Sentence Completion questions for IELTS Listening: Practice & Essential Tips
IELTS listening sentence completion questions are basically gap fill questions that require you to fill a gap in the sentence with either words or numbers or a combination of words and numbers. Use the tips below to learn the right techniques for this type of listening question. Then challenge yourself with the practice lessons below.
IELTS Listening Sentence Completion Tips
Below is an example set of sentence completion questions as you would see them in the IELTS Listening Test. Read the tips below to learn how you should approach them with the right right techniques and understanding.
Useful Tips:
- Prepare Sentences: You will have time to read through the sentences before the recording starts.
- Predict Answers: You can predict what type of word the answer will be, such as a verb or noun. For example:
- Question 1 above shows that you will probably be listening for a verb because it has the preposition to before the gap. Of course, the preposition to can also be in front of other kinds of words as well, but when we say “useful to …..” it usually requires a verb to follow.
- Question 2 shows that you will need to listen for a noun because before the gap are the words a cultural.
- So, grammar will help you to predict answers.
- Grammar Will Help: The sentence must be grammatically correct when you put the missing word into the sentence. This means you need to think about articles a/the . They might or might not be needed.
- Answers in Order: The answers to the questions will come in order in the recording. This means the answer to question 1 will come first and then the answer to question 2 will follow. This will help you keep track of which question you are on and where you are in the recording.
- Answer Word Count: The instructions will always tell you how many words or numbers you can have for the answer. If it says No More Than Two Words – it means you can have two words, one word, but you can’t have three words (you can’t have more but you can have fewer).
- Keywords: The question will have useful keywords in it to help you locate the answer. For example, in question 1 above the keywords are traditions and countries.
- Paraphrasing: Many keywords will be paraphrased so you might not hear the keywords precisely as they are shown in the question. For example, traditions could be paraphrased as heritage. However, some words might not be paraphrased and you will hear them in the recording. For example, “neuro-typical”, it is unlikely this kind of word will be altered, in which case you can listen carefully to hear it.
- Speed: You do not have a lot of time to prepare question by reading them, spotting keywords and also paraphrasing. But with practice you can build these skills so that you can do them faster and faster. This should be part of your IELTS preparation.
- Before or After Keywords: One mistake people make is that they think the answer will come after you hear the keywords (or their equivalent paraphrase). This is wrong. You might hear the answer before or after you hear the keyword. This is why you must pay close attention to the recording.
- Guess: If you don’t know the answer, just guess. Never leave an answer empty.
- Spelling counts. If your answer is spelled incorrectly, it will be marked wrong. Every word and every letter must be precise.
- Listen Only Once: remember, you will hear the recording only once and you won’t be able to pause it. You won’t be given the transcript. But in books and on my website, transcripts are provided with the answers so that you can analyse your answers and also learn useful paraphrasing and review techniques.
Now it’s time for some practice listening lessons for sentence completion questions.
IELTS Listening Sentence Completion Practice
Below you will find two useful listening practice lessons.
Listening Practice Lesson 1
Read through the questions below to prepare. Then listen to the recording below.
RECORDING:
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TRANSCRIPT AND ANSWERS
Click below to show the transcript and answers. Review the transcript first to review paraphrasing, language and your techniques.
TRANSCRIPTThere are 700,000 autistic people in the UK. Autism is a lifelong disability which affects how a person communicates and responds to people and how they experience the world around them. Although most of the public have heard of autism, few actually understand what it is like to live with it and how to support someone with autism. Autism Hour is when businesses agree to dim their lights and reduce background noise, such as music, to create an environment that is more suitable for autistic people. Autistic people have difficulty processing sensory information leading to sensory overload which can cause great stress and even physical pain. In a world geared towards neuro-typical people, this problem can leave autistic people restricted in where they can go and what they can enjoy. Autism Hour not only opens doors to autistic shoppers and their families, it also provides an opportunity for staff members to learn more about autism which is essential if autistic people are to get the support and respect they need from society. Autism Hour is also important in bringing to light the general affect that sensory information can have on people who are not neuro-typical or who have an illness affecting their ability to cope with light or noise or any other type of sensory information.
- COMMUNICATES
- Communication is not possible.
- Your answer must have “s” at the end – communicates
- DIM
- OVERLOAD
- This is one word.
- GEARED
- SENSORY
Tip: Always remember that the listening test is testing your understanding of English grammar and English vocabulary.
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Listening Practice 2
Here is another listening practice lesson for filling in the gaps in a sentence.
RECORDING:
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TRANSCRIPT & ANSWERS
Click below to reveal the transcript and answers:
TranscriptA festival is an event which is celebrated collectively. Festivals are mostly celebrated to propagate the cultural heritage of nations. Most festivals have their origins in a cultural belief which has been passed down through the generations. Festivals help to promote solidarity and the patriotic spirit in society by bring people closer together in harmony as they celebrate the festival. During this time, differences are forgotten and the national cultural identity predominates. By celebrating international festivals, it helps to promote tolerance, reduce racial conflict and encourages the acceptance of cultural diversity in a country. While there are marked differences in the way festivals are celebrated all over the world, there is a similarity in the purpose that the festival serves.
- propagate
- belief
- differences (the answer must be plural)
- purpose
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Hey Liz,
I hope you are doing well!
I have a doubt in “write no more than three words” type of question… the answer was “instruments” and I wrote “musical instruments”, because they said in the recording that they lost their musical instruments.
Will it be considered wrong? And how I can recognise if I should write instruments or musical instruments?
Kind regards and thank You for answer!
