U.S. citizenship · English test
As of October 25, 2026, on the USCIS English reading test, the applicant must read aloud one of three sentences correctly.
On the USCIS English writing test, the applicant must write one of three sentences correctly (per uscis.gov, checked on Oct 25, 2026).
There is no separate speaking test: the USCIS officer judges spoken English during the Form N-400 eligibility interview itself. USCIS, Oct 25, 2026
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Listen to the sentence (or look at it for 3 seconds), write it, then check it word by word.
Practice sentences by OneTryPass, written only with words from the USCIS writing list. They are not the sentences used at the interview. Capital letters and punctuation are not checked here.
Both USCIS lists in full, grouped the way USCIS groups them (revision 07/14, checked Oct 25, 2026). Learn to read every word on the reading list and to write every word on the writing list.
USCIS list, Oct 25, 2026
USCIS list, Oct 25, 2026
Reading: you get up to three sentences, and reading one of them aloud correctly passes. Writing: you get up to three sentences, and writing one of them correctly passes.
Speaking is graded during the whole interview as the officer goes over your Form N-400 answers with you.
Questions from the 2025 list, answered out loud and scored the way the officer does.
Where the reading and writing test fits, and what happens if one part goes wrong.
All civics questions and answers
The USCIS list for the 2025 test, word for word.
One of each. On the USCIS English reading test, the applicant must read aloud one of three sentences correctly. On the USCIS English writing test, the applicant must write one of three sentences correctly. Source: official page "The Naturalization Interview and Test", checked on Oct 25, 2026.
USCIS publishes a reading vocabulary list and a writing vocabulary list for the naturalization test, both shown in full on this page. The practice sentences on this page use only words from the writing list; they are not the sentences USCIS uses at the interview. Source: official page "Citizenship Resources in Text-Only Format", checked on Oct 25, 2026.
There is no separate speaking test: the USCIS officer judges spoken English during the Form N-400 eligibility interview itself. Source: official page "The Naturalization Interview and Test", checked on Oct 25, 2026.
Some older, long-time residents can. USCIS exempts applicants from the English test, but not from the civics test, when they are 50 or older with 20 years as a permanent resident (50/20) or 55 or older with 15 years (55/15). Source: official page "Exceptions and Accommodations", checked on Oct 25, 2026.
The rules come from the USCIS page on the naturalization interview and test. The word lists are the USCIS text-only reading and writing vocabulary files, copied as published (revision 07/14, the versions linked from the USCIS text-only resources page when we checked).
How often each kind of rule is read again: english test, 180 days.
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