Imagine this short exchange:
Student: Why did attendance fall?
Scrambled chunks: the schedule change / partly / researchers / attribute / the decline / to
A tempting ordering is “The schedule change researchers attribute partly to the decline.” Every chunk stays intact, but the reply makes the schedule change the result and the decline its proposed cause. The complete reply is: “Researchers attribute the decline partly to the schedule change.”
The lexical decision in Build a Sentence is not just where to place a verb. You must keep its multiword pattern intact and assign the cause, result, support, or dependency to the correct side.
In the TOEFL iBT format used from January 2026, Build a Sentence is a Writing task. ETS says you arrange supplied words or phrases to make a complete, grammatical sentence or question. The official overview presents a short exchange: an intact sentence is followed by scrambled material for an appropriate reply. The task measures command of sentence structure. A plausible sequence can still be wrong if it changes the meaning of the exchange.
Start with the verb's slots
Before moving chunks, write an invisible frame:
account for + resultattribute + result + to + causeresult + stem from + causecause + give rise to + resultoutcome + hinge on + conditionbasis + underpin + supported thing
Then locate the subject, check agreement, and attach relative clauses to the noun they describe. Treat fixed prepositions as part of the verb chunk. Splitting attribute ... to, stem from, give rise to, or hinge on often produces a grammatical-looking sentence with the wrong direction.
Weak method: arrange chunks by sound and stop when the sentence seems fluent.
More precise method: identify the exchange’s meaning, fill the verb’s slots, check agreement, and read the reply back to the first speaker.
Six patterns and their boundaries
Account for and explain
To account for a result is to explain it by identifying relevant circumstances or a cause: “Longer hours may account for the increase.” Explain is broader and can also make an idea understandable. Their causal uses overlap, so do not invent a rule that one is always correct.
The pattern has another valid sense: “Online sales account for 40% of revenue” means they constitute that share. In a causal reply, check that the proposed cause is the subject and the observed result follows for.
Attribute to and stem from
To attribute X to Y is to regard result X as caused or explained by Y. The analyst or report can be the subject: “The report attributes the decline to higher fees.” It does not require certainty or a sole cause.
With stem from, the result itself becomes the subject: “The decline stems partly from higher fees.” These sentences can express the same causal direction, but their grammar is reversed:
analyst → attributes → RESULT → to → CAUSE
RESULT → stems from → CAUSE
Do not write “The decline attributes to higher fees” or the passive-looking “The decline is stemmed from higher fees.”
Stem from and give rise to
These patterns point in opposite grammatical directions:
RESULT ← stems from ← CAUSE
CAUSE → gives rise to → RESULT
“The confusion stems from unclear instructions” and “Unclear instructions give rise to confusion” preserve the same cause-result relationship. Stem from can draw attention to origin. Give rise to is a formal causal phrase meaning cause something to happen or exist. Neither phrase proves that the named factor is the only cause.
Give rise to and cause
Cause overlaps with give rise to before a noun result: “The delay caused concern” and “The delay gave rise to concern.” But the grammar differs with an infinitive. “The delay caused the board to meet” is valid; “gave rise to the board to meet” is not. Give rise to requires a noun phrase after to, such as a meeting, concern, or new questions.
CAUSE → causes → RESULT
CAUSE → gives rise to → RESULT NOUN PHRASE
Keep the fixed form: no article before rise, no raise, and no replacement preposition.
Understanding is only the first step.
Lyra Practice helps you retrieve and use high-value workplace expressions in realistic situations until they feel natural.
Start a practice session →Hinge on and depend on
To hinge on a condition is to depend on it: “The launch hinges on whether the tests pass.” Depend on is essentially synonymous. Do not claim that hinge on always means a single decisive condition. The sentence tells you only that the outcome is contingent on that factor; it does not say whether the condition will be met.
Direction matters: OUTCOME → hinges on → CONDITION. If approval depends on the review, the review does not thereby depend on approval.
Underpin and support
To underpin something is to support it or form its basis. Support is broader, and the words overlap. Underpin can take evidence, principles, trust, demand, assumptions, or infrastructure as its subject; it does not require numerical evidence.
