What you'll see
Get familiar with the task.
You will hear a short academic sentence ONCE — no replay, no pause. You then type it into the response box exactly as you heard it. WFD is the HIGHEST-VALUE listening task in PTE: each correct word is scored, and WFD also feeds your WRITING score. Aim to capture EVERY content word and reconstruct the function words from grammar.
You will hear a sentence. Type the sentence in the box below exactly as you hear it. Write as much of the sentence as you can. You will hear the sentence only once.
You will hear a sentence. Type the sentence in the box below exactly as you hear it. Write as much of the sentence as you can. You will hear the sentence only once.
Audio Player
Press Start to begin
3 strategies that work
The mindset before the click.
- 1Strategy 1
CAPTURE content words first, then rebuild with grammar
On first listen, lock onto the NOUNS, VERBS, ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS. Then rebuild the full sentence using English word order (S–V–O) and add the function words from memory.
- 2Strategy 2
ABBREVIATE while you listen, expand before you submit
Use a consistent abbreviation system (w/, w/o, b4, bec, exp) so you can capture every keyword fast. Convert ALL shortcuts back to full English words BEFORE Next.
- 3Strategy 3
SPELL with phonics + grammar — don't trust auto-pilot
Spelling counts per word. Use sound-letter rules for unknown words and grammar rules to fix tense, plural, suffix and agreement errors before submitting.
Try each strategy
Guided practice you can do alone or with a partner.
1CAPTURE content words first, then rebuild with grammar
WFD sentences are usually 8–15 words. You can't catch every word in real time — so focus your ear on the content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) that carry the meaning. Function words (articles, prepositions, auxiliaries) can be reconstructed from grammar. Knowing English sentence structure (Subject → Verb → Object) lets you rebuild a sentence from just 5–6 keywords.
- Drop the unimportant: a, an, the, of, to, in, on, by, is, was — these can be guessed from context.
- Hold onto the heavy hitters: SUBJECT noun, MAIN verb, OBJECT noun, plus any adjectives/adverbs that modify them.
- After the audio ends, write the keywords in order, then BUILD the sentence around them using S-V-O word order.
- Spot sentence type: declarative, interrogative, imperative, conditional. Each has a predictable opening (e.g. 'If…', 'Have you…').
- Active vs passive: if subject is acted ON, you'll hear was/were + past participle ('the lecture has been changed') — write the auxiliary correctly.
- Pair drill: Partner reads a 12-word sentence ONCE. You write only the 5–6 content words you caught. Then reconstruct the full sentence. Compare.
2ABBREVIATE while you listen, expand before you submit
Typing 12 words while listening to the next 12 is impossible. Develop a consistent personal shorthand BEFORE test day — same symbol for the same word, every time. Then expand it to full English the moment the audio ends. Inconsistent shortcuts (b4 one day, bef the next) waste seconds and create errors.
- Common shortcuts: w/ = with, w/o = without, b4 = before, bec = because, b/n = between, exp = experience, govt = government, env = environment, & = and, → = leads to / causes.
- Pick ONE symbol per concept and never deviate. Memorise the list for 2–3 weeks so it's automatic.
- If you type directly into the response box, you can also use keyboard symbols (+, =, &) — but expand them before Next.
- Critical: leave 5–8 seconds at the end to EXPAND every abbreviation back to full English. Examiners mark abbreviations as wrong words.
- Pair drill: Partner reads a 15-word sentence. You write it using only abbreviations. Then expand to full sentence in 30 seconds.
- Pair drill: Make a list of 20 common WFD words (assignment, environment, university, experiment, lecture, government) and assign each a unique abbreviation. Quiz each other.
3SPELL with phonics + grammar — don't trust auto-pilot
WFD scores spelling — a misspelt word = a missed word. Train two systems: (1) PHONICS — break unknown words into sounds and map sound-to-letter; (2) GRAMMAR — use rules to spot wrong tense, wrong plural, wrong suffix, wrong agreement.
- Drill commonly-misspelt academic words: ecstasy, millennium, accidentally, minuscule, accommodate, irresistible, liaison, embarrass, sacrilegious, privilege.
- Phonics rule of thumb: short vowel → single consonant after (e.g. 'planning' not 'planing'); silent letters often appear at end of word ('debt', 'doubt').
- Grammar check: plural subject → plural verb ('the students fail' → 'the students fail'... wait, 'the students fail' is correct? No — singular 'student' → 'fails'. Always re-read with grammar lens.).
- Past-tense check: regular verb → +ed; irregular verb → memorise (e.g. 'submit → submitted', 'choose → chose', 'lead → led').
- Possessive vs subject pronoun: 'their' (their assignment) vs 'they' (they submit). Easy to confuse under time pressure.
- Pair drill: Partner dictates 10 difficult words. You spell them. Score = correct ÷ 10. Repeat next day with same list until 100%.
- Pair drill: Partner writes 3 sentences with deliberate spelling/grammar errors. You correct them in 60 seconds and explain each rule.
Press Start. A 3-second countdown begins, then the sentence plays ONCE. Type it back exactly as you heard it. Use abbreviations on the booklet if helpful, but submit the full sentence with correct spelling.
Reveal correct sentence + scoring notes
Correct sentence: 'The time of the maths lecture has been changed to ten thirty.' Accepted variants: • maths / math — both accepted (UK / US English) • ten thirty / 10.30 / 10:30 — all accepted as long as the number is correct. Key content words to capture FIRST (Strategy 1): TIME · MATHS / MATH · LECTURE · CHANGED · TEN THIRTY (5 keywords from a 12-word sentence — enough to rebuild the full structure). Grammar reconstruction (Strategy 1): • Subject = 'the time of the maths lecture' (noun phrase). • Verb = 'has been changed' (present perfect passive — the time was changed by someone). • Complement = 'to ten thirty' (prepositional phrase with time). The passive voice ('has been changed') signals: someone changed it — you don't need to name who. Spelling watch-outs (Strategy 3): • 'lecture' (not 'lecher' / 'lechture'). • 'changed' — past participle with -d (not 'change'). • Numbers: write words OR digits, but be consistent. Scoring: each correct word = 1 point. Misspelt word = 0 for that word. Missing word = 0. Always type the FULL sentence.
Tick each box only when you can do it without looking back. This unlocks your next chapter.