TCF Canada and grammar, which structures to revise for NCLC 7?

You are looking for a grammar test in TCF Canada and can’t find one. That is normal, it doesn’t exist in this version of the test. Grammar still counts, but it is judged in your texts and in your spoken answers.

What FEI says, and what we make of it

The FEI manual describes TCF Canada as 4 compulsory tests lasting 2 h 47 in total, detailed in the TCF Canada format. The same manual describes a test of language structures, multiple-choice grammar and vocabulary, and states that it is offered only for TCF tout public. So if a grammar gap-fill series carries the label “TCF”, it prepares the other version of the test. The differences are in TCF Canada or TCF tout public.

What comes from FEI. In writing, the linguistic criterion includes range of vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, spelling and how developed the sentences are. In speaking, it includes grammatical accuracy among other things. FEI also says the level comes from assessing a competence, not from counting errors.

What is our reading. FEI publishes no list of structures required per level and no mark scheme for mistakes. Everything below about priorities is our opinion, drawn from what the three writing tasks and the speaking test ask you to do. The faulty examples are invented by us.

The structures to know, each with a mistake and its fix

Each faulty sentence contains only one error, the one of its row. Register is a separate case, it is not a grammar mistake but a clumsy choice.

Structure	Mistake or clumsiness	Fix
Agreement	Les travaux commence lundi. Ma collègue est arrivé en retard.	Les travaux commencent lundi. Ma collègue est arrivée en retard.
Passé composé and imparfait	Quand j’étais enfant, j’ai joué tous les jours dehors.	Quand j’étais enfant, je jouais tous les jours dehors.
Conditional and “si”	Si vous pourriez venir, ce serait parfait.	Si vous pouviez venir, ce serait parfait.
Register of a request	Je veux savoir le prix.	Je voudrais savoir le prix.
Subjunctive	Je voudrais que vous m’envoyez la facture. Il est important que nous sommes à l’heure.	Je voudrais que vous m’envoyiez la facture. Il est important que nous soyons à l’heure.
Relative pronouns	Le sujet que je vous parle est important. Le jour que je suis arrivé, il pleuvait.	Le sujet dont je vous parle est important. Le jour où je suis arrivé, il pleuvait.
Questions	Quand est-ce que viendra-t-il ?	Quand viendra-t-il ? or Quand est-ce qu’il viendra ?
Gerund (gérondif)	En travaillant à Halifax, mon salaire a augmenté.	Depuis que je travaille à Halifax, mon salaire a augmenté.
Passive	Le colis a livré en retard.	Le colis a été livré en retard.
Sequence of tenses	Elle m’a dit la semaine dernière qu’elle partira le lendemain.	Elle m’a dit la semaine dernière qu’elle partirait le lendemain.

In English, the examples mean “the works start on Monday”, “my colleague arrived late”, “when I was a child I played outside every day”, “if you could come it would be perfect”, “I would like to know the price”, “I would like you to send me the invoice”, “it is important that we are on time”, “the subject I am talking to you about is important”, “the day I arrived it was raining”, “when will he come”, “since I have worked in Halifax my salary has gone up”, “the parcel was delivered late” and “she told me last week that she would leave the next day”.

For each structure, a note and a three-sentence exercise to do on yourself.

