Is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes hard to read? Its reading level from A1 to C2
How many words in every 100 you will probably not know, at each level from A1 to C2. Estimated over the whole book with Solaread’s own word-difficulty model.
- Author
- Arthur Conan Doyle
- First published
- 1892
- Length
- About 102,000 words
- Copyright
- Public domain
Short answer
Just right from C1: 4.2 new words in every 100. At B1 it is a little hard, 8.5 in 100. It is the fifth easiest of the 20 English classics we measured.
New words per 100, by level
Estimated over all 101,529 running words. Character names are left out. The labels follow Solaread’s difficulty scale: Easy means knowing 98 of every 100 words, Just right 95, A little hard 90, and below that Too hard.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes vocabulary by level
At A2
- upon465×
- remark83×
- cry98×
- glance66×
- lay82×
- window95×
- shall169×
- observe45×
- gentleman45×
- hardly50×
- chair59×
- rush46×
The 12 words an A2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 4% of the new words at this level.
At B1
- remark83×
- glance66×
- singular33×
- coronet25×
- to-night25×
- observe45×
- stair22×
- goose27×
- stepfather21×
- gentleman45×
- cab28×
- visitor31×
The 12 words a B1 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 4% of the new words at this level.
At B2
- remark83×
- coronet25×
- to-night25×
- stair22×
- stepfather21×
- deduce18×
- to-morrow17×
- sitting-room15×
- ventilator15×
- armchair16×
- vanish18×
- glance66×
The 12 words a B2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 4% of the new words at this level.
The opening lines
To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer.
Open the free EPUB in Solaread and the words it marks follow your own level, with glosses in the language you choose.
Books with a similar level
- The Secret Garden8.3 new words per 100 at B1
- Pride and Prejudice8.6 at B1
- Peter Pan9.1 at B1
Questions
Is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes hard to read?
At B1 it is a little hard, with 8.5 new words in every 100 (about one in 12). It is just right from C1.
What is the reading level of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes?
On Solaread’s scale it is just right from C1, and the fifth easiest of the 20 English classics we measured. At B2, 5.2 in every 100 words are new.
Where can I get The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for free?
It is in the public domain. Project Gutenberg has a free EPUB you can import into Solaread.
Read it with help only where you need it
Import the free EPUB. Solaread marks the words you probably don’t know, at your level.