Suppose a picture shows a cyclist riding beside a river. The two supplied words are while and bridge.
This sentence fails:
“A cyclist is riding beside a river, and a bridge is visible.”
It describes the image but omits while. This sentence uses both words but adds an unsupported event:
“While the cyclist is training for a race, a bridge is closed.”
A controlled answer is:
“While a cyclist is riding beside the river, a bridge is visible in the background.”
ETS currently places Write a sentence based on a picture at Questions 1–5 of the TOEIC Writing test. Each picture comes with two words or phrases that must be used in one sentence. Test takers may change the forms of the supplied words and use them in either order. The official sample directions allow eight minutes for this five-question section. ETS states that responses are scored for appropriate grammar and relevance to the picture.
The lexical decision is therefore constrained: integrate both supplied items into one grammatical sentence whose meaning the image supports. This is different from the longer email task in TOEIC Writing: respond to a written request. Continue at the TOEIC vocabulary hub or explore the Exam English hub.
Start with two non-negotiable checks
Before writing, identify:
- Picture evidence: people, actions, objects, visible states, and positions.
- Word constraints: the exact two supplied words or phrases and the grammatical roles they can take.
Do not begin with an elaborate story and then force the words into it. Build outward from one safe picture fact and one natural relationship between the supplied items.
For while + bridge, while can introduce a time clause and bridge can be the subject of the main clause. For beside + carry, beside needs a noun phrase and carry needs a subject:
“A woman is carrying a tray beside the counter.”
Both assigned items are visible and grammatical.
The form may change, but both words must remain visible
ETS permits changes to the forms of supplied words. If the pair is box + stack, a picture-supported answer could be:
“Several boxes are stacked beside the doorway.”
Box becomes plural and stack becomes a past participle in a passive construction. If the pair is woman + arrange:
“A woman is arranging flowers on a table.”
The inflection is not a loophole for replacing the word with a synonym. If arrange is supplied, writing only organize does not visibly use it. During practice, underline the realized form of each supplied item.
Depict helps test relevance
Depict means show or represent something in an image:
The image depicts a delivery worker carrying a package.
Ask: Does the picture depict every claim in my sentence? A photograph of someone holding a parcel does not necessarily depict delivery, urgency, ownership, or destination. If the uniform and visible action do not establish the role, a safer sentence is:
“A person is carrying a package toward a building.”
You do not need to use depict unless it is supplied. Use it as an editing question that keeps your sentence relevant to the image.
Comprise and constitute are not decorative substitutes
These verbs can appear as supplied words, and their direction matters.
Comprise commonly means consist of or be made up of:
“The display comprises three shelves of books.”
The whole comprises the parts. Avoid is comprised of in controlled practice when comprise can work directly; usage varies, but the direct active pattern is concise and widely accepted.
Constitute can mean form or make up a whole:
“Several small tables constitute the seating area.”
The parts constitute the whole. It can also mean amount to or count as something in abstract contexts, but a picture sentence should not claim legal or evaluative status the image cannot establish.
If a scene shows four musicians, do not write Four musicians comprise an orchestra unless the image supports calling the group an orchestra. A visible group does not automatically establish its formal identity.
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 →Salient: select one defensible relationship
Salient means especially noticeable or important in the immediate context. It is an editing lens here, not a word you need to force into the answer unless it is supplied. Identify the most salient relationship that both the picture and the assigned words support, then express that relationship directly.
If a bicycle and a fence are clearly next to each other, their position may provide the safest link:
“A bicycle is parked beside the fence.”
Do not choose a position merely because two objects appear in the same broad background. The relationship must be visibly defensible.
Common picture-position patterns include:
- beside / next to / adjacent to the counter;
- behind the seated customer;
- in front of the building;
- between two shelves;
- along the wall;
- above the entrance.
Position language is efficient because it joins two picture elements without requiring a backstory.
Five dependable sentence structures
These are grammatical resources, not guaranteed templates. The supplied words determine which one fits.
1. Subject + action + position
Pair: carry / beside
“A server is carrying two glasses beside a table.”
2. While-clause + main clause
Pair: while / shelf
“While one employee is arranging products, another is standing near a shelf.”
