IELTS Listening Sentence Completion

The sentence on the paper is not a copy of what the speaker says. It is a paraphrase, and the answers come in the same order as the recording source: IDP.

So you listen for the meaning of the sentence, then catch the exact word that fills the gap. The other five types are compared in IELTS Listening question types.

What the task asks you to do

You read sentences that sum up the recording, and you fill one gap in each.

The task tests whether you can find the important information. It can also test whether you understand how ideas, facts or events are linked, such as cause and effect source: ielts.org.

So listen for the words that join ideas, such as "because", "so" and "that's why". The answer may come just before or just after one of them.

The sentence says it in other words

Because the sentence is a paraphrase, you will rarely hear it read out. You need its meaning ready before the speaker reaches it.

Take a sentence such as "The project was delayed because of ________". The speaker might say "We lost two weeks waiting for the equipment". The words "delayed" and "because of" never come. The idea does, and "equipment" fills the gap.

So before the recording, turn each sentence into a simple question. "The project was delayed because of what?" Then you listen for an answer to a question, not for a matching phrase.

The words near the gap help most. "Caused by", "the reason for" and "as a result of" point to a cause. "Instead of" points to a change of plan. "Most" or "main" point to one thing chosen from several.

Keeping your place

You hear each recording once, and the questions follow the order of the recording source: ielts.org. IELTS Listening question types covers these shared rules.

In sentence completion, read two or three sentences ahead before the speakers start. If they reach the idea in sentence 4 and gap 3 is still empty, the answer to 3 has passed. Leave it, answer 4, and come back to 3 at the end with your best guess.

Count only the words in the gap

The instructions give a word limit, and you lose the mark for writing more than it allows source: ielts.org. Listening form completion has the full rules on the limit, hyphens and numbers.

What is different here is how much text surrounds the gap. A sentence is long, and it is easy to copy part of it into your answer. Count only the words you write in the gap. The words printed around it are not part of your answer.

Do not repeat the sentence

An answer that includes a word already in the question is marked wrong source: IDP.

The rule covers meaning as well as the exact word. In one IDP example, the question already speaks of people "without formal university qualifications". So the answer "non-academic staff" is wrong, because "non-academic" repeats an idea the question has already given source: IDP.

So read the words on both sides of the gap before you write. Ask what the sentence still needs, and write only that.

Grammar, plurals and word forms

Work out what part of speech is missing before the recording starts source: IDP. Nouns can appear in plural form. Verbs can be in past, past participle or present participle form. Some words may need prefixes as well source: IDP.

Forgetting the plural, or using the wrong tense, is a common mistake source: IDP.

The sentence gives you a grammar check that other types do not. After you write an answer, read the whole sentence with your word in it. "The group will meet every ________" needs a noun such as "Monday", not a verb such as "meet". If the sentence sounds wrong, look again at the form of your word.

Do not try to decide on an answer before you fully understand what you hear source: IDP. Listen until the speaker finishes their sentence or idea before you answer source: IDP.

The two pieces of advice fit together. Predict the kind of word the gap needs, such as a plural noun or a past verb. Do not decide on the word itself until the speaker has finished the idea.

Spelling

Words with spelling errors in the Listening test are marked as incorrect source: IDP. Listening form completion covers British and American spelling and capital letters. For gaps that need a number, a date or a time, see how to write numbers, dates and times in IELTS Listening.

A worked example

Here is a short transcript written for this page, with three sentences to complete. The limit is one word.

Complete the sentences. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

1. The students will now count bees on local ________ .
2. The fall in bee numbers in July was probably caused by ________ .
3. The group will present its findings in a written ________ .

TUTOR: So where are you counting the bees?

ANNA: We planned to use the city parks. But the council wanted a permit, so we've moved to the allotments^{note 1} by the river.

TUTOR: And what did your first counts show?

ANNA: Numbers fell sharply in July. We think the heat was to blame^{note 2}, because the flowers dried out early.

