short english essays for students pdf

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Asking analytical questions, introductions, what do introductions across the disciplines have in common, anatomy of a body paragraph, transitions, tips for organizing your essay, counterargument, conclusions.

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365 essays for english learners.

1 America: Land of Opportunity

2 The Fourth of July

3 The U.S. Federal Government

4 Christmas: A Holiday of Traditions

5 New Year's Day: A Holiday of New Beginnings

6 Martin Luther King Jr Day: To Remember a Civil Rights Leader

7 Valentine's Day: A Holiday of Love and Friendship

8 St. Patrick's Day: A Holiday to Celebrate the Irish

9 Passover: A Jewish Holiday of Remembering

10 Easter: An Important Christian Holiday

11 Mother's Day: A Holiday to Honor Motherhood

12 Father's Day: A Holiday to Honor Fatherhood

13 Memorial Day: A Holiday to Remember Fallen Soldiers

14 Labor Day: A Holiday to Honor Workers

15 Columbus Day: A Holiday to Remember an Explorer

16 Halloween: A Holiday for Costumes and Candy

17 Veterans Day: A Holiday Honoring All Soldiers

18 Chanukah: A Holiday of Lights

19 Thanksgiving: Families Coming Together

20 Lottery: A Chance at Millions

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Embark on your essay writing journey with our comprehensive guide, rich in diverse essay examples. This guide is crafted to assist students, educators, and writing enthusiasts in mastering the art of essay composition. From structure to style, it covers all facets of essay writing, supplemented with illustrative essay examples for clear understanding. Whether for academic, professional, or personal purposes, this guide is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to enhance their essay writing skills with precision and creativity.

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Most of us are probably familiar about what essays are. I would also have to assume that most of us have already  written essays  one even when we were younger. We were either tasked by our teacher to write one as a part of an examination or as a take-home project to be presented in the next session. Some consider essay writing a burden while others see it as an opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions. Because through writing, you get to write about things that you want others to know about and share a reflection through reflective essay . Your imagination becomes boundless and your ideas are limitless.

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What Is the Format of an Essay?

Essays, whichever type they come in, have a similar format. This serves as a guide for a writer to express his/her thoughts and ideas in a structured manner.

• Introduction. This is the opening part of the essay . It provides a brief overview and a preface of what the topic is all about. It is usually short but has to be interesting.
• Body. This is where the writer places his/her arguments and supporting statements for the topic. It can contain two to three paragraphs or depending on the length and scope of the subject.
• Conclusion. The summary writing of the whole essay is contained in the conclusion. It is a short recap of the main point presented in the essay.

How to Structure an Essay

To structure an essay, you need to simply follow the above format. Every essay, whether it be an informative essay or an analysis essay , has to contain the essential elements common among all essays. By following this format, the writer will have a guide to follow throughout the entire writing course.

It is a difficult process in essay writing when you do not have a structure to follow. You will have throw all of your ideas from here and there with no direction at all. Your paragraphs do not connect each other’s meaning as well as the entire thought of your essay could be incomprehensible.

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Different Kinds of Essay

Writing an essay is a crucial part in academe life. You need to know how to write an effective essay as it is a common basis for a student’s grade. It is given as a common school assignment and a critical part in an examination set. To write an impressive short essay , especially during an examination, you need to be able to hit the question and provide a straightforward answer while at the same time observing the right structure of an essay.

Writing an essay could be difficult especially if you do not know the different kinds of essays which for sure, your teacher will be obliging you to write.

The easiest way to determine the type of an essay is to understand the writer’s point of view. Ask yourself what is the writer trying to tell and that by itself should provide a definite answer as to what type of essay it is. But to provide you a more comprehensible answer, here are the most common kinds of essay.

• Descriptive essay. A descriptive essay is aimed at portraying a picture through the use of words. The writer describes in great details a character, a place or a certain scenario which is directed at calling up the reader’s emotions.
• Reflective essay. In a reflective essay , the writer stirs the emotions of the readers by sharing a specific experience in life which is rather more important to him/her and which has a special place in his heart. It narrates a story and tells of the lessons and life-changing realizations drawn out from that experience.
• Expository essay. While a reflective essay deals on the emotions of the writer, an expository essay presents facts and verifiable data which presents a fair and unbiased analysis of a topic.
• Persuasive essay. The goal of persuasive essay is to present ideas and thoughts to readers and to convince them to believe or accept these. The writer aims at demonstrating his/her statements in a logical manner while at the same time appealing to the judgment of the readers.

