Speaking · Question type
PTE Repeat Sentence
In Repeat Sentence you hear a short sentence once and must repeat it as accurately and fluently as you can immediately after.
See it first
Watch Repeat Sentence run.
This is the real sequence, sped up: the clock, the audio and the recording window. Press play, then read how to beat it.
The meeting has been moved to the conference room upstairs.
One play · 15s to repeat
What it is
What you actually do.
Repeat Sentence plays an audio sentence a single time. When the microphone opens, you repeat what you heard. There is no text on screen for the sentence itself.
The task stresses short-term auditory memory, pronunciation, and fluency together. It often appears many times in a test form, so small improvements compound.
You will not always catch every function word. Strong responses preserve meaning and rhythm even when a minor word is missing, without inventing long replacements.
How it’s scored
What the computer marks.
Scoring commonly reflects content accuracy (words recalled), oral fluency, and pronunciation.
Do not rely on unofficial “points per word” tables as official fact; Pearson’s model is automated and not fully public in detail.
How to do it well
The moves that hold up.
Under the clock, these are the habits that keep you calm and on task.
Listen for meaning chunks (time phrase + subject + verb + object), not isolated words.
Silently “mouth” the sentence during the beep/transition if it helps lock rhythm, without speaking early.
Start repeating immediately with confidence; hesitation at the start often cascades.
If you miss the middle, keep the beginning and end you remember rather than freezing.
Do not “upgrade” vocabulary. Repeat the words you heard, not a polished paraphrase.
Keep the melody: preserving the speaker’s stress and rhythm pattern helps even when a word is lost. Match it lightly rather than exaggerating mimicry.
Run a chunking progression drill: start with 8–12 word sentences, move to longer academic clauses, and after each attempt annotate the sentence with slash marks at phrase breaks, then retry without notes.
Common mistakes
What costs marks.
Most people lose points the same way. Know these before test day.
Trying to memorize every article and ending up with nothing fluent.
Paraphrasing (“students must study hard” → “pupils need to work a lot”).
Speaking after long silence while replaying the audio in your head.
Adding fillers (uh, you know) that break fluency.
Giving up halfway when one word is unclear.
Freezing after one missed word instead of finishing the sentence shell.
How to practice
Make it automatic.
Volume under exam conditions is what moves the score. Do this, not more reading.
Use a chunking drill: write slash marks for phrases after each attempt, then retry without notes.
Practice in noisy-ish home conditions occasionally so exam nerves feel familiar. Still keep audio clear.
Wobzzy free drills let you spam volume; sample AI scoring when you want a second opinion on fluency.
Keep going
Related tasks.
Answers
Frequently asked questions
Aim for both, but if you must choose under pressure, a fluent near-complete sentence usually beats a fragmented word-perfect attempt with long pauses. Still recover as many content words as you can.
Practice Repeat Sentence free
Unlimited drills with real exam timing. AI scoring is optional when you want feedback.