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0z\"\u002F>",true,{"id":36,"title":37,"author":38,"body":39,"cefrLevel":1100,"date":1101,"description":1102,"extension":1103,"faqs":1104,"intro":1100,"language":1100,"lastUpdated":1101,"meta":1117,"navigation":34,"path":1126,"seo":1127,"stem":1128,"verbSlugs":1100,"__hash__":1129},"pages\u002Ffrench\u002Fvocabulary-by-cefr.md","French Vocabulary by CEFR Level: What You Actually Need at A1 to C2","Michael McGettrick",{"type":40,"value":41,"toc":1088},"minimark",[42,46,56,78,81,86,97,226,229,233,236,290,298,378,381,385,398,405,408,525,554,558,595,598,601,722,735,739,742,770,773,877,880,891,895,898,901,955,963,966,970,973,976,983,987,990,1077],[43,44,37],"h1",{"id":45},"french-vocabulary-by-cefr-level-what-you-actually-need-at-a1-to-c2",[47,48,49,50,55],"p",{},"French vocabulary acquisition follows a steep curve: the first 1,000 lemmas cover around 80% of everyday spoken French, the next 4,000 add another 10 percentage points, and the remaining 95,000+ words in the language account for the last 10%. The arithmetic decides the curriculum: front-load the first thousand, sequence them by frequency, and resist any vocabulary detour that costs working memory without delivering a marginal sentence in return. The position is set out in full on the ",[51,52,54],"a",{"href":53},"\u002Fresources\u002Fwhy-the-first-1000-words-matter","first 1,000 words article"," and applies across every language this site covers.",[47,57,58,59,63,64,67,68,67,71,67,74,77],{},"French has one twist that Spanish and Italian do not. The gap between written and spoken French is larger than in any other major Romance language. Silent plural ",[60,61,62],"em",{},"-s",", silent verb endings (",[60,65,66],{},"je parle",", ",[60,69,70],{},"tu parles",[60,72,73],{},"il parle",[60,75,76],{},"ils parlent"," are all pronounced the same), and a dense layer of mute letters mean a French learner's reading vocabulary outpaces listening vocabulary far more aggressively than in Spanish. Build both sides explicitly from day one. A learner who can read Camus but cannot follow a French conversation has skipped half the work.",[47,79,80],{},"This page maps the CEFR levels onto concrete vocabulary counts, gives real example lemmas at each band, and links to the word pages on the site that build the lexicon for you.",[82,83,85],"h2",{"id":84},"the-vocabulary-count-at-each-level","The vocabulary count at each level",[47,87,88,89,92,93,96],{},"The numbers below are defensible against the published lexical-coverage research (Paul Nation's ",[60,90,91],{},"Learning Vocabulary in Another Language",", Cambridge 2006), the Council of Europe CEFR descriptors, and the Lonsdale and Le Bras ",[60,94,95],{},"Frequency Dictionary of French"," (Routledge 2009).",[98,99,100,119],"table",{},[101,102,103],"thead",{},[104,105,106,110,113,116],"tr",{},[107,108,109],"th",{},"CEFR level",[107,111,112],{},"Active lemmas",[107,114,115],{},"Lexical coverage of spoken French",[107,117,118],{},"What that buys you",[120,121,122,141,158,175,192,209],"tbody",{},[104,123,124,132,135,138],{},[125,126,127,131],"td",{},[128,129,130],"strong",{},"A1"," (beginner)",[125,133,134],{},"500",[125,136,137],{},"70 to 75%",[125,139,140],{},"Survival transactions. Coffee, prices, directions, the toilet.",[104,142,143,149,152,155],{},[125,144,145,148],{},[128,146,147],{},"A2"," (elementary)",[125,150,151],{},"1,000 to 1,500",[125,153,154],{},"80 to 85%",[125,156,157],{},"Daily life. Buy a train ticket, complain about the room.",[104,159,160,166,169,172],{},[125,161,162,165],{},[128,163,164],{},"B1"," (intermediate)",[125,167,168],{},"2,500 to 3,000",[125,170,171],{},"88 to 92%",[125,173,174],{},"Opinions, jobs, planning, abstract conversation if slow.",[104,176,177,183,186,189],{},[125,178,179,182],{},[128,180,181],{},"B2"," (upper interm.)",[125,184,185],{},"5,000",[125,187,188],{},"94 to 96%",[125,190,191],{},"Full adult conversation. Films without subtitles most of the time.",[104,193,194,200,203,206],{},[125,195,196,199],{},[128,197,198],{},"C1"," (advanced)",[125,201,202],{},"8,000",[125,204,205],{},"97 to 98%",[125,207,208],{},"Professional work. Novels for pleasure. Newspapers at speed.",[104,210,211,217,220,223],{},[125,212,213,216],{},[128,214,215],{},"C2"," (mastery)",[125,218,219],{},"10,000+",[125,221,222],{},"98%+",[125,224,225],{},"Indistinguishable