B2 is the level most people are really aiming for: the one universities ask for, the one now required for French citizenship, the point at which you can hold your own in a discussion without simplifying what you mean. The vocabulary turns abstract and the grammar stops being about accuracy alone and starts being about nuance, register and the shape of an argument.
The checklist below is the exact map of what the DELF B2 can test. As with the other levels, grammar and the verb system are kept apart so nothing appears twice: the grammar list holds everything that is not a verb form, and the tenses and moods have their own table.
Free 4-page guide
The eight weeks before your DELF B2
Eight weeks, week by week, built on the argument rather than the grammar, with the four papers rehearsed in the order of the real day.
- The structure a B2 examiner is marking, and how to build one in four lines
- Note-taking for a recording played once, and the discussion you have to defend
- The last ten days, and what to put in your bag the night before
4 pages, free, sent straight away. Everything on this page stays free either way. You will also hear from me when a new guide or free deck goes up, and one click at the bottom of any email takes you off the list.
What changes between B1 and B2
If you have already passed B1, this table is your revision plan on its own.
| Area | At B1 | Added at B2 |
|---|---|---|
| Subjunctive | Subjonctif présent, common triggers | Subjonctif passé, and more conjunctions (à condition que, avant que…) |
| Hypothesis | The real and the present unreal | The past unreal: si + plus-que-parfait + conditionnel passé |
| Relatives | dont, lequel | Compound forms: auquel, duquel, ce dont, ce Ă quoi |
| Argument | Giving and justifying an opinion | Structuring a case, conceding, refuting, nuancing |
| Reported speech | Basic concordance | Full concordance and transposition (hier → la veille) |
| Register | Not assessed | Choosing soutenu, courant or familier on purpose |
The DELF B2 exam format
The DELF is awarded by the French Ministry of Education and never expires. Each of the four papers is marked out of 25 for a total of 100, you need 50/100 overall to pass, and at least 5/25 in every single paper.
| Paper | Duration | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Compréhension de l'oral (listening) | About 30 minutes | 25 |
| Compréhension des écrits (reading) | 60 minutes | 25 |
| Production Ă©crite (writing) | 60 minutes, a reasoned argument | 25 |
| Production orale (speaking) | 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes preparation | 25 |
Two of the four papers
The two papers you cannot mark yourself
At B2 the examiner is no longer checking that you know the words. They are checking whether you can hold a position for ten minutes and write an argued text that stays on track. Nothing on this page can tell you whether yours does. A 25 minute trial lesson can: you argue, I listen, and you get an honest read on how far the exam still is.
Book a trial lesson · $15Grammar to master for B2
Everything here is grammar that is not a verb form. The tenses and moods are listed separately below, so nothing is counted twice.
- Les pronoms relatifs composés (auquel, duquel, ce dont, ce à quoi…)Compound relative pronouns (auquel, duquel, ce dont, ce à quoi…)
- La mise en relief et les procédés d’insistance (c’est… qui, ce qui… c’est…)Emphasis and highlighting structures (c’est… qui, ce qui… c’est…)
- La nominalisation (transformer une phrase en groupe nominal)Nominalisation (turning a clause into a noun phrase)
- Les articulateurs du discours argumentatif (par ailleurs, en outre, néanmoins…)Argument connectors (moreover, in addition, nevertheless…)
- L’expression de la cause, de la conséquence et du but (registres variés)Expressing cause, consequence and purpose (varied registers)
- L’opposition et la concession (bien que, malgré, or, pourtant, quoique…)Contrast and concession (although, despite, yet, however, even though…)
- La place de l’adjectif et ses nuances de sens (un grand homme, un homme grand)Adjective position and shades of meaning (un grand homme vs un homme grand)
- Les indéfinis et la quantification nuancée (la plupart, quiconque, nul…)Indefinites and nuanced quantity (most, anyone, no one…)
- La négation et la restriction (ne… que, ne… guère, ne… point…)Negation and restriction (ne… que, ne… guère, ne… point…)
- Les tournures impersonnelles (il convient de, il s’avère que…)Impersonal structures (il convient de, il s’avère que…)
- La comparaison complexe (d’autant plus que, plus… plus…)Complex comparison (all the more since, the more… the more…)
- Les registres de langue (soutenu, courant, familier)Registers of language (formal, standard, informal)
Essential B2 vocabulary
Fourteen fields, most of them abstract. B2 is where you talk about ideas and society, not only your own life.
