Item content of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is catagorized using 100 items from a half-length sample TOEFL published by Educational Testing Service (ETS), 120 items from Section II and 150 from the Section IV of Test of English as a Foreign Language (Gruber and Gruber), and 200 items from How to Prepare for the TOEFL by Pamela J. Sharpe. Designation of the three major catagories of item types as simple sentence, combined sentences, and word choice reveals Gruber's manual, although prescriptive, as much closer to the sample TOEFL's in the percentage of questions given to a particular catagory than is Sharpe's. The actual TOEFL is a more comprehensive test than discussed in either of the manuals, and provides an assessment of language as it is used, rather than emphasizing a prescriptive set of rules. (RL)