Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen's 1813 comedy of money, manners and misjudgment, about five unmarried sisters and a heroine too sure of first impressions. A rich newcomer rents the estate nearby, his haughty friend gives offence at a country ball, and Elizabeth Bennet makes up her mind. Austen's irony still catches readers out.

Chapters are short, and the opening pages are mostly quick exchanges in which Mr and Mrs Bennet call each other ông and bà while she nags and he teases. Pronouns do what English "you" cannot: parents and daughters use cha, mẹ and con, sisters chị and em, while Elizabeth and Darcy keep a guarded tôi with cô or anh. Narration is harder. Long sentences strung on semicolons follow Austen closely, the register is formal and literary, and a long letter midway is dense going for anyone still building vocabulary.