Two conventions exist. Know which one your exam uses before you start counting.
Writing to a word limit in French raises a question English never does: does the apostrophe split a word? In a French word count, l'homme can be one word or two, and c'est-à-dire anything from one to four, depending on who is counting.
Here are the two conventions you will meet, the DELF and DALF rule, the rule used in many French competitive exams, and how to handle numbers and dates.
There is no single French rule. One convention counts whatever sits between two spaces, so an apostrophe never splits anything. The other treats an elided word, such as the l' in l'homme, as a word of its own.
Both are used in real exams. The safest habit is to read the instructions of the exam you sit, and to count by that rule only.
France Éducation international, which runs the DELF and DALF, defines a word as a group of characters separated by spaces. Apostrophes and hyphens contain no space, so they never split a word.
The word count of a word processor follows the same logic, which makes it a reliable check for these exams.
Many French competitive exams publish their own counting rules. The rules published for the gendarmerie recruitment exams, for instance, count an elided word as a word, ignore the euphonic t (va-t-on is two words), and count each part of a compound that means something on its own.
| Text | DELF and DALF | Gendarmerie rules |
|---|---|---|
| l'abeille | 1 | 2 |
| j'ai mangé | 2 | 3 |
| c'est-à-dire | 1 | 4 |
| cerf-volant | 1 | 2 |
| aujourd'hui | 1 | 1 |
Aujourd'hui stays one word under both rules: its apostrophe does not mark an elision you could undo.
Under the space rule, a number written in digits is one word: 2026 counts once, deux mille vingt-six counts three times. The gendarmerie rules add their own details: a year in digits is one word, a full date such as 12 octobre 2010 is three, a percentage such as 20 % is two, and an acronym such as ONU is one.
If you write numbers out, the spelling has its own rules, covered on agreement of numbers.
Whatever the rule, a word limit is about content, not arithmetic. Aim a little above the minimum, never pad with filler, and check the count once at the end with the right convention.
| Situation | How words are counted | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| DELF and DALF | groups of characters between spaces | the exam instructions |
| French competitive exams | often elisions and compounds split | the rules published for that exam |
| School or university work | as the teacher specifies | the assignment |
A word count only matters if the words are spelled right. Which words drop their vowel (le, la, je, me, que, si) and before which letters is explained in the guide to the apostrophe in French.
Before you count, find out which rule applies; then count once, at the end. For the rest of the rules that catch learners, see French grammar rules, explained. Apostrophe· dictates full sentences, elisions included, and shows the rule whenever an apostrophe goes missing.
Does l' count as a word in French?
In the DELF and DALF, no: l'homme is one word because there is no space inside it. Under rules that split elisions, such as those published for the gendarmerie exams, l'abeille counts as two.
How does the DELF word count work?
France Éducation international defines a word as a group of characters separated by spaces. Apostrophes and hyphens do not split a word, so c'est and peut-être each count once.
How many words is c'est-à-dire in a word count?
One in the DELF and DALF, since it contains no space. Four under rules that split elisions and compounds, such as the gendarmerie's.
Do French contractions like au and du count as one word?
Yes. Au, du, aux and des are written as single words, so every convention counts them once. The question only arises with the apostrophe: l', d', j', qu'.
Apostrophe· reads you a sentence, corrects it word by word, and explains the exact rule behind each mistake.
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