IELTS Listening Sentence Completion Tips and Tricks

The sentence completion question type requires to fill in the gaps. From one word to multiple words or numbers, the options can be confusing at times. It is no surprise that many students find sentence completion as one of the most time-consuming question types in IELTS Listening. What if I tell you that you can completely master sentence completion questions just by making use of some tips and practicing them extensively? 

Tips to make you a pro at IELTS Listening Sentence Completion
So without further ado, here are five tips and tricks that you can make use of and make yourself a pro at sentence completion question types. 

1: Look through the sentence:
First things first, before listening to the audio look at the questions listed under the question type. If you have practiced underlining of keywords, underline the same but try and look at the questions subjectively. Get an idea from the question about the likely conversation you are going to hear. Make some predictions using the questions. This can give you an extra edge once the conversation starts playing out in the audio. 

2: Pay attention to before and after the gap:
The sentence completion question will have a gap that you need to fill. Always take a pause and look at the content before and after the gap. This will give you insights on expected answers. By focusing on the words before and after the gap, you can listen to the audio with greater clarity. Your answer would be very close to when the before-after gap words play out in the audio. 

3: Shortlist options as number or text:
The gap or answer can be a number or a word. Once you go through the question make sure you shortlist what your answer will be. Whether the answer is a word or a number is a decision you can easily shortlist. This breaks down your options extensively and you are now focused more on your answer possibilities in the audio. 

4: Keep an eye on the word limit:
Keep an eye on the word limit of the answer. If the sentence completion is seeking two words, don't limit your answer to just one word. If your answer and the word limit is a mismatch, it is a clear indication that the answer is possibly a wrong one. 

5: Practice sentence completion using the above tips:
If you have been already practicing sentence completion question types and feel confident or still have some weak links, test out the above-mentioned tips. Know that these tips are to make you decode the sentence completion question type but it requires practice. Handling sentence completion using the above-mentioned tips right on the final test day may actually be detrimental as you can easily waste time without having practiced the strategy. A good source of practice tests are listed by FourModules. Make use of these resources to help you devise a final strategy and practice our sentence completion question tips.