Updated October 2026
Build a Sentence: how the task works and how to practise
Build a Sentence opens the Writing section. You do not write anything of your own: you put the words of a sentence into the right order, usually as a reply in a short exchange.
What you see
A line of context, often something another person has said, and then the words of the reply in the wrong order. You arrange them into a correct sentence. Sometimes part of the sentence is already in place.
There are several of these in a set, and the set has one clock. You can move between the items of the set until the time is up.
What it tests
Word order. English is strict about it: subject before verb, auxiliary before main verb, and fixed places for adverbs, negatives and question words. Indirect questions ("Do you know where the library is?") and sentences with two clauses are favourites.
It also tests whether you read the context. The reply has to make sense as an answer to what was said.
A method that works
Find the subject and the main verb first. Add the auxiliaries and the object. Then place what is left: adverbs, time expressions, linking words. Groups that always travel together, such as "as soon as" or "in order to", can be treated as one piece.
When you have an order, read it silently from start to finish. A sentence that sounds wrong usually is.
Common traps
Putting a question word order into an indirect question; misplacing "not", "only" or "always"; and leaving a word unused because the sentence already seemed complete.
Do not spend a minute on one item while the others wait. The set is timed as a whole.
How to practise
Take correct sentences from anything you read, cut them into words, and rebuild them a day later. Pay attention to the patterns you get wrong more than once.
Speed comes from recognising patterns, and patterns come from volume. Ten sentences a day for two weeks makes a visible difference.
This is an independent summary written for test takers. ETS publishes the official specification of the test on its own website.