TOEFL Build a Sentence (2026): Scoring, Traps, and Drills

Someone says, "I heard the chemistry lab is moving to the new building." Under that line you see the words "Do you know," then five empty blanks, then a question mark. Below them are six chunks of words in a random order. You have about forty seconds to put five of them in the one correct order. If one chunk is in the wrong place, you get zero for the question.

This is TOEFL Build a Sentence. It is the first task in the Writing section of the new test, which ETS started on January 21, 2026.¹² It looks like the easiest task on the exam. Many fluent speakers think so too, and then they lose three or four points on question word order. In conversation they would never make these mistakes. This guide explains what you see on screen and how the ten questions count toward your Writing score. It then gives you a five-step method for each question, and practice drills that make the common traps easy to see.

What you see on test day

The whole Writing section takes about 23 minutes and has 12 questions.³ The first 10 are Build a Sentence. The Email and the Academic Discussion come after them.⁴ The Writing section is not adaptive. Everyone who takes the same version of the test gets the same ten sentences. Your results in Reading or Listening do not change them.⁴

ETS does not publish a separate time limit for Build a Sentence. Magoosh reports 6 minutes and 50 seconds for the 10 questions, which is about 41 seconds each. Other prep sites that have timed the real test report between 6 and 7 minutes.²⁵⁶ When the time ends, the test scores whatever is on the screen. That includes a sentence you have only half finished.⁶

Each question is a very short conversation. At the top, you see one person's line in full. Under it is the reply, shown as a row of blanks. Sometimes a few words of the reply are already in place at the start or the end. The reply always ends with a period or a question mark.²⁷ Below that is the word bank. It has single words and small groups of words, such as "to send" or "a copy." You drag or click them into the blanks.²⁷ ETS describes the task as arranging "words or phrases to form a complete and grammatical sentence or question."⁸

Some questions have more chunks than blanks. The extra chunk is a trap. It is usually a different form of a verb, or a word with a similar meaning. If you use it, your answer is wrong, even if everything else is correct.²⁹

Prep sources disagree about whether you can go back to an earlier sentence. TOEFLMockTests says that once you click Next, you cannot return.⁹ Plan as if that is true. Treat every click on Next as final.

What Build a Sentence really tests

ETS says this task tests the skill to "reconstruct sentences with appropriate grammar," using "a range of sentence structures." The sentences use everyday social language.⁴ The questions cover every English level on the CEFR (the European scale of language levels), from A1 to C2. So the ten sentences are not equally hard. Some are simple questions. A few use harder grammar, such as reported speech or an unusual word order.⁴⁹

The real skill is recognizing sentence structure quickly. You already use most of these structures when you speak. But here you must see the basic frame of a sentence from separate pieces: the subject, the verb, and what comes after the verb. You do not have the sound of speech to help you. Vocabulary is not important, because the test gives you every word. People who lose points often learned grammar as lists of rules, so they cannot recognize the patterns fast. Others trust a sentence because it "sounds fine," but it only sounds fine because people say it that way in casual speech.

Magoosh says the questions include slightly more questions than statements.² That is why question word order causes the most lost points.

How TOEFL Build a Sentence is scored

The scoring is the simplest on the test, and the strictest. Each question is worth 1 point at most. A computer scores it with what ETS calls "rule-based algorithms" based on "exact matches or predefined scoring logic."⁴ No AI and no person reads your sentence. Your order either matches the correct answer or it does not. So an answer with one chunk in the wrong place gets zero, the same as a blank.²⁵¹⁰

Sources disagree about how much these ten points count. The ETS test plan gives the Writing section 20 raw points. Build a Sentence gives 10 of them. The Email and the Academic Discussion give 5 each.⁴ ETS has not said how raw points become your Writing band, which is on a scale from 1 to 6 in half-point steps.¹ TOEFLMockTests says the ten points are first changed into a score out of 5. That score is then averaged with the two writing tasks. In that case, Build a Sentence would be about one third of your Writing band.⁶ Either way, these ten questions are between one third and one half of your Writing score. They are also the only Writing questions with one correct answer, so you can practice until you get them right. To see how the Writing band affects your overall score, read the TOEFL 2026 test format guide.

