Oblomov: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov uses again and again in Oblomov that are outside the 4,000 most common in English. Learn them first and the opening chapters read much more easily. Each comes with its pronunciation and a sentence from the book.
inquire/ˌɪnˈkwaɪɹ/33× in the book
Oblomov inquired.
landlady/ˈɫændˌɫeɪdi/28× in the book
Your new landlady does not care for such tricks to be played upon her.
exclaim/ɪkˈskɫeɪm/27× in the book
exclaimed Oblomov.
morrow/ˈmɑɹoʊ/23× in the book
“Because each time you have sent me away, and then put matters off until the morrow.”
weep/ˈwip/23× in the book
Rather, stretch out your hand to the fallen and raise him weep over him if he is lost beyond recall, but in no case make sport of him …
sofa/ˈsoʊfə/22× in the book
In it there stood a writing-table of redwood, a couple of sofas, upholstered in some silken material, and a handsome screen that was embroidered with birds and fruits unknown to Nature.
aunt/ˈænt/22× in the book
Beside the table Oblomov could see seated the aunt of eighty who had always lived with them.
sorrow/ˈsɑɹoʊ/21× in the book
Involuntarily he would dream of Militrissa Kirbitievna, and feel attracted towards the country whereof nothing was known except that folk there went for walks, and were free from sorrow and care.
barin18× in the book
“You called me just now, barin?”
intellect/ˈɪnəˌɫɛkt/18× in the book
His intellect, his will, his feelings—what do they avail him?
scarcely/ˈskɛɹsɫi/18× in the book
Zakhar retired to his room again, but had scarcely rested his hands against his pallet before stretching himself out, when once more there came a peremptory shout of “Zakhar!
courtyard/ˈkɔɹtˌjɑɹd/17× in the book
The courtyard looks quite dark.”
disturb/dɪˈstɝb/17× in the book
Indeed, no sooner had he received the starosta’s first disturbing letter (he had done so three years ago) than he had set about devising a plan for changing and improving the administration of his property.
depart/dɪˈpɑɹt/16× in the book
Zakhar departed again, and Oblomov resumed his reverie.
peasant/ˈpɛzənt/16× in the book
Then the peasant, doffing his sheepskin, goes out in shirtsleeves alone, and shades his eyes with’ his hand as gladly he shrugs his shoulders and drinks his fill of the gleaming sunlight.
starosta14× in the book
The fact of the matter was that, overnight, he had received from the starosta * of his country estate an exceedingly unpleasant letter.
yawn/ˈjɔn/14× in the book
said Oblomov with a yawn.
gown/ˈɡaʊn/14× in the book
The costume in question consisted of a dressing-gown of some Persian material—a real Eastern dressing-gown—a garment that was devoid both of tassels and velvet facings and a waist, yet so roomy that Oblomov might have wrapped himself in it once or twice over.
valet/væˈɫeɪ/13× in the book
… two other rooms lay at his disposal, but seldom did he look into them save on mornings (which did not comprise by any means every morning) when his old valet happened to be sweeping out the study.
wholly/ˈhoʊɫi/13× in the book
… now promoted to the dignity of a major-domo, and adorned with whiskers turned wholly grey, was laying a large …
attain/əˈteɪn/13× in the book
When shall I attain the life of paradise—the life for which I yearn?
delight/dɪˈɫaɪt/13× in the book
“Quite so,” said the delighted littérateur.
kindly/ˈkaɪndɫi/12× in the book
… by February, detect the kindly odour of approaching spring.
mistress/ˈmɪstɹəs/12× in the book
… adjudicated upon in detail, and adopted or rejected according to the final decision of the mistress.
dull/ˈdəɫ/12× in the book
Oblomov’s face was neither reddy nor dull nor pale, but of an indefinite hue.
wherefore/wɛɹˈfɔɹ/11× in the book
… and indulge in wholesale immorality; wherefore the beatings have been a just retribution.”
verst11× in the book
Why, I know an estate, only fifty versts from yours, where the harvest of last year was so good that it cleared the owner completely of debt.
slumber/ˈsɫəmbɝ/11× in the book
… and the path more and more tangled, while the consciousness of his condition kept awaking within him less and less frequently—to arouse only for a fleecing moment his slumbering faculties.
gentry/ˈdʒɛntɹi/11× in the book
… so that none but the servants trod it, and at no time did the gentry walk there.
retort/ˈɹiˌtɔɹt/11× in the book
“I did not break it,” retorted Zakhar.
veranda/vɝˈændə/11× in the book
The veranda actually overhangs the ravine, and to reach it one has with one hand to grasp the herbage, and, with the other, the gable before setting foot upon the structure itself.
hasten/ˈheɪsən/11× in the book
Tarantiev hastened to cram the note into his pocket.
powerless/ˈpaʊɝɫəs/11× in the book
On a fair summer’s evening he seemed to be sitting at a tea-table on the terrace of Oblomovka—sitting under a canopy of leafy shade which the sun was powerless to penetrate.
handkerchief/ˈhæŋkɝtʃif/11× in the book
“My handkerchief!”
utter/ˈətɝ/11× in the book
Ever since the world began, they have voiced but the querulous lament of a monster which, everlastingly doomed to torment, utters a chorus of shrill, malicious cries.
torture/ˈtɔɹtʃɝ/11× in the book
Yet for another halfhour he lay prone under the torture of this resolve; until eventually he decided that such tackling could best be done after tea …
tremble/ˈtɹɛmbəɫ/11× in the book
On seeing his long-dead parent, the sleeping Oblomov’s form trembled with delight and affection, and from under his unconscious eyelids there stole and remained two burning tears....
interval/ˈɪntɝvəɫ/11× in the book
“Why do you not give me the accounts at intervals instead of in a batch like this?”
cease/ˈsis/11× in the book
Also we have been told that we are to cease to make out formal documents in duplicate.
ruin/ˈɹuən/11× in the book
“That is tantamount to saying that once in that faulty vessel there dwelt the supreme element—that, ruined though the man may be, he is still a human being …
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
Read the book freeEvery sentence translated, natural audio, one-tap dictionary