CELPIP Vocabulary: What Raters Score, Word Lists by Task and How to Learn Them

How vocabulary is scored in CELPIP#

CELPIP speaking and writing are rated by trained people, using four categories each. Vocabulary is one of them in both components, with the same four factors:

The factor names are Paragon’s; the explanations and examples are ours.

Each speaking performance is rated by three to five raters and each writing performance by four to six, independently. Vocabulary also feeds into the other categories: precise words make your content clearer, and choosing the right register is part of task fulfilment.

In reading and listening there is no vocabulary score, but every question depends on it. Paragon describes the test as using everyday English taken from everyday situations: emails between neighbours, workplace conversations, news items, notices, opinions about a city plan. That tells you where to spend your time: on the words of daily life in Canada, used precisely, not on rare academic words.

Upgrades for 16 words that are too general#

The fastest vocabulary gain for most test takers is replacing a handful of overused words. None of the replacements below are rare; they are simply more exact. Use them only when they fit the meaning.

Notice that several upgrades are phrases, not single words. Not working properly is simple English and precise; raters reward that more than a rare word used approximately.

Word sets for the speaking tasks#

Each speaking task asks for a different kind of language. These sets were chosen for this guide; learn them in phrases, as shown.

Task 3 and task 8 reward concrete nouns (objects, materials, shapes, positions), so practise naming what you see around you in English. Task 6 rewards softeners, the small phrases that make a request polite. Our speaking sample answers show these phrases inside full answers, and the task 7 guide has more opinion language.

Word sets for the two writing tasks#

Task 1: the email

The email can be formal (a company, a manager) or friendly (a neighbour, a friend). Vocabulary is how raters hear the difference.

Task 2: the survey response

The survey asks you to choose between two options and explain why. Useful language: I would prefer option A because…, this would benefit…, in terms of cost, a more sustainable choice, in the long term, admittedly, for these reasons. Full sample answers are in our guides to writing task 1 and writing task 2.

The same answer, before and after#

Both versions were written for this guide to show what a vocabulary upgrade looks like. They are not official samples.

The second version doesn’t use difficult words. It replaces good (three times) with valuable addition and benefit, young people and old people with teenagers and seniors, and help them with what the help actually is. The ideas are the same; the precision is what changes.

A 15-minute daily method#

1. Collect from real texts (5 minutes). Read or listen to something CELPIP-like: a local news article, a city notice, a product review, a workplace email. Note three to five phrases, not single words: the meeting was postponed, a full refund, residents raised concerns.
2. Use them the same day (5 minutes). Say each phrase in a sentence about your own life, out loud, or write a three-sentence email that uses them. A word you have used is far easier to remember than one you have only read.
3. Review on a schedule (5 minutes). Look at the phrases again after one day, three days and a week. Drop the ones you now use without thinking.

Group your notebook by topic (housing, work, health, transport, shopping, community, environment), because CELPIP passages and tasks come from these areas of daily life. And keep a short list of your own repeated words. If good or a lot of appear in every practice answer, that list is your first target.

Vocabulary mistakes that cost points#

• Forcing big words. A rare word used slightly wrong lowers precision and accuracy. If you aren’t sure of a word, use the simpler one you are sure of.
• Wrong word combinations. Make a decision, not do a decision; heavy traffic, not strong traffic. Learn words with the words they go with.
• Mixing registers. Hey, wanna fix this? in an email to a landlord is unsuitable; I hereby inform you to a friend sounds odd. Match the reader.
• Memorised blocks. Long prepared sentences that don’t answer the question waste time and don’t help your task fulfilment score.
• Spelling in writing. Spelling and punctuation are part of the readability category in writing, so a precise word spelled wrong still costs you. Learn the spelling with the word.

For a full study plan that fits vocabulary into four weeks of preparation, see how to prepare for CELPIP.

Sources#

Speaking and writing performance standards, rating categories and number of raters: celpip.ca, CELPIP results. The eight speaking tasks, two writing tasks and everyday English focus: celpip.ca, test format and scoring and celpip.ca, CELPIP test overview. Word lists, upgrades and examples were written for this guide. Checked October 10, 2026.

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