).

Mengapa ini jadi soal word order? Karena opsi jawaban sering “menguji” penempatan the, most/least, adj/adv, dan frasa pembandingnya, misalnya menukar in ↔ of atau memecah pasangan the + most/least—yang semuanya menabrak collocation idiomatik atau aturan superlatif.

Hubungkan kembali ke strategi awal: ada dua opsi yang jelas salah grammar, dan dua opsi yang secara grammar tampak mungkin—tapi hanya satu yang paling tepat konteks & idiomatik.

7) Strategi Menaklukkan Soal “Word Order Problems”

7.1 Kenali Gejalanya

• Pilihan jawaban berbentuk frasa yang sama-jenis dan sama-panjang → indikasi kuat word order.

• Tanda lain: opsi memuat urutan adjektiva berbeda atau urutan adverb yang ditukar-tukar (M–P–T), atau memindahkan kata negatif ke awal.

7.2 Urutkan Noun Phrase Secara Mekanis

• Tandai tiap kata sifat: opini → ukuran → usia/suhu → bentuk → warna → asal → bahan; selipkan intensifier (very, quite) tepat sebelum adjektiva yang diterangkan.

• Cek determiner/angka: pastikan D/O/Car (determiner, ordinal, cardinal) diletakkan paling depan.

7.3 Pakai Rumus M–P–T

• Saat melihat banyak adverb, susun Manner → Place → Time. Jika ada adverb of time, boleh Anda seret ke awal demi penekanan.

7.4 Waspadai Adverb of Frequency & Inversi

• Tempatkan always/usually/often/sometimes sebelum main verb; pastikan auxiliary tetap pada posisinya.

• Jika never/hardly/rarely/not only/not until ada di awal, terapkan inversi.

7.5 Fokus Superlative

• Pastikan the + most/least + Adj/Adv menempel dan frasa pembanding tepat (umumnya in untuk kelompok umum; of untuk himpunan terbatas). (Lihat bagian 6 dan keterangan “paling sering ditanyakan”.)

8) Contoh-Contoh Tertarget (Dengan Ulasan)

Jenis 1 – Noun phrase (urutan adjektiva)
A. a very elegant small antique round silver locket
B. a elegant very small antique round silver locket
C. a elegant small very antique round silver locket
D. a small elegant very antique round silver locket
Jawaban: A. Intensifier (very) harus sebelum adjektiva yang diterangkan (elegant), lalu ukuran (small), usia (antique), bentuk (round), bahan (silver). Ini mematuhi urutan Ad–Sub–Si–A–Sha–Ma dari tabel.

Jenis 2 – Adverb M–P–T
A. The team trained intensely at the stadium last weekend
B. The team trained last weekend intensely at the stadium
C. The team trained at the stadium intensely last weekend
D. Intensely the team trained at the stadium last weekend
Jawaban: A (atau B bila ingin penekanan waktu di awal kalimat). Urutan baku M–P–T. B tidak salah jika adverb of time diletakkan di awal, tetapi internal M–P–T tetap harus logis setelahnya.

Jenis 3 – Frequency adverb & auxiliary
A. We often are late to meetings.
B. We are often late to meetings.
C. Often we are late to meetings.
D. We late often are to meetings.
Jawaban: B. Saat ada be-verb sebagai linking verb, adverb of frequency dapat sesudah be (are often late). Opsi A terdengar takidiomatik; C bisa untuk penekanan, tapi formalitas TOEFL mengutamakan B; D salah urut. (Lihat aturan penempatan adverb of frequency).

Jenis 4 – Inversi dengan adverb negatif
A. Never she had seen such dedication.
B. Never had she seen such dedication.
C. She never had seen such dedication.
D. Had never she seen such dedication.
Jawaban: B. Never di awal memicu inversi: auxiliary (had) sebelum subjek. C bukan inversi (benar secara struktur, tetapi tidak memajukan penekanan awal seperti perintah soal); A dan D salah urut.

Jenis 5 – Superlatif (adjektiva/adverb)
A. She is the most talented in the cohort.
B. She is most the talented in the cohort.
C. She is the most talented of the cohort (umum).
D. She is talented the most in the cohort.
Jawaban: A. Kolokasi the + most + Adj harus utuh; in tepat untuk kelompok umum (the cohort sebagai komunitas kelas). Opsi C rawan salah di TOEFL bila himpunan bukan daftar terbatas. Penukaran posisi (the dan most) di B, D merusak word order.

9) Edge Cases & Catatan Tambahan

• Fronted adverbials: menaruh time adverb di awal untuk fokus, namun struktur inti tetap harus M–P–T di bagian sisa klausa.