Matea
As I haven’t seen the full question nor have I seen the transcript of the recording, it isn’t possible to make a comment on this precise example. Certainly when the instructions say “No More Than Three Words” it means you can’t have over three words, but you can have three words or two or one. So, writing one word would be fine. Usually if there are two words for an answer and both of those words are vital to the answer being correct in meaning, you would need both words. Your example of “musical instruments” would normally require both words as an answer, but as I said, there’s no question or transcript to check. Also, it is common that even if only one word is needed for the answer, writing two words can be accepted as well.
I hope you are not using websites which claim to have online tests. Those websites are famous for not providing accurate answer keys and it does confuse people. Only use the IELTS Cambridge Test books for your full test practice or the free practice test available on ielts.org or the British Council IELTS website.
Hello Liz,
Here I am writing a comment the night before my exam with heartfelt gratitude towards you, after absorbing most of your free tips and teachings.
I am surprised by the amount of dedication you have put into this website , which is upfront looking at the details in the tips and answers .
You are doing such a wonderful job and thank you so much for helping out students all over the world in achieving their dreams.
More power to you!
Wishing you lots of luck in your test!! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your good results 🙂
Hello Liz,
How can I contact you for writing and speaking tests to assess? Are there any paid courses run by you?
I will really appreciate if you could give me a response.
Chamadi.
I have free lessons, model essays, topics, tips etc on this website. I also have advanced lessons and e-book for writing task 2 in my store: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/. I don’t offer any other services at present.
Thank you so much for your response, Liz. Really appreciated it.
You have a great day!
Hey Liz, iam currently getting prepared for my ielts exam and your homepage is very helpful. Thank you so much for that 🙂
Im just wondering, if i would have answered believe instead of belief, would it also been correct? Im a bit confused as i never saw this spelling with f and without e.
Best regards
Nina
The word “believe” is a verb. The word “belief” is a noun. Your answer must always be 100% accurate for the listening test – not a variation of the word or a paraphrase.
Hi Liz,
Hope you are doing well
I have a small doubt, in “write no more than three words”, the answer was “too late” but I wrote “late”.
Will it be considered wrong? can’t we use one word answer?
Grateful for your answer in advance.
kind regards,
Neha
Yes, you can. But there is a big difference in meaning between “too late” and “late.
Hi Liz,
I am lost , I do not know from where to start, are you offering course and materials?
Why don’t you start with a full practice test on the BC IELTS website. That will help you get to know the test for free. Then come back to this website and go to the HOME page – read how to use this site for free preparation – lessons, tips, advice, exercised etc.
Hello Liz
hope you are doing well!
i am facing an issue during listening practice while i listen my whole focus is on understanding what the speaker is saying i cant recall the questions simultaneously , i read questions first but when the audio starts i forgot about all questions and start juggling my head with them . what can i do ? help!
Practice. This is about multitasking. You need to develop the skill of paying attention to questions and listening for answers. Remember, you are not listening to get absorbed in the topic, you are listening for specific answers which connection to specific keywords in the question. Underline those keywords and listen out for their paraphrases.
4/4 thanks Liz your lessons are playing vital role in my ielts journey.
My all answers are correct
Hi Liz,
Please accept my heartiest gratitude for being an immense help to me as I live in a remote area and I can not travel daily to in an institute for preparation of my IELTS TEST.
You are an institute your self. All sections are so organized to understand from the beginning level to advanced level. There is no any question that you don’t answer or not answered on your blog.
First time all my 4 answer are correct by practicing just listening test only.
Thank you so much for rendering selfless services.
Well done 🙂 There is no need to feel alone in your preparation for IELTS 🙂
Hi Liz,
First of all a big ‘Thank You’ from the bottom of my heart for the great teaching lessons.
You have been very kind in giving away all the valuable lessons for free.
May God bless you with the choicest blessings for all the good work you have done.
I got R-8, L-7, S-7, W-7.5 and your lessons really helped me a lot in achieving this score.
Although my target is to achieve 8 in listening, so I will be giving the exam again.
I wanted to ask you
1] If there is a better way other than by general knowledge to know if 2 words are to be joined by – (hyphen) or will they be combined together like say hairdresser,note-taking. I tend to lose my targeted band score because of mistake in such questions.
2]Sometimes you have 2 answers to a question and it gets difficult to decide which one to chose.Will I get marks if I write answer1/answer2, or is it necessary to chose any one answer as final answer?
Again, Thank You so much and Keep Up the good work
Well done with your results!! 1) google compound noun list. Look for lists with a hyphen, with two words and with one word. It’s just a case of learning by heart. 2) You must choose. Using brackets or slash will mean the answer is wrong. Use the time to transfer answers to decide the right answer.
Superb !!!! Such fast reply
Really admire your dedication
can I use synonym for the answers or paraphrase,or do i just give the answer word for word as given in the speech
For listening, you need to write the exact word or words you hear in the recording.
Hi Liz
I don’t really understand the answer for question 3. I think It should be singular since it goes with article “a”
The article “a” is with “a time”. You then have a clause “when” which starts the next part of the sentence. “a” is not connected with the second part of the sentence.
hi liz
I could understand everything while i hear the audio first time, but i couldn’t answer them . 2nd and 3rd time i got answers to all questions and got 5/5. How can i overcome this barrier ?please answer me liz thank you.
This is a case of practice makes perfect. The more you practice, the easier it will be to hear information first time. Also make sure you concentrate on listening for answers instead of trying to understand everything. Remember your aim is to win points.
What about answer number 1 – it could be “promote” as well, no?
The meaning is the same but the answer would still be wrong. These answers come in order which means the answer to number 1 comes before the answer to number 2. That would exclude the word “promote”.
All the best
Liz
Hi mam a small help mam in listening for eg :u have given one topic on festival like that topics I cant able to understand mam .h to over come from this
Success in listening and all other sections is based mainly on your level of English. You might need to work on both your grammar and vocabulary.
All the best
Liz