Part 5 — Incomplete Sentences

What this part tests

Part 5 presents 30 sentences, each with one blank. You choose which of four words or phrases (A–D) correctly fills the blank. The test targets grammar, vocabulary, and word form.

Part 5 does not require reading a passage — each item stands alone.

Time budget

Aim for about 20 minutes on Part 5 — roughly 40 seconds per item. Time you save here directly buys time for Part 7.

What the questions look like

The project team will submit its final report ______ the end of next week.

(A) until (B) by (C) from (D) during

The correct answer is (B). The meaning required is a deadline — by the end of something.

Core strategies

1. Before reading the answer choices, classify the question.

Read the sentence first and identify what the blank is asking for:

• Word form — the blank is in a slot where one part of speech fits and others do not.
• Vocabulary choice — all four options are the same part of speech; meaning distinguishes them.
• Grammar structure — a tense, article, preposition, conjunction, or pronoun is being tested.

Classifying the question first lets you apply the right decision process. Word-form questions can be solved without deep vocabulary knowledge. Grammar questions can be solved by structure alone.

2. For word-form questions, identify the grammatical slot.

Look at what comes before and after the blank:

• After a determiner (a, the, this) or before a noun → adjective or noun
• After an auxiliary (has, was, will) → correct verb form
• Before a noun → noun modifier or adjective
• After to → base verb form (infinitive) or a noun

The four answer choices for word-form questions are often the same root in four forms: noun, verb, adjective, adverb. Identify the slot, pick the correct form.

3. For preposition and conjunction questions, know the patterns, not just definitions.

Many Part 5 items test collocation — which preposition or conjunction is used with a particular verb, noun, or adjective. "Responsible for," "result in," "interested in," "comply with" — these are fixed patterns. Learn them as phrases, not as individual word choices. Definitions alone will not reliably distinguish until from by, or despite from although.

4. For vocabulary questions, use the sentence context, not just the blank.

Read the full sentence. Sometimes the contrast, the subject, or a modifier in the sentence makes one meaning clearly right and the others wrong. The word that fits the blank must fit the entire sentence's logic — not just the words immediately around the blank.

5. Move fast and commit.

Part 5 is the fastest part of the test. Each item should take roughly 20–40 seconds. If you are stuck, mark your best guess and keep moving. Spending 90 seconds on a single Part 5 item is rarely worth it — that time belongs to Part 7.

Grammar areas Part 5 keeps returning to

• Verb tenses and aspect: simple, progressive, perfect, passive
• Subject-verb agreement: especially with collective nouns, uncountable nouns, and inverted structures
• Noun, verb, adjective, adverb word families: organize / organization / organizational / organizationally
• Articles: a / an / the vs. no article; countable vs. uncountable nouns
• Prepositions: collocations after verbs, nouns, and adjectives
• Conjunctions and connectors: coordinating, subordinating, and transitions
• Relative clauses: who, which, that, whose
• Conditionals: real and hypothetical
• Comparatives and superlatives
• Pronoun reference and case

Most common traps

• Plausible but wrong collocations. "The company succeeded at reducing costs" might seem right, but the correct phrase is "succeeded in reducing." Many wrong answers are not grammatically broken — they use the wrong preposition or partner word.
• Wrong part of speech that sounds right. "The decision was make quickly" sounds wrong, but "The decision was made quickly" vs. "The decision was making" requires identifying the correct verb form in a passive construction. Distractors within a word family are deliberately plausible.
• Subject-verb agreement across distance. "The quality of the reports are improving" — the real subject is quality, not reports. The plural noun near the verb is a trap. The verb must agree with the true subject.