Without changing the order of the letters and using each letter only once, into how many independent English words can the word “DETERMINATION” be divided?

Introduction / Context:
This question tests your ability to recognise independent meaningful words hidden inside a longer word, while preserving the original letter order. You must split the given word into segments that are themselves valid English words, with no change in sequence and without reusing letters. This type of problem appears frequently in alphabet test sections and checks both vocabulary knowledge and pattern recognition skills.

Given Data / Assumptions:
1) The main word is DETERMINATION.2) Letters must remain in the same order as they appear in DETERMINATION.3) Each letter can be used exactly once; you are dividing, not rearranging.4) An independent word is a standard English word recognised in normal usage.

Concept / Approach:
The approach is to scan DETERMINATION from left to right and identify segments that are recognised words. You then check whether the remaining part of the string also forms a word, yielding a partition into two independent words. Different valid partitions may be possible, but the question asks how many independent words the original can be divided into, which means how many separate words appear in a partition, not how many different partitions exist. If you can divide the word into exactly two segments that are both valid words, the correct count is two.

Step-by-Step Solution:
1) Write DETERMINATION and look for natural break points that might form words at the front or back.2) Consider the front part TERM or DETER. Both TERM and DETER are valid words; DETER means to discourage or prevent and TERM means a fixed period or expression.3) Look at the remaining letters after breaking at plausible points. For example, DETER plus MINATION leaves MINATION, which on its own is not a standard word, but DETER plus NATION leads to DETER and NATION.4) One clear partition is DETER plus NATION, where both segments, DETER and NATION, are meaningful words.5) Another partition is TERM plus NATION, which gives TERM and NATION, again two valid words.6) Yet another partition that is often cited in explanations is DE plus TERMINATION, where DE is a recognised prefix and TERMINATION is also a full word. However, the exam solutions usually focus on two-word splits like DETER NATION or TERM NATION.7) In each of these cases, you are dividing the entire word into two independent words, not three or more, and you are not rearranging any letters.

Verification / Alternative check:
To ensure there is no possibility of splitting the word into three or more independent words, scan for triplets like DE, TERM and NATION together and verify whether the middle part remains a valid standalone word in normal usage. While DE and NATION are understandable, TERMINATION itself is treated as a full word rather than a smaller combination of two common words in usual exam contexts. Study materials and question banks that feature this question typically give the answer as two, citing combinations such as DETER NATION or TERM NATION. This aligns with the idea that the longest and most natural independent segments are used for the count.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
One is incorrect because there is at least one split into two meaningful words, for example DETER and NATION.Three or four are not appropriate because the word is not usually broken into three or four separate standard words in exam level reasoning.None of these fails because two is a recognised and widely accepted answer among reasoning references.

Common Pitfalls:
Some learners misinterpret the question as asking for the number of different possible splits rather than the number of words in a single split. Others assume that only one partition like DETER NATION exists and overlook other combinations, but this does not change the fact that each partition yields two words. A few candidates also treat partial prefixes or rare technical fragments as independent words without checking their status in common vocabulary. Focusing on well established words and reading the instruction about not changing the order of letters carefully helps avoid such confusion.

Final Answer:
The word DETERMINATION can be divided into two independent English words without changing the letter order, for example DETER and NATION or TERM and NATION.