Direction again matters:
BASIS → underpins → CLAIM / FORECAST / SYSTEM
“Survey data underpins the forecast” does not mean the forecast proves the data. Support is not automatic proof or a guarantee.
Four worked exchanges
Each example is original. Build the reply, then compare it with the tempting failure.
1. Agreement trap
A: Why did evening library use rise?
Chunks: the extended hours / most of the increase / account for
Answer: “The extended hours account for most of the increase.”
Why: The plural subject hours takes account. The cause is the extended hours; the result is the increase.
Plausible failure: “Most of the increase accounts for the extended hours.” This is grammatical, but it reverses the explanation. “Accounts” also agrees with increase, which can hide the meaning error.
2. Relative-clause and agreement trap
A: Why does the committee trust the forecast?
Chunks: the survey data / that were collected last month / the forecast / underpin
Answer: “The survey data that were collected last month underpin the forecast.”
Why: The relative clause modifies data. The main subject is plural data, so the main verb is underpin, not underpins. The data form the supporting basis.
Plausible failure: “The survey data that were collected last month underpins the forecast.” The nearby singular noun month is not the subject of the main verb.
3. Preposition and causal-direction trap
A: Did staff shortages cause the delay, and did that delay lead to missed appointments?
Chunks: staff shortages / the delay / which gave rise to missed appointments / stemmed from
Answer: “The delay, which gave rise to missed appointments, stemmed from staff shortages.”
Why: The prompt supplies the full chain. The relative clause sits directly after the delay, so the delay produced the missed appointments. The delay itself stemmed from staff shortages.
Plausible failure: “Staff shortages, which gave rise to missed appointments, stemmed from the delay.” This is grammatical, but it reverses the stated origin and attaches the missed appointments to the wrong link in the chain.
4. Clause and discontinuous-collocation trap
A: What will determine whether the pilot continues?
Chunks: whether researchers can / the lower participation / to scheduling / attribute / the decision hinges on
Answer: “The decision hinges on whether researchers can attribute the lower participation to scheduling.”
Why: The whole whether clause is the condition after hinges on. Inside that clause, attribute X to Y keeps lower participation as the result and scheduling as the proposed cause.
Plausible failure: “Researchers attribute whether the decision hinges on the lower participation to scheduling.” The chunks can be joined, but attribute now takes a malformed result, and the reply no longer answers what the decision depends on.
Common mistakes
- Reversing cause and result. Check each arrow before checking style.
- Breaking a preposition away from its verb. Preserve account for, attribute to, stem from, give rise to, and hinge on.
- Using the nearest noun for agreement. Relative clauses insert nouns between the true subject and main verb.
- Making stem from passive. Use “The problem stems from...” or “The problem stemmed from...”
- Putting an infinitive after give rise to. Use a noun result, or choose cause/lead someone to do something.
- Treating hinge on as a prediction. It names a dependency, not whether the condition succeeds.
- Treating underpin as proof. A basis supports a claim; the verb does not guarantee the claim is true.
- Ranking real synonyms without evidence. Explain can overlap with account for, depend on with hinge on, and support with underpin.
Quick check
- Put the direction in words: “Low participation stems from scheduling conflicts.”
- Which is grammatical?
- A. “The policy gave rise to staff to complain.”
- B. “The policy gave rise to staff complaints.”
- Complete the reply: “Will the event happen?” “It ___ whether the venue is available.”
- Which sentence preserves the basis-support relationship?
- A. “The forecast underpins the evidence.”
- B. “The evidence underpins the forecast.”
Answers and explanations
- Scheduling conflicts are the proposed cause; low participation is the result. The wording does not prove they are the only cause.
- B. Staff complaints is a noun phrase. The person-plus-infinitive frame in A needs a verb such as caused.
- hinges on or depends on. Both state the required contingency. The condition remains unresolved.
- B. The evidence is the supporting basis, and the forecast is what it supports. A reverses that relationship.
Practice prompt
Create a two-turn exchange in which a professor asks why a research finding changed. Scramble a reply that uses one target pattern and includes either a relative clause or a whether clause. Then write the complete answer and one plausible ordering that is grammatical but reverses cause, support, or dependency. Explain the exact role that changed.
Continue with the TOEFL vocabulary practice hub or visit the broader Exam English hub.
Sources
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