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 Burbs
Unique vocabulary and phrases by level
How difficult is The Burbs in English?
The Burbs: 65.4% A1–A2 vocabulary; 17.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary. Vocabulary size: 1,285.
Unique vocabulary
- For A2 learners: 26.1% of unique vocabulary is above A2 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B1 learners: 17.4% of unique vocabulary is above B1 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
- For B2 learners: 12.7% of unique vocabulary is above B2 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
8.5% Unclassified. Unclassified vocabulary has no reliable level assignment.
Vocabulary weighted by word occurrences
91.9% A1–A2 vocabulary; 4.0% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary; 1.9% 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
- ray (B2): 66 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Ray, look. Ray. Unconscious chanting. You're chanting.
- basement (B1): 17 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
There's bars on the basement windows.
- skip (B1): 12 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
His name was Skip. Lived over on Elm.
- lawn (B1): 11 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
We're not gonna be content to look after our lawns...
- furnace (B2): 8 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Ray, look at the size of this furnace.
Compare with titles in similar genres
- High Anxiety: 17.6% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.2 percentage points more than The Burbs).
- Foul Play: 15.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (2.0 percentage points less than The Burbs).
- Assassination of a High School President: 17.3% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.0 percentage points less than The Burbs).
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: