TOEFL Build a Sentence practice with instant checking
Arrange 6 to 12 given words into one correct sentence, exactly like test day. Each set takes about 6 minutes, and every answer is checked the moment you submit.
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How it works
How Build a Sentence practice works
Open a question set
You get a scrambled set of 6 to 12 words, the same range the 2026 test uses.
Arrange the words in order
Build one grammatically correct sentence under the real time limit.
Submit and see the result
Each answer is marked correct or incorrect right away, so you know which structures still trip you up.
Track what to review
Your results are saved to your progress page, so weak grammar patterns are easy to spot and repeat.
How the task actually works
What ETS states
The current Writing section lists 12 items: 10 Build a Sentence items, one Write an Email task, and one Academic Discussion task.
Build a Sentence represents 10 of the 20 listed maximum raw points in the Writing specification.
That is half of the listed raw points, not a claim that it determines half of the final band score; ETS does not publish a simple raw-to-band conversion here.
The maximum points per Build a Sentence item is 1.
The 2026 Reading and Listening sections use multistage adaptive designs; Speaking and Writing are linear.
Sourced from the ETS 2026 test specifications, accessed 17 July 2026.
Reach120 interprets — our reading, not ETS’s explanation
What the task is really testing
A Build a Sentence item gives you a context — typically a completed sentence plus a question — and a set of scrambled words and phrases. Your job is to arrange them into one sentence that is grammatically correct and functions as a natural answer to the question. Both conditions matter: a grammatical sentence that ignores the question is still wrong.
The skill being measured is syntactic control under time pressure: subject-verb agreement, word order, modifier placement, and — most often decisive — which clause a connector attaches to.
One item, one decision
This item was written by Reach120 to illustrate the task pattern. It is not an ETS item and does not reproduce any official material.
- Context
- Last month, our study group started meeting at the library instead of the cafeteria.
- Question
- Why did you change the location?
Wrong arrangement
Because we moved, the library is much quieter than the cafeteria.
Grammatical as a sentence, but it answers a different question — it claims the library got quieter because the group moved. It does not answer “why did you change the location?”
Correct arrangement
We moved because the library is much quieter than the cafeteria.
The main clause states the action, “because” controls the reason clause, and the comparative “much quieter … than” stays intact as one unit.
Before ordering anything else, decide which clause the connector controls, then keep comparative and prepositional units unbroken. Most arrangement errors are connector-attachment errors, not vocabulary errors.
What a raw result means
In our reading of the specification a Build a Sentence item is scored correct or incorrect, so a practice result on these items is a raw count — not a band score. Official score reports for tests taken on or after January 21, 2026 use a 1-6 scale in half-band increments, and ETS does not publish a simple raw-to-band conversion here. Treat raw-item accuracy as evidence about your grammar control, never as a predicted official score.
Worked examples
Six Build a Sentence items, worked end to end
Each item shows the tiles you would be given, the arrangement that answers the question, the reasoning behind it, and the wrong arrangement test-takers actually produce. Read the tiles, decide your order, then check.
- Item 1Connector attachment
- Context
- The department moved its Thursday seminar to Monday afternoons.
- Question
- Why was the seminar moved?
- they rescheduled
- because
- the lab
- was
- unavailable
- on Thursdays
Answer
They rescheduled because the lab was unavailable on Thursdays.
The main clause states the action and “because” introduces the reason. The question asks for a cause, so the cause has to sit inside the because-clause, not outside it.
Common wrong arrangement
Because they rescheduled, the lab was unavailable on Thursdays.
Grammatical, and wrong. It reverses cause and effect — it now says the rescheduling made the lab unavailable, which answers no question anyone asked.
- Item 2Frequency adverb placement
- Context
- Mei works part-time at the campus radio station.
- Question
- When does she record her show?
- she
- records
- usually
- the show
- before
- her Friday lecture
Answer
She usually records the show before her Friday lecture.
A frequency adverb goes between the subject and the main verb. Everything after the verb stays in one block: object, then the time phrase.
