Sentence Completion in IELTS Listening: how to find and write the answer

You complete separate sentences with words or numbers taken from the recording. The sentences summarise what is said rather than quote it, so you need to understand the idea as well as hear the word. The task also tests grammar, because what you write must fit the sentence it completes.

Format

• Can appear in any part, though it is most often found in Parts 2, 3 and 4. A set is usually 4 to 6 sentences.
• Limits are printed in the instruction: usually ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER or NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.
• The sentences follow the order of the recording. Unlike a form, each sentence is a full statement, so the wording is often paraphrased.
• The words you write come from the recording, but you may need to choose between several nouns the speaker mentions, because only one fits the meaning of the sentence.
• On computer you type into a box inside the sentence; capital letters do not matter and hyphenated words count as one.

Strategy

1. Read all the sentences in the pause and underline the meaning of each, not just its keywords. 'Volunteers are most needed at ____' is asking where or when, not who.
2. Predict the grammar from the words either side. 'a ____' needs a singular noun with a consonant sound, 'were ____ by the council' needs a past participle, and '____ of the lake' needs something that has an edge or a side.
3. Choose one word in each sentence that the speaker is unlikely to change and listen for it. Names, numbers and technical terms are safe; common verbs and adjectives are usually paraphrased.
4. Expect the speaker to mention two or three possible answers close together. Hold each in mind, then ask which one completes the sentence you actually have.
5. Listen for the words that cancel or replace an idea: 'actually', 'instead', 'in the end', 'we decided against'. The answer is often what comes after them.
6. Write the word exactly as you heard it, including a plural or an -ed ending. If the sentence needs a plural noun, the answer must be the plural noun.
7. Check the finished sentence by reading it aloud in your head: does it make grammatical sense and say the same thing as the recording? Then count the words.
8. Stay one question ahead. As soon as you have typed an answer, read the next sentence, because the speaker may reach it within seconds.

Common traps

• Choosing the wrong noun from a list. If the speaker says 'we looked at pine, oak and finally chose cedar', the sentence about the final choice needs cedar, not the first material mentioned.
• Ignoring the grammar of the sentence. A gap after 'an' cannot take 'garden', and a gap after 'two' needs a plural.
• Writing more words than the limit allows because the speaker used a longer phrase. Trim to the key noun or the allowed number of words.
• Writing a word from the recording that does not mean what the sentence needs, because the keyword was repeated in the wrong context.
• Missing an answer by waiting for the exact printed phrase. Sentence completion paraphrases, so the speaker may never say the words you underlined.
• Using a different word form, such as 'create' instead of 'creation', because it sounds similar. The word in the recording is the word that is marked.

FAQ

More IELTS Listening guides

• Form, note & table completion
• Short-answer questions
• Multiple choice
• Choose two answers
• Matching
• Map & plan labelling

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