Explore Movie Vocabulary
Learn English with movies. Discover how much of a movie’s vocabulary you already know and review unfamiliar words before watching.
Detective Story
Unique vocabulary and phrases by level
How difficult is Detective Story in English?
Detective Story: 66.6% A1–A2 vocabulary; 15.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary. Vocabulary size: 1,377.
Unique vocabulary
- For A2 learners: 25.8% of unique vocabulary is above A2 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B1 learners: 15.4% of unique vocabulary is above B1 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
- For B2 learners: 10.5% of unique vocabulary is above B2 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
7.5% Unclassified. Unclassified vocabulary has no reliable level assignment.
Vocabulary weighted by word occurrences
94.3% A1–A2 vocabulary; 2.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary; 1.2% 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
- identify (B2): 10 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
She can identify him. - I told you, she's critical. No visitors.
- joy (B1): 10 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
J-O-Y. Who's Joy?
- hatch (B1): 9 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Hatch? - She's on her way over.
- jail (B1): 9 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
I'm going to jail the rest of my life. How you gonna help me, huh?
- suppose (B1): 7 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: To think something is probably true, or to imagine a possible situation.
Subtitle example:
All right. Look, suppose you look after Schneider yourself...
Compare with titles in similar genres
- Pickup on South Street: 15.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.1 percentage points less than Detective Story).
- The Killing: 15.8% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.3 percentage points more than Detective Story).
- The Big Heat: 15.1% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.3 percentage points less than Detective Story).
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: