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100 expresiones descriptivas para Speak About the Photo de Duolingo

2026-08-318 min read

Lo que diferencia una buena respuesta de una plana: el vocabulario

Speak About the Photo del Duolingo English Test (DET) te pide describir una imagen en el momento. Si cada frase empieza con "I can see..." o "There are...", tu respuesta suena repetitiva sin importar cuánto hables.

La forma más rápida de sonar más avanzado es tener listo un set de adjetivos y adverbios descriptivos. Aquí tienes 100 expresiones agrupadas en cinco categorías: color, posición, ambiente, textura y acción, cada una con su significado y una frase de ejemplo que puedes adaptar de inmediato.

Color

Expresión	Significado	Ejemplo
vivid	vívido, intenso	The market stalls are painted in vivid shades of red and yellow.
muted	apagado, suave	The photo has a muted color palette, mostly grays and soft blues.
vibrant	vibrante, radiante	Vibrant flowers fill the flower shop's window display.
pastel	de tono pastel, suave	The nursery walls are painted in pastel pink and mint green.
bold	llamativo, intenso	The poster uses bold red and black to grab attention.
faded	desvaído, descolorido	The old photograph has faded colors from years of sunlight.
rich	intenso, profundo	The curtains are a rich shade of burgundy.
pale	pálido, claro	The walls are painted a pale shade of yellow.
warm-toned	de tono cálido	The room has warm-toned lighting that makes it feel cozy.
cool-toned	de tono frío	The bathroom tiles have a cool-toned blue finish.
monochrome	monocromo, en blanco y negro	The photo is shot in monochrome, all shades of gray.
two-tone	bicolor	The car has a two-tone paint job, black and white.
earthy	de tonos térreos, naturales	The pottery has earthy brown and orange tones.
neon	de color neón	The sign glows in neon pink and green.
glowing	resplandeciente	The lanterns give off a warm, glowing light.
dull	apagado, sin brillo	The sky looks dull and gray before the rain.
striking	llamativo, notorio	The red door makes a striking contrast against the white wall.
subtle	sutil, discreto	The wallpaper has a subtle floral pattern.
contrasting	contrastante	The chef's outfit uses contrasting black and white colors.
saturated	saturado, intenso	The tropical photo has highly saturated blues and greens.

Posición

Expresión	Significado	Ejemplo
in the foreground	en primer plano	In the foreground, a child is holding a red balloon.
in the background	al fondo, en segundo plano	In the background, tall buildings rise above the park.
off to the side	a un lado, apartado	A bicycle is parked off to the side of the entrance.
scattered across	esparcido por	Fallen leaves are scattered across the pavement.
in the center	en el centro	In the center of the photo, a fountain is spraying water.
at the edge of	en el borde de	A cat is sitting at the edge of the windowsill.
lined up along	alineado a lo largo de	Bicycles are lined up along the sidewalk.
stacked on top of	apilado sobre	Boxes are stacked on top of each other near the door.
clustered around	agrupado alrededor de	Students are clustered around the teacher's desk.
tucked away in the corner	escondido en el rincón	A small reading nook is tucked away in the corner.
spread out over	extendido sobre	Picnic blankets are spread out over the grass.
positioned in front of	ubicado frente a	A statue is positioned in front of the museum entrance.
nestled between	acurrucado entre	The cabin is nestled between two tall mountains.
propped against	apoyado contra	A ladder is propped against the wall.
hanging from	colgando de	Lanterns are hanging from the ceiling.
mounted on	montado en	A television is mounted on the wall.
perched on	posado sobre	A bird is perched on the fence.
arranged in rows	dispuesto en filas	Chairs are arranged in rows for the event.
dotted along	salpicado a lo largo de	Streetlights are dotted along the path.
surrounding	rodeando	Tall trees are surrounding the small pond.

