This lesson covers the vocabulary you need to find, view, and move into a rental home in France — and to talk about that process in the TEF/TCF exam register. Renting vocabulary appears constantly across the exam: in TEF Expression Orale Section A, where you place a formal phone call about a classified ad (une petite annonce) to ask about the rent, the deposit, or whether utilities are included; and in TCF and TEF writing tasks about daily life and settling in.
Learn the money terms first: une caution and un dépôt de garantie both mean "security deposit," but caution is the everyday word you will hear in conversation, while dépôt de garantie is the more formal term you will find written into the lease itself.
| to sign a lease | signer un bail |
Once you have found a place, the vocabulary shifts to the mechanics of moving in: the propriétaire (landlord) and locataire (tenant) carry out an état des lieux — a formal inspection — when you move in (emménager), and again when you move out, after you have given proper notice (donner son préavis). Do not forget the paperwork that comes with a French lease: most landlords require proof of home insurance (une assurance habitation) before you can sign.
Practise the phone-inquiry sentences in this lesson out loud — confirming a viewing appointment, asking about an agency's opening hours, asking whether charges are included. That funnel-of-questions structure (technique de l'entonnoir) is exactly what Section A of the TEF oral exam rewards, and this is the vocabulary that scenario runs on.
