telc B1 Sprachbausteine: format, points and free practice

How are the Sprachbausteine structured?

You complete two letters with gaps: in Teil 1 you pick the grammatically correct option for each of ten gaps, in Teil 2 you fill ten gaps from a list of fifteen words. Sprachbausteine share the 90-minute block with Leseverstehen.

Teil 1: grammar in context

The basis is a letter or email with ten gaps. For each gap you choose the grammatically correct option out of three. Tested are, for example, prepositions, pronouns, connectors, verb forms and endings. Every correct answer is worth 1.5 points, 15 in total.

The three options often differ only in an ending or a single letter. The whole sentence decides: which verb stands at the end? Which case does the preposition demand? If you only read the words right next to the gap, you miss exactly the signals that matter.

Teil 2: vocabulary from the list

The second text is another letter, this time with ten gaps and a list of fifteen words. Each word fits at most one gap, and five are left over at the end. This part tests vocabulary in context: fixed expressions, fitting verbs and nouns, connectors. Each gap again counts 1.5 points.

Solve the gaps you are sure about first and cross out every used word immediately. With each solved gap the pool shrinks, and the hard cases at the end become a choice between two or three candidates instead of fifteen.

A worked example

In the sentence "Ich freue mich sehr ___ Ihre Antwort" the options are "über", "auf" and "für". If you only read "freuen", you quickly grab "über". But the sentence looks forward: the reply has not arrived yet.

"Sich freuen über" goes with something that already happened, "sich freuen auf" with something still to come. So "auf" is correct. Verb-preposition pairs like this are the core of Teil 1, and it pays to learn the most common ones as fixed units.

The same look at context helps in Teil 2: an article before the gap means a noun is missing. A "zu" in front often announces an infinitive. The grammar of the sentence pre-sorts the word list before you even think about meaning.

Time strategy inside the 90 minutes

The Sprachbausteine have no time slot of their own; they run in the same 90-minute block as Leseverstehen. They bring 30 points, ten percent of the total score, but cost far less reading time than the long reading texts. 15 to 20 minutes for both parts is a realistic target.

Whether you start with the Sprachbausteine or with Leseverstehen is a matter of taste. Many start with the Sprachbausteine because they are short and a quick win calms the nerves. What matters is keeping an eye on the clock and having every answer on the answer sheet at the end.

Typical mistakes in the Sprachbausteine

The classic in Teil 1 is deciding by sound: an option "sounds right" because it is frequent, but does not fit the structure of the sentence. Check mechanically instead: case, position, ending. In Teil 2 it costs points to use a word twice or to reuse one you already crossed out.

Do not underestimate this part. 30 points regularly decide whether the written exam is passed, where you need 135 of 225 points. Collecting 25 points here in 20 focused minutes gains you more than half an hour of brooding over one hard reading text.