Write one sentence as the officer dictates.
USCIS will dictate up to 3 sentences. You need to write 1 of them correctly. The vocabulary comes from a published list of ~94 words. Spelling counts — but not perfectly.
Spelling counts but minor errors that don't change the meaning are accepted. Per USCIS guidelines, your sentence must be intelligible and convey the meaning of the original.
The official writing list (M-1178), summarized by category.
The writing list overlaps heavily with the reading list, but adds month names, more place names, and a few different verb forms. Below is a representative summary; for the complete ~94-word list, see the USCIS resource page.
- People
Adams · Lincoln · Washington
- Civics
American Indians · capital · citizens · Civil War · Congress · flag · free · freedom of speech · President · right · Senators · state/states · White House
- Places
Alaska · California · Canada · Delaware · Mexico · New York City · United States · Washington · Washington, D.C.
- Months
February · May · June · July · September · October · November
- Holidays
Presidents’ Day · Memorial Day · Flag Day · Independence Day · Labor Day · Columbus Day · Thanksgiving
- Verbs
can · come · elect · have · is · lives/lived · meets · pay · vote · want
- Other (function/content)
blue · dollar bill · fifty · first · largest · most · north · one · one hundred · people · red · second · south · taxes · white
Top common spelling errors.
These are the words most commonly misspelled in writing practice. Get these right and your writing test will likely pass.
- lived[not “lieved”]
No "ie" — drop the final "e" from "live" and add "d."
- people[not “pepol / peple”]
Two "e"s and an "o" — "peo" + "ple."
- second[not “secod”]
Don’t drop the "n." Two consonants in a row: "n" then "d."
- Senators[not “Senaters”]
Ends in "-ors," not "-ers."
- Independence[not “Independance”]
"-ence" not "-ance." Common in "Independence Day."
- Thanksgiving[not “Thankgiving”]
Don’t drop the "s" between "Thanks" and "giving."
How to practice writing by hand.
Practice writing the words by hand, since the test is administered on paper. Common mistakes are dropped letters, transposed letters in “lived”/“lives,” and confusion between “we,” “me,” and “be.” Have a partner dictate from the list while you write — that simulates the actual test format.
Practice writing with dictation drills.
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