The citizenship reading and writing test

USCIS: "For the reading test, you must read out loud 1 of 3 sentences correctly to demonstrate an ability to read in English. For the writing test, you must write 1 out of 3 sentences correctly to demonstrate an ability to write in English."

Speaking

USCIS: "Your ability to speak and understand English will be determined by a USCIS officer during your eligibility interview on Form N-400, Application for Naturalization."

The word lists

USCIS publishes a Reading Vocabulary list (64 words in 8 groups: people, civics, places, holidays, question words, verbs and other words) and a Writing Vocabulary list (75 words, with months instead of question words). Both lists are inside Civico's Pass Pack next to the civics questions.

Source: Study for the Test on uscis.gov, read Oct. 25, 2026.