Answer Short Question Items in PTE Speaking

Learn about Answer short question items in PTE speaking with an overview, recommended strategy and practice questions.

Table of contents

Overview

Answer short question items test your ability to understand a spoken question and provide a brief and accurate response.

Here are some key points about Answer short question items:

They assess both speaking and listening skills.
The recordings are approximately 3–9 seconds in length.
Each recording is played once only.
You have 10 seconds per question to record your response.
Your response will be scored as either correct or incorrect – there’s no partial credit.
You’ll answer 10–12 Answer short question items in the speaking test.

Here’s an example Answer short question item related to the topic of the environment.

You can try this question in the practice section.

You will hear a question. Please give a simple and short answer. Often just one or a few words is enough.

Here’s my recommended strategy for answering Answer short question items.

Listen carefully to the question and work out what kind of information your response requires.

Speak at a normal speed. There’s no need to rush – remember that you have 10 seconds to give each response.
Don’t speak too quietly. If you do, it may be hard for the computer to score your response accurately.
Just answer with a word or short phrase.