DELF A2 Vocabulary List: 514 Words, Theme by Theme

This is the vocabulary list I use with my own students preparing the DELF A2. It is organised the way the exam is: by theme, because that is how the examiner picks a subject, and not alphabetically, because nobody revises in alphabetical order.

A2 is where the themes stop being objects and start being situations: renting a flat, seeing a doctor, explaining what went wrong. The nouns come with the verbs that go round them.

Start with the map of themes below to see the shape of the level, then work through the words theme by theme. At A2 you are expected to tell a story in the past, describe a problem and handle an appointment, and the themes follow from that.

A couple of words from ten of the themes above, so you can see the register the level works at. Each noun carries its article, because the gender is part of the word and the examiner hears it.

Reading a list does nothing. What works is recall: cover the French column, read the English, say the word out loud with its article, then check. The words you get wrong come back sooner than the words you get right, which is the whole principle behind the flashcard decks.

Do not try to learn a theme in one sitting. Ten words a day, said out loud, beats a hundred words read in silence on a Sunday. And write them in sentences: a word you have never produced is a word you will not find under exam pressure.

If you want the exam format itself rather than the words, the DELF A2 checklist covers the grammar, the tenses and the four papers.