Sixty to a hundred and twenty words — and every constraint has to appear
The shortest tâche on the paper, and the one most often marked down for something other than French: an instruction quietly dropped. The consigne names a person, a purpose and usually two details, and all of them have to be there.
- Words
- 60 - 120
- Suggested time
- 15 min
- Order in the paper
- 1 / 3
- Marked out of
- 4 - 20
A short message with a checklist hidden in it
You write to someone you know — a friend, a colleague, a relative — to invite, to describe, to tell, to apologise or to ask. The register is personal, the format is a message or a short letter, and the length is 60 to 120 words.
What makes it deceptively easy is the consigne. It typically carries three or four requirements: who you are writing to, why, and two or three things you must mention. Every one that is missing costs marks the quality of the French cannot recover.
- 60 to 120 words — under sixty caps the level whatever the quality.
- Personal register: tu or vous as the consigne sets it, and consistently.
- Every element the consigne names must appear in the message.
Word range
60 - 120
Suggested time
15 min
Of the hour
25 %
The 60 minutes are shared across all three tâches. Nothing stops you spending them all on one.
What the correction tells you
Not a score out of twenty with no explanation — the level, the errors, and what a stronger version of your own text looks like.
The word count, judged against the tâche
60–120, 120–150 or 120–180: the counter knows which tâche you are on and warns you before the grader caps your level for it.
Six categories of error
The same categories examiners penalise, tracked separately across attempts so you can see which one is actually costing you marks.
A model answer at the target level
The same consigne, answered at the level you are aiming for, so the gap between your text and a B2 one is something you can read rather than guess.
How the practice works
Four steps, from a blank page to a text you would be happy to hand in.
- 1
Choose the tâche or the theme
Pick one of the three written tâches, filter by theme, or paste the consigne you actually have to answer.
- 2
Write inside the range
The counter shows where you are against that tâche's minimum and maximum while you type, not after you submit.
- 3
Read the correction
Errors in place, sorted by category, with a model answer at the target level beside your own.
- 4
Review the errors that repeat
Repeat detection surfaces the four or five mistakes you keep making, which is where a level actually moves.
How not to lose tâche 1
This tâche is rarely won on style. It is lost on four things.
Practise tâche 1- 1
Underline the consigne's requirements before writing, and tick them off afterwards. It takes thirty seconds and it is where the marks are.
- 2
Open and close like a real message. A greeting and a sign-off are part of the format being assessed.
- 3
Keep the register consistent. Starting with 'salut' and closing with 'veuillez agréer' is a visible error.
- 4
Aim near a hundred words. Ninety-five gives you room to be complete without eating tâche 3's minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Between 60 and 120. Below sixty the answer is treated as incomplete and the level is capped.
About fifteen minutes of the shared hour. The paper does not enforce it, but spending longer takes the time tâche 3 needs.
An invitation, a description of a place or an event, a piece of news, an apology, a request — always to somebody you know personally.
Whichever the consigne implies from the relationship, and then the same one throughout. Switching mid-message is marked as an error.
Keep going
The rest of the TCF Canada preparation, one page per thing you have to get right.
Write one and have it marked
Three free corrections. Word count checked against the range, every error explained in place.
No credit card required
This is a practice tool, not the official TEF/TCF exam. Scores and levels are estimates to guide your preparation.