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Importance of Essay

Essay writing is commonly practiced is schools. Students have to write essays depending on the teacher’s instructions or their desired style in writing.

Since there are different types of analysis essays , students can be creative and choose any style they want for as long as they can express their thoughts and of course, as long it as it is appropriate to what their teachers ask them to do.

However, essays have a very good importance not just to get good grades but also in expressing one’s emotions. An essay could be a channel for a student to workout his/her creative imagination and put it into writing.

Purpose of an Essay

We have all been through the struggles of having to think seriously of what to write about a topic that our teachers wanted us to write. I understand because I myself was at one time pressured because my classmates were all enthusiastic to write while I was sitting blank unsure of what I was supposed to do.

However, I realized that writing an content winning essay made me a better person. I was able to put into writing my thoughts which I have always kept in myself afraid of being laughed at. The purpose of an essay is to convey those emotions through words which we cannot do through actions.

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Guidelines for Essay Writing

Although we have to admit that writing an essay is not an easy task, being able to finish one is such a rewarding experience especially if it is an assignment you have to pass the next day. There is no perfect solution on how to write an effective essay .

However, there are certain guideline which you can use in order for you to make that outstanding essay.

• Choose your topic. Deciding what essay to write starts with choosing the right topic. Don’t just write something that everybody is interested to write about. Rather, pick a topic that you are most excited to write about so it would be easier for you to express your thoughts.
• Create a mind map . A mind map is a sketch of form or an essay outline used to organize information. This is best in order for you to logically express your thoughts and to present it in a coherent manner. Write your ideas in a draft paper and choose which ones to come first and which ones to use as your supporting arguments.
• Compose yourself. Having the right disposition is important in writing an essay. You need to have focus so that while you are writing, you are not distracted by outside thoughts which could ruin your momentum.

Our exploration of essay examples offers invaluable insights for effective essay writing. This guide has provided practical strategies and illustrative examples, empowering writers to craft compelling essays with confidence. Whether for academic achievement or personal expression, these tools and techniques are essential in navigating the diverse landscape of essay writing, ensuring your work is not only well-structured but also engaging and impactful.

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30 Short English Essays for kids

Short English essays for kids are an excellent way to foster creativity, enhance language skills, and encourage young minds to express their thoughts and ideas. These essays , typically ranging from a few sentences to a couple of paragraphs , are tailored to the comprehension level of children. They cover a wide range of topics, allowing children to explore their interests and develop their writing skills.

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Table of Contents

Essay Topics for Kids

Writing essays can be an enjoyable and educational experience for kids. Here are a few essay topics tailored for younger writers:

My father is my greatest strength. He has good habits and good manners. He helps me in my study. He loves to play with me. He believes in discipline. He helps my mother with household chores. He listens to my problems very patiently. He always cares about our family members. He always shows a sense of confidence in me. I am proud of my father.

My Best Friend

A friend in need is a friend indeed. Man is a social animal. He cannot live alone. He needs the help of others. So he makes friends. My father always advises me to keep away from bad company. Let me introduce you to my best friend. Ali is my best friend. He belongs to a noble family. We live like real brothers. He wears simple clothes. He helps the poor. He is of my age. His father is a doctor. He does not mix with bad boys. He says his prayers daily. He is very intelligent. He is at home in all subjects. He stands first in our class every year. He helps the weak boys in their studies. He is a good player in hockey. He is the apple of his parent’s eyes. live long!

My Best Teacher

Teaching is a noble profession. It is the profession of prophets. The best people in the world are those who teach others. The teacher is an engineer, a doctor, and an officer maker. I have many teachers but Ali is my best teacher. He belongs to a good family. His father is a doctor. He is an M.A., B.ED. He is fifty years old. He teaches us English. He checks our homework daily. He is very hard-working. He gets up early in the morning. He wears neat and clean clothes. All the teachers like him. I like him very much. May he live long.

