Read Short Fiction in English — and understand every line.
Read “Short Fiction” by F. Scott Fitzgerald 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 “Short Fiction” begins
The two cities were separated only by a thin well-bridged river; their tails curling over the banks met and mingled, and at the juncture, under the jealous eye of each, lay, every fall, the State Fair.
Because of this advantageous position, and because of the agricultural eminence of the state, the fair was one of the most magnificent in America.
There were immense exhibits of grain, livestock and farming machinery; there were horse races and automobile races and, lately, aeroplanes that really left the ground; there was a tumultuous Midway with Coney Island thrillers to whirl you through space, and a whining, tinkling hoochie-coochie show.
Public domain — the whole book is yours to read in the app.
Vocabulary
Words to know before you start
The 30 words you will meet most often in “Short Fiction” at level B2 and above, with how many times each one appears.
- demand
- stare
- nod
- darkness
- somewhat
- hesitate
- shadow
- lean
- glance
- whisper
- pause
- interrupt
- scarcely
- tear
- curious
- vague
- dozen
- moonlight
- bear
- exclaim
- drift
- glance
- swing
- cheek
- porch
- cry
- affair
- approach
- afterwards
- remark
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 “Short Fiction”
How much of each kind of grammar “Short Fiction” uses, counted in the sentences the Reader marks: per 10,000 words, compared with the other books in the library.
- Phrasal verbs
- Perfect tenses
- Relative clauses
- -ing forms and to-infinitives
- Passive voice
- Modal verbs
- Reported speech
- Conditionals
Constructions to look for
- try to do I tried to make love to you, just like the rest, but it was difficult.
- Phrasal verbs with 'out' (find out, carry out, work out) “I looked her up in the purser’s office and found out that she’s alone.
- At/on/in (time) “Well, in the morning I get up and go through a series of exercises.
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
Tap any word to see what it means in this exact sentence — with pronunciation and a clear example.
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Save what matters
Add a word and it comes back on a spaced-repetition schedule timed to how memory actually works.
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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 Short Fiction is a great book to read in English
On LangOrbit you read “Short Fiction” 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.
Keep reading
More books to read in English
Every title opens with the same dictionary, grammar help, and translation — start reading for free.
Short Fiction
Read “Short Fiction” by F. Scott Fitzgerald 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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