TUTOR: How will you present it all?

ANNA: As a written report, with photos of each site.^{note 3}

1. A speaker may give an answer and then change their decision source: British Council. "Parks" was the first plan, and Anna drops it. The answer is "allotments". Write the word as Anna says it, with the s.
2. Sentence completion can test cause and effect source: ielts.org. You lose the mark for writing more than the word limit source: ielts.org. The sentence says "caused by" and Anna says "to blame". The answer is "heat". "The heat" is two words, so it would lose the mark.
3. An answer that repeats a word from the question is marked wrong source: IDP. The sentence already has "written" before the gap. So the answer is "report". "Written report" repeats a word and also breaks the limit.

The answers are allotments, heat and report. In each one, the speaker's words differ from the sentence, and the answer is a single word taken from what she said.

How to get better at sentence completion

Practise the step this type adds: moving between a written sentence and the spoken idea behind it.

• Before each task, read every sentence and mark the word just before the gap. It often tells you whether a noun, a verb or an adjective comes next.
• Turn each sentence into a short question, as above. Say it to yourself before the recording starts.
• After a practice task, read each sentence aloud with your answer in it. If the grammar sounds wrong, find out why.
• When you check an answer, find the place in the recording script where the speaker gave it. Note the words the speaker used in place of the sentence's words.
• A practice test can show you weak areas to work on before test day source: IDP.

Which part of the test it appears in

Sentence completion is a common task type and can appear in Part 4 source: IDP.

The British Council's sample sentence completion task is an extract from Part 3. In it, two friends discuss studying with the Open University source: British Council.

The two examples come from different parts. Which part each type appears in explains why no part is fixed.

Listening and Reading sentence completion

On paper, the Reading task looks almost the same. The difference is where the words come from. In Reading, you can find the words in the text again and copy them letter by letter. In Listening, the words pass once, and you spell them from memory. Sentence completion in IELTS Reading covers the Reading version, which has its own order rules.

What each answer is worth

Each correct answer is worth one mark out of 40 source: ielts.org. IELTS Listening raw score to band score explains how your raw score becomes a band. With all four bands, the band score calculator gives your overall score.

Short-answer questions are the closest type to this one, because you also write a few words from the recording. The four parts of the test are set out in the IELTS Listening test format. If Listening is your lowest score, how to improve your IELTS Listening score shows where to start.

The task wording, what it tests, the once-only recording, the order rule, the word limit, and the marks come from ielts.org's Academic Listening format page, and the rule that Listening is the same in both tests from its test types page. IDP is one of the three organisations that own IELTS. The paraphrase, order, part of speech, plural, repeated meaning and Part 4 points come from its sentence completion guide dated 28 November 2024. The repeated word rule comes from its article on avoiding zero scores dated 30 June 2023, and the plural and prediction warnings from its seven mistakes article dated 12 April 2022. The advice to wait for the speaker comes from its tables, forms and notes guide dated 10 November 2025, the practice test point from its Listening tips article dated 21 October 2023, and the spelling rule from its spelling guide. The changed answer point comes from the British Council's Academic Listening page, and the Part 3 sample from its free practice Listening page. All were checked on 3 October 2026. The transcript, its sentences and the other examples were written for this page and are not from any test.

Frequently asked questions

Will the sentence use the same words as the recording?

Usually not. The sentence on the paper is a paraphrase of what you hear source: IDP.

Listen for the idea, then write the speaker's word for it.

Can I use a word that is already in the sentence?

No. An answer that includes a word already in the question is marked wrong source: IDP.

What if my answer does not fit the grammar of the sentence?

Look again at its form. Nouns can be plural, and verbs can be in a past or participle form source: IDP.

A plural that should have an s, or a verb in the wrong tense, can cost the mark.

Is sentence completion the same on both tests?

Yes. The Listening test is the same in Academic and General Training source: ielts.org.