Lesson 36 of 41 in the Test Ninjas TOEFL course: Listen and Repeat, Speaking. Long sentences are where most words go missing in Listen and Repeat, and they usually go missing from the second half.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 1, 2026
Lesson at a glance
Detail
This lesson
Module
Listen and Repeat (Speaking)
English focus
Clause structure; keeping modifiers
Task skill
Keeping every part of a long sentence
Time
About 50 minutes
Access
Included in the TOEFL plan
What this lesson teaches
Long sentences are where most words go missing in Listen and Repeat, and they usually go missing from the second half.
This lesson teaches you to hear a long sentence as a frame: a main clause, a small hinge word such as before, if or and, and a linked clause.
Then you hang the modifiers (only, back, the largest, near the far wall) on that frame and say every part in the order you heard it.
By the end of the lesson, you can
Find the main clause and the linked clause in a spoken sentence, including instructions that start with a verb and clauses that start with before, until, if, as, when or and.
Keep the modifiers that make a sentence exact: words before a noun (the largest room), phrases after it (near the far wall), and small adverbs such as only, already, back, again.
In Listen and Repeat, hold a 12–20-word sentence as a frame plus modifiers, and repeat every part in the order you heard it, with no preparation time.
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 36
Cycle
Focus
What it teaches
Drills
Cycle 1
English
Main clauses and linked clauses
7
Cycle 2
English
Keeping modifiers
7
Cycle 3
Task skill
Keeping every part of a long sentence
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.
edge noun
the outside limit of something
Don't stand so close to the edge of the platform.
Goes with:
the edge of the table
Word family:
edgy (adj, informal: nervous)
outer adjective
on the outside
The outer layer of the jacket keeps the rain out.
Goes with:
the outer lane
Word family:
out (adv); outside (n, adj, adv); opposite: inner
level adjective
flat and not sloping
The picture isn't level; the left side is lower.
Goes with:
keep it level
Word family:
level (n): the second level; level (v): level the ground
attempt noun / verb
a try
It took Kwame three attempts to solve the puzzle.
Goes with:
a first attempt
Word family:
attempted (adj)
lift verb / noun
to move something up
Bend your knees when you lift anything heavy.
Goes with:
lift a heavy box
Word family:
lift (n): give someone a lift
step away phrasal verb
to move a short distance away, or leave a place for a moment
If you need to step away from the meeting, turn off your camera.
Goes with:
step away from the desk
Word family:
step (v, n); step back; step in
corner noun
the point where two edges, walls or streets meet
The bookstore is on the corner of Pine Street and Fifth Avenue.
Goes with:
on the corner of
Word family:
corner (v): be cornered
center noun
the middle of something
Put the tallest plant in the center of the room.
Goes with:
the center of the room
Word family:
central (adj); UK spelling: centre
sit verb
(of a thing or building) to be located somewhere
The printer sits next to the window.
Goes with:
the town sits on a hill
Word family:
seat (n); sitting (n); also: to be in a seated position
empty adjective / verb
with nothing inside
There's an empty seat next to me if you want it.
Goes with:
an empty seat
Word family:
emptiness (n); empty (v): empty the bin; opposite: full
The takeaway: Catch the main verb and the hinge word, then hang every modifier on that frame, in the order you heard it.
In the full course
Long sentences: keeping every part 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 21 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 Listen and Repeat