A novel is a long written story, a work of fiction: a novel by Tolstoy. It is not a short piece of fiction (that is a short story), and it is not a romantic relationship (that is a romance). As an adjective, novel means new and unusual: a novel idea.
novel: will you get the meaning right?
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a novel by + author; a crime/historical/fantasy + novel; write/publish + a novel; a novel idea/approach (adjective); a short story (not novel)
- I started a crime novel on the train and couldn't put it down until the last page.
- Her first novel took four years to write and has been translated into ten languages.
- Our teacher had a novel idea: we practised speaking by recording a weekly podcast.
What changed
First versionAt school we read a novel by Chekhov that was only ten pages long.
RevisionAt school we read a short story by Chekhov that was only ten pages long.
A novel is a thick book, and ten pages is far too short for one. A short piece of fiction is a short story. The English word novella doesn't mean a short story either: a novella is shorter than a novel but longer than a short story.
The adjective novel is not the same as ordinary new. Novel means unusual, not seen before: a novel way to learn words. For a new phone or a new flat, just say new.
Your turn
They met on holiday in Italy and had a short ___ that ended when the summer was over.
Show the answer
romance — This is about a summer relationship, and a love affair is a romance. The noun novel only means a book, so had a short novel would sound like “had a short book”.
Write about a novel you have read and remember. Name the author and explain why you liked or didn't like the book.
I recently reread Crime and Punishment, a novel by Dostoevsky, and I liked it because it made me feel the main character's fear.
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