This task counts toward both listening and writing, and there are usually a few of them in each test. It is worth one lesson to get the practical details right.
How the task works
| Detail | What to know |
|---|---|
| Items per test | 2–3 (per Pearson's PTE Core Score Guide; check the latest official guide) |
| Scoring | Each blank is scored on its own: one point for each correctly spelled word |
| Counts toward | Listening and writing |
Like Write from Dictation, it lifts two scores at once. It is harder in one way: you follow the transcript on screen while the audio plays and type the missing words as you go. The blanks come close together, and if your hands fall behind, you miss the next one.
The one writing task where typing speed matters
| Task | Is typing speed the bottleneck? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Write from Dictation | No | You type after the audio ends. A 9-word sentence takes about 18 seconds at 30 words per minute. |
| Write Email | No | 100 words in 9 minutes needs about 11 words per minute. |
| Listening: Fill in the Blanks | Yes | The audio does not stop. Between two blanks you have a few seconds to hear the word, decide its form, type it and move to the next box. |
There is no official words-per-minute requirement, so instead of a number, test yourself. Play a Fill in the Blanks item at normal speed and type as you listen. Your typing is holding you back if any of these happen:
- You finish a blank, look up, and the audio has already passed the next one.
- You have to type half a word or an abbreviation and come back to it.
- Your eyes have to leave the screen to find keys.
If none of these happen, you do not need extra typing practice; spend the time on listening. If any of them do, add 10 minutes of touch-typing practice a day. The goal is not a speed number but never looking at the keyboard. Every glance down is a blank you may miss.
Four practical habits
- Move with the Tab key, not the mouse. Clicking is slow and easy to get wrong. Press Tab to jump to the next box.
- Keep your hands on the keys and your eyes on the screen. Type as you hear. Do not wait until the end; the audio will not wait for you.
- Skim the text before the audio starts. Get a sense of what kind of word each blank needs, so you react faster.
- Double-check words that sound alike. Pairs such as corporation / cooperation / cooperating / incorporate, statics / statistics, inquiring / requiring, profession / professional, respond / response and subsidize / subsiding come up in practice material. When you hear one, decide first whether the gap needs a noun or a verb, singular or plural, and only then type it.
Predicting the word type
| What surrounds the blank | Likely word type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| After a / an / the | Noun | "the ___ of the report" |
| After the subject, before a tense marker | Verb | "researchers ___ that..." |
| After a preposition | Noun or -ing form | "depends on ___ and responsibility" → a noun after "on" |
| Before a noun, describing it | Adjective | "an ___ approach" → for example, alternative |
| Between two nouns, with a link missing | Preposition | "access ___ resources" → to (access to is a fixed phrase) |
This is the same logic as filling gaps in Write from Dictation: decide the word type, then combine it with what you heard. But be clear about one thing: predicting the word type does not earn points by itself. The Score Guide scores this task on one rule, partial credit for each word spelled correctly. The value of prediction is accuracy. If you know the gap needs a noun, you will not write "cooperate" for "cooperation", and you will not drop a plural -s.
Words that are often misspelled
| Word | Where people slip |
|---|---|
| acknowledge | the c-k-n order in the middle |
| assumption | double s, double m, then -tion |
| articulation | long word; the -cul- in the middle gets dropped |
| beleaguered | several silent-looking letters (g-u-e) |
| aspiration | the long -ation ending |
| corporation / cooperation | almost the same sound; only the grammar and context tell you which |
| statistics / statics | similar shape, completely different meaning; check the ending |
| subsidize / subsiding | a few letters apart, unrelated meanings (fund / sink) |
| infrastructure | long word; the -struc- in the middle gets dropped |
Most problem words are long academic words, especially nouns ending in -tion, -ation and -sion. Do not memorize isolated word lists. When you misspell a word during dictation practice, look up the correct spelling and write it out again.
When you miss a blank completely
Do not leave it empty. The same grammar-based gap filling is shown in Write from Dictation in practice.
- Use the word-type rules to decide what kind of word it must be.
- Use the topic (environment, technology, health and so on) to choose a sensible common word you can spell.
- A simple word spelled correctly is better than a blank. Wrong words are not subtracted, so writing something always gives you a better chance than writing nothing.
Two worked examples
Passage 1: getting around Paris (5 blanks)
"As with most cities, we ___ getting about on foot… The subway ___ is split into the metro and RER lines. Tickets will work across both, so you can treat it as one big ___ network… As for tickets, a single ___ is 1.90 euro… Now there are weekly or monthly passes ___."
| Context | Word type | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| we ___ getting about on foot | After "we", followed by an -ing form → base verb | recommend | "we recommend getting about on foot" |
| The subway ___ is split into… | After a noun, before "is" → noun | system | "The subway system is split into…" |
| one big ___ network | After "big", before "network" → describing word | underground | "one big underground network" |
| a single ___ is 1.90 euro | After "a single" → noun | journey | "a single journey is 1.90 euro" |
| monthly passes ___ | After a noun at the end of the sentence → adjective | available | "weekly or monthly passes available" |
Passage 2: carbon trading (5 blanks)
"Carbon prices in the European Union also reached their highest level in a ___ this summer following a series of reforms meant to ___ the oversupply of credits… The ___ development of all may be in China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, which has taken steps toward its own ___ trading programme. China's move has the ___ to narrow the gap…"
| Context | Word type | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| highest level in a ___ | After "a" → noun (a period of time) | decade | "highest level in a decade" |
| reforms meant to ___ the oversupply | After "to" → base verb | limit | "meant to limit the oversupply" |
| The ___ development of all | "the ___ … of all" → superlative | biggest | "The biggest development of all" |
| its own ___ trading programme | Before "trading programme" → describing word | emissions | "its own emissions trading programme" |
| has the ___ to narrow the gap | After "the", before "to" → noun | potential | "has the potential to narrow the gap" |
Two lessons from these passages. First, count the blanks before the audio starts. Missing one costs a point and throws off your rhythm for the rest. Second, word-type prediction narrows the options a lot, but the word you write comes from the recording. Grammar only tells you the third blank in passage 1 describes "network"; the audio is what tells you it is "underground". Skimming first gives you the topic and tells you what to listen for. It does not replace listening.
Practice routine and self-check
- Do about 5 Fill in the Blanks items a day: type as you listen, use Tab to move, and check each blank against the transcript straight after. Use the listening Fill in the Blanks question bank.
- Add short single-word dictation for spelling.
- Sort your errors: misheard or misspelled?
- Cover the answers in the two worked examples above, reason through each blank yourself, then check.
Self-check: across 10 items, at least 97% of blanks correct and at least 90% of items with every blank correct. This is the same method as Write from Dictation. With about 50 blanks, 1 wrong is 98%, which meets the target; 2 wrong is 96%, which does not.
And whatever happens, fill every blank. Filling gaps is strategy; accuracy is skill. The two do not conflict: you can only score on a blank you filled, and accuracy shows you how much further you have to go.