Read Cranford in English — and understand every line.
Read “Cranford” by Elizabeth Gaskell in English. Tap any word for its meaning, hear how it sounds, and save it to a memory-driven review schedule.
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DICTIONARY
TRANSLATION
apreciar, atesorar
to feel warm affection for; to hold something dear.
Tap a word for its translation and part of speech — then save it to your list.
The opening
How “Cranford” begins
In the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women.
If a married couple come to settle in the town, somehow the gentleman disappears; he is either fairly frightened to death by being the only man in the Cranford evening parties, or he is accounted for by being with his regiment, his ship, or closely engaged in business all the week in the great neighbouring commercial town of Drumble, distant only twenty miles on a railroad.
In short, whatever does become of the gentlemen, they are not at Cranford.
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Vocabulary
Words to know before you start
The 28 words you will meet most often in “Cranford” at level B2 and above, with how many times each one appears.
- pole
- evidently
- candle
- mistress
- beg
- tear
- silk
- dare
- afterwards
- bear
- anxious
- settle
- somehow
- lane
- widow
- propose
- major
- comfort
- dignity
- want
- former
- slight
- preference
- tender
- observe
- county
- circumstance
- tone
The meanings here are the everyday ones. In the reader, tap a word to see the sense this sentence uses.
Grammar
Grammar you will meet in “Cranford”
How much of each kind of grammar “Cranford” uses, counted in the sentences the Reader marks: per 10,000 words, compared with the other books in the library.
- Perfect tenses
- Relative clauses
- Phrasal verbs
- Passive voice
- Modal verbs
- -ing forms and to-infinitives
- Reported speech
- Conditionals
Constructions to look for
- try to do Miss Jenkyns tried to drown this confession by a terrible cough—for the Honourable Mrs.
- I used to … Jamieson, who used to show how honourable she was by never seeing Mrs.
- Phrasal verb with 'up' (particle) Peter was in high favour with my father, for he worked up well for him.
Counted the way the Reader shows it: one card per construction in a sentence. Open the book in the Reader and tap a highlighted phrase to see the rule.
Library
What you get while you read
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Tap to translate
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Save what matters
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Grammar in context
Notable structures light up in the text, with a short explanation tied to the sentence you're reading.
About the book
Why Cranford is a great book to read in English
On LangOrbit you read “Cranford” with a safety net: the translation is one tap away when a sentence runs long, every word opens its meaning in context and can be saved for spaced-repetition review, and the grammar behind the trickier lines is explained right where you meet it.
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More books to read in English
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Cranford
Read “Cranford” by Elizabeth Gaskell in English. Tap any word for its meaning, hear how it sounds, and save it to a memory-driven review schedule.
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