The previous lesson covered how Write from Dictation works. This one deals with two practical problems: what to do when you did not catch the whole sentence, and how to use practice sentences so the time you spend on them actually pays off.
Filling gaps with grammar
You hear each sentence once, so missing part of it is normal. The answer is to fill the gap using grammar, not to leave it empty. How to listen and what to hold in memory is covered in Write from Dictation: how it works.
| Where the gap is | What it must be | Example |
|---|---|---|
| After an article | A noun | "the ___ explained" → a person, such as professor |
| After the subject | A verb | "students ___ the report" → a main verb, such as submitted |
| After a preposition | A noun or -ing form | "interested ___ ___ topic" → in / this |
| Next to a time marker | A verb in the matching tense | "yesterday, she ___" → past tense |
There is only one principle for gaps: fill them. Because wrong words are never subtracted, any guess that fits the grammar is better than a blank. The table above tells you which direction to guess in.
| How much you heard | What to write |
|---|---|
| Heard it clearly | Write it as heard |
| Heard part of it (you know the shape but not the spelling) | Write the closest spelling you can; do not leave it blank |
| Did not hear the word at all | Use the table to pick a sensible, common word you can spell |
| The whole sentence is a blur | Still fill every gap and write a complete, grammatical sentence that makes sense. You may only score a few words, but that beats zero. |
The one thing to watch is spelling. When you guess, choose short, common words you are sure of. A misspelled long word scores the same as a blank and costs you time. And do not forget the two free points of form: a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.
Worked examples from practice sentences
- After the subject comes a verb. Two practice sentences read "The teacher explains the homework to the students." and "The teacher explained the homework to the class." They differ only in tense (explains / explained) and the last noun (students / class). If you only caught "The teacher ___ the homework to the ___.", you have to decide the tense from what you heard, including any time words. Memorizing one version of the text would actually hurt you here, because you cannot know which version will play.
- After a preposition comes a noun. In "The stairs are to the left of the elevator.", if "of the elevator" was unclear, the phrase "to the left of ___" still tells you a place noun must follow.
These rules are not abstract. They are the decisions you will make over and over in daily dictation practice.
Using practice sentence lists well
Lists of practice sentences are widely shared. They can be useful, but only if you understand what they are.
In one set of 80 practice sentences we reviewed, 10 were marked as having variant wordings, at least 13 groups were near-duplicates that differed by a word or two (for example, "The restroom is down the hall and on the right" alongside "The restrooms are down the entrance and to the right"), and two entries were identical. The same topic clearly comes up in different wordings. There is no sign that any list matches the exact text you will hear.
Pearson has never published the size of the Write from Dictation question bank or how often items repeat. Be wary of any material that claims a figure for either.
So treat a sentence list as material for reading aloud, spelling practice and spotting variants, not as answers to learn by heart. Two reasons:
- Real items often differ from list versions: a word moves, a preposition changes. If you have memorized the text, you will not hear the change.
- The pool of possible sentences is large. What you actually need is the ability to understand and spell, not a memory of specific sentences.
How to use a list: two or three times a week, take 10 sentences. Read each aloud (for rhythm and word endings), cover it and write it from memory (for spelling), then check whether it has a variant version (for noticing differences). Do your real listen-and-type practice with audio, because only audio trains your hearing.
| Material | Has audio? | What it trains | Suggested use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Write from Dictation items with audio | Yes | Hearing and spelling, the two things this task scores | 3–4 a day, top priority |
| Listening: Fill in the Blanks items with audio | Yes | Listening while typing | About 5 a day (see the next lesson) |
| Text-only sentence list | No | Reading aloud, spelling, spotting variants | 2–3 times a week, 10 sentences each time |
A variant trap, step by step
List version: "We cannot consider an increase in price at this stage." Variant: "We can't consider any increase in our price at this stage."
Suppose someone has memorized the list version, and the variant plays on test day:
- While listening: "can't" is reduced and its final /t/ is barely there. With "cannot" already loaded in their head, they may hear "can" instead, and the sentence flips from negative to positive. That is not one lost word; it is a sentence that means the opposite.
- What to do instead: do not expect any version. Catch what is actually in the audio: the negative (can't or cannot, judged by whether you hear that slight stop of the /t/), "increase", "price", "this stage".
- When rebuilding: write "in price" or "in our price" depending on what you heard. If unsure, follow the fill-every-gap rule and pick a simple word you can spell, rather than trying to remember which list version it was.
- When checking in practice: compare your answer with the recording you heard, replaying it if needed, not with the list text. That is the difference between training your ears and memorizing answers.
Saving time for the last listening task
Write from Dictation is the last task type in the Listening part. If earlier tasks run long, you arrive at it rushed.
- Keep earlier items on a budget: about 1.5 minutes for each multiple-choice item and about 2 minutes for each Highlight Incorrect Words item.
- Set aside 5–6 minutes for Write from Dictation.
- If you are running over, protect Write from Dictation first. Make a quick best choice on any remaining multiple-choice item and move on.
Practice routine and self-check
- Work through a full round of Write from Dictation items with audio: listen once, type, then replay and check. Rewrite wrong sentences until they are exact. Practice items: Write from Dictation questions.
- Two or three times a week, do the text-only routine with 10 list sentences: read aloud, write from memory, compare variants. Pick a few near-duplicate pairs and say exactly which words differ.
- Sort your errors into three groups: misheard, misspelled, or wrong grammar guess. Find your biggest group.
- Time one full Listening section in practice and check that you reach Write from Dictation with at least 5 minutes left.
Self-check (the same standard as the previous lesson): with audio practice, at least 90% of sentences fully correct and at least 97% of words correct. Count a missing capital or full stop as an error.
Two model answers
| Sentence | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Please get us a meeting room for the next hour. | An instruction; do not drop "for" in "for the next hour" |
| Time is needed to complete the lecture. | Passive "is needed"; the easiest thing to lose is "is" or the -ed |
Error log. After each round, count your errors by type:
| Error type | Count this round | Common cause |
|---|---|---|
| Misheard | ___ | Linking, dropped sounds or weak forms |
| Misspelled | ___ | Weak -s and -ed endings left off |
| Wrong grammar guess | ___ | The word you filled in does not fit the grammar, or is the wrong kind of word |
Whichever count is highest tells you what to practice next, instead of doing more items without a focus.