from an educated native in almost any context.",[47,227,228],{},"The lexical-coverage numbers are not the same as comprehension. Knowing 80% of the words in a sentence does not give you 80% comprehension; one unknown word in a key position can sink the whole sentence. The honest target for comfortable listening is 95%+ coverage, which is B2 territory in real terms.",[82,230,232],{"id":231},"a1-beginner","A1 (beginner)",[47,234,235],{},"At A1 the lexicon is around 500 lemmas, almost all of them concrete, high-frequency, and structural. Articles, subject pronouns, basic verbs, numbers, days of the week, family terms, food and drink, basic adjectives. There is almost no abstraction at A1; the words name things you can point at or actions you can mime.",[47,237,238,239,67,243,67,247,67,251,67,255,259,260,67,264,67,268,272,273,67,277,67,281,67,285,289],{},"The structural reason: function words and the four highest-frequency verbs do a disproportionate amount of the grammatical work in French. The articles (",[51,240,242],{"href":241},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fle","le",[51,244,246],{"href":245},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fla","la",[51,248,250],{"href":249},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fles","les",[51,252,254],{"href":253},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fun","un",[51,256,258],{"href":257},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fune","une",") carry gender and number. The pronouns (",[51,261,263],{"href":262},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fje","je",[51,265,267],{"href":266},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ftu","tu",[51,269,271],{"href":270},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fil","il",") tie the verb to a subject. The four big verbs (",[51,274,276],{"href":275},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fetre","être",[51,278,280],{"href":279},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Favoir","avoir",[51,282,284],{"href":283},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Faller","aller",[51,286,288],{"href":287},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ffaire","faire",") build tenses, possession, motion, and idiom. Together those eleven lemmas appear in roughly half of all spoken French sentences. Drill them to automatic.",[47,291,292,293,297],{},"Sample A1 lemmas from the site (all in ",[51,294,296],{"href":295},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fcore-1000","Core 1,000","):",[299,300,301,321,332,359],"ul",{},[302,303,304,305,67,307,67,309,67,311,67,313,67,315,67,317,67,319],"li",{},"Articles and pronouns: ",[51,306,242],{"href":241},[51,308,246],{"href":245},[51,310,250],{"href":249},[51,312,254],{"href":253},[51,314,258],{"href":257},[51,316,263],{"href":262},[51,318,267],{"href":266},[51,320,271],{"href":270},[302,322,323,324,67,326,67,328,67,330],{},"Big-four verbs: ",[51,325,276],{"href":275},[51,327,280],{"href":279},[51,329,284],{"href":283},[51,331,288],{"href":287},[302,333,334,335,67,339,67,343,67,347,67,351,67,355],{},"Concrete nouns: ",[51,336,338],{"href":337},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fmaison","maison",[51,340,342],{"href":341},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Feau","eau",[51,344,346],{"href":345},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fjour","jour",[51,348,350],{"href":349},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fhomme","homme",[51,352,354],{"href":353},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ffemme","femme",[51,356,358],{"href":357},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fenfant","enfant",[302,360,361,362,67,366,67,370,67,374],{},"Basic adjectives: ",[51,363,365],{"href":364},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fgrand","grand",[51,367,369],{"href":368},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fpetit","petit",[51,371,373],{"href":372},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fbon","bon",[51,375,377],{"href":376},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fbeau","beau",[47,379,380],{},"By the end of A1 the learner can hold a transactional exchange in the present tense, say where they are from, ask for a coffee, and read a menu with