• Agreement. The easiest to catch when rereading. Find the subject of each verb, then the past participles with “être”. Exercise. Write three plural sentences about your week, then underline each verb and its subject.
• Passé composé and imparfait. Mainly for task 2, which asks you to tell a story. The table of narrative tenses is on the task 2 page, we don’t repeat it. Exercise. Tell a childhood memory in three sentences, one habit in the imparfait, one precise event in the passé composé.
• Conditional and register. It serves the polite requests and complaints of task 1. After the “si” of a condition, use the imparfait, not the conditional. Exercise. Rewrite three orders (“Envoyez-moi le prix”) as polite requests.
• Subjunctive. After “il faut que”, “il est important que”, “bien que”, “pour que”, “afin que” and “je voudrais que”. The connectors involved are in logical connectors. Exercise. Write three sentences with “je voudrais que” and an irregular verb (être, avoir, aller, faire).
• Relatives. “Dont” replaces “de + something”, “où” picks up a place or a time, “lequel” follows a preposition. Exercise. Join three pairs of short sentences with “dont”, “où” and “pour lequel”.
• Questions. Alternating “est-ce que” and inversion shows more control than a single form. Speaking task 2 relies on questions, see the speaking task 2 mistakes. Exercise. Ask the same question three times, with “est-ce que”, with inversion and with rising intonation.
• Gerund. It needs the same subject for both verbs. As soon as the subject changes, switch to “depuis que”, “quand” or “comme”. Exercise. Write three sentences with “en + present participle” and check the subject.
• Passive. “Être” plus past participle. The agent is optional, “Le colis a été livré en retard” is enough. Exercise. Turn three active sentences into the passive and keep the ones that sound natural.
• Sequence of tenses. When the introducing verb is in the past, the future becomes the conditional, the present becomes the imparfait and “demain” becomes “le lendemain”. Exercise. Report three sentences from a colleague, first in the present, then in the past.

An exercise with a hidden correction

Each sentence contains one error. Fix it without looking.

1. Les travaux commence lundi.
2. Quand j’étais enfant, j’ai joué tous les jours dehors.
3. Si vous pourriez venir, ce serait parfait.
4. Il est important que nous sommes à l’heure.
5. Le sujet que je vous parle est important.
6. Quand est-ce que viendra-t-il ?
7. En travaillant à Halifax, mon salaire a augmenté.
8. Le colis a livré en retard.
9. Elle m’a dit la semaine dernière qu’elle partira le lendemain.

Correction

1. Les travaux commencent lundi. The verb agrees with “travaux”.
2. Quand j’étais enfant, je jouais tous les jours dehors. Past habit, so imparfait.
3. Si vous pouviez venir, ce serait parfait. Imparfait after the “si” of a condition.
4. Il est important que nous soyons à l’heure. Subjunctive of “être”.
5. Le sujet dont je vous parle est important. “Parler de” takes “dont”.
6. Quand viendra-t-il ? or Quand est-ce qu’il viendra ? Don’t stack “est-ce que” and inversion.
7. Depuis que je travaille à Halifax, mon salaire a augmenté. The subject changes, so no gerund.
8. Le colis a été livré en retard. Passive with “être”.
9. Elle m’a dit la semaine dernière qu’elle partirait le lendemain. The future becomes the conditional after a past verb.

What order to revise in for NCLC 7

NCLC 7 corresponds to 10 or 11 out of 20 in writing and speaking, according to the FEI conversion. We don’t know how many mistakes of each type FEI tolerates at that level, and nobody outside FEI does. Our order of work is therefore a priority, not a threshold.

1. Agreement and grammatical spelling. They come back in every sentence of the three tasks. For the rest of spelling, see spelling mistakes.
2. Past tenses. Unavoidable as soon as you tell a story, so in task 2.
3. Polite conditional and well-formed questions. They decide the register in task 1 and the interaction in speaking.
4. Subjunctive with the few common triggers. No need to know every case, “il faut que” and “bien que” cover many texts.
5. Relatives, sequence of tenses, gerund, then passive. They enrich a text that is already clean. Adding them to a text full of agreement mistakes gains little.

An ambitious structure you don’t master costs more than a simple structure done well. If you hesitate over a subjunctive, a present-tense sentence with another connector is the better choice.

How to revise without a grammar test

Start from your own mistakes. Write one task under real timing, then file each error under a category of the table. After three texts, one or two categories keep coming back, and those come first. For the wider mistakes of the writing test, read the mistakes that cost NCLC 7. For free gap-fill exercises, the page on TV5Monde and the TCF explains what is useful and what isn’t.

Get a text written under real timing corrected. The corrector flags every grammar error and estimates your NCLC, with a limited free trial, which tells you which category to work on first.