The task
Build a Sentence gives you a set of words and phrases in scrambled order; you arrange them into one grammatically correct sentence. It's the first, objective part of the 2026 Writing section (about 10 items) — auto-scored against accepted word orders, no AI grading involved.
Strategy
- Find the subject and main verb first. Every correct sentence has exactly one — locate them before placing anything else.
- Group phrases, don't move single words. "in the library" or "has been studying" almost always belong together — treat them as one block.
- Watch for more than one grammatical order. Some items accept multiple correct arrangements (e.g. a fronted time phrase); if your first instinct works grammatically, don't second-guess it.
- Read the finished sentence aloud (silently) before submitting. If it doesn't sound natural, a word is probably in the wrong slot.
10 worked examples
- Scrambled: "the exam / before / students / review their notes / usually"
Answer: Students usually review their notes before the exam. - Scrambled: "has been raining / since morning / it / heavily"
Answer: It has been raining heavily since morning. - Scrambled: "the professor / to the committee / submitted / her research proposal"
Answer: The professor submitted her research proposal to the committee. - Scrambled: "despite the delay / the project / on time / was finished"
Answer: Despite the delay, the project was finished on time. - Scrambled: "many students / find / difficult / statistics"
Answer: Many students find statistics difficult. - Scrambled: "would have attended / if I had known / the lecture / earlier / I"
Answer: I would have attended the lecture if I had known earlier. - Scrambled: "is required / for the internship / a letter of recommendation"
Answer: A letter of recommendation is required for the internship. - Scrambled: "the library / until midnight / stays open / during finals week"
Answer: The library stays open until midnight during finals week. - Scrambled: "she decided / after graduating / to travel / for a year"
Answer: After graduating, she decided to travel for a year. - Scrambled: "the results / were surprising / to the researchers / of the study"
Answer: The results of the study were surprising to the researchers.
Why speed matters here
Build a Sentence is fast by design — with roughly 10 items inside the ~23-minute Writing section, you can't afford to deliberate on each one. The reps above build the pattern-recognition that makes correct word order feel automatic rather than something you have to reason through each time.