TOEFL Writing Sentence Building Step by Step
🔪 Step 1: Check the punctuation
Look at the end of the sentence.
Period (.) → it’s a statement
Question mark (?) → it’s a question
If it’s a question, there are two types:
WH-questions
Yes/No questions
How do we know which is which?
👉 If you see a WH-word, it’s probably a WH-question.
👉 If there’s no WH-word, it’s a Yes/No question.
🔪 Step 2: Find the question word or auxiliary verb
Look for:
WH-words: what, which, when, why
Auxiliary verbs: do, did, have, are
These usually go at the beginning of the question.
🔪 Step 3: Identify the subject and word order
Yes/No questions → use inversion
(auxiliary verb + subject)WH-questions:
If the WH-word IS the subject → no inversion
If the WH-word is NOT the subject → use inversion
The rest of the order stays the same.
TOEFL Writing Sentence Building Flowchart