Common wrong arrangement
She records usually the show before her Friday lecture.
The adverb has been dropped between the verb and its object, which English does not allow. This is the single most common tile-order error on frequency adverbs.
- Item 3Passive voice with an agent
- Context
- The new bike lane along the river opened last spring.
- Question
- Who paid for it?
- the lane
- was
- funded
- entirely
- by
- a city grant
Answer
The lane was funded entirely by a city grant.
A passive kit is easy to spot: a be-form, a past participle, and a stray “by”. Build be + participle first, then attach the by-phrase, then find the one slot the adverb fits.
Common wrong arrangement
The lane was funded by entirely a city grant.
The adverb has been pushed inside the by-phrase, splitting the preposition from its noun. Prepositional units stay unbroken.
- Item 4Comparative kept intact
- Context
- Two apartments near the station were available in September.
- Question
- Which one did you take, and why?
- we
- chose
- the smaller
- apartment
- because
- it
- was
- far cheaper
Answer
We chose the smaller apartment because it was far cheaper.
“Far cheaper” is one unit: a degree word bolted to a comparative. Treat multi-word tiles as blocks that move together rather than as loose words.
Common wrong arrangement
We chose the smaller apartment because far it was cheaper.
The degree word has been separated from the comparative it modifies. The sentence still contains every tile, and it is still wrong.
- Item 5Embedded question order
- Context
- A visitor stopped you outside the science building this morning.
- Question
- What did they want to know?
- they
- asked
- where
- the lecture hall
- was
Answer
They asked where the lecture hall was.
A question inside a sentence stops being a question in form. After “asked”, the clause returns to subject-then-verb order.
Common wrong arrangement
They asked where was the lecture hall.
Direct-question inversion has been carried into a reported question. This one is worth drilling: it survives in speech, so it feels right and is not.
- Item 6Place before time
- Context
- The chemistry review sessions started again this term.
- Question
- When and where do they meet?
- they
- meet
- in the annex
- every Tuesday
- at seven
Answer
They meet in the annex every Tuesday at seven.
When both appear, English puts place before time, and the time phrase keeps its own internal order: day, then clock time.
Common wrong arrangement
They meet every Tuesday in the annex at seven.
The place phrase has been dropped inside the time information, splitting “every Tuesday at seven”. Readable, unnatural, and marked wrong.
These items were written by Reach120 to show how the task behaves. None is an ETS item, and none reproduces official test material.
Read the full Build a Sentence guideThe Build a Sentence practice screen
Word tiles, the countdown timer, and instant checking on submit.
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FAQ
Build a Sentence questions, answered
Build a Sentence is the first task in the 2026 TOEFL Writing section, and the specification lists 10 of the section’s 12 items as Build a Sentence items. You receive 6 to 12 words and must arrange all of them into one grammatically correct sentence that answers the prompt. The whole task takes about 6 minutes.
No. You are not selecting one option among answers; you arrange the given words and phrases into a sentence yourself. In our reading of the ETS specification, the arrangement is then scored correct or incorrect rather than on a rubric — the specification itself publishes the point allocation, a maximum of 1 point per item.
Build a Sentence represents 10 of the 20 listed maximum raw points in the Writing specification. That is half of the listed raw points, not a claim that it determines half of the final band score; ETS does not publish a simple raw-to-band conversion here.
Word order, subject-verb agreement, articles, and linking words come up constantly. Practicing full question sets is the fastest way to find which of these patterns you miss under time pressure.
Reading and Listening practice, sample answers, practice topics, and all blog guides are free. Unlimited AI-scored Writing and Speaking practice needs a paid plan: $7.49 every week or $48 every three months, cancel any time — each renews automatically until you cancel. AI scoring carries a fair-use limit of 300 actions a month — far more than typical use. Pricing is shown on this page, and there is no signup wall to see it.
Yes. The TOEFL Writing section changed on January 21, 2026 to three task types: Build a Sentence, Write an Email, and Academic Discussion. Reach120 practice follows the 2026 task descriptions ETS publishes. Our scores are practice estimates, never official results.
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