help. They cannot yet handle the past tense, which is what A2 is for.",[82,382,384],{"id":383},"a2-elementary","A2 (elementary)",[47,386,387,388,391,392,394,395,397],{},"A2 doubles the lexicon to around 1,000 to 1,500 lemmas and unlocks the past. The decisive grammatical event at A2 is the ",[60,389,390],{},"passé composé",", and the decisive lexical event is the layer of verbs that combine with ",[60,393,280],{}," or ",[60,396,276],{}," to form it. Daily-life expansion: weather, food in detail, clothes, the body, common adjectives, simple time markers.",[47,399,400,401,404],{},"The structural reason A2 is the right home for these: the apps tend to push past-tense work into B1 because the conjugation tables look intimidating, but a learner who has ",[60,402,403],{},"hier j'ai mangé"," at A2 can describe a day; a learner who is still stuck in the present at A2 cannot describe what they did yesterday and stalls in real conversations. Bring the past forward.",[47,406,407],{},"Sample A2 lemmas:",[299,409,410,437,456,479,502],{},[302,411,412,413,67,417,67,421,67,425,67,429,67,433],{},"Past-tense verbs: ",[51,414,416],{"href":415},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fmanger","manger",[51,418,420],{"href":419},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fboire","boire",[51,422,424],{"href":423},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Facheter","acheter",[51,426,428],{"href":427},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ftravailler","travailler",[51,430,432],{"href":431},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fvoir","voir",[51,434,436],{"href":435},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fentendre","entendre",[302,438,439,440,67,444,67,448,67,452],{},"Modal verbs: ",[51,441,443],{"href":442},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fvouloir","vouloir",[51,445,447],{"href":446},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fpouvoir","pouvoir",[51,449,451],{"href":450},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fdevoir","devoir",[51,453,455],{"href":454},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fsavoir","savoir",[302,457,458,459,67,463,67,467,67,471,67,475],{},"Time and weather: ",[51,460,462],{"href":461},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fhier","hier",[51,464,466],{"href":465},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fdemain","demain",[51,468,470],{"href":469},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ftemps","temps",[51,472,474],{"href":473},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ffroid","froid",[51,476,478],{"href":477},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fchaud","chaud",[302,480,481,482,67,486,67,490,67,494,67,498],{},"Travel and places: ",[51,483,485],{"href":484},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fvoiture","voiture",[51,487,489],{"href":488},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ftrain","train",[51,491,493],{"href":492},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fhotel","hôtel",[51,495,497],{"href":496},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fville","ville",[51,499,501],{"href":500},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fpays","pays",[302,503,504,505,67,509,67,513,67,517,67,521],{},"People and feelings: ",[51,506,508],{"href":507},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ffamille","famille",[51,510,512],{"href":511},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fami","ami",[51,514,516],{"href":515},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Famie","amie",[51,518,520],{"href":519},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fcontent","content",[51,522,524],{"href":523},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fheureux","heureux",[47,526,527,528,67,531,67,534,67,537,540,541,67,545,67,549,553],{},"A2 is also where the negation system stops being optional. ",[60,529,530],{},"Ne ... pas",[60,532,533],{},"ne ... jamais",[60,535,536],{},"ne ... rien",[60,538,539],{},"ne ... plus"," all appear in roughly the right places at A2 in adult learner output, and the words underneath (",[51,542,544],{"href":543},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fjamais","jamais",[51,546,548],{"href":547},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Frien","rien",[51,550,552],{"href":551},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fplus","plus",") belong