Introduction
Sentence completion is one of the most common task types on the NLTV A2 writing and reading sections. At the A2 level, you will be asked to fill in missing words or phrases using correct grammar, appropriate vocabulary, and context clues from surrounding text. These tasks test whether you can produce and recognize natural Vietnamese in everyday situations such as shopping, making appointments, and talking about daily routines. Mastering sentence completion strategies will give you a significant score boost across multiple sections of the exam.
Exam Format
| Section | Duration | Questions | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listening | ~20 min | 15-20 | Short dialogues, announcements |
| Reading | ~30 min | 15-20 | Signs, messages, short passages |
| Writing | ~20 min | 10-15 | Fill-in-blanks, short sentences |
| Speaking | ~10 min | 5-8 | Self-intro, daily topics |
What You Need to Know
Grammar Points for A2
- đang / đã / sẽ — tense markers placed before the verb to indicate present continuous, past, and future actions
- muốn / cần / phải — modal verbs expressing want, need, and obligation respectively
- vì ... nên ... — cause-and-effect connector meaning "because ... so ..."
- nếu ... thì ... — conditional structure meaning "if ... then ..."
- Classifier nouns (cái, con, cái, chiếc, quyển) — obligatory measure words used before nouns when counting
- Negation with không / chưa — không negates general facts; chưa means "not yet" and implies the action may still happen
- Questions with bao nhiêu / mấy — both ask about quantity; mấy is used for small numbers, bao nhiêu for larger or unknown amounts
- Comparison with hơn / nhất — comparative (-er than) and superlative (-est) degree markers
- Thì / là in topic-comment sentences — used to introduce or emphasize the topic of a sentence
- Adverbs of frequency (thường, hay, luôn, thỉnh thoảng, ít khi) — placed before the verb to express how often something occurs
Essential Vocabulary Topics
- Daily routines (thức dậy, đánh răng, ăn sáng, đi làm, về nhà, đi ngủ)
- Shopping and prices (mua, bán, giá, đắt, rẻ, trả tiền, siêu thị, chợ)
- Food and drinks (cơm, phở, bún, cà phê, nước, uống, ăn, ngon)
- Transportation (đi xe máy, xe buýt, taxi, tàu, máy bay, ga, bến xe)
- Health and body (đau đầu, sốt, khỏe, bệnh viện, bác sĩ, thuốc)
- Time and scheduling (hôm nay, ngày mai, tuần sau, mấy giờ, bao lâu, lúc)
- Feelings and opinions (vui, buồn, mệt, thích, không thích, nghĩ, thấy)
- Home and surroundings (phòng, nhà, bàn, ghế, cửa, gần, xa, ở đâu)
Sample Questions
Listening Sample
A: Hôm nay bạn có bận không?
B: Buổi sáng mình bận, nhưng buổi chiều mình rảnh.
Question: When is person B available?
- A. In the morning
- B. In the afternoon
- C. All day
Answer
Answer: B. In the afternoon Explanation: Person B says "buổi sáng mình bận" (I am busy in the morning) but "buổi chiều mình rảnh" (I am free in the afternoon), so the correct answer is B.
Reading Sample
Read the message and choose the best word to complete the sentence.
Chị ơi, em muốn mua cái áo này nhưng em không có _____ tiền. Em có thể trả sau không?
Question: Which word best fills the blank?
- A. nhiều
- B. ít
- C. đủ
Answer
Answer: C. đủ Explanation: The speaker wants to buy the item but cannot pay — "không có đủ tiền" means "don't have enough money." This fits the context because they are asking to pay later. "Nhiều" (a lot) and "ít" (a little) do not logically complete the cause-and-effect meaning of the sentence.
Writing Sample
Fill in the blank with the correct word.
Nếu trời mưa, chúng tôi _____ ở nhà.
(If it rains, we _____ stay at home.)
- A. đang
- B. sẽ
- C. đã
Answer
Answer: B. sẽ Explanation: The sentence uses "nếu" (if) to describe a future condition. The correct tense marker for a future result in a conditional sentence is "sẽ" (will). "Đang" marks the present continuous and "đã" marks a completed past action — neither fits a future hypothetical.
Study Tips
- Read the whole sentence before filling in the blank — the words before and after the gap almost always contain clues about grammar and meaning. Never guess from the blank alone.
- Identify what part of speech is missing — ask yourself: is the gap a verb, noun, connector, or time word? This instantly eliminates wrong options.
- Memorize cause-effect and conditional connectors — pairs like vì...nên, nếu...thì, and tuy...nhưng appear constantly in sentence completion tasks and are easy points if you know them.
- Practice tense marker placement daily — đang, đã, sẽ, vừa, and mới must come directly before the main verb; drilling this pattern prevents one of the most common A2 mistakes.
- Build vocabulary by topic, not by word — learning words in context groups (e.g., all shopping words together) makes it much faster to recognize the right word when you see a blank in a passage about that topic.
- Use elimination strategy under time pressure — if unsure, cross out any option that creates an ungrammatical sentence or a meaning that contradicts the context, then choose from what remains.