Ambiente

Expresión	Significado	Ejemplo
lively	animado, lleno de vida	The street festival has a lively, energetic atmosphere.
serene	sereno, tranquilo	The lake looks serene under the early morning mist.
bustling	bullicioso, ajetreado	The train station looks bustling with commuters.
cozy	acogedor	The living room has a cozy, warm atmosphere with a fireplace.
tranquil	apacible, calmado	The garden has a tranquil, quiet atmosphere.
chaotic	caótico, desordenado	The scene looks chaotic, with people rushing in every direction.
festive	festivo, de fiesta	The town square has a festive holiday atmosphere.
relaxed	relajado, sin prisa	The café has a relaxed, unhurried mood.
crowded	abarrotado, lleno de gente	The subway platform looks crowded during rush hour.
peaceful	pacífico, en calma	The countryside looks peaceful and untouched.
energetic	enérgico	The gym has an energetic, motivating atmosphere.
gloomy	sombrío, tenebroso	The abandoned building has a gloomy, eerie feel.
cheerful	alegre, luminoso	The classroom has a bright, cheerful atmosphere.
quiet	silencioso, tranquilo	The library has a quiet, studious mood.
inviting	acogedor, atrayente	The bakery has a warm, inviting atmosphere.
intimate	íntimo, personal	The small restaurant has an intimate dining atmosphere.
hectic	agitado, frenético	The kitchen looks hectic during the dinner rush.
laid-back	relajado, informal	The beach town has a laid-back, casual vibe.
welcoming	acogedor, hospitalario	The lobby has a welcoming, friendly atmosphere.
somber	sombrío, solemne	The funeral procession has a somber mood.

Textura

Expresión	Significado	Ejemplo
rough	áspero, rugoso	The old wooden fence has a rough, weathered surface.
smooth	liso, suave	The countertop looks smooth and polished.
worn-out	gastado, desgastado	The man is wearing a worn-out pair of leather boots.
glossy	brillante, lustroso	The car's paint looks glossy under the sunlight.
matte	mate, sin brillo	The wall has a matte black finish.
bumpy	desigual, con bultos	The old road has a bumpy, uneven surface.
silky	sedoso	The scarf feels silky and soft.
coarse	basto, áspero	The sand on this beach feels coarse.
soft	suave	The blanket looks soft and fluffy.
rugged	escarpado, accidentado	The mountain trail has rugged, rocky terrain.
polished	pulido, brillante	The floor looks polished and shiny.
weathered	desgastado por la intemperie	The barn has a weathered wooden exterior.
crisp	crujiente, seco	The fallen leaves look crisp and dry.
fluffy	esponjoso	The clouds look fluffy and white.
sturdy	robusto, resistente	The table looks sturdy and well-built.
delicate	delicado, frágil	The lace curtains look delicate and thin.
textured	con textura	The wall has a textured, patterned surface.
grainy	granulado	The old photo has a grainy quality.
wrinkled	arrugado	The shirt looks wrinkled and creased.
sleek	elegante, aerodinámico	The new laptop has a sleek, modern design.

Acción

Expresión	Significado	Ejemplo
gesturing animatedly	gesticulando animadamente	The chef is gesturing animatedly while explaining the recipe.
strolling leisurely	paseando tranquilamente	A couple is strolling leisurely along the beach.
peering closely at	observando de cerca	The scientist is peering closely at the sample under the microscope.
reaching out for	extendiendo la mano hacia	The toddler is reaching out for the toy on the shelf.
leaning against	apoyándose contra	A man is leaning against the wall, checking his phone.
crouching down	agachándose	A photographer is crouching down to get a better angle.
glancing over at	echando un vistazo hacia	A student is glancing over at the clock.
chatting cheerfully	charlando alegremente	Two friends are chatting cheerfully over coffee.
carrying carefully	llevando con cuidado	A waiter is carrying a tray carefully through the crowd.
rushing past	pasando apresuradamente	Commuters are rushing past each other in the station.
gathering around	reuniéndose alrededor de	A crowd is gathering around the street performer.
lining up for	haciendo fila para	People are lining up for tickets outside the theater.
pointing at	señalando	A tour guide is pointing at the old building.
examining closely	examinando de cerca	A jeweler is examining the ring closely.
balancing on	equilibrando sobre	A waiter is balancing several plates on one arm.
flipping through	hojeando	A customer is flipping through a magazine.
wandering around	deambulando por	Tourists are wandering around the old town.
waving at	saludando con la mano a	A child is waving at someone across the street.
sorting through	clasificando	A worker is sorting through a pile of letters.
setting up	preparando, montando	Vendors are setting up their stalls early in the morning.

Ponlo en práctica

Memorizar las palabras importa menos que decirlas en voz alta. Elige una foto y combina una palabra de color, una frase de posición y una palabra de ambiente en tres frases: "This photo shows a lively street market. In the foreground, vendors are gesturing animatedly to customers. The stalls are painted in vivid colors." Unas pocas frases así ya suenan mucho más específicas que una descripción plana.

¿Quieres probarlo con una foto real del DET? Practica con un set gratuito de Speak About the Photo y aplica las expresiones de hoy.