in the active list by the end of the band.",[82,555,557],{"id":556},"b1-intermediate","B1 (intermediate)",[47,559,560,561,67,565,67,569,67,573,577,578,67,581,67,584,587,588,591,592,594],{},"B1 is the inflection point. The lexicon climbs to around 2,500 to 3,000 lemmas and shifts from concrete to abstract. Opinion verbs (",[51,562,564],{"href":563},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fpenser","penser",[51,566,568],{"href":567},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fcroire","croire",[51,570,572],{"href":571},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fsembler","sembler",[51,574,576],{"href":575},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ftrouver","trouver",") become productive, the subjunctive begins (triggered by ",[60,579,580],{},"il faut que",[60,582,583],{},"je veux que",[60,585,586],{},"avant que",", and the emotion verbs), and the ",[60,589,590],{},"imparfait"," vs ",[60,593,390],{}," split stops being avoidable.",[47,596,597],{},"This is also the level the gamified apps quietly stop at. Streaks are doing real work up to B1; after B1 the curve flattens hard and the apps lose their advantage. The structural reason: the first 1,500 lemmas appear in concentrated form in every conversation and every app sentence, so flashcard-style drilling has high return. The next 1,500 are register-specific and only appear at meaningful volume in real native input. Reading and listening at scale become the curriculum.",[47,599,600],{},"Sample B1 lemmas:",[299,602,603,622,649,676,699],{},[302,604,605,606,67,608,67,610,67,612,67,614,67,618],{},"Opinion and cognition: ",[51,607,564],{"href":563},[51,609,568],{"href":567},[51,611,572],{"href":571},[51,613,576],{"href":575},[51,615,617],{"href":616},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fchoisir","choisir",[51,619,621],{"href":620},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fexpliquer","expliquer",[302,623,624,625,67,629,67,633,67,637,67,641,67,645],{},"Abstract nouns: ",[51,626,628],{"href":627},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fraison","raison",[51,630,632],{"href":631},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fprobleme","problème",[51,634,636],{"href":635},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fsolution","solution",[51,638,640],{"href":639},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fmonde","monde",[51,642,644],{"href":643},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fsociete","société",[51,646,648],{"href":647},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fhistoire","histoire",[302,650,651,652,67,656,67,660,67,664,67,668,67,672],{},"Connectors: ",[51,653,655],{"href":654},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fsouvent","souvent",[51,657,659],{"href":658},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fparfois","parfois",[51,661,663],{"href":662},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fpendant","pendant",[51,665,667],{"href":666},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fdepuis","depuis",[51,669,671],{"href":670},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fdeja","déjà",[51,673,675],{"href":674},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fencore","encore",[302,677,678,679,67,683,67,687,67,691,67,695],{},"Evaluative adjectives: ",[51,680,682],{"href":681},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fpossible","possible",[51,684,686],{"href":685},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fimportant","important",[51,688,690],{"href":689},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Finteressant","intéressant",[51,692,694],{"href":693},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fdifficile","difficile",[51,696,698],{"href":697},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ffacile","facile",[302,700,701,702,67,706,67,710,67,714,67,718],{},"Process verbs: ",[51,703,705],{"href":704},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fchanger","changer",[51,707,709],{"href":708},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fessayer","essayer",[51,711,713],{"href":712},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fcommencer","commencer",[51,715,717],{"href":716},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fcontinuer","continuer",[51,719,721],{"href":720},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Ffinir","finir",[47,723,724,725,729,730,734],{},"The