PTE Highlight incorrect words Tips and Tricks | Top 8

The PTE Highlight incorrect words question type tests both your reading and listening skills. This is very similar to the PTE Listening fill in the blanks question, however, you don’t have to type in the missing word, rather click on the word that is different from the one in the audio. Essentially it is a test of the same skill! In this article we will share our top tips and tricks for doing well in the PTE Highlight incorrect words questions.

Let’s go through these PTE Highlight incorrect words tips and tricks one by one:

Read the text before the audio begins

This is the same tip that we shared for the PTE Listening fill in the blanks questions. You have a few seconds before the audio begins. Use that time! Even if you can only quickly glance through the text you will become familiar with the text – that will make it easier to listen and follow. You might even be able to pick some incorrect words just by reading!

Place your cursor at the first word

Your hand should be on mouse and the mouse cursor should be at the first word. You should do this before the audio begins.

Move you hand along with the audio

Move you hand along with the audio and click on a word immediately if you think it is incorrect. In this question there is no time to stop and think. You should click on the word immediately if you think it is incorrect. Don’t leave it thinking you will come back to the word later.

Don’t change your selections in the end

In most questions it is a good idea to review and look for the mistakes, but not so in the PTE Highlight incorrect words questions. If you try to do that you will only end up confusing yourself. So, trust your instinct and submit the question once the audio ends.

Make sure you don’t fall behind the audio

This is very important. If you fall behind it will be almost impossible to recover and understand the remaining audio. If you think you have fallen behind then jump to the part that the speaker is currently speaking and leave the rest. Be like this guy in the picture 🙂

Don’t make random guesses as there is negative marking in this question type

This is a simple but very important tip. PTE Listening Highlight incorrect words has negative marking and if you make random guesses you will receive negative score and might end up getting a zero for the question. So, click only on the words that you are sure about.

(Note: Our expert tutors have put together a full series of PTE Tutorials and PTE Tips and Tricks articles.Make sure to read all!)

Practice with a variety of authentic audio clips

Like in all other PTE Academic questions you will hear a wide variety of audio. Questions will have different accents, different speed of speaking, different complexity, etc. So, try to get hold of authentic practice materials like the PTE Mock Tests preparation packages. These questions will expose you to questions covering a wide range of scenarios.

Make logical guesses if required

If you end up getting a difficult audio and are only able to select one or two words or even lesser, then you must try to make some logical guesses. You can read the transcript and pick the words that don’t make sense there.

We hope these tips and tricks will help you perform better at the PTE Highlight Incorrect words questions. For more help and systematic preparation check out our popular online PTE Course packages! Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any queries.