This has two results. First, being correct matters much more than being fast. Finishing early gives you nothing, because this task has its own timer. Unused seconds do not move to the Email task.¹¹ Second, a guess is always better than a blank. A random order will usually get zero. But a sentence with the right structure and one uncertain chunk has a real chance.

The strategy, step by step

Forty seconds is enough time. But you must follow the steps in order, and not start moving chunks as soon as you see them. Here is the method.

Look at the punctuation and the fixed words first

Before you look at the chunks, look at the end of the reply. A question mark tells you the sentence is a question. It does not tell you which kind of question. Next, read any words that are already in place.² Some phrases at the start put a question inside the sentence: "Do you know," "Could you tell me," "I wonder," or "I'm not sure." After these phrases, the words after the question word use statement order. You write "Do you know where it is?" and never "where is it."²⁵ Here is another example. If "The" is fixed at the start and "fantastic." is fixed at the end, you know the blanks contain a subject and a verb.

Count the chunks and the blanks

This takes two seconds, and it is the easiest way to avoid the trap chunk. If you have six chunks and five blanks, exactly one chunk stays in the bank. Next, look for two chunks that compete for the same place. Examples are "show" and "shows," "going" and "to go," or "which" and "who." One of them is the trap. The grammar of the rest of the sentence tells you which one.⁹¹²

Place the subject and the main verb

Find the subject and its verb. The subject is often a pronoun like "they" or a noun group like "the new schedule." In a direct question, a helping verb comes before the subject: "did you," "will they." In a statement, or in a question inside another sentence, the subject comes first.²¹⁰ When the subject and verb are in place, most other chunks can go in only one place. Articles stay next to their nouns. A relative clause, such as "who lives next door," goes directly after the noun it describes.¹²

Add what the verb needs, then the rest

Ask what must come after the verb. "Want" needs "to" and a verb: "want me to send you." "Avoid" needs a verb with -ing. "Suggest" can take "that" and a clause, or a verb with -ing.⁷⁹ Place the object next. Then place phrases about time and place. In English, these almost always go at the end of the clause, not between the verb and its object.⁵

Read the whole reply once

Read the reply silently from the first word to the last, including the fixed words and the final punctuation. Imagine the other person really said it. TOEFLMockTests estimates that this three-second check catches about one mistake in five.⁹ If something sounds a little wrong, it usually is. Then click Next and stop thinking about that question.

Common Build a Sentence mistakes and how to fix them

Using question order inside another question. Magoosh says this is the most common mistake in the task.² The question mark at the end makes you want to write "Do you know where is the office?" To fix this, remember that the opening phrase ("Do you know," "Can you tell me") is the real question. Everything after the question word is a statement: "Do you know where the office is?"

Forgetting the helping verb in a direct question. When you work fast, "Where you went last night?" can feel complete. But direct questions in the simple past and simple present need "did," "do," or "does" before the subject: "Where did you go last night?" A missing helping verb is one of the common mistakes on this task.¹² If the bank has "do" or "did," it is almost never the trap chunk.

Using the trap chunk. You see a chunk that fits, and you use it. Every blank is filled, but one chunk from the correct answer is left in the bank. If you count the chunks and blanks first, you know there is a trap before you start. Then you can look for the two competing chunks on purpose.

Agreement with a long subject. In "The results of the survey was surprising," the verb agrees with the closest noun ("survey") instead of the real subject ("results").⁹¹⁰ Before you choose between "was" and "were," find the main noun of the subject. Ignore any "of" phrase or relative clause after it.

Putting time and place in the middle. "I left yesterday my keys at the library" is a common mistake from languages with a freer word order.⁵ English keeps the verb and its object together. Then it adds the place, and then the time: "I left my keys at the library yesterday."

Putting frequency words in the wrong place. A typical mistake is "She goes always to the gym." Words like "always" and "often" come after the subject and before the main verb: "she always goes." But they come after the verb "be": "she is always late."¹⁰

A worked example

Here is the question from the start of this guide, with all the chunks:

I heard the chemistry lab is moving to the new building.