plateau warning: most adult French learners stall here for six to twelve months. The methods that got them to B1 (apps, basic textbook, occasional tutor) do not get them further. The fix is input volume and structured grammar, both covered in the ",[51,726,728],{"href":727},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fgrammar\u002Fintermediate","intermediate grammar guide"," and the ",[51,731,733],{"href":732},"\u002Fresources\u002Ffrench\u002Ffrench-reading-list-by-cefr","French reading list by CEFR",".",[82,736,738],{"id":737},"b2-upper-intermediate","B2 (upper intermediate)",[47,740,741],{},"B2 is roughly 5,000 active lemmas and the first level at which an adult can credibly say they speak French. The lexicon broadens in two directions at once: register variety (formal vs informal, journalism vs casual speech, professional vs street) and abstract reasoning vocabulary (arguments, claims, evidence, qualifications).",[47,743,744,745,748,749,752,753,756,757,760,761,764,765,769],{},"The structural reason this band is qualitatively different: B2 is where productive use of the subjunctive stops being a parlour trick and becomes mandatory. The ",[60,746,747],{},"subjonctif présent"," is everywhere in B1-level emotional and volitional contexts (",[60,750,751],{},"il faut que je parte","); the ",[60,754,755],{},"subjonctif passé"," ( ",[60,758,759],{},"bien que j'aie compris",") and the rarer ",[60,762,763],{},"subjonctif imparfait"," in literary writing arrive at B2. The ",[51,766,768],{"href":767},"\u002Fresources\u002Ffrench\u002Ffrench-subjunctive-explained","French subjunctive explainer"," covers the conjugation and the triggers in full.",[47,771,772],{},"Vocabulary categories that fill out at B2 (most do not yet have dedicated word pages on this site, so build them from a frequency dictionary):",[299,774,775,796,820,844],{},[302,776,777,778,67,781,67,784,67,787,67,790,67,793],{},"Argument and opinion verbs beyond the B1 set: ",[60,779,780],{},"considérer",[60,782,783],{},"affirmer",[60,785,786],{},"soutenir",[60,788,789],{},"envisager",[60,791,792],{},"estimer",[60,794,795],{},"prétendre",[302,797,798,799,67,802,67,805,67,808,67,811,67,814,67,817],{},"Formal connectors: ",[60,800,801],{},"cependant",[60,803,804],{},"néanmoins",[60,806,807],{},"toutefois",[60,809,810],{},"désormais",[60,812,813],{},"auparavant",[60,815,816],{},"en revanche",[60,818,819],{},"par ailleurs",[302,821,822,823,67,826,67,829,67,832,67,835,67,838,67,841],{},"Journalism and politics: ",[60,824,825],{},"enjeu",[60,827,828],{},"mesure",[60,830,831],{},"démarche",[60,833,834],{},"ministre",[60,836,837],{},"citoyen",[60,839,840],{},"réforme",[60,842,843],{},"scrutin",[302,845,846,847,849,850,853,854,857,858,860,861,853,864,857,867,860,870,873,874],{},"Register-specific synonyms: where A2 has ",[60,848,485],{},", B2 also has ",[60,851,852],{},"bagnole"," (informal) and ",[60,855,856],{},"véhicule"," (formal); where A2 has ",[60,859,416],{},", B2 has ",[60,862,863],{},"bouffer",[60,865,866],{},"consommer",[60,868,869],{},"bien",[60,871,872],{},"convenablement"," and ",[60,875,876],{},"correctement",[47,878,879],{},"The register layer is the part the apps do not teach and the part that distinguishes a B2 speaker from a B1 speaker with a big vocabulary. A B2 learner picks the right word for the social context; a B1 learner picks the only word they know.",[47,881,882,883,886,887,890],{},"Reading ",[60,884,885],{},"Le Monde"," daily and one Annie Ernaux novel a quarter is the conventional input prescription for B2 to C1 vocabulary growth. See the ",[51,888,889],{"href":732},"French reading list"," for the full progression.",[82,892,894],{"id":893},"c1-advanced","C1 (advanced)",[47,896,897],{},"C1 is around 8,000 active lemmas. The new layer is specialist: literary, legal, medical, scientific, technical. C1 is the first level at which a French learner can operate professionally in the language. They handle full adult conversations on any familiar topic, read novels for pleasure rather than for study, follow films without subtitles, and write reports a native colleague might lightly edit but not