TCF Canada and TEF Canada vocabulary: French words by topic

How vocabulary is assessed

The published criteria do not give a list of words to learn: they describe what you do with vocabulary in the task. Both exams assess vocabulary, in writing and in speaking.

A rare word used wrongly does not show command of vocabulary. In practice, the criteria come down to three things:

• range: the precise words of the topic, rather than « chose », « faire » or « bien » in every sentence;
• control: the right gender (« un horaire », masculine « les soldes »), the right construction (« postuler à un poste », « nuire à la santé ») and the right spelling;
• fit: a register that suits the reader. Fitting the situation is a criterion in its own right in the TCF (the sociolinguistic criterion), as is “respect de la situation” in the TEF.

For anglicisms and all-purpose words, see also our guide to common mistakes in TCF and TEF writing.

French vocabulary by topic

These 12 topics cover ordinary situations: work, housing, getting around, health, neighbourhood life… They are not exam topics: our lists are original, and nobody can predict the topics of a given session. The goal is to have precise words at hand that carry over from one topic to the next.

How to read the lists: nouns come with their article; before « l’ », the gender is given in brackets: (m.) masculine, (f.) feminine, (pl.) plural. Verbs are in the infinitive. Notes flag a construction, a false friend, a register or a Canadian usage.

How to learn and reuse vocabulary

Reading a list is not enough: a word only helps if you can use it accurately on exam day, without having to search for it. Five habits get you there.

1. Learn word groups, not single words

Learn « signer un bail » (to sign a lease), « faire jouer la garantie » (to make a warranty claim) or « se remettre d’une blessure » (to recover from an injury) rather than the bare nouns. A word group gives you the gender, the preposition and the verb that goes with it, which word-for-word translation does not: you « postuler à un poste »; you do not « appliquer pour un emploi ».

2. Reuse the words in your own texts and recordings

After each topic, write a few lines using five words and two phrases from the list, then record yourself for one minute on the same subject. A word you have already used yourself comes back more easily than one you have only read. The prompts under each topic are there for this, and our grader also assesses the vocabulary of your text.

3. Vary instead of repeating

The same word three times in a paragraph stands out. Replace it with a synonym, a pronoun or a referring phrase (« ce logement », « cette mesure »), and swap all-purpose words for a precise word that fits the meaning:

To vary the links between your sentences too, see our list of French linking words.

4. Keep a personal vocabulary notebook

For each new word, write down the article or gender, the construction, a sentence of your own and, if relevant, the mistake you made. When a correction flags an imprecise word, add the right version to your notebook: it is the most useful list you will have, because it starts from your own mistakes. Read it again before each practice session.

5. Pick the right register

« Être accro » (to be hooked), « rater un examen » (to fail an exam) or « bref » (in short) are fine in a message to a friend; in an article or a letter to a newspaper, use « être dépendant », « échouer à un examen » or « en somme ». Everyday Canadian French (« courriel », « magasiner », « fin de semaine ») is correct French; an informal word, on the other hand, stays informal in every variety of French.

Learn words, not texts. In the fraud rules published with its writing sample test, France Éducation international lists plagiarism as fraud, including « reproduire partiellement ou intégralement des documents existants, qu’ils aient été mémorisés ou copiés » (reproducing existing documents in part or in full, whether memorised or copied). A recited model rarely fits the exact prompt anyway; words and phrases, on the other hand, work in any topic.

Your turn: pick a topic, note five words and two phrases, then write on the prompt below, fitting them in naturally. It is a TCF task 2 (tell the story of a situation and suggest solutions): the housing vocabulary works well. For another topic, use the “Practise this topic” links under each list.

In speaking, TCF Canada task 3 asks you to defend a point of view for 4 min 30 s with no preparation: precise topic vocabulary lets you develop your arguments instead of staying vague. Try it with the question below and the digital life and social media vocabulary.

TCF Canada vocabulary FAQ