The TCF Canada writing exam — Expression Écrite — requires you to complete three tasks in 60 minutes, each with a strict minimum word count. Falling below the minimum on any task caps your score for that task automatically, regardless of how accurate or fluent your French is. Here is exactly what each task demands, how examiners score it, and a calibration method that removes the guesswork on exam day.
Word-Count Minimums for All Three Tasks
| Task | Type | Minimum | Time | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task 1 | Informal message | 60 words | ~10 min | Informal (tu) |
| Task 2 | Formal letter/email | 120 words | ~15 min | Formal (vous) |
| Task 3 | Argumentative text | 120–180 words | ~35 min | Formal, structured |
These are minimums, not targets. Examiners deduct marks for going significantly under. Going somewhat over is fine — do not sacrifice clarity or accuracy purely to hit a number.
Task 1: The Informal Message
Task 1 asks you to write a short informal message — typically an email, text, or note to a friend or colleague. The minimum is 60 words, with most successful candidates landing at 70–80 words. The scenario is always simple: invite someone to an event, thank a contact for help, or explain a change of plan.
Examiners assess three things at Task 1 level: task completion (did you address every part of the prompt?), vocabulary appropriate to an informal register, and basic grammatical accuracy. You do not need elaborate structure — a greeting, two or three short sentences addressing the prompt, and an informal sign-off (À bientôt, Bises) reliably reaches the minimum without padding.
Task 2: The Formal Letter or Email
Task 2 requires a formal letter or email — typically a complaint, a request, or a professional inquiry. The word-count range is 120–150 words. The register must be formal throughout: vous, a formal opening, and a closing formula.
Structure overhead counts toward your total and works in your favour:
- Subject line: Objet : ... — 3–5 words
- Opening: Madame, Monsieur, — 2 words
- Closing formula: Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées. — 9 words
Together, this structure contributes roughly 20–25 words before you write a single sentence of content. Your body paragraphs need to reach approximately 100 words — three short, well-organised paragraphs: why you're writing, the details, and what you're requesting.
Task 3: The Argumentative Text
Task 3 is the most heavily weighted part of the Expression Écrite. You compare two viewpoints or argue a position in 120–180 words, with roughly 35 minutes — spend the first five planning your structure before writing a single word.
A reliable four-part structure for Task 3:
- Introduction (2–3 sentences) — restate the question and announce your position or your plan to compare both sides
- First developed point (1 paragraph) — one clear argument with a concrete example
- Second developed point or counter-argument (1 paragraph) — a contrasting or supporting point, using a contrast connector if you're weighing both sides
- Conclusion (1–2 sentences) — a clear final position
Many candidates write 120 words and stop. Task 3 rewards development: aim for 160–170 words. The four-part structure above reliably reaches that range and demonstrates the discourse organisation examiners reward.
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Examiners explicitly assess cohérence et cohésion — logical structure and visible links between ideas. At least three distinct connectors are expected in a full-mark response. Using parce que for every link is a coherence error; varying between car, puisque, en revanche, par conséquent demonstrates real discourse competence.
What Counts as a Word in TCF Writing?
The rule examiners use is simple: any sequence of characters separated by spaces counts as one word. Contractions, hyphenated expressions, and elided articles (l'école, qu'il) each count as one word. Your greeting line, closing formula, and subject line all count toward the total — which is good news for Task 2, where a complete letter structure already gives you 20–25 words before you begin the body.
How Each Task Is Scored
| Task | Main scoring criteria |
|---|---|
| Task 1 | Task completion, vocabulary range, basic grammatical accuracy. Going under ~50 words risks an automatic penalty on task completion regardless of language quality. |
| Task 2 | Everything from Task 1, plus register consistency and letter structure. A correct subject line, salutation, two-paragraph body, and closing formula demonstrate structural competence before the examiner reads your argument. |
| Task 3 | The most heavily weighted task. Assesses cohérence et cohésion, connector variety, and grammatical range — particularly correct use of the conditional and subjunctive where the argument calls for it. |
The Handwriting Calibration Trick
The most reliable way to stay on target during the exam — where you count words manually on paper — is to know your personal handwriting density before exam day. Three weeks out, run this one-time exercise: write a passage of exactly 100 words in your normal exam handwriting on paper with similar line spacing to your exam sheet. Count the lines used. If 100 words fills 11 lines, you average roughly 9 words per line.
On exam day, use that ratio instead of counting individual words. After finishing Task 1, glance at your line count and multiply — 7 lines means approximately 63 words, above the 60-word minimum. For Task 2, aim for roughly 14 lines plus your opening and closing formulas. Candidates who run this calibration even once before their exam consistently report far less anxiety about word counts on the day, because they trust their estimate instead of guessing.
Common Mistakes That Cost Marks
| Mistake | Why it costs marks |
|---|---|
| Writing exactly the minimum with no buffer | Handwritten word counts are estimates — undercounting by even 5–10 words can put you below the threshold |
| Mixing tu and vous in Task 2 | Register consistency is scored explicitly |
| Repeating one connector throughout Task 3 | Examiners expect at least three distinct connectors to credit cohérence |
| Skipping the closing formula in Task 2 | Costs both structure marks and roughly 9 free words toward your minimum |
| Spending too long on Task 1 | Task 3 is the most heavily weighted — protect its full ~35 minutes |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does going over the maximum hurt my score?
Going somewhat over is generally fine and is not penalised the way going under the minimum is. Writing far beyond the range without adding substance can hurt clarity and time management, but there is no hard penalty for length itself.
What happens if I finish under the minimum?
Coming in under the stated minimum caps your task-completion score for that task, independent of grammatical quality — this is the single most common way strong French speakers lose marks on TCF Canada.
Do I need an exact word count on exam day?
No — you need a reliable estimate. The handwriting calibration method above gives you that without breaking your writing flow to count individual words mid-task.
During practice sessions, use the French Word Counter to get an instant, precise count and compare it to your manual estimate. After five or six practice runs you'll know your average sentence length and how many lines equal 60, 120, or 180 words — knowledge you carry straight into the exam room. Generate a fresh, realistic prompt to practise on with the TCF Writing Practice tool. If you're still deciding between TCF and TEF, see TCF vs TEF: What's the Difference and Which Exam Should You Take?
Note: this post's word-count figures reflect what was already published on FrenchWrite. If your exam session's official instructions state different minimums, follow those over this guide.
