Abstract: The subject of this research is the linguistic education as teaching a foreign language; while the object is the concepts of “competency” and “competence”. The authors examine and compare the views of foreign and Russian scholars upon the content of these concepts. Special attention is given to the components of the key competencies, namely communicative competence. Analysis is conducted on aspects as “communicative competence” and “communicative tolerance”. Communicative competence suggests the command of language, as well as various social roles in the collective, including communication skills. The author highlights the role of the “Foreign Language” discipline in the development of students’ communicative competence and tolerance. The conclusion is made that communicative tolerance is a component of communicative competence. It is necessary to develop communicative competence of the students as the readiness for tolerant communication with the interaction partners. Communicative competence aimed at mastering the students’ ability to tolerance communication is being formed in the context of teaching a foreign language. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that communicative competence encompasses not only the command of languages, but also various social roles in the team and the ability to communicate tolerantly. The conducted analysis can be valuable for the researchers of dealing with the nature of the categories of “competency” and “competence”.