Nature and the Countryside
Learn 20 easy A1 English words for nature and the countryside - mountain, river, forest, beach, desert - with examples, a story and a quiz.
These are the words you need for photographs, holidays and every conversation that starts with “Where did you go?” Twenty words for the world outside the city – the ground, the water and the sky. Learn them, then come with my family on the drive we take twice a year, when my father decides it is time to leave the city.
20 words to learn
The 20 words
/ˈneɪtʃə(r)/
The whole natural world: plants, animals, mountains, sea. Uncountable.
I feel calm in nature.
/triː/
A tall plant with a wooden trunk and branches.
There is an old olive tree in the garden.
/ˈflaʊə(r)/
The coloured part of a plant.
He brought her yellow flowers.
/ɡrɑːs/
The short green plants that cover the ground. Uncountable.
The children sat on the grass.
/plɑːnt/
Anything that grows in the ground. Also a verb: to plant.
My mother has forty plants on the balcony.
/ˈmaʊntən/
A very high hill, often with rock or snow on top.
We could see snow on the mountain.
/hɪl/
A high piece of land, smaller than a mountain.
Their house is on a hill.
/ˈrɪvə(r)/
Water that moves in a long line to the sea.
We swam in the river.
/siː/
The big salt water around the land. Always the sea.
I want to live near the sea.
/leɪk/
Water with land all around it.
There is a small lake at the end of the valley.
/biːtʃ/
The sand next to the sea.
We spent the day on the beach.
/sænd/
The very small yellow stones on a beach or in a desert. Uncountable.
There is sand in my shoes.
/ˈdezət/
A very dry place with little rain. Say DEZ-ert.
The desert is cold at night.
/ˈfɒrɪst/
A big area with many trees.
A dark green forest covers the hill.
/fiːld/
A piece of land where food or grass grows.
The farmer works in the field.
/skaɪ/
What is above you outside. Always the sky.
The sky was completely blue.
/sʌn/
The star that gives us light and heat. Always the sun.
The sun goes down at seven.
/muːn/
The light we see in the sky at night. Always the moon.
The moon was very big last night.
/ˈaɪlənd/
Land with water all around it. The s is silent: EYE-lund.
We took a boat to the island.
/stəʊn/
A small piece of rock.
He threw a stone into the water.
Now read the story
Story · all 20 words
Twice a Year
Twice a year my father says the same sentence at breakfast: “Today we leave the city.” What he means is nature, and he means it seriously – no shops, no plans, and one extremely early start.
The road climbs. For the first hour there is nothing on either side but dry sand and low grey stone, and my brother sleeps through every minute of it. Then the desert stops, the land turns green as if somebody has changed a page, and suddenly there is a field of something yellow on the left and a long line of trees on the right.
We stop where the river is. It is small in August but the water is still cold, and my mother puts her feet in it and says nothing at all for ten minutes. There is grass here – real grass, not the kind they put in the park. My sister finds one white flower, puts it behind her ear, and my brother laughs at her and then does exactly the same thing.
After lunch my father walks us up the hill behind the water. From the top you can see the whole valley: a small lake at the far end, the mountain behind it with snow still on top in May, and a dark forest on the side where nobody ever goes. The sky is completely open, with nothing in front of it. There is one small plant growing out of a rock near my foot, alone, with nothing around it. I take a photograph of it every year and I still cannot explain why.
We drive home late. The sun goes down behind us and by the time we reach the city the moon is already up. Somebody in the back always asks whether we can go to the sea next time instead – to the beach, to that island we went to when we were small. My father always says yes. He says yes every single year.
The words that always take the. There is only one of each of these in the world, so English gives them the every time:
the sun, the moon, the sky, the sea, the ground
✓ I want to live near the sea. ✗ I want to live near sea.
Uncountable words here: nature, grass, sand, water. No plural and no a: say some sand, a lot of grass.
Two pronunciation traps:
- island has a silent s: EYE-lund.
- desert (dry place) is DEZ-ert, stress on the first part. Dessert (the sweet food) is di-ZERT, stress on the second. One letter, two very different evenings.
Where were you? Learn these as fixed phrases: in the mountains, in the countryside, in the desert, by the sea, on the beach, on an island.
The land: mountain, hill, field, desert, island, stone, beach, sand.
The water: river, sea, lake.
The green: nature, tree, forest, flower, grass, plant.
Above you: sky, sun, moon.
Find a photograph on your phone from the last place you visited and describe it in four sentences using words from this lesson.
Now practise with the questions below.
Check your understanding
Answer the questions below. You will see instantly if you are right.
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