Task 1: Build a Sentence
Ten short items open the Writing section: read a context line and arrange scrambled words into a correct, natural response sentence. It looks simple — it is a pure test of English word order and grammar under time pressure.
1. Task explanation
Each item gives you a situation or a line of dialogue and a set of words. You click/drag them into the ONE order that makes a grammatical sentence answering the context. Roughly 30-45 seconds per item across the set.
2. What is being evaluated
- Word order — subject-verb-object, adverb placement, question inversion.
- Grammar accuracy — agreement, tense forms, articles inside the fixed word set.
- Fit — the sentence must ANSWER the context (a question needs an answer form, an offer needs an offer form).
3. Step-by-step method
- Read the context first: is the needed response a statement, a question, an offer, a request?
- Find the verb and its subject — anchor the sentence around them.
- Attach the biggest chunks next (verb + object, preposition phrases), then place adverbs (frequency adverbs go before main verbs, after 'be').
- Read the finished sentence aloud in your head — your ear catches what your eyes miss.
4. Planning strategy
No writing plan applies — the plan is grammatical reflexes. Training with the sets below builds exactly the patterns the test recycles (embedded questions and adverb placement are the classic traps).
5. Organization
Sentence-internal: think in the SVOMPT skeleton from the grammar course (Subject-Verb-Object-Manner-Place-Time).
6. Useful language
Fixed patterns worth owning: 'Would you like me to…?', 'I was wondering if…', '…hasn't it?', question tags, and reported-speech backshift ('He asked where the library was').
7. Common mistakes
- Building a grammatical sentence that does not answer the context.
- Statement order inside questions ('…where is the library?' inside 'Do you know where the library is?').
- Frequency adverb after the object ('I read often books').
- Leaving a word unused because the sentence 'sounds fine' without it.
8-10. Worked examples
Every practice item carries a grammar note explaining its pattern — work the sets and read each note; together they are the worked-example library for this task.
11-13. Timed practice sets
Sentence Set 1
10 sentences to build by clicking words in order — instant checking.
OpenSentence Set 2
10 sentences to build by clicking words in order — instant checking.
OpenSentence Set 3
10 sentences to build by clicking words in order — instant checking.
OpenSentence Set 4
10 sentences to build by clicking words in order — instant checking.
OpenSelf-evaluation checklist — the 10-point review
Automated checks on this page (length, variety, linking words) are practice feedback only — not an official TOEFL score.