# TOEFL Build a Sentence Practice (With Answers)

10 worked examples for the objective, auto-scored Writing task.

## 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.