How to Improve Your TOEFL Writing Score

Build a Sentence: frame first, then fill

You arrange words and phrases into a correct sentence or question, usually as a reply in a short exchange. ETS describes the task as measuring your understanding of English sentence structure, and that is exactly what goes wrong: test takers know every word but put the helper verb in the wrong place, or keep question order inside a sentence that should not have it.

Find the verb and its helper first

Before placing anything else, find the main verb and decide which helper it needs. A base verb goes with do/does/did or a modal; an -ing form with a form of be; a past participle with have (or with be for the passive). In a question, the helper comes before the subject: Which platform does the train leave from? Once the frame is fixed, the remaining pieces usually have only one sensible place.

Undo question order inside a sentence

After Do you know…, Could you tell me… or I wonder…, the question part uses statement order and loses do/does/did: Could you tell me when the pool opens?, not when does the pool open. This one pattern accounts for a large share of Build a Sentence errors, and it is entirely learnable.

Check what each piece attaches to

The head noun sets the verb (The box of photos is…; One of the trains is…). The word before a slot sets the pattern that follows (enjoy + -ing; let + person + base verb; look forward to + -ing). Describers sit next to what they describe. When a leftover piece does not fit, it is usually a near-twin of one you needed — does for did, who for whom, is for are.

How to practice: one Build a Sentence set every day. For every miss, name the rule in a few words in your error log, and look it up in the TOEFL grammar guide. After two weeks your log will show two or three patterns doing most of the damage.

Write an Email: three points, the right tone, seven minutes

The email task gives you a situation, a recipient and three things to do — for example, explain a problem, ask for something and suggest a solution. ETS says it measures your ability to write clearly, stay on topic and follow basic conventions. Practice it with a seven-minute limit.

Read the reader before you write

The recipient line tells you the register. Someone you have not met, or someone who makes a decision about you, gets Dear plus title and surname, few contractions and polite requests (Could you…?, I would be grateful if you could…). A classmate gets a first name and a friendlier tone. A request phrased as a bare command to a professor is one of the most common tone errors.

Give every point something the reader can use

Give each requirement its own short paragraph, and develop it with a specific detail and a reason or next step: not just I will be late, but My lab runs until 7, which means I’ll miss the first hour — could we run my scenes last? A point that is only mentioned reads as unfinished.

Cover all three before polishing any

The costliest mistake in this task is spending most of the time perfecting the first paragraph and running out before the third point. Write a rough sentence for every point first, then improve them.

Keep sentences concise — I’m writing to ask… rather than I am writing this email to you in order to ask… — and avoid joining two sentences with only a comma. Practice with the Write an Email guide and score your drafts against the TOEFL writing rubric.

Academic Discussion: answer, then add something new

A professor posts a question and two classmates reply. You add your own contribution. ETS describes the task as stating and supporting an opinion, responding to others’ viewpoints and writing in an academic tone. Practice it with a ten-minute limit.

Answer the professor’s exact question

Your first sentence or two should take a position on the question as asked — not on the general topic. Both have good points is not a position unless something follows it: Both have good points, but I’d choose…. Then show where you stand relative to one classmate, reporting them accurately: Maya points out that…, Daniel’s concern is that….

Agreeing is fine; repeating is not

The strongest posts add a reason neither classmate gave, and prove it with a specific example: who, what, when, ideally a number. One developed reason with a concrete example beats three general ones. Hedge claims you cannot prove (often, tend to, may) and keep absolute words for facts.

Link every sentence to the last

Coherence is assessed, and it lives in small words: this change, such a rule, , which means…. After two ideas, this on its own is unclear — add a noun (this delay). Vary how sentences open, and end with a line that returns to your position.

Practice with the Academic Discussion guide and the discussion practice questions, and rewrite one post a day after scoring it.

A weekly writing routine

• Every day: one Build a Sentence set and one error-log entry per miss.
• Three times a week: one timed email, alternating formal and informal recipients.
• Three times a week: one timed discussion post, then a ten-minute rewrite.
• Once a week: read back through all your responses and list your three most frequent errors. Check for exactly those in the last minute of every response the following week.

Mistakes that hold Writing scores down

• Treating Build a Sentence as a warm-up. It is ten items — most of the section.
• Missing an email requirement. A rough sentence for every point beats a perfect two out of three.
• Restating the classmates. The discussion post rewards an original contribution.
• Old essay templates. Five-paragraph structures do not fit a short email or a single discussion paragraph.
• No proofreading time. Once you confirm Continue on an Email or Discussion, you cannot go back to fix an ending or a name.

Writing counts for a quarter of your overall band; see what a higher Writing band does to your total with the score calculator, and read the Writing section guide for the format. Speaking needs the same task-by-task approach — see how to improve TOEFL Speaking.