Anonymous  +  558710 Tue, 26 Aug 08 07:42 AM Hi, Can anyone help me with this please.. in how many ways  can the word DISTANCE be arranged so that all the vowels are together. Thanks in advance. Anonymous Vowels

	Grammar Geek  +  558928 Tue, 26 Aug 08 07:04 PM Yes, it's a math problem. First think of how many ways the vowels can be in order. IAE, IEA, AIE, AEI, EIA, EAI = 6. That was more easily solved as 3! = 6. Then consider the vowels as one "letter," which we'll call V. So now you have the letters D, S, T, N C, and V, or 6 letters, they can be arranged 6! different ways, or 720 ways. Mutliple the number of ways you can combine the vowels (6) by the number of ways you can combined the rest, and you have 4,320. Next time, please limit your question to English, okay?   Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,660 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Vowels

	CalifJim  +  558937 Tue, 26 Aug 08 07:23 PM 4320 6 ways to arrange AEI (AEI, AIE, EAI, IAE, EIA, IEA) 6 different positions to place each of the AEI arrangements  (Positions 1-2-3 through 6-7-8) 120 ways to arrange the remaining DSTNC (DSTNC, DSTCN, ...) 6 x 6 x 120 = 4320  CJ  P.S.  Hey, GG!  That was an interesting move -- taking all three vowels as a separate element in the mix!   More than one way to skin ...  Oops!  I almost forgot you're a cat-lover.    CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,395 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Vowels