Do you know ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ?

are planning to open when opening they it

First, look at the frame. The reply ends with a question mark, but it starts with the fixed words "Do you know." So the question is inside another sentence, and the part after the question word needs statement order. That means "when are they planning" is wrong, even though it is tempting.

Next, count. There are six chunks and five blanks, so one chunk is a trap. The two competing chunks are clearly "to open" and "opening."

Now place the main parts. The question word "when" must start the clause, because no other chunk can do that job. In statement order, the subject comes next: "they." Then comes the verb: "are planning." The verb "plan" needs "to" and a verb, so "to open" comes next, and "opening" is the trap. The last chunk, "it," is the object of "open."

Read it all: "Do you know when they are planning to open it?" It sounds like something a classmate would really say. It uses five chunks, and "opening" stays in the bank. When the method is automatic, this takes about 30 seconds. That leaves extra time for a harder question later.

How to study and practice for Build a Sentence

For most learners, two weeks of focused practice is enough to stop losing points here. The task uses a small set of patterns. What you need is fast recognition. That comes from doing many questions and honestly reviewing every mistake.

Daily timed sets. Every day, do ten questions in less than 7 minutes. With review, this takes about 15 minutes. Score yourself strictly: a question counts only if every chunk is correct. For each mistake, write the correct sentence by hand. Then name the rule you broke in two or three words, such as "question inside question" or "want + to." After one week, this list shows you the two or three patterns that cost you the most points.

Lists of trap patterns. Keep short lists that you can review in five minutes:

• Verbs followed by -ing: avoid, enjoy, finish, suggest.
• Verbs followed by "to" and a verb: want, plan, decide, hope.
• Phrases that put a question inside a sentence: Do you know, Can you tell me, I wonder, I'm not sure.

Most trap chunks are built from exactly these differences.

Mix up your own sentences. Each day, take five sentences from anything you read in English. Dialogue and emails are best, because the task uses conversational language.⁴ Cut each sentence into five to seven chunks. Add one wrong chunk, such as a wrong verb form, as a trap. Mix the chunks and rebuild the sentences the next day. When you make traps yourself, you learn faster where the test hides them.

Read aloud. Read short dialogues aloud for two minutes every day. This trains the "does this sound right" check you use in the last step. Choose natural conversation, such as podcast transcripts or TV scripts, not academic texts. The test sentences are replies in a conversation.

A simple three-week plan:

• Week 1: structure. Do one timed set a day, with no pressure beyond the 7 minutes. Focus only on the first three steps of the method: punctuation and fixed words, counting chunks, and subject and verb. Start your list of mistakes.
• Week 2: the traps. Keep doing the daily set. Add the pattern lists and the sentence-mixing drill. Try to get every "question inside a question" and every -ing or "to" question right.
• Week 3 and after: speed. Bring your time down to about 30 seconds per question. Twice this week, do a Build a Sentence set and then a timed Email right after it. On test day, the Email starts as soon as the sentences end.

To check yourself without an app, use the answer key strictly. Then read your wrong answer aloud next to the correct one. If you cannot say which rule makes them different, you have not learned that question yet. Add it to tomorrow's set.

How to practice this on FluentPrep AI

The Build a Sentence practice mode gives you sets of ten questions. Each question shows the other speaker's line, any fixed words at the start or end of the reply, and a mixed word bank. The bank always has at least one trap chunk, so you always practice the harder version. Click a chunk to add it, drag chunks to change the order, and click a chunk again to send it back to the bank. Turn on Timed Mode to get a 6 minute 20 second limit for the set, a little shorter than the real test. The work area does not show one blank for each chunk. This makes practice harder than test day, because you must decide how many chunks belong. So count carefully. When you check an answer, you see the correct sentence. Any chunk you left in the bank is marked in red, and every chunk in the wrong place is highlighted. So you can see exactly where your order went wrong. The app shows a percentage for answers that are partly correct. But count anything under 100% as zero, because that is how ETS scores it. You can find this task and the other eleven on the practice hub.

Where to go from here

Today, do one timed set of ten on Build a Sentence practice. Write down the rule behind every mistake. That list is your study plan for the week. Then read the Write an Email guide, because the Email timer starts as soon as your tenth sentence is done. Also read the Academic Discussion guide for the last task in the section.