telc B1 Sprachbausteine tips: points, timing and strategy

What are the Sprachbausteine in the telc B1 exam?

Sprachbausteine is the second section of the written telc Deutsch B1 exam, right after Leseverstehen (reading). It covers questions 21 to 40. Both parts are gap-fill texts, but they test different things. Many candidates outside Germany have not seen this task type before, because Goethe's B1 exam has no separate grammar section.

So in Teil 2, five words are left over. The instruction says so: „Jedes Wort passt nur einmal“ (each word fits only once). Only answers marked on the answer sheet (Antwortbogen) count; marks in the question booklet are not scored. Dictionaries and phones are not allowed.

How many points are the Sprachbausteine worth?

They are worth 30 of 225 points in the written exam. That sounds small, but there is no separate minimum for any section. telc sets only two limits: 135 written points and 45 speaking points, which is 60 percent of each. Every Sprachbausteine point counts towards the 135.

One correct headline in Leseverstehen Teil 1 is worth as much as three gaps and a bit. On the other hand, a gap is quick to solve: you read one sentence, not a whole text.

How much time do you get for the Sprachbausteine?

There is no separate time. Reading and Sprachbausteine share 90 minutes, and you choose the order. Important: at the end of the 90 minutes the invigilator collects that page of the answer sheet. Copying your answers onto the sheet happens inside the 90 minutes; there is no extra time afterwards. In its tips for the B2 exam, which has the same format, telc plans about 10 minutes for this.

Give yourself a fixed limit of 20 minutes for both Sprachbausteine parts together. Five minutes stuck on one hard gap is time taken from Leseverstehen Teil 1 and 2, where every answer is worth 5 points.

What grammar does Teil 1 test?

In Teil 1 the three options for a gap always belong to the same grammar group: three connectors, three article forms, three auxiliary verbs, three adjective forms. You do not need to understand the topic; you need the grammar of the sentence. In telc's own practice test 1, the ten gaps test these areas (our count):

• Connectors (two gaps), for example aber, denn or sondern
• Articles and possessives by case (two gaps): eine, einen or einer
• Auxiliary verb in the perfect tense: haben or sein
• Adjective with or without an ending
• Preposition of time
• Past participle or another verb form
• Relative pronoun after a preposition
• Personal pronoun: du or Sie, matching the whole letter

telc describes Teil 1 in a similar way in its B2 tips: the gaps test declension, articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, pronominal adverbs (words like dafür, darauf), verbs and particles.

How to solve a gap in Teil 1

An example we wrote in telc's format: „Ich komme sehr gern, (21) ich muss leider etwas später kommen. Mein Zug hat (22) Verspätung. Ich (23) gestern schon angerufen.“ (I'd love to come, (21) I will be a bit late. My train has (22) delay. I (23) already called yesterday.) The options: 21 aber, denn, sondern; 22 eine, einen, einer; 23 bin, habe, wurde.

1. Read the whole sentence, not just the words around the gap. In 21 there is a contrast: I'm coming, but later. Sondern needs a negative before it, denn gives a reason. Answer: aber.
2. Name the group. In 22 there are three article forms. Haben takes the accusative, and Verspätung is feminine: eine.
3. Check the verb at the end of the sentence. In 23 it is angerufen, a perfect tense formed with haben: habe.
4. Look at the greeting and the closing. If the letter starts „Liebe Lena“, the whole letter stays with du. A gap with dir, Ihnen and uns often solves itself this way.

What does Teil 2 test?

Teil 2 checks whether you know the right word, not whether you can inflect it. In practice test 1 a formal letter replies to an advert. The 15 words in the box are mixed; our count gives these groups:

A letter replying to an advert uses fixed phrases, and many gaps sit inside them: verbs with prepositions (sich freuen auf, fragen nach), polite requests in Konjunktiv II (würden Sie mir, ich hätte eine Frage) and connectors that give a reason or a purpose. If you know these phrases from writing practice, Teil 2 goes faster.

How to solve Teil 2

1. Read the advert first. It tells you what the letter is about.
2. Decide the word type for each gap before you look at the box. „Ich interessiere mich sehr ___ Ihr Ferienhaus“: a preposition is missing. „Wir möchten ___ Juli kommen“: a preposition with article.
3. Fill the gaps you are sure of first and cross the words out in the box. Each crossed-out word makes the choice smaller.
4. Watch for look-alike pairs: wenn and wann, da and dafür, damit and damals. Wann asks about time (when?), wenn starts a condition (if, whenever).
5. Never leave a gap empty. In its B2 tips, telc explicitly advises giving every gap an answer, even when you are unsure. An empty gap is always zero points.

Which grammar should you revise before the exam?

• Connectors and word order: aber, denn, sondern, weil, obwohl, deshalb, trotzdem, damit
• Accusative and dative after verbs and prepositions, for articles and possessives
• Perfect tense with haben or sein
• Adjectives: no ending after sein (die Arbeit war anstrengend), an ending before a noun
• Relative pronouns, also after prepositions (mit dem, mit denen)
• Verbs with prepositions: sich interessieren für, sich freuen auf, warten auf, denken an
• Polite forms in Konjunktiv II: könnten, würden, hätte, wäre

telc's Sprachbausteine also appear in the B2 exam, with the same points per gap: see telc B2 exam pass mark: points, format and retakes. You can practise the full 90 minutes with a real timer in our telc Deutsch B1 practice test, and find more tasks in the practice area.