MockoTCF vocabulary questions (QRU format) present a sentence with one word missing and four choices. They test whether you can pick the word that fits both the grammar and the meaning of that exact sentence. The four options often look similar, share a root, or belong to the same topic, so a rough sense of the word is not enough. You need to know what each candidate word actually means and how it is used.
What you’ll learn
- Recognise the main vocabulary categories tested in TCF QRU items
- Use sentence context to eliminate options that do not fit meaning or grammar
- Identify collocations, register, and word-family traps in multiple-choice options
- Build a systematic approach for solving vocabulary gap-fill items quickly
What the TCF vocabulary section tests
TCF vocabulary items are embedded in the overall exam rather than in a separate vocabulary paper. Short sentences or text extracts test whether you know the right word. Topics at B1 level cover everyday life: work, health, transport, food, housing, education, leisure, the environment, and social situations.
- Single-word meaning: does "un emploi" mean a job, a tool, a place, or a timetable?
- Word families: "rapide / rapidement / rapidité / rapidement", which form fits the slot?
- Collocations: "faire une promenade" not "faire une randonnée courte en ville"
- Register: choosing the word appropriate to a formal notice rather than informal speech
- False friends and near-synonyms: "actuel" (current) versus "actif" (active)
One right answer, not one right-ish answer
- All four options will be real French words. Three of them will be wrong for this sentence.
- Your task is to find the one that fits both the grammar of the slot and the meaning of the whole sentence.
Using context to eliminate options
Before you look at the options, read the full sentence and ask: "What type of word belongs here (noun, verb, adjective, adverb)? What does the surrounding context say about the meaning?" Then check each option against both criteria.
- 1Read the whole sentence once without stopping at the gap.
- 2Decide what part of speech fills the slot (noun? adjective? verb? adverb?).
- 3Think of one or two words that would make sense, do not look at the options yet.
- 4Read the four options and find the one closest to your prediction.
- 5Check your choice against the full sentence to confirm it sounds natural.
Les participants devaient ________ un formulaire avant le début de la conférence. (A) remplir (B) remplir (C) plier (D) envoyer
Participants had to ________ a form before the conference started. Here the context tells you: a form + a verb that collocates with it. "Remplir un formulaire" (fill in a form) is the standard collocation. "Plier" (fold) and "envoyer" (send) are real words but do not collocate with "formulaire" in this administrative sense.
Notice that context rules out "plier" and "envoyer" without even needing to define every word. If you know what happens to a form before a conference, you know the answer.
Word families and grammar traps
A common distractor type gives you four words from the same family: the noun, the adjective, the verb, and the adverb. If you know what family the word belongs to, you can get this right even with a limited vocabulary, because grammar tells you which form the gap needs.
Elle a répondu de façon très ________. (A) précis (B) précision (C) préciser (D) précisément
"De façon très ________" needs an adjective, not a noun (précision), not a verb (préciser), and not an adverb (précisément, which cannot follow "de façon"). The answer is "précis" (precise). Even if you were unsure of the meaning, grammar eliminates three options.
- "De façon / de manière + adjective": requires the adjective form (précis, clair, efficace)
- "Il est + adjective": requires adjective, not adverb
- "Il agit + adverbe": requires the adverb (précisément, clairement)
- "La + noun": confirms you need a feminine noun, not an adjective or verb
Do not confuse "actuel" and "actif"
- "Actuel / actuellement" means current / currently, not actual / actually.
- "Actif" means active.
- "La situation actuelle" = the current situation (not the actual situation in the English sense).
Collocations: words that belong together
French, like all languages, has fixed verb-noun and adjective-noun pairings. Knowing these collocations is one of the quickest ways to gain marks in vocabulary items. The four options will often contain near-synonyms where only one is the natural partner for the other word in the sentence.
- faire une demande (to make a request / apply), not "poser une demande" or "faire une question"
- prendre une décision (to make a decision), not "faire une décision"
- poser une question (to ask a question), not "faire une question"
- avoir lieu (to take place), not "prendre lieu"
- rendre service (to do a favour), not "faire un service"
- tenir compte de (to take into account), not "prendre compte de"
La réunion ________ lieu le vendredi 3 octobre à 10h. (A) aura (B) fera (C) prendra (D) donnera
"Avoir lieu" is the fixed expression for "to take place." The future tense is needed here, so "aura lieu" is correct. The other options produce non-standard collocations.
Everyday vocabulary categories at B1
These are the topic areas that appear most often in TCF vocabulary items at B1 level. Review the core words and common collocations in each area.
- Health (la santé): une ordonnance (prescription), un cabinet médical (doctor's surgery), être en forme (to be well), un congé maladie (sick leave), se rétablir (to recover)
- Work (le travail): un poste (a position/post), postuler (to apply), un entretien d'embauche (job interview), une augmentation (a pay rise), démissionner (to resign)
- Housing (le logement): un loyer (rent), les charges (utility charges), un bail (lease), une caution (deposit), aménager (to fit out/move into)
- Transport: un trajet (a journey/commute), en retard (late), un abonnement (a season ticket/subscription), correspondance (connection), un parking (car park)
- Education: s'inscrire (to enrol), une formation (a training course), un diplôme (a qualification), un stage (an internship/work placement), échouer à / réussir à (to fail / pass)
Learn words in chunks, not alone
- When you learn a new noun, note the verb that goes with it: un dossier / déposer un dossier, une plainte / porter plainte.
- When you learn a verb, note the noun that follows it: proposer une solution, prendre un rendez-vous.
How to practise this
The best vocabulary practice for TCF is reading short French texts every day and stopping to notice word patterns rather than just guessing meaning from context. When you encounter an unfamiliar word, look it up and note its collocates and its word family before moving on.
Daily practice ideas
- Do 5 to 10 QRU vocabulary items per session, justifying each choice out loud before checking.
- When you get an item wrong, identify whether the trap was a word-family error, a collocation, or a false friend.
- Read short texts on France Info, Le Monde Ados, or 20minutes.fr and underline any verb-noun collocations you find.
- Review 10 to 15 B1 vocabulary flashcards daily, testing yourself on the full phrase, not just the isolated word.
Key takeaways
- TCF vocabulary items test meaning, word form, and collocation, not just recognition of individual words.
- Read the full sentence first, predict the word type, then check each option against grammar and meaning.
- Word-family items can be solved by grammar alone: decide whether a noun, adjective, verb, or adverb fits the slot.
- Collocations are fixed pairings, learn common verb-noun combinations as whole phrases.
- Practise with complete sentences, not isolated words, so you can hear what sounds natural.
