True/False/Not Given is the question type candidates complain about most, and the complaint is always the same: “I understood the passage, and I still got it wrong.”
That happens because TFNG does not test whether you understood the passage. It tests whether you can compare two precise claims — the statement in the question and the sentence in the text — without letting your own knowledge or assumptions fill the gap between them. Once you treat it as a comparison task instead of a comprehension task, your accuracy changes.
The three verdicts, defined properly
Most guides define True, False, and Not Given loosely. The loose definitions are what cause wrong answers, so here are the strict ones:
- True — the statement agrees with the claims of the writer. Not “is probably right”, not “sounds like the passage”. The passage must state or logically entail the same claim.
- False — the statement contradicts the passage. The passage must say something that makes the statement impossible. This is the strictest verdict of the three.
- Not Given — the passage neither confirms nor contradicts the statement. The information simply is not there.
The single most common error pattern: choosing False when the answer is Not Given. If the passage says “the factory opened in 1902” and the statement says “the factory was the largest in the region”, that statement is not false — the passage just never discusses size. Your brain wants to reward itself for spotting a mismatch. TFNG punishes that instinct.
The distinction that fixes most wrong answers
Before you answer any TFNG question, ask exactly one question:
Does the passage talk about this at all?
Not “is it true?” — that comes second. First establish whether the specific claim in the statement is addressed anywhere in the text. If it is not addressed, the answer is Not Given, no matter how plausible or implausible the statement sounds.
This ordering matters because Not Given traps are engineered to sound reasonable. They borrow real vocabulary from the passage and attach it to a claim the passage never makes. If you skip the “is this addressed?” check, you will match the vocabulary, feel confident, and answer True.
A repeatable four-step method
1. Read the statement first and isolate the precise claim. Underline the part that can be verified: a quantity, a comparison, a cause, a date. “Solar panels became cheaper because of government subsidies” — the claim is the because, not the cheapness.
2. Locate the relevant section of the passage. TFNG answers come in passage order, so use the previous answer’s location as your starting point. Scan for names, numbers, and paraphrases of your underlined claim.
3. Compare claim to text, word by word. Watch for four modifiers that flip verdicts:
- Quantifiers — some vs all vs most. Passage says “some birds migrate”; statement says “all birds migrate” → False.
- Frequency — often vs always. “Always” claims are contradicted by a single exception in the text.
- Comparatives — the passage saying two things are both large does not confirm one is larger.
- Cause vs correlation — the passage noting two things happened together does not confirm one caused the other.
4. Give the verdict the evidence forces — not the one that feels right. If you found the topic but the specific claim is not confirmed or contradicted, write Not Given and move on. Spending ninety extra seconds rereading will not create evidence that is not there.
A worked example
An original passage, written for this guide, with five statements.
Urban beekeeping has grown quickly over the past decade. In several European capitals the number of registered hives has more than doubled, and some hotels and office buildings now keep bees on their roofs. Supporters argue that cities offer bees a longer flowering season than farmland, because parks and gardens contain many different plants. However, a study of one large city found that areas with the most hives had fewer wild bees, which suggests that honeybees may compete with wild species for food. Most city councils do not limit the number of hives a resident can keep.
| Statement | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The number of registered hives has increased in some European capitals. | TRUE | Several European capitals and more than doubled. “Some” is a fair paraphrase of “several”. |
| All hotels in European capitals now keep bees. | FALSE | The passage says some hotels. The quantifier is contradicted. |
| City honey tastes better than honey from farmland. | NOT GIVEN | The passage compares flowering seasons. Taste is never mentioned. |
| The study found more wild bees in areas with many hives. | FALSE | The passage says those areas had fewer wild bees. The opposite is stated. |
| Most city councils restrict how many hives a person may keep. | FALSE | Most city councils do not limit the number. A direct contradiction. |
Look at the third statement again. It sounds reasonable, it uses words from the passage, and the passage does compare cities with farmland. None of that matters. The specific claim, taste, is not there, so no sentence can confirm or contradict it.
Now the second. Hotels keeping bees is in the passage, so it is tempting to mark it TRUE. But the statement says all and the passage says some. The topic matches and the claim does not, and a claim the passage contradicts is FALSE.
Yes/No/Not Given: same skill, one difference
Yes/No/Not Given questions work identically, but they ask about the writer’s opinions and claims rather than factual information. The trap changes accordingly: the passage may report someone else’s view (“critics argue that…”) without the writer endorsing it. If the statement attributes that view to the writer, the answer is not Yes.
How to actually get better at this
TFNG rewards deliberate review more than volume. Getting 8 out of 13 right teaches you nothing unless you know why the five went wrong — and TFNG errors are unusually diagnosable: almost every one is either a modifier you skimmed past or a Not Given you talked yourself out of.
When you practise reading tests in IELTS Studio, the review screen shows the exact sentence in the passage that justifies each answer. Compare that sentence to the statement you misjudged, name the trap (quantifier? causation? not addressed at all?), and you will start seeing the same traps before you answer instead of after.
If TFNG is one of several question types costing you marks, work through them one at a time — accuracy on matching headings responds to the same kind of targeted drilling.
Want more practice? Compare the best IELTS Reading practice websites.
Sources
- IELTS Reading test format Official definition of True, False and Not given: False means the statement contradicts the text, Not given means the text neither confirms nor contradicts it.
Last reviewed October 5, 2026. See our editorial policy for how guides are checked and corrected.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between False and Not Given?
- False means the passage contradicts the statement, which is the strictest verdict of the three. Not Given means the passage neither confirms nor contradicts it, because the information simply is not there. Choosing False when the answer is Not Given is the single most common error pattern in this question type.
- What should I ask first on a True False Not Given question?
- Ask whether the passage talks about this at all, before you ask whether it is true. If the specific claim is not addressed anywhere in the text, the answer is Not Given no matter how plausible or implausible the statement sounds. Not Given traps are engineered to sound reasonable, borrowing real vocabulary from the passage and attaching it to a claim the passage never makes.
- Which words flip a True False Not Given verdict?
- Four kinds. Quantifiers, where some against all against most changes everything. Frequency, where an always claim is contradicted by a single exception. Comparatives, where a passage saying two things are both large does not confirm one is larger. And cause against correlation, where two things happening together does not confirm one caused the other.
- Do True False Not Given answers come in passage order?
- Yes. Use the previous answer's location as your starting point, then scan for names, numbers and paraphrases of the claim you underlined in the statement.
- What is the difference between True False Not Given and Yes No Not Given?
- They work identically, but Yes No Not Given asks about the writer's opinions and claims rather than factual information. The trap changes accordingly: the passage may report someone else's view, as in critics argue that, without the writer endorsing it. If the statement attributes that view to the writer, the answer is not Yes.
- How do I actually get better at True False Not Given?
- Through deliberate review rather than volume. Getting 8 out of 13 teaches you nothing unless you know why the five went wrong, and these errors are unusually diagnosable: almost every one is either a modifier you skimmed past or a Not Given you talked yourself out of. Name the trap each time and you start seeing them before you answer.