How many words do I need for B2 or C1 in English?
Nobody can give one exact number, but a rough range helps you plan. Pick your target and your deadline, and see what a realistic routine looks like.
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Level now
Target level
Minutes a day
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The plan fits your time. Keep it steady and the reviews will stay short.
- New words a day
- 17
- New words in total
- 1500
- Reviews a day
- 102
- Minutes a day needed
- 23
Rough estimate. Word counts per level are planning figures, not official.
How many words per level
Commonly cited ranges vary by source. They count different things (word families or single forms, words you understand or words you can use), so read them as rough estimates. They are not official Cambridge figures.
| Level | Rough range | Figure used by the planner |
|---|---|---|
| A2 | 1,000 to 1,500 | 1,000 |
| B1 | 2,000 to 2,750 | 2,000 |
| B2 | 3,250 to 4,000 | 3,500 |
| C1 | 4,500 to 6,000 | 5,000 |
Knowing a word is not one thing. You may recognise it when you read it and still not use it when you speak. Exams reward both, so plan to use new words, not only to see them.
How the plan is worked out
- 1
Words to learn
The target figure minus the words you know. If you type your own number, it replaces the level.
- 2
New words a day
The total divided by the days you have, rounded up.
- 3
Time per word
Learning a word once takes about 30 seconds. Then it gets about 6 reviews of about 8 seconds each. These are assumptions you can change.
- 4
Minutes a day
New words a day times the time per word. Once the routine is running, each day holds new words and the reviews of older ones.
The status compares the minutes needed with the minutes you have. As a rule of thumb, more than about 30 new words a day gets heavy, and more than about 50 is unrealistic for most people. These limits are guides, not laws.
Practice: collocations and word families
Choose the word that fits the gap. The verbs are make, do, take, have and get.
0 of 8 checked
Write one word in each gap. Some sentences accept more than one word.
0 of 8 checked
Choose the form of the word that fits the gap.
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Questions
- How many words do I need for B2?
- Commonly cited figures for B2 are roughly 3,250 to 4,000 words, but sources differ. Use it as a rough target, and check it against what you can read and say.
- How many words do I need for C1?
- Commonly cited figures for C1 are roughly 4,500 to 6,000 words. At this level, how you use words (collocations, phrasal verbs, register) matters as much as the count.
- How many new words a day is realistic?
- As a rule of thumb, 10 to 20 new words a day with reviews is comfortable for many people. Past about 30 it gets heavy, because the reviews pile up.
- Do I need a spaced repetition app?
- It helps, because it schedules the reviews for you. A notebook works too if you review old words on a regular schedule, not only the new ones.
Keep going
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