TCF & TEF Canada Word Count: Minimums, Maximums, Penalties

TCF Canada writing has a minimum and a maximum for every task: 60–120 words for task 1, 120–150 for task 2 and 120–180 for task 3. France Éducation international (FEI) says you must respect both, and warns that your writing copy may be rated "A1 non atteint", the lowest possible result, if a task isn't done with the required number of words. FEI publishes no tolerance margin.

TEF Canada sets minimums only: 80 words for Section A and 200 words for Section B, in 25 and 35 minutes. Le français des affaires (LFA) publishes no maximum and no specific penalty for being short. Below: the exact limits, how a word is counted, what each test owner actually says (and doesn't), and how to plan your words so you never have to count in a panic.

The limits, task by task

Paste your draft into our TCF and TEF word counter to check it against these limits as you type, with the official timer running.

All figures from the test owners: FEI's TCF Canada page and candidate manual (May 2025), and LFA's TEF Canada test page and official writing samples. The task formats themselves are covered in our guides to TCF Canada writing tasks 1 and 2, TCF Canada writing task 3 and TEF Canada writing Sections A and B.

What France Éducation international says

FEI's wording is short and firm. On its exam-day page and in the candidate manual:

• "Il est impératif de composer aux 3 tâches en respectant le nombre de mots minimum et maximum requis." You must do all three tasks within both limits.
• The copy "pourrait être évaluée « A1 non atteint »" (may be rated A1 not reached) if:
  • your handwriting is illegible (paper test);
  • a task isn't done with the required number of words;
  • the text is off topic;
  • one or more tasks are missing;
  • you copy one or more sentences from a prompt or a document;
  • your answer was written on the scrap paper (the manual adds this one).

Three things FEI does not publish: a tolerance (no "10% either way"), how far outside a range triggers the rule, and whether it applies automatically. "Pourrait" means "may", so it's a risk, not a guaranteed outcome. But since you can't know how it will be applied, treat both limits as hard.

How the mark is built also explains why one task matters so much. Each of the two independent markers gives each of the three tasks a level from "A1 non atteint" to C2, and a calculation rule combining those six levels gives your final mark out of 20, with a third marking if the two differ widely. For NCLC 7 in writing you need 10/20; the NCLC score converter shows every level.

What Le français des affaires says

LFA's official instructions are just as short, but different:

• Section A: "Terminez cet article : en ajoutant à la suite un texte de 80 mots minimum ; en faisant plusieurs paragraphes."
• Section B: "Écrivez une lettre au journal pour dire ce que vous en pensez (200 mots minimum). Développez au moins 3 arguments pour défendre votre point de vue."

That's all LFA publishes on length. It doesn't define a word, doesn't set a maximum and doesn't state what happens below the minimum. What it does publish is how texts are judged: two independent markers look at respect of the situation, organisation, clarity, and your ability to develop, nuance and specify your ideas, then at vocabulary, syntax and spelling. A 150-word Section B can't develop three arguments, so treat the minimum as compulsory even without a published penalty.

One more LFA point matters for length. On Section B, it advises against long, generic introductions and conclusions and says markers don't take them into account. Padding to reach 200 words doesn't help: the words have to carry arguments.

How a word is counted

FEI's sample writing test gives the only official definition: a word is "tout ensemble de signes placé entre deux espaces", any group of characters between two spaces. Its examples: un bon sujet is 3 words, c'est-à-dire is 1. Applied to common cases:

That last row is a real grey zone. In French typography a space comes before : ; ! ? and inside « », so a literal reading of "between two spaces" would count a lone colon. FEI's sample doesn't address it. The counters on this page ignore standalone punctuation, which is the cautious choice: never rely on punctuation or spelled-out numbers to reach a minimum.

Greetings, titles, subject lines and signatures aren't excluded by either test owner. Count them. And don't count on an on-screen counter: neither owner's published material that we checked mentions one, so learn to estimate by hand.

How to count fast under pressure

Counting every word of a 180-word text takes a couple of minutes you don't have. Use estimates while you write and an exact count only near a limit.

1. Know your words per line (paper) or per sentence (computer)

   Before exam day, count the words on ten lines of your handwriting and divide by ten. That's your words-per-line figure. On a computer, count a few of your own sentences: your average sentence length is steady enough to estimate with.

2. Plan by paragraph, not by text

   Decide the word budget for each paragraph before you write (see the plans below). A paragraph of three or four sentences is easy to check at a glance.

3. Count exactly only near a limit

   If your estimate puts you within about 10 words of a TCF limit, count that task exactly, in groups of ten. Otherwise move on to the next task.

Plan your words per paragraph

These budgets are ours, built to land in the middle of each range with room for error. They add up to a target, not a rule.

Two habits make these budgets work. In the TCF, keep about 10 words of margin from each limit, so a last-minute sentence can't push you over. In the TEF, stop expanding once you're comfortably past the minimum and spend the remaining minutes proofreading.

Over or under at the end? Quick fixes

Too long (TCF): cut in this order.

1. Filler openings: J'espère que vous allez bien in a complaint, Je pense que twice.
2. Doubled adjectives and intensifiers: vraiment très, grand et important.
3. A second example where one is enough.
4. A closing that's longer than needed: Cordialement instead of a full formal formula in an email.

Too short (TCF or TEF): add substance, not padding.

1. A concrete example: a figure, a place, a personal experience.
2. A consequence: Par conséquent, … or Cela permettrait de…
3. A concession and your answer to it: Certes, … Pourtant, …
4. In TEF Section A, a new fact: a witness, a quote, what happens next. LFA asks for new information, not a summary of the start.

Our guide to French connectors for TCF and TEF writing helps with the last two: a consequence or a concession is often one connector and one sentence away.

Practise with the real limits

Each counter below is set to the official range for its task and shows when you're under, inside or over. The prompts are ours, in the official format. The TCF times are our suggested split of the 60-minute block (FEI doesn't set one); the TEF times are official.

TCF Canada task 1 (60–120 words)

TCF Canada task 2 (120–150 words)

TCF Canada task 3 (120–180 words)

TEF Canada Section A (80 words minimum, 25 minutes)

TEF Canada Section B (200 words minimum, 35 minutes)

For marked feedback rather than a count, use the TCF Canada writing practice or the TEF Canada writing practice, or a fresh prompt from the TCF Canada writing drills and TEF Canada writing drills. Then test your timing on a full paper: TCF Canada mock test 3 or TEF Canada mock test 3, both free in the mock test library.

What to do next

1. Measure yourself

   Write one task under time, then count it exactly. Note how far your estimate was from the real figure.

2. Fix your plan

   Adjust the paragraph budgets above to your own writing until you land in the target zone without counting.

3. Check the language too

   Length is the entry ticket; accuracy earns the marks. Run the self-edit passes in our list of common French writing mistakes, and use the TCF Canada practice test or TEF Canada practice test hub for the other skills.

Our take

Word counts are the only writing rule you can get 100% right before the exam starts. In the TCF, aim for the middle of each range and keep 10 words of margin, because the downside of missing it is the whole copy. In the TEF, clear the minimum comfortably, then stop adding and start checking. Either way, plan by paragraph so the count takes care of itself.