• Compounding & hyphenation: saat adjektiva majemuk (well-known author, one-way street), gunakan hyphen jika sebelum nomina; hilangkan hyphen jika sesudah. (Pedoman gaya umum.) Purdue OWL

• Fleksibilitas alami: dalam wacana kreatif, kadang urutan adjektiva bisa “diutak-atik” untuk penekanan, tetapi standar tertulis TOEFL menilai urutan baku. Lihat juga bahasan “adjective order biasanya (not always)” dari British Council. LearnEnglish – British Council+1

10) Soal Latihan (Isian Urutan Kata)

(1) the / conference / last week / virtually / concluded
Jawaban: The conference concluded virtually last week (M–T; place tidak hadir).

(2) antique / beautiful / a / silk / dress / Italian
Jawaban: a beautiful antique Italian silk dress (D–Sub–A–Or–Ma–N).

(3) seldom / we / find / such / compelling / evidence
Jawaban: Seldom do we find such compelling evidence. (inversi setelah seldom).

(4) the / of / three / is / he / diligent / most
Jawaban: He is the most diligent of the three. (superlatif + of untuk himpunan terbatas).

Key Takeaways (5 Poin)

• Word Order Problems mengetes susunan—bukan kosakata baru. Amati urutan internal frasa/klausa untuk menyingkirkan opsi keliru.

• Noun phrase: hafalkan urutan D O Car Ad Sub Si A-T Sha C Or Ma N; intensifier (Ad) menempel sebelum adjektiva target.

• Adverb: pegang pola M–P–T; time adverb bisa di awal untuk penekanan.

• Frequency adverb: posisinya sebelum main verb (atau setelah/di sekitar auxiliary sesuai kebutuhan); negatif di awal memicu inversi.

• Superlatif kerap diujikan; perhatikan kolokasi the + most/least dan frasa pembanding in/of yang tepat.

TERKAIT: Missing Conjunction TOEFL: Pola, Contoh, dan Trik Anti Salah di Structure

Soal dan Pembahasan

1) (Noun Phrase – urutan adjektiva)

Kalimat: She bought ______ necklace.
A. a very beautiful small old round silver
B. a small very beautiful old round silver
C. a beautiful very small old round silver
D. a very beautiful old small round silver

Kunci: A
Pembahasan: D–Ad–Sub–Size–Age–Shape–Color–N. Opsi A memenuhi urutan: a (D) very (Ad) beautiful (Sub) small (Size) old (Age) round (Shape) silver (Color) necklace (N).

2) (Noun Phrase)

Kalimat: They adopted ______ cats.
A. those first two extremely frightened little Asian stray
B. those two first extremely frightened little Asian stray
C. those first two frightened extremely little Asian stray
D. those first extremely two frightened little Asian stray

Kunci: A
Pembahasan: D–O–Car–Ad–Sub–Size–Origin–N. those (D) first (O) two (Car) extremely (Ad) frightened (Sub) little (Size) Asian (Origin) stray cats (N).

3) (Noun Phrase)

Kalimat: He repaired ______ table.
A. an elegant rectangular dark-brown Indonesian wooden
B. an elegant dark-brown rectangular Indonesian wooden
C. an elegant Indonesian wooden rectangular dark-brown
D. an rectangular elegant dark-brown Indonesian wooden

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: D–Sub–Shape–Color–Origin–Material–N. Dalam A, shape dan color tertukar.

4) (Noun Phrase)

Kalimat: We saw ______ building near the river.
A. a modern tall glass Japanese office
B. a tall modern Japanese glass office
C. a modern tall Japanese glass office
D. a Japanese modern tall glass office

Kunci: C
Pembahasan: D–Age–Size–Origin–Material–N. modern (Age) → tall (Size) → Japanese (Origin) → glass (Material) → office (N).

5) (Noun Phrase)

Kalimat: She wore ______ dress.
A. a stunning short vintage navy-blue French silk evening
B. a stunning vintage short navy-blue French silk evening
C. a stunning short vintage French navy-blue silk evening
D. a stunning vintage short French navy-blue silk evening

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: D–Sub–Size–Age–Color–Origin–Material–N. stunning (Sub) → vintage (Age) dan short (Size): urutan yang baku menempatkan Size sebelum Age; namun untuk fesyen, sebagian gaya menerima variasi. Pilihan B paling dekat urutan baku dan idiomatik: stunning (Sub) → vintage (Age) vs short (Size) — keduanya sering fleksibel; B menjaga Color–Origin–Material–N paling rapi.

6) (Noun Phrase)

Kalimat: He found ______ coin in the attic.
A. an rare small old Spanish silver
B. a rare small old Spanish silver
C. a rare old small Spanish silver
D. a small rare old Spanish silver

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: D–Sub–Size–Age–Origin–Material–N: a rare (Sub) small (Size) old (Age) Spanish (Origin) silver (Material) coin (N). A salah artikel (an).

