Reading The Three Musketeers in French: what level do you need?
How many words in every 100 of the original French text you will probably not know, at each French level from A1 to C2. Estimated over the whole book with Solaread’s own word-difficulty model.
- Original title
- Les Trois Mousquetaires
- Author
- Alexandre Dumas; Auguste Maquet
- First published
- 1844
- Length
- About 227,000 words
Short answer
For a French learner it is just right from C1: 4.3 new words in every 100. At B1 it is a little hard, 8.8 in 100. It is the second easiest of the 10 French classics we measured.
New words per 100, by level
Estimated over all 226,678 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 Three Musketeers vocabulary in French, by level
At A2
- cardinal547×
- écrier336×
- mousquetaire323×
- éminence164×
- duc181×
- lord148×
- gentilhomme138×
- reine266×
- pistole102×
- laquais99×
- cependant208×
- aussitôt95×
The 12 words an A2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 9% of the new words at this level.
At B1
- cardinal547×
- écrier336×
- mousquetaire323×
- éminence164×
- lord148×
- gentilhomme138×
- duc181×
- pistole102×
- laquais99×
- mousqueton75×
- aussitôt95×
- tandis69×
The 12 words a B1 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 11% of the new words at this level.
At B2
- cardinal547×
- écrier336×
- mousquetaire323×
- éminence164×
- lord148×
- pistole102×
- gentilhomme138×
- laquais99×
- mousqueton75×
- tandis69×
- procureuse57×
- gascon55×
The 12 words a B2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 15% of the new words at this level.
The opening lines in French
Le premier lundi du mois d’avril 1625, le bourg de Meung, où naquit l’auteur du Roman de la Rose, semblait être dans une révolution aussi entière que si les huguenots en fussent venus faire une seconde Rochelle. Plusieurs bourgeois, voyant s’enfuir les femmes du côté de la Grande-Rue, entendant les enfants crier sur le seuil des portes, se hâtaient d’endosser la cuirasse et, appuyant leur contenance quelque peu incertaine d’un mousquet ou d’une pertuisane, se dirigeaient vers l’hôtellerie du Franc-Meunier, devant laquelle s’empressait, en grossissant de minute en minute, un groupe compact, bruyant et plein de curiosité.
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
- Riquet à la Houppe7.0 new words per 100 at B1
- The Count of Monte Cristo9.0 at B1
- The Phantom of the Opera9.2 at B1
Questions
What French level do you need to read The Three Musketeers?
For the original French text it is just right from C1, with 4.3 new words in every 100. At B1 it is a little hard, 8.8 in 100.
Is The Three Musketeers hard to read in French?
It is the second easiest of the 10 French classics we measured. At B1 expect about one new word in 11; at B2, 5.4 in 100.
Where can I get The Three Musketeers in French for free?
The original French text 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.