A Complete Guide on Fill in the Blanks: PTE Reading & Writing

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck on a PTE question, staring at a dropdown menu with four words that look almost identical, you understand the unique challenge of Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks (FIB). This task is more than a vocabulary test; it’s a deep examination of your grammar, context, and understanding of the finer points of English.

It is also one of the most important tasks in the entire exam. As the name suggests, every correct answer adds points to both your Reading AND Writing scores. A high score here is essential for anyone serious about achieving their target.

This guide will provide a clear, systematic approach to this crucial task. We will give you a powerful 3-step system to analyze the sentence, eliminate the wrong answers, and confidently choose the correct option.

The Two ‘Fill in the Blanks’ – A Clarification

Before we begin, we must address the biggest point of confusion for students. The PTE has two tasks with very similar names. Understanding the difference is the first step to success.

By separating these two, you can learn the specific strategy needed for each, starting with this one.

An Overview of Fill in the Blanks : PTE Reading & Writing

Let’s break down the task you will see on your screen.

• The Format: You will be given a passage of text with several blanks (usually 4 to 5). Each blank is a clickable dropdown menu.
• The Task: For each blank, you must click the menu and select the single best word from the 4 or 5 options provided to correctly complete the sentence.
• The Content: The texts are academic in nature, similar to what you might find in a university textbook.

How is This FIB Scored?

The scoring of PTE Reading & Writing Fill in the blanks is simple but vital.

• The Points: You receive one point for each blank you fill correctly.
• Negative Marking: There is no negative marking for incorrect answers. You simply get zero points for that blank.
• The Impact: This is the most important part. The points you earn are added to your Reading score (because you have to comprehend the text) and your Writing score (because you are correctly constructing sentences). This dual scoring makes it a high-value task.

A 3-Step System to Solve Every Dropdown Question

Don’t just read and guess. Use this systematic approach to dramatically increase your accuracy.

1. Read the Full Sentence: Before you even look at the options, read the entire sentence containing the blank. Your primary goal is to understand the meaning and the grammatical structure of the sentence.
2. Analyze the Gap: Look closely at the words immediately before and after the blank. These words provide the clues you need. Ask yourself:
   • What kind of word is grammatically required here? (A verb in the past tense? A noun? A preposition?)
   • Is there a keyword that might be part of a collocation?
3. Eliminate and Choose: Now, click on the dropdown menu and analyze the options.
   • Immediately eliminate any options that are grammatically impossible.
   • Eliminate any options that don’t make logical sense in the context.
   • You will often be left with two very similar words. At this point, re-read the sentence with each option to see which one “sounds” more natural and fits the precise meaning.

Let’s Solve One Together: A Detailed Walkthrough

Let’s apply our 3-step system to a realistic example.

Paragraph:
Climate change is one of the most significant challenges ____ humanity in the 21st century. Its ____ are wide-ranging, from rising sea levels to more extreme weather events. ____ immediate and concerted action is taken, the long-term consequences could be catastrophic.

Let’s analyze each blank:

Blank 1 Dropdown Options: facing, fronting, meeting, viewing

1. Read the Sentence: “Climate change is one of the most significant challenges ____ humanity in the 21st century.”
2. Analyze the Gap: The blank comes after “challenges.” We are describing the relationship between the challenges and humanity.
3. Eliminate and Choose:
   • fronting humanity, meeting humanity, viewing humanity – these don’t form natural collocations.
   • “Challenges facing humanity” is a very common and standard English phrase. The clear answer is facing.

Blank 2 Dropdown Options: affects, effects, causes, reasons

1. Read the Sentence: “Its ____ are wide-ranging, from rising sea levels to more extreme weather events.”
2. Analyze the Gap: “Its” is a possessive pronoun, so we need a noun. The sentence is listing the results of climate change.
3. Eliminate and Choose:
   • affects is a verb, so it’s grammatically incorrect. Eliminate it.
   • causes and reasons are the opposite of what the sentence describes. Eliminate them.
   • effects is a noun meaning “results,” which fits the context perfectly. The correct answer is effects.

Blank 3 Dropdown Options: If, Because, Although, Unless

1. Read the Sentence: “____ immediate and concerted action is taken, the long-term consequences could be catastrophic.”
2. Analyze the Gap: This is a conditional sentence. The first part sets a condition for the second part. The second part is a negative outcome (“catastrophic consequences”).
3. Eliminate and Choose:
   • This requires an understanding of conjunctions. The sentence structure is: [Condition], [Negative Result].
   • “Unless action is taken, the result will be bad” is the only option that creates a logical, conditional warning. “If action is taken, the result will be bad” is illogical. The correct answer is Unless.

How to Build the Skills for a High Score

You can’t just rely on a system; you need to build the underlying knowledge.

1. Targeted Grammar Practice: Don’t just “study grammar.” Focus on the areas most tested in this task: prepositions, verb tenses, and conjunctions. When you do practice questions on our PTE Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks page, make a note of every grammar-based mistake you make. You’ll soon see a pattern in the types of rules you need to revise.
2. Become a Collocation Collector: The best way to learn collocations is to read. Read high-quality English articles every day. When you see a strong word partnership, write it down in a notebook. This active learning is far more effective than just passive reading.
3. Test Your Skills Under Pressure: This task is a key part of the entire Reading section. You need to be able to solve these questions quickly to save time for other tasks. Once your accuracy is good, test your speed and stamina with a PTE Reading Sectional Mock Test. Don’t forget that your writing score is also affected, so a PTE Writing Sectional Mock Test is also beneficial.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1. How many Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks questions are there?

You will typically get 5 to 6 of these questions in the exam. Because they contribute to two skill scores, they carry a very high weight overall.

Q2. What is the best way to prepare for the grammar aspect of this task?

Focus on parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives), verb forms (tenses, participles), and conjunctions (linking words like ‘although’, ‘unless’, ‘whereas’). These are the most commonly tested grammatical points in the dropdowns.

Q3. What if I have no idea which word is correct?

If you are completely stuck after using the 3-step system, make your best logical guess. Since there is no negative marking, you should never leave a blank empty. An educated guess is always better than no answer at all.

This task is a test of your precision and your deep understanding of the English language. By using a clear system and building your core skills, you can turn it into a consistent source of points for two of the most important sections of the exam.

The best way to see how your performance here impacts your overall score is to take a full test.

Take a free, full-length PTE mock test with a complete score report. See how you perform on this crucial task and get the feedback you need to build a winning strategy.