TOEFL Writing Exercise: Build a Sentence Task
Hi everyone, today let’s work on the Build a Sentence task in the TOEFL Writing section.
On the test, you’ll have about 6 to 8 minutes total for up to 12 questions, which means roughly 45 seconds per question.
What we’re using today is an official ETS sample exercise from Teacher Resource Set 4. There are 10 questions in total.
As we solve these together, I want you to focus on how to use clues, and also start noticing patterns ETS loves — especially indirect question word order.
Make sure you’ve watched my lecture on word order, because once you understand it, this task becomes much faster and much easier.
You’ll see this instruction on the screen:
Move the words in the boxes to create grammatical sentences.
A clock will show you how much time you have, so time management matters.
These are the 10 questions
Alright, let’s dig in.
1. Where did you get your shoes?
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ .
visited / had / it / last month / the shop / a sale / I
2. The workshop yesterday was very informative.
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ soon?
another one / do / there / if / be / you know / will
3. The new restaurant downtown has amazing reviews.
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____?
know / do / if / has / vegetarian options / have / you / they
4. That was a great movie we watched last night.
_____ you _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____?
that / by / director / would / like / another film / to see
5. I’m planning to visit my grandparents next weekend.
_____ you _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____?
to the airport / tell me / you / can / need / a lift / whether
6. The book you lent me was fascinating.
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ written _____ ?
has / you know / have / the author / if / other books / do
7. The new software update looks promising.
On _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ?
able / which / the download / website / to find / were you
8. The new coffee shop downtown is very popular.
Is _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ?
that / football matches / you can / on screen / watch / where / the one
9. We had a great time at the concert last night.
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ?
that band / is performing / when / how / find out / again / can we
10. I really enjoyed the hiking trip last weekend.
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ for this month?if / more trips / planned / there are / you / tell me / can