- Les domaines abstraits : idées, valeurs, sociétéAbstract topics: ideas, values, society
- Le monde du travail, l’entreprise, l’économieThe world of work, business, the economy
- L’éducation, la recherche, les sciencesEducation, research, the sciences
- L’environnement, le développement durable, le climatThe environment, sustainability, the climate
- Les médias, la désinformation, l’esprit critiqueThe media, disinformation, critical thinking
- La politique, la citoyenneté, les institutionsPolitics, citizenship, institutions
- La culture, les arts, la littératureCulture, the arts, literature
- Le numérique, l’intelligence artificielle, les technologiesDigital life, artificial intelligence, technology
- La santé, l’éthique, le bien-êtreHealth, ethics, wellbeing
- Les grands débats de société et l’actualitéMajor social debates and current affairs
- Le vocabulaire de l’argumentation et de la nuanceThe vocabulary of argument and nuance
- Les expressions idiomatiques courantesCommon idiomatic expressions
- Le lexique des émotions et des attitudes nuancéesVocabulary for nuanced emotions and attitudes
- Les connotations et le registre selon le contexteConnotations and register according to context
Communication skills tested at B2
The B2 oral is a defended point of view, not a description. Practise building and holding an argument aloud.
- Développer une argumentation structuréeDeveloping a structured argument
- Défendre un point de vue et réfuter des argumentsDefending a viewpoint and refuting arguments
- Nuancer, concéder, marquer l’oppositionQualifying, conceding, marking contrast
- Synthétiser plusieurs documents ou points de vueSynthesising several documents or viewpoints
- Exprimer des sentiments et des attitudes avec nuanceExpressing feelings and attitudes with nuance
- Formuler des hypothèses et envisager des conséquencesForming hypotheses and weighing consequences
- Participer activement à un débat, prendre la paroleTaking an active part in a debate, speaking up
- Rédiger un texte argumenté (essai, lettre formelle, article)Writing an argued text (essay, formal letter, article)
- Comprendre des documents complexes (presse, essais, Ă©missions)Understanding complex material (press, essays, broadcasts)
- Résumer et reformuler des idées complexesSummarising and rephrasing complex ideas
- S’adapter au registre et au destinataireAdapting to the register and the audience
- Exprimer une opinion critique, Ă©valuerExpressing a critical opinion, evaluating
- Préciser, corriger et reformuler son proposClarifying, correcting and rephrasing what you say
- Convaincre, persuader et réagir spontanémentConvincing, persuading and reacting spontaneously
The tenses and moods you need at B2
The whole verb system for B2, in one place. Nothing here is repeated in the grammar list above.
| Tense or mood | What it covers | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Tous les temps de l'indicatif | Full command, with the passé simple recognised in reading | You produce the others; the passé simple you only need to understand. |
| Le subjonctif présent et passé | After bien que, pour que, à condition que, doubt, emotion | The passé marks anteriority: bien qu'il ait fini. |
| Le conditionnel présent et passé | Atténuation, unconfirmed news, the past unreal | Le train aurait déraillé: the conditionnel of the press means "reportedly". |
| Les systèmes hypothétiques | The real, the present unreal and the past unreal | The past unreal: si + plus-que-parfait + conditionnel passé. |
| Le discours rapporté au passé | Full concordance and transposition of time markers | hier becomes la veille, demain becomes le lendemain. |
| Les modes impersonnels | Infinitif, participe and gérondif, for concision | avant de partir, en arrivant, ayant fini: B2 leans on these to tighten sentences. |
| La voix passive et les tournures passives | The passive, and impersonal or pronominal alternatives | se faire + infinitif (il s'est fait renvoyer) and on for an unnamed agent. |