Explore Movie Vocabulary
Learn English with movies. Discover how much of a movie’s vocabulary you already know and review unfamiliar words before watching.
The Maltese Falcon
Unique vocabulary and phrases by level
How difficult is The Maltese Falcon in English?
The Maltese Falcon: 62.1% A1–A2 vocabulary; 18.1% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary. Vocabulary size: 1,406.
Unique vocabulary
- For A2 learners: 30.1% of unique vocabulary is above A2 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B1 learners: 18.1% of unique vocabulary is above B1 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
- For B2 learners: 12.0% of unique vocabulary is above B2 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
7.8% Unclassified. Unclassified vocabulary has no reliable level assignment.
Vocabulary weighted by word occurrences
93.3% A1–A2 vocabulary; 2.9% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary; 1.4% Unclassified.
This counts repeated eligible words. Phrases are excluded from this calculation to avoid counting their component words twice.
Recurring words and phrases to preview
- spade (B2): 36 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
What do you want here? - I'm Sam Spade. Tom Polhaus phoned.
- falcon (B1): 29 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Falcon.
- suppose (B1): 14 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: To think something is probably true, or to imagine a possible situation.
Subtitle example:
Suppose you tell me about it from the very beginning.
- go ahead (B1): 8 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Okay, go ahead.
- trust (B1): 8 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: To believe someone is honest or that something is reliable.
Subtitle example:
You've got to trust me, Mr. Spade.
Compare with titles in similar genres
- The Big Clock: 17.8% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.4 percentage points less than The Maltese Falcon).
- Fury: 17.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.8 percentage points less than The Maltese Falcon).
- Touch of Evil: 16.6% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (1.5 percentage points less than The Maltese Falcon).
These percentages describe vocabulary, not the proportion of dialogue you will understand. CEFR labels are estimates, not official film ratings. Accent, speed, songs, context, and your own vocabulary also affect comprehension. Repeated occurrences may include repeated dialogue or lyrics.
How we estimate vocabulary difficulty · Evidence generated: