TOPIK II PBT writing practice (51–54)
Practice the writing section the way it is scored: blanks that test a grammar pattern (51–52), and 원고지 answers with the exact character count (53: 200–300, 54: 600–700). Rules are checked here; the content is for you and your tutor.
51–52 · Fill the blanks
Original practice items in the exam’s shape — not past papers.
53–54 · Write on 원고지
원고지 rules we check
- Each paragraph starts with one empty square
- A space never starts a line (it is absorbed by the line end)
- Punctuation gets its own square; if it would start a line it rides in the previous square
- After ? or ! leave one empty square
- Digits: two per square (official); lowercase Latin letters two per square is this editor’s convention
- 53–54 use the written style (-ㄴ/는다, -(이)다), not -아요/어요
Practice data is fictional.
What the last five public papers actually asked (51·52)
We went through the answer keys of the five most recent papers NIIED has published (#102 · 96 · 91 · 83 · 64) and counted which grammar function each of the 20 blanks tested. The practice items above marked “Pattern seen in …” reuse those functions with new passages. One blank can count under two functions (받지 않아서 = negation + cause), so the column totals 22, not 20 — and it covers only these 20 blanks, not the whole exam history.
| Grammar | Function | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| -고 싶다 / -(으)려고 하다 | intention · wish | 3 |
| -기 위해서는 / -지 않도록 / -(으)러 가다 | purpose · prevention | 3 |
| -(으)면 / -는지·-(으)ㄹ지 | condition · indirect question | 2 |
| -지 않다 / -는 것은 아니다 | negation | 2 |
| -아/어서 / -기 때문이다 | cause | 2 |
| -기 전에 / -(으)ㄴ 후에야 | time order | 2 |
| -아/어야 하다 / -아/어야 | obligation · necessary condition | 2 |
| -ㄴ/는다고 하다 / -(이)라고 하다 | reported speech · definition | 2 |
| -(으)ㄴ 적이 있다 | experience | 1 |
| -게 하다 | causative | 1 |
| -는 것이다 | explanation | 1 |
| -았/었으면 좋겠다 | hope | 1 |
Official scoring (NIIED)
| 53 | 54 | |
|---|---|---|
| Content & task | 7 | 12 |
| Structure | 7 | 12 |
| Language use | 16 | 26 |
| Total | 30 | 50 |
51 and 52 are 10 points each — 5 per blank. The rubric checks that the sentence fits the context before and after, uses the right register, and does not repeat the words around the bracket or add unrelated content. In 53 and 54 the “language use” band is the largest: correct, varied grammar in the formal written style. For those longer tasks NIIED warns against colloquial wording and sentence-final -아/어요 or -ㅂ/습니다 (the written -ㄴ/는다 style is expected); bullet-style notes are also penalised.
Official manuscript-paper (원고지) rules
- One character per square.
- Leave the first square empty when the text starts or a new paragraph begins.
- Inside a paragraph never leave the first square empty; if a line ends with no room for the space, start the next line in the first square.
- Arabic numerals: two digits per square.
- One punctuation mark per square; a dash (―) or ellipsis (……) takes two squares.
- Leave one square empty after ? and !; not required after . , :
- If the last square of a line holds the last letter, put the punctuation mark in the same square.
Sources: NIIED — TOPIK Ⅱ 쓰기 답안 작성 방법 (PDF) · NIIED — 원고지 사용법 (PDF)