7) (Adverb – M–P–T)

Kalimat: The researcher presented the results ______.
A. clearly yesterday in the main hall
B. clearly in the main hall yesterday
C. in the main hall clearly yesterday
D. yesterday clearly in the main hall

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: Manner → Place → Time: clearly (M), in the main hall (P), yesterday (T).

8) (Adverb – M–P–T)

Kalimat: The volunteers worked ______.
A. tirelessly last weekend at the shelter
B. at the shelter tirelessly last weekend
C. tirelessly at the shelter last weekend
D. last weekend tirelessly at the shelter

Kunci: C
Pembahasan: M–P–T: tirelessly (M) at the shelter (P) last weekend (T).

9) (Adverb – M–P–T)

Kalimat: The CEO spoke ______.
A. confidently to the press this morning
B. this morning confidently to the press
C. to the press this morning confidently
D. confidently this morning to the press

Kunci: A
Pembahasan: M–P–T paling natural: confidently (M) to the press (P) this morning (T).

10) (Adverb – M–P–T)

Kalimat: The team will meet ______.
A. virtually at 9 a.m. in the conference room
B. in the conference room virtually at 9 a.m.
C. virtually in the conference room at 9 a.m.
D. at 9 a.m. virtually in the conference room

Kunci: C
Pembahasan: virtually (M) in the conference room (P) at 9 a.m. (T).

11) (Adverb – M–P–T)

Kalimat: The artist performed ______.
A. beautifully at the theater last night
B. at the theater last night beautifully
C. last night at the theater beautifully
D. beautifully last night at the theater

Kunci: A
Pembahasan: M–P–T: beautifully (M) at the theater (P) last night (T).

12) (Adverb – M–P–T)

Kalimat: The professor answered the question ______.
A. precisely after the lecture in the hallway
B. precisely in the hallway after the lecture
C. after the lecture precisely in the hallway
D. in the hallway after the lecture precisely

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: precisely (M) in the hallway (P) after the lecture (T).

13) (Adverb of Frequency + be/aux)

Kalimat: She ____ late for class.
A. often is
B. is often
C. is late often
D. often late is

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: Dengan be-verb sebagai predikat, adverb frekuensi sesudah be: is often late.

14) (Adverb of Frequency + auxiliary)

Kalimat: He ____ the gym on weekdays.
A. usually does go to
B. does usually go to
C. usually go to
D. go usually to

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: Dengan do-support, adverb frekuensi ditempatkan setelah auxiliary dan sebelum main verb: does usually go. A keliru (redundan does + go to tapi adverb di posisi janggal), C/D salah bentuk.

15) (Adverb of Frequency + perfect)

Kalimat: They ____ visited the museum.
A. have often
B. often have
C. have visited often
D. have often visited

Kunci: D
Pembahasan: Dalam present perfect, adverb frekuensi biasanya setelah auxiliary dan sebelum main verb: have often visited. (C menempatkan adverb setelah past participle → kurang idiomatik untuk frekuensi kebiasaan).

16) (Adverb of Frequency + main verb)

Kalimat: We ____ lunch together on Fridays.
A. always eat
B. eat always
C. are always eat
D. always eating

Kunci: A
Pembahasan: Tanpa auxiliary/BE, adverb frekuensi sebelum main verb: always eat. B salah posisi; C salah pola; D bentuk -ing tidak tepat.

17) (Inversi – adverb negatif)

Kalimat (penekanan): ______ such a breathtaking view.
A. Never we have seen
B. Never have we seen
C. We never have seen
D. Have never we seen

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: Never di awal memicu inversi: Never have we seen….

18) (Inversi – not until)

Kalimat (penekanan): ______ the announcement ______ the market stabilized.
A. Not until did they make / did
B. Not until they made / did
C. Not until did they made / did
D. Not until they made / the

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: Pola: Not until + clause (tanpa inversi dalam anak klausa) diikuti inversi pada klausa utama: Not until they made the announcement did the market stabilize. Opsi B mendekati pola benar; sisipkan the bila perlu saat mengucap penuh.

19) (Superlatif – adj + pembanding)

Kalimat: She is ______ the department.
A. most the experienced in
B. the most experienced in
C. the most experienced of
D. experienced the most in

Kunci: B
Pembahasan: the + most + Adj + in + kelompok umum (the department). C cocok jika himpunan terbatas (mis. of the three).

20) (Superlatif – adverb + pembanding terbatas)

Kalimat: Of the five candidates, he spoke ______.
A. the most confidently
B. most the confidently
C. confidently the most
D. the most confident

Kunci: A
Pembahasan: Superlatif adverb: the most + adverb → the most confidently. D adalah adjektiva, bukan adverb.