30 Advanced Words & Phrases to Get a High Score - Duolingo English Test

hi friends teacher Luke here now one of the questions on the dualingo English test that many test takers find to be very stressful is describing a photo and guess what you actually have to describe four photos in total three write about the photo and one speak about the photo which of course means that it is super important that you know how to describe a photo well in the past I have made videos covering strategies and ways of organizing your answer I've put them Below in the video description for you however in this video we're going

to look at vocabulary we're going to dive into 30 words and phrases that will help you to describe photos like a pro whether it's a photo of nature an urban scene or people these words will seriously level up your answers and of course improve your overall score because vocabulary is on the scoring criteria as you can see right here trust me this video is going to be really useful for you so let's just jump right into vocabulary number one the first one is in the background use this when describing what's behind the main subject in

a photo this picture shows a cyclist with stunning mountains in the background and what's the opposite of in the background can you guess well it is is in the foreground when you want to highlight what's closest in the photo say in the foreground just like in this example an empty wheelchair is positioned in the foreground of the photo while three people are in the background easy to use but these are really useful for describing where things are located in the photo by the way I just wanted to let you know that if you would like

to download this PDF that I'm using in this video then you can head over to vip.de ready.com and download it there and if you want to become a VIP member you'll get access to a complete course on strategies for describing a photo in this course I guide you through how you can structure your answers and share techniques that ensure you always have ideas and you know exactly what to say for any photo every week I host live study sessions and live workshops where you can take lessons with me ask me your questions and at the

end get the dualingo test score you need so anyway head over to vip.de ready.com to get the free pdf that's in this video and then you can check out the rest of my courses and live lessons there is a link somewhere down here in the video description but anyway back to this video next up close-up use closeup to talk about photos taken from very close showing lots of detail like in this photo this is a closeup of a person making pottery and what is the opposite of closeup well it is wide shot use wide shot

to describe a photo that captures a broader view of the scene and also shows the surroundings just the opposite of close-up this is an example of a wide shot in a sentence this is a wide shot of a woman using her laptop as her desk moving on to number five it is vibrant use vibrant to describe bold Lively colors this photo shows two people dancing at a lively Festival filled with bright vibrant colors all right next up we have the word horizon it's that line you see where the Earth or sea meets the sky just

like in the background of this photo this is the horizon horizon will be a good word to use in a lot of landscape photos or photos of the ocean in a sentence the person is pointing at the Sun as it sets on the horizon okay but how about in this photo do you see that hot air balloon it is actually above the Horizon so anything flying up there just like this hot air balloon we can say it's above the Horizon this is a good phrase to make your description sound more precise the hot air balloon

is floating above the Horizon the next word I have for you is Dawn so let's talk about Dawn it's the magical moment when the first light appears in the sky this word is perfect for nature shots where the sun is just peeking Over the Horizon in the morning this photo captures a stunning mountain range at dawn with soft Light breaking over the Peaks so if your level of English is intermediate or above you probably know Dawn already but how about this one Twilight this is the soft glow right after Sunset you can use this when

describing an evening photo when the sun has set but it's not completely dark just yet just like in this image here this is an image of a bridge leading to a city taken at Twilight okay Moving on but keep in with the same them we have scorching now if you look at this photo you can see that it is scorching hot so when the heat is Extreme your word to use is scorching in this photo there are several dead trees in a scorching desert next up clear blue sky now I'm sure everyone who's watching this

video already knows the term blue sky but to make it more descriptive you can say clear blue Blue Sky if the sky is cloudless and perfectly blue just like in this photo use this phrase It's not a complicated phrase but it is straightforward and effective for describing photos like this a clear blue sky stretches over a sunflower field moving on to number 12 similar to in the background you can say in the distance use this when you want to describe something that is far away in the photo just like like in this image the mountains

are barely visible so use in the distance and it instantly adds depth to your description the man is looking at the mountains in the distance okay now getting a bit more specific the next one we have is tracks these are the marks left by someone or something it could be a person an animal or a vehicle here in this photo these tracks were made by a vehicle so my description goes like this tracks made by a large vehicle are visible in the sand now check out this photo the sky is overcast which means that it's

completely covered in clouds there's not a bit of Blue Sky in sight a yacht is sailing on a lake on an overcast day okay let's jump to number 15 how would you describe this road is it straight or is it winding well of course it's it's winding it curves and twists a bit like a river so you can either see a straight road or a Winding Road the silver car is cruising down the winding road moving on what do you think the season is here well of course it's winter and if you get a photo

similar to this you can use the phrase a Winter's day two horses are eating hay on a chilly Winter's day the opposite of course is a summer's day more than 10 people are surfing on a warm summer's day and of course you can say a spring day or an autumn day okay on to some Urban scenes right now and the first word I have for you is Monument cities have lots of monuments like in this photo so if you don't know exactly what the structure is you can just call it a monument that will make

life a lot easier for you the monument is placed in the middle of the plaza now what if the city you're describing is filled with lights then you can say this lit up as you can see here this street is completely lit up with vibrant neon lights and of course for busy City scenes we've got the phrase in English called hustle and bustle this phrase is perfect for places filled with noise traffic and energy just like in this photo I believe this is Tokyo just look at all the people and all the activity in a

sentence this image captures the hustle and bustle of big city life but what words can you use if you want to talk about the key parts of a picture well I recommend using the verb features just like here this shot features a modern city with skyscrapers and a mountain range features is a simple verb but it will make your description stand out okay let's move on to 22 what are these two people doing well they are having a conversation and I think these two people are quite focused on each other so the phrase we can

use is engaged in conversation if you're engaged in conversation it means that you are totally absorbed just like these two people they are deep in discussion this is a good cocation you can use if you get a photo of people talking to each other in a sentence these two people are sitting on a wooden bench and engaged in conversation but if you want to describe the people in the photo but you're not sure of their exact age you can use a phrase like this in their 60s these guys here in this photo I think they

are in their 60s meaning their age is anywhere between 60 and 69 now I might be wrong but that's just my guess three people in their 60s are working on their laptop tops in a classroom of course if you get people who look between 20 and 29 you say in their 20s 30 and 39 in their 30s and so on but what if you get a photo like this see that cabin we can say it is surrounded by the cozy cabin is surrounded by tall trees and dense forest it's right in the middle of the

trees and Forest it's possible you'll get a photo with some flowers and if the flowers are very colorful then you can say that they are in full bloom for example the garden is filled with vibrant flowers in full bloom when a photo is filled with people or objects then you can use the collocation crowded with just like this photo of a Marketplace the marketplace is crowded with vendors and Shoppers when a road or path is bordered by trees going up and down the street you can call it a treelined street as you can see in

this photo of Paris right here Paris is famous for its Treeline streets okay number 29 engrossed in work you use this when someone is fully concentrating in what they're doing you can use this for a student who's studying or just an office worker who's busy and concentrating on their work for example in this image I presume that she is a student so I'm going to say the student is engrossed in her work and finally we have the verb capture this is a great word you can use for photos that represent a key moment normally this

will be used to describe actions just like in this image here this image captures a small dog playfully jumping up okay though with 30 words and phrases was that helpful if you think it was put a heart emoji in the comments now I recommend you watch this video right here because it will teach you how to organize and structure your answers for describing a photo that's a bit tricky so this video will be really helpful I'll see you here right now