How to Use the French Word Counter to Hit Your Exam Word Targets

The FrenchWrite French word counter measures words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time in real time — no login or installation required. It was built for French learners preparing for TCF, TEF, DELF, and DALF writing tasks, where meeting the minimum word count is a scored requirement, not a suggestion.

What Is the French Word Counter?

The French word counter is a free, browser-based tool that analyses French text and returns six live statistics: word count, character count (with and without spaces), sentence count, paragraph count, and estimated reading time. Unlike a generic word processor, it includes one-click exam goal presets calibrated to the official minimums for TCF, DELF, and DALF writing tasks, so you can track progress against a real target without counting manually. A Top Words table also reveals which vocabulary you are repeating most often — a useful check before submitting any expression écrite task. All processing happens locally in your browser; your text is never sent to a server, stored, or logged.

How to Use the French Word Counter: Step by Step

1. Open the tool. Go to the French word counter — it loads instantly with no sign-in or account needed.
2. Type or paste your text. Click the input area and start typing, or paste an existing draft. The accent toolbar above the text box lets you insert é, è, ê, à, ç, œ and other French characters without switching keyboard layouts — tap Maj to toggle uppercase accents.
3. Read your live statistics. The six stat cards below the text box update with every keystroke: Words, Characters, Chars (no spaces), Sentences, Paragraphs, and Reading time.
4. Set an exam goal. Click one of the preset buttons — TCF T1 · 60, TCF T2 · 120, DELF A2 · 160, DELF B1 · 250, or DALF C1 · 400 — to activate a progress bar and live word-count tracker beneath the stats grid.
5. Enter a custom target if needed. Type any number into the Custom field to set a different goal — for example, 200 for TEF Canada Expression écrite Task 2, or 80 for a DELF A2 letter.
6. Check the Top Words table. Scroll down to see your ten most frequent content words, excluding common stop words like le, de, et. Repeating the same noun or adjective five or more times is a common deduction at DELF B2 and DALF C1 level.
7. Copy or continue writing. Use Copy text to transfer your draft elsewhere, or click Open writing editor to switch to the full FrenchWrite writing editor — a distraction-free environment with auto-save and a built-in word goal.

What Each Statistic Tells You

Understanding the six stat cards helps you use the tool precisely during timed practice sessions.

• Words — counts every group of non-whitespace characters. Hyphenated compounds such as arc-en-ciel count as one word. Elided words with an apostrophe (l'été, c'est) split at the apostrophe and count as two tokens — consistent with how French exam markers assess written length.
• Characters — the total number of characters including spaces and punctuation. Referenced in some institutional rubrics for short formal tasks.
• Chars (no spaces) — characters minus all whitespace. Relevant for character-limited digital forms and some administrative writing contexts.
• Sentences — approximated by end-of-sentence punctuation: full stops, exclamation marks, question marks, and ellipses. If none are found, the entire text counts as one sentence.
• Paragraphs — blocks of text separated by a blank line. A single continuous text without any blank lines counts as one paragraph.
• Reading time — estimated at 200 words per minute, which reflects average adult reading speed in French. Useful for judging the depth of a DALF C1 synthesis or a longer argumentative letter.

Minimum Word Requirements for French Exams

Falling below the official minimum results in automatic point deductions on every French proficiency exam. The tool's preset buttons correspond directly to these figures.

Write 10–15% above the stated minimum. Exam markers can count words, and a draft that falls short loses points regardless of language quality.

Who Should Use the French Word Counter?

This tool is useful for any learner or educator who writes in French and needs to track length precisely during practice.

• TCF and TCF Canada candidates — use the preset goals to practise hitting the 60-word and 120-word minimums under timed conditions.
• TEF Canada candidates — set a custom goal of 60 or 200 to match each expression écrite task requirement.
• DELF and DALF candidates — from A2 to C1, the preset and custom goal system covers every production écrite minimum.
• B1–C1 learners who want to build writing stamina and monitor vocabulary range over multiple drafts.
• French teachers setting writing tasks with word-count requirements for homework or in-class timed assessments.

To practise the verb forms you need in your writing, use the French verb conjugator — it covers every tense and mood with full conjugation tables. To check whether a noun takes le or la before you use it, the French gender checker covers over 40,000 French nouns.

Frequently Asked Questions