The Listen to a Conversation task is part of the TOEFL iBT Listening section and is designed to test how well you understand short, natural dialogues in everyday or campus-related situations. In this task, you listen to a brief conversation between two speakers only once. The exchange usually involves making plans, solving a small problem, or clarifying a misunderstanding.

The conversations are realistic and informal. Speakers often do not explain everything directly, which means you must rely on context, tone, and logical reasoning to understand what is happening. After the conversation ends, you answer questions that focus on meaning rather than simple word recognition.

What Skills Does This Task Measure?

This task measures your ability to understand spoken English in a way that reflects real-life communication. TOEFL is not testing whether you can remember sentences word for word. Instead, it evaluates how effectively you process meaning across an interaction.

The main skills assessed include:

• Understanding the main idea and overall situation
• Identifying important details that support the main idea
• Recognizing speaker roles, attitudes, and intentions
• Understanding common idiomatic and colloquial expressions
• Inferring meaning that is not stated directly
• Following how ideas connect across speaker turns
• Making simple predictions about what will happen next

These skills work together, which is why focusing only on vocabulary or note-taking is usually not enough.

How Many Questions Are There?

For each recording/ conversation, you answer two multiple-choice questions. These questions are scored and appear in both stages of the Listening section under the Multistage Adaptive Test format.

Across the entire Listening section, you can expect up to eight scored questions from this task type. Because the test adapts based on your performance in the first stage, doing well early can positively influence the difficulty level of later questions.

Sample Question

You hear:

Narrator: Listen to a conversation.
Man: Hey, are you heading out now?
Woman: Yeah, I was just about to. Why?
Man: I thought you were meeting Sarah to work on the group presentation this afternoon.
Woman: That was the plan, but she emailed me earlier. She’s not feeling well, so we decided to postpone it.
Man: Oh, I see. So you’re free now?
Woman: Not exactly. Since the meeting’s canceled, I’m going to use the time to finish the slides on my own.
Man: Makes sense. Are you still planning to submit them tonight?
Woman: I think so. As long as I don’t run into any technical problems.

You see:

Question 1

What does the woman imply about her plans for the afternoon?

A. She will meet Sarah later instead
B. She will work on the presentation by herself
C. She will wait until tomorrow to work on the slides
D. She will cancel the presentation entirely

Correct Answer: B

Question 2

What will the woman probably do next?

A. Contact Sarah to reschedule the meeting
B. Leave campus to go home
C. Start working on the presentation slides
D. Ask the man for help with technical problems

Correct Answer: C

Useful Strategies to Ace This Task

1. Focus on the Situation, Not Every Word

Before the conversation starts, quickly prepare yourself:

• Who are the speakers?
• Where are they?
• Why are they talking?

Understanding the context makes inference much easier. When you know the situation, your brain can predict what kinds of language and decisions are likely to appear. For example, if the speakers sound like classmates, you should expect topics like assignments, schedules, or group work. If they sound like a customer and employee, you should expect problems, requests, or solutions. This context helps you interpret meaning even if you miss a few words. It also helps you avoid traps, because TOEFL answer choices often include details that are possible in general but do not fit the specific situation of the conversation.

2. Listen for Changes and Correction

Pay close attention when speakers:

• Correct themselves
• Change plans
• React with surprise (e.g., “Oh!”, “Wait…”)

These moments often signal the correct answer. Changes and corrections are important because they reveal the real message of the conversation. Often, the first idea is not the final idea. A speaker may start with one plan, then suddenly realize something and adjust it. That adjustment is usually what the test wants you to understand. Reactions like “Oh, I didn’t know that” or “Actually, that’s tomorrow” indicate a misunderstanding or new information, and TOEFL frequently builds questions around those turning points. If you train yourself to notice these moments, you will catch the hidden meaning that many students miss.

3. Track Speaker Intentions

Ask yourself while listening:

• What does each speaker want?
• Are they requesting, suggesting, refusing, or clarifying?

In conversations, people speak for a reason. One person might be asking for help, while the other might be giving advice or explaining a problem. TOEFL often tests your ability to recognize that purpose. For example, if a speaker mentions a deadline, they may not be sharing information. They might be pressuring the other person to act faster. If a speaker repeats a detail, they might be emphasizing it because the other person did not understand. Listening for intention helps you answer purpose questions correctly and prevents you from choosing an option that repeats a sentence but misunderstands why it was said.

4. Don’t Overthink Vocabulary

You do NOT need to understand every word.
Instead:

• Focus on tone
• Pay attention to verbs (plan, decide, need, expect)
• Catch idioms from context
• If you miss one word but understand the situation, you’re still fine.

Many students lose points because they panic after hearing an unfamiliar word. The goal is not perfect translation. The goal is comprehension. Tone gives you emotional meaning, such as frustration, relief, or uncertainty. Verbs reveal action and direction, such as whether a plan is changing or a decision has been made. Idioms can be understood through situation and reaction. If you focus on these signals, you will still understand the message. This also protects you from TOEFL distractors, which sometimes include advanced vocabulary to sound correct even when the idea is wrong.

5. Predict the Next Action

Many questions ask what a speaker will do next. Train yourself to think:

“Given this situation, what is the most logical next step?”

This skill improves quickly with regular practice.

Prediction questions are usually about logical outcomes. If someone says their laptop is crashing and another person suggests taking it to a repair shop, the most likely next action is going to the repair shop. If someone realizes they forgot to return a library book, the most likely next step is returning it or contacting the library. TOEFL does not expect imagination. It expects practical reasoning based on what the speakers said and decided. When you practice this skill, you become faster at recognizing the direction of the conversation, which makes answering much easier under time pressure.

6. Use Elimination Smartly

If you’re unsure:

• Eliminate answers that are too literal
• Remove options that repeat words but miss the point
• Choose the option that matches the speaker’s intention
• Remember: TOEFL distractors sound familiar, but are wrong

Elimination is powerful because TOEFL options are designed to confuse you. One common trap is the “word match” option. It repeats a phrase from the conversation, but it does not answer the question correctly. Another trap is the overly literal option, which ignores implied meaning. When you eliminate, do it logically. Ask whether the choice fits the situation, intention, and outcome of the conversation. The correct answer usually matches the overall meaning, not a single sentence. With practice, elimination becomes faster and more accurate, especially on inference and purpose questions.