Lesson 5 of 41 in the Test Ninjas TOEFL course: Complete the Words, Reading. In Complete the Words, the missing letters are always the end of the word, and the end of a word is where English keeps its grammar: the ‑s of two desks and she works, the ‑ed of the past, and ‑ing.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 1, 2026
Lesson at a glance
Detail
This lesson
Module
Complete the Words (Reading)
English focus
Inflections (regular and irregular plurals, third-person -s, past tense and its spelling, -ing and -ed participles), the -ing form after a preposition, phrasal verbs and fixed partners, and as ... as comparisons
Task skill
First pass and second pass: fill every gap the neighboring words decide, then use the intact first sentence and the later sentences for the rest
Time
About 55 minutes
Access
Included in the TOEFL plan
What this lesson teaches
In Complete the Words, the missing letters are always the end of the word, and the end of a word is where English keeps its grammar: the ‑s of two desks and she works, the ‑ed of the past, and ‑ing.
This lesson teaches you to:
- choose each ending and spell it correctly
- complete phrasal verbs, fixed partners and as … as
- work a whole paragraph in two passes, so a gap its neighbors can’t settle is settled by the first sentence or a later one
By the end of the lesson, you can
Choose and spell the grammar ending a word needs: plural ‑s, ‑es, ‑ies or ‑ves; the ‑s of the present after he, she, it or a singular noun; past ‑ed with a doubled consonant, a dropped e or y → i; ‑ing or ‑ed before a noun; and ‑ing after a preposition.
Complete phrasal verbs (run out of, set up), fixed partners (filled with, responsible for, come true) and as … as comparisons, using an adverb when the comparison describes an action.
Work a ten-gap paragraph in two passes: first fill every gap the neighboring words decide, then use the intact first sentence and the later sentences for the rest, at about 18 seconds a gap (180 seconds a paragraph).
What’s inside
Around the 3 teaching cycles below, the lesson opens with a quick check and closes with applied practice, a Check and a debrief. How every course lesson is built.
Teaching cycles in lesson 5
Cycle
Focus
What it teaches
Drills
Cycle 1
English
Endings that carry grammar
8
Cycle 2
English
Phrasal verbs, fixed partners and as ... as
8
Cycle 3
Task skill
First pass, second pass
7
Word bank
The 10 words and phrases this lesson teaches. They come from the real course questions you practice on in the Apply step, so you meet each one again in context.
contain verb
to have something inside or as a part
The report contains three charts and a short summary.
Goes with:
contain very little, contain high levels of
Word family:
container (noun); contents (noun)
sensitive adjective
easily affected by something, such as noise or light
Some people are very sensitive to noise when they study.
Goes with:
sensitive to light, heat or noise
Word family:
sensitivity (noun); sense (noun); not the same as sensible (practical)
waste energy verb + noun collocation
to use energy, time or money on something that does not help
Timers stop the heaters from wasting energy at night.
Goes with:
waste energy / time / money on something
Word family:
waste (noun); wasteful (adjective)
absorb verb
to take in something, such as liquid, heat, light or nutrients
Dark clothes absorb more heat than light ones on a sunny day.
Goes with:
absorb nutrients, water, heat or information
Word family:
absorption (noun); absorbent (adjective)
nutrient noun
a substance in food that the body needs to grow and stay healthy
A balanced lunch gives you the nutrients you need for an afternoon of classes.
Goes with:
rich in nutrients, absorb nutrients
Word family:
nutrition (noun); nutritious (adjective)
digestive adjective
connected with the way the body breaks down food
Fiber helps the digestive system work well.
Goes with:
the digestive system, digestive health
Word family:
digest (verb); digestion (noun)
roughly adverb
about; not exactly
The walk from the station to campus takes roughly fifteen minutes.
Goes with:
roughly ten minutes, roughly half, roughly the same
Word family:
rough (adjective: uneven, not smooth); roughness (noun)
within preposition
before the end of a period of time; inside a limit
The library answers most emails within one working day.
Goes with:
within twenty minutes, within walking distance
Word family:
within + a time (within an hour); within + a distance (within reach)
debris noun (uncountable)
small pieces of broken or unwanted material, such as bits of wood, leaves or stone
Hard hats protect workers from falling debris.
Goes with:
falling debris, clear the debris
Word family:
no plural ‑s; the final s is silent
once conjunction
as soon as; after
Once the form is signed, you can collect the key.
Goes with:
once + a clause: once the form is signed
Word family:
once (adverb: one time); at once (immediately)
The takeaway: First pass: fill every gap its neighbors decide. Second pass: let the first sentence and the later sentences decide the rest.
In the full course
Grammar endings and reading the whole paragraph is part of the full TOEFL course
Unlock all 41 lessons with the TOEFL plan, or try one of the free lessons first.
✓All 3 teaching cycles of this lesson, with 23 drills and feedback on every answer
✓The 10-word bank, each word with a recall drill
✓A walk-through, guided practice and a Check on Complete the Words