precinct
23×a police station and its area (US)
Police sitcom · American (New York) English
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: English level and how hard it is to understand
Police vocabulary plus very fast jokes: 179 words per minute, the second fastest show we measured, and many exclamations.
Updated
Short answer
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is best for B2 to C1 learners. In 12 episodes we measured, a B1 learner knows about 95.6% of the words, and the characters speak at about 179 words per minute (very fast).
Brooklyn Nine-Nine in numbers
- Recommended level
- B2 to C1
- Speaking speed
- 179 words / min
- Words per episode
- 3,319
- Known at B1
- 95.58%
- Known at B2
- 96.69%
- Different words
- 4,454 in 12 episodes
Difficulty rank: 10 of 11 in our TV shows by English level list (very fast police comedy).
Beyond the numbers
What makes Brooklyn Nine-Nine hard (or easy)?
- Very fast speech, often in quick back-and-forth exchanges.
- Police and crime words (precinct, undercover, footage).
- Many sound words and exclamations: ugh, whoa, ooh, nope.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is mostly American (New York) English. Accent and speed matter as much as vocabulary: if you know the words but can’t catch them, turn on English subtitles and slow down.
Learn these first
Useful words from Brooklyn Nine-Nine
B2–C2 words that came up again and again in the episodes we analysed. Counts are for the 12 episodes.
undercover
10×working secretly, hiding who you are
mafia
7×an organised crime group
footage
6×recorded video
paperwork
6×forms and reports
succulent
5×a plant with thick leaves; or juicy
trivia
4×facts that are not important; a quiz
landlady
3×a woman who rents out a home
Spoken forms you will hear constantly
yeah ×191okay ×167gonna ×161hey ×111uh ×52whoa ×27
gonna = going to · wanna = want to · gotta = got to / have to. Textbooks rarely teach them, but TV uses them all the time.
Vocabulary profile
How common are the words in Brooklyn Nine-Nine?
Share of all spoken words in each frequency band (A1 = the 5,000 most common words).
A186.36%
A25.33%
B13.88%
B21.11%
C10.9%
C20.75%
Unlisted1.65%
Watching plan
How to learn English with Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Turn on subtitles and slow the playback to 0.9× if your app allows it.
- Learn the police words first. They are the same in most crime shows.
- The cold opens (the scene before the title) are short and great for repeat listening.
In TeakReader you can import the subtitles of any episode, see the words you don’t know yet, and study them as flashcards before you press play. How it works
How we measured it
We took English subtitles for 12 episodes spread across the first seasons (S1E1, S1E6, S1E12, S1E18, S2E1, S2E7, S2E13, S2E18, S3E1, S3E7, S3E12, S3E18), removed sound descriptions, speaker labels, and character names, and matched each of the 39,828 spoken words to the same frequency list we use for classic book levels. Speaking speed is spoken words divided by the time the subtitles are on screen. Only statistics and single words are shown here.
The recommended level is our estimate from vocabulary, speed, and style, not an official CEFR rating. Later seasons can be easier or harder.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Brooklyn Nine-Nine good for learning English?
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is fun but fast. The vocabulary is mostly everyday, plus police words, and the speed puts it at B2 to C1. B1 learners should start with Friends or The Office. We recommend it from B2 to C1.
How fast do they speak in Brooklyn Nine-Nine?
About 179 words per minute of dialogue, which is very fast for TV. Everyday conversation is often around 150 words per minute.
How many words do I need to understand Brooklyn Nine-Nine?
A learner who knows the most common 20,000 English word forms (our B1 band) knows about 95.6% of the words spoken. Research on listening suggests that knowing about 95% of the words is enough to follow most of what is said, so subtitles help until you reach that point.
How did you measure this?
We analysed the English subtitles of 12 episodes from the first seasons (39,828 words), removed sound notes, speaker labels, and character names, and matched every word to the same frequency list we use for book levels. The level is our estimate, not an official CEFR rating.
Can I study the vocabulary of Brooklyn Nine-Nine before watching?
Yes. In TeakReader, search for the show, import an episode’s subtitles, and you get a list of its words you don’t know yet, with meanings and flashcards.
Ready to read
Learn the words from Brooklyn Nine-Nine before you watch.
Import any episode’s subtitles in TeakReader and get its unknown words with meanings and flashcards. Free on iPhone, iPad, and Android.