rewrite.",[47,899,900],{},"Vocabulary categories at C1:",[299,902,903,930,949,952],{},[302,904,905,906,67,909,912,913,916,917,920,921,67,924,920,927,929],{},"Literary register: archaic forms (",[60,907,908],{},"jadis",[60,910,911],{},"naguère","), literary tenses (",[60,914,915],{},"passé simple"," in writing), elevated synonyms (",[60,918,919],{},"dérober"," for ",[60,922,923],{},"voler",[60,925,926],{},"ouïr",[60,928,436],{},")",[302,931,932,933,67,936,67,939,67,942,67,945,948],{},"Legal and administrative: ",[60,934,935],{},"conjoint",[60,937,938],{},"justiciable",[60,940,941],{},"ester en justice",[60,943,944],{},"préjudice",[60,946,947],{},"ordonnance",", the apparatus of French administrative life",[302,950,951],{},"Medical: anatomy, common conditions, the public-health vocabulary of a typical GP visit and hospital stay",[302,953,954],{},"Idiom and culture: idiomatic expressions, allusion to canonical French literature and film, the political shorthand of French current affairs",[47,956,957,958,962],{},"The honest note: C1 is the highest level most adult learners realistically reach without a long immersion stretch (a year living in the country) or a partner who speaks French at home. The hours involved (around 1,000 to 1,300 from zero, per FSI Category I data) reflect the work; the ",[51,959,961],{"href":960},"\u002Fresources\u002Fcefr-explained","CEFR explainer"," sets out the framework in full.",[47,964,965],{},"The DALF C1 certificate is what you sit if you want to work in a French-speaking professional context. The pass mark is genuinely C1-level work; the test is not generous.",[82,967,969],{"id":968},"c2-mastery","C2 (mastery)",[47,971,972],{},"C2 is 10,000+ active lemmas and effectively native fluency across every register. The vocabulary is a long tail: poetry, dense philosophy, technical specialisations, regional dialect, the layer of cultural reference that only comes from years of immersion. Very few non-immersed adult learners get here.",[47,974,975],{},"Most adult learners should stop aiming for C2. C1 is where you operate professionally; C2 is where you sound like an educated native of the country you grew up in, which is a different and rarer achievement that requires either childhood acquisition, a long immersion stretch, or a domestic partner who speaks French at home. Aim for C1, ship at C1, and let any C2 fragments arrive through the life you happen to lead rather than a study plan you grind for.",[47,977,978,979,982],{},"The conventional marker of high C1 to C2 French literary fluency is reading a full volume of Proust comfortably. If you can finish ",[60,980,981],{},"Du côté de chez Swann"," without abandoning it, your French vocabulary is in the right neighbourhood.",[82,984,986],{"id":985},"how-to-actually-build-this","How to actually build this",[47,988,989],{},"The Kilo Lingo prescription, in the order it does the most work:",[991,992,993,1006,1026,1035,1055,1071],"ol",{},[302,994,995,998,999,1001,1002,1005],{},[128,996,997],{},"Front-load the first 1,000 by frequency."," Use ",[51,1000,296],{"href":295}," on this site. Do not stray off the list until you have it. The ",[51,1003,1004],{"href":53},"why the first 1,000 matter article"," sets out the lexical-coverage maths.",[302,1007,1008,1011,1012,67,1015,67,1017,67,1019,1021,1022,734],{},[128,1009,1010],{},"Drill the four big verbs and the article-pronoun set to automatic."," ",[51,1013,1014],{"href":275},"Être",[51,1016,280],{"href":279},[51,1018,284],{"href":283},[51,1020,288],{"href":287}," plus the articles and subject pronouns appear in roughly half of all spoken French sentences. Conjugation work belongs in the ",[51,1023,1025],{"href":1024},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fgrammar\u002Fconjugation","conjugation guide",[302,1027,1028,1031,1032,1034],{},[128,1029,1030],{},"Read at level, not above it."," A graded reader you finish beats a Camus you abandon. The ",[51,1033,733],{"href":732}," ranks books by band; pick the one a band below where you think you are and start there.",[302,1036,1037,1040,1041,729,1045,1049,1050,1054],{},[128,1038,1039],{},"Build receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary in parallel."," Because of the silent-letter and silent-ending problem, French listening lags reading harder than in Spanish. Add daily listening (podcasts, radio, TV with French subtitles) from A1 onward, not from B1 onward. The ",[51,1042,1044],{"href":1043},"\u002Ffrench\u002Falphabet","French alphabet and pronunciation guide",[51,1046,1048],{"href":1047},"\u002Ffrench\u002Faccents","accents guide"," cover the orthographic and phonetic side; the ",[51,1051,1053],{"href":1052},"\u002Ffrench\u002Fwords\u002Fcore-5000","Core 5,000"," page is the B1-to-B2 vocabulary engine.",[302,1056,1057,1060,1061,1063,1064,394,1067,1070],{},[128,1058,1059],{},"At B1, switch from app-driven to input-driven."," The apps run out of work to do somewhere around B1, and the only way past the plateau is volume native input. Read ",[60,1062,885],{},", listen to France Inter or RFI, watch ",[60,1065,1066],{},"Plus belle la vie",[60,1068,1069],{},"Dix pour cent"," with French subtitles, and accept that the next CEFR band will take twelve to eighteen months.",[302,1072,1073,1076],{},[128,1074,1075],{},"Use register, not just count, as the B2 marker."," The vocabulary that takes a learner from B1 to B2 is not the number of new words but the register variety attached to the words already known. Reading widely (newspapers, novels, journalism, casual blogs) is what builds that layer.",[47,1078,1079,1080,1084,1085,1087],{},"The ",[51,1081,1083],{"href":1082},"\u002Ffrench","French pillar page"," covers the broader learning approach and the ",[51,1086,728],{"href":727}," covers the structural side that vocabulary alone cannot fix.",{"title":1089,"searchDepth":1090,"depth":1090,"links":1091},"",2,[1092,1093,1094,1095,1096,1097,1098,1099],{"id":84,"depth":1090,"text":85},{"id":231,"depth":1090,"text":232},{"id":383,"depth":1090,"text":384},{"id":556,"depth":1090,"text":557},{"id":737,"depth":1090,"text":738},{"id":893,"depth":1090,"text":894},{"id":968,"depth":1090,"text":969},{"id":985,"depth":1090,"text":986},null,"2026-06-10T00:00:00+00:00","French vocabulary by CEFR band. The lexical core at A1 through C2 with example words, the structural reason each band exists, and the honest count an adult learner can hit in 30 to 45 minutes a day.","md",[1105,1108,1111,1114],{"q":1106,"a":1107},"How many French words do I need to be fluent?","Around 5,000 active lemmas for B2-level conversational fluency, around 8,000 for C1 professional use. The first 1,000 cover roughly 80% of everyday spoken French; the next 4,000 add another 10 percentage points and unlock most adult conversations. Paul Nation's research on lexical coverage (Nation 2006) is the standard reference; the Lonsdale and Le Bras Frequency Dictionary of French is the practical French-specific source.",{"q":1109,"a":1110},"What CEFR level matches Duolingo French?","Completing the full Duolingo French tree leaves most learners at a generous A2, not the B2 some marketing copy implies. The app is good at the first 1,000 lemmas and at sentence-level recognition; it is weak on the subjunctive, on liaison, and on register, all of which are required at B1 and above. Treat Duolingo as one input among four (the others being listening at volume, structured grammar, and production with feedback).",{"q":1112,"a":1113},"Is B1 enough to live in France?","For everyday life, yes. B1 covers transactions, basic admin, GP appointments, renting a flat, ordering takeaway, and most casual conversations if the other person is willing to slow down. For professional work, no. The French labour market expects B2 minimum for office roles and C1 for language-sensitive ones (law, journalism, teaching, medicine), and the DELF B2 is the standard certificate French universities require.",{"q":1115,"a":1116},"What is the hardest French vocabulary jump?","B1 to B2. The first 1,000 to 1,500 lemmas come fast because they are concrete and high-frequency; B2 adds around 2,000 to 3,000 more that are abstract, register-specific, and only appear in real native input. The plateau is mostly an input-volume problem, not a memorisation problem; the fix is reading and listening to native material at roughly 90 minutes a day for six to nine months, not more flashcards.",{"category":1118,"tags":1119,"tldr":1124,"authorsTake":1125},"Methodology",[1120,1121,1122,1123],"french vocabulary","cefr","french learning","adult learners","An A1 French lexicon is around 500 lemmas, A2 around 1,000 to 1,500, B1 around 2,500 to 3,000, B2 around 5,000, C1 around 8,000, C2 above 10,000; the first 1,000 cover roughly 80% of everyday spoken French, the next 4,000 add another 10 points, and the rest is a long tail that adults should let arrive through reading rather than grind through flashcards.","My French vocabulary was built twice: once at university from textbooks and a word-card habit, and again in the staff room of a Le Havre lycée where the other English assistants and the French teachers used a register the textbooks did not cover. The textbook had drilled _je suis fatigué_; the staff room said _je suis crevé_. The textbook had drilled _voiture_; the staff room said _bagnole_ when nobody from management was listening. I had passed a C1 mock the previous summer and could not understand the coffee-break conversation in week one. That gap is the point of this page.\n\nThe position I will defend is that French vocabulary acquisition splits cleanly into two curves that most learners conflate. The receptive curve (reading and listening) climbs fast because French is Romance, French has high cognate density with English (around 30% to 40% of English vocabulary is of French origin), and pattern recognition does most of the work. The productive curve (speaking and writing) climbs slowly because gender, register and the mute-letter spelling system mean every noun you want to use must be stored with its article and every verb with its silent endings. Adult learners who measure their vocabulary by what they recognise overstate themselves by a full CEFR band. The honest number is what you can produce, not what you can decode.\n\nMy sharper take is that the apps' obsession with vocabulary count is the wrong metric for French specifically. French is more about register than about size. A B2 learner who knows 5,000 words and uses them all in the wrong register sounds worse than a B1 learner who knows 2,000 and picks correctly between _tu_ and _vous_, between _bagnole_ and _voiture_, between _truc_ and _objet_. Spend the back half of B1 and the first half of B2 on register variety, not headcount.\n","\u002Ffrench\u002Fvocabulary-by-cefr",{"title":37,"description":1102},"french\u002Fvocabulary-by-cefr","af37O4d0Ja0Y_U6weQ_oYNC621kOjkX1CtxVZEz2oK4",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1131},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Cpath d=\"m2 16l4.039-9.69a.5.5 0 0 1 .923 0L11 16m11-7v7M3.304 13h6.392\"\u002F>\u003Ccircle cx=\"18.5\" cy=\"12.5\" r=\"3.5\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1133},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 7v14m4-9h2m-2-4h2M3 18a1 1 0 0 1-1-1V4a1 1 0 0 1 1-1h5a4 4 0 0 1 4 4a4 4 0 0 1 4-4h5a1 1 0 0 1 1 1v13a1 1 0 0 1-1 1h-6a3 3 0 0 0-3 3a3 3 0 0 0-3-3zm3-6h2M6 8h2\"\u002F>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1135},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Crect width=\"8\" height=\"18\" x=\"3\" y=\"3\" rx=\"1\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"M7 3v18m13.4-2.1c.2.5-.1 1.1-.6 1.3l-1.9.7c-.5.2-1.1-.1-1.3-.6L11.1 5.1c-.2-.5.1-1.1.6-1.3l1.9-.7c.5-.2 1.1.1 1.3.6Z\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1137},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M13 21h8M15 5l4 4m2.174-2.188a1 1 0 0 0-3.986-3.987L3.842 16.174a2 2 0 0 0-.5.83l-1.321 4.352a.5.5 0 0 0 .623.622l4.353-1.32a2 2 0 0 0 .83-.497z\"\u002F>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1139},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Cpath d=\"M12 15V3m9 12v4a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H5a2 2 0 0 1-2-2v-4\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"m7 10l5 5l5-5\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1141},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Cpath d=\"M6 22a2 2 0 0 1-2-2V4a2 2 0 0 1 2-2h8a2.4 2.4 0 0 1 1.704.706l3.588 3.588A2.4 2.4 0 0 1 20 8v12a2 2 0 0 1-2 2z\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"M14 2v5a1 1 0 0 0 1 1h5M10 9H8m8 4H8m8 4H8\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1143},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Crect width=\"18\" height=\"18\" x=\"3\" y=\"3\" rx=\"2\" ry=\"2\"\u002F>\u003Ccircle cx=\"9\" cy=\"9\" r=\"2\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"m21 15l-3.086-3.086a2 2 0 0 0-2.828 0L6 21\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",1781519645959]