Both clauses must connect grammatically. Avoid a fragment such as While one employee is arranging products near a shelf. That dependent clause needs a main clause unless while has another valid role.
3. Relative clause
Pair: who / document
“The woman who is standing near the window is holding a document.”
Make sure who refers to a person. If which is supplied, it normally refers to a thing or introduces a clause about a previous idea, depending on structure.
4. Passive visible state
Pair: box / stack
“Several boxes are stacked near the loading area.”
This avoids inventing an actor when only the result is visible.
5. Coordinated details
Pair: and / counter
“A customer is holding a menu, and a server is standing behind the counter.”
The conjunction must connect complete and logical elements. A longer sentence is not automatically stronger.
Deterministic worked items
The following prompts provide complete fact lists so the answer boundary is clear.
Item 1
Visible facts: Two workers stand at a table. One holds a plan. Tools lie on the table.
Supplied words: while / tool
Answer:
“While one worker is holding a plan, the other is standing beside a table covered with tools.”
Both words appear exactly in acceptable forms. The sentence stays within the supplied facts. It does not call the workers architects or say what they will build.
Item 2
Visible facts: Three suitcases stand next to a bench. No people are visible.
Supplied words: beside / suitcase
Answer:
“Three suitcases are positioned beside a bench.”
Suitcase changes to plural, and beside takes the noun phrase a bench. The passive reports a visible state without inventing who placed the luggage.
Item 3
Visible facts: A shelf has four baskets. The baskets occupy the entire display.
Supplied words: comprise / basket
Answer:
“The display on the shelf comprises four baskets.”
The whole display comprises its four basket parts. Reversing the nouns would reverse the controlled meaning direction taught here.
Item 4
Visible facts: A man reads a newspaper at a café table. A cup is on the table.
Supplied words: man / with
Answer:
“A man is reading a newspaper at a table with a cup on it.”
The final it clearly refers to the table. The sentence does not infer what is in the cup.
Grammar checks under time pressure
After drafting, run this compact check:
- Both: Can I underline both supplied words or permitted forms?
- One sentence: Is there one complete sentence, not two sentences or a dependent fragment?
- Agreement: Does the subject match the verb?
- Attachment: Is every relative clause and prepositional phrase attached clearly?
- Evidence: Can each content claim be pointed to in the image?
- Collocation: Does the verb naturally take this object or complement?
- Punctuation: Is the sentence readable without a comma splice?
For a pair such as because / delivery, resist writing a causal claim unless the picture shows enough to support it. An image can show a delivery vehicle; it usually cannot prove that an event happened because of the delivery. If the conjunction cannot be used truthfully with the visible facts, inspect whether it has another grammatical use or whether a different visible relationship can support it. Never manufacture an explanation merely to sound complete.
Common failure modes
- Missing one supplied item: a good caption that fails the explicit word rule.
- Synonym replacement: using near when beside was supplied, with no form of the assigned word.
- Two fragments joined by a comma: While a woman is waiting, beside the counter.
- Unsupported identity: calling someone a manager, customer, tourist, or engineer without sufficient evidence.
- Unsupported causation: using because to invent why a visible action occurred.
- Unclear position: using a vague pronoun when the picture supports a direct phrase such as beside the bench.
- Meaning reversal: treating the parts as if they are comprised by the whole without checking the chosen construction.
- Overloaded sentence: adding several clauses until agreement and reference break down.
A five-item practice set
Create five fact lists, each with five visible facts and two supplied words. Include:
- one conjunction;
- one preposition;
- one action verb;
- one countable noun;
- one word whose form must change.
Allow eight minutes for all five, matching the official sample-section timing. Underline both realized words in each answer. Then have a partner check only two criteria first: grammar and relevance to the fact list. Finally, identify the sentence boundary and explain what each clause contributes. If a sentence contains a fact absent from the list, remove or replace it even if the story seems plausible.
Sources
- TOEIC Speaking and Writing test format — ETS
- TOEIC Speaking and Writing sample tests — ETS
- TOEIC Speaking and Writing examinee handbook — ETS
Related
- TOEIC Writing: respond to a written request
- TOEIC opinion essay vocabulary
- TOEIC Part 1 photographs vocabulary
- TOEIC vocabulary list by workplace situation
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