My Classroom

A classroom is a respectable place. It is a place where we get knowledge. It is my classroom. It is airy and spacious. It has two doors. It has three windows. It has four ventilators. It has thirty desks in it. There is a table and chair for the teacher in it. There is also a blackboard on the wall. There are four ceiling fans in it. There are maps, charts, and pictures on its walls. It is a very beautiful classroom. I like my classroom very much, I keep it clean.

A policeman is a government servant. His duty is to keep law and order. He keeps our lives and property safe. He is dutiful and obedient. He is always bold and courageous. He never hesitates to face danger. He is always active, alert, and energetic. There are also traffic police. Traffic police control and regulate the traffic. He is a true servant of society. We should respect him.

The name of my country is Pakistan. It came into being on 14th August 1947. It was founded by Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It is an Islamic state. It has four provinces. The name of its capital is Islamabad. There are four seasons in my country, its people are very loving and kind. The national language of Pakistan is Urdu. The national sport of Pakistan is hockey. The national fruit of Pakistan is the mango. I love my country very much.

I study in Govt. Pilot School. It has a new building with spacious rooms. It has a practical science lab for students. It has a big library. The playground of our school is very large and beautiful. Our class teacher is a very kind man. All the other teachers are also kind. The principal of our school is a very friendly man. We all live like a family here. The schools like ours are the real wealth of our country. I am proud of my school.

The horse is a friend of a man. Man’s love for the horse is well-known. The Arabian horses are famous. The horses live mainly on grass. In the olden days, horses were used to carry people and goods from place to place. An adult male horse is called a ‘stallion’. An adult female horse is called a ‘mare’. A male baby horse is called a colt. A female baby horse is called a foal. He is very faithful to his master. Warriors are very fond of their horses.

A Morning Walk

A morning walk is a good exercise for all. It is very helpful for our health. It is as useful for the body as food. The fresh air is very useful for our lungs. The cool breeze refreshes us. We hear the chirping of the birds. I am very fond of morning walks, I get up early in the morning. The rising sun looks very beautiful in the park. Everything looks very fresh and blooming. The dewdrops on the grass look very lovely. We walk barefoot on the green grass.

Visit to a Park

A park is a place of beauty. It presents a feast of joy before us. In summer, I sit under its shady trees. The rows of roses attract my eyes. I enjoy the birds singing in the trees. I grow plants in the park. I came here to get fresh and clean air. It provides me with a place for sports. Many people visit the garden at different hours of the day. People come here for a walk and jogging. Other people come here to exercise and ease. A park is a place of beauty.

A Visit to a Zoo

Last week we went to the Lahore Zoo. I went with my father, mother, and brothers. We reached the zoo at around 12.00 p.m. We bought tickets and entered the zoo. First, we went to see the birds. There were many birds of beautiful colors. We also saw lions, tigers, bears, monkeys, and cheetahs. We also saw many other animals. After that, we went to the Aquarium. There we saw many varieties of fish. After that, we sat under a tree and had our lunch. At 4.00 p.m. we returned home. We will never forget this trip.

An Accident

Road accidents are very common in big cities. Careless driving causes accidents. Some drivers do not obey the traffic rules. A car was coming at a very high speed. The car hits the cyclist at a turn. Another car collided with this car. The cyclist fell down. He became senseless. People caught the car driver. People called the Ambulance for the cyclist. We should follow the traffic rules to stay safe.”

Journey by Bus

Once I traveled by bus from Lahore to Multan. The bus started its journey at 6 p.m. It traveled at a good speed. There were road lights near the towns. It was very cold at night. All of a sudden, the bus stopped. There was some problem with the engine. The driver opened the engine and made some corrections. Luckily, the bus started again. I reached Multan at 11 p.m.

God has bestowed upon us many blessings. Mother is one of these blessings. I often feel incomplete without my mother. The name of my mother is she is a housewife. She is a very kind lady. She loves me very much. She gets up early in the morning. She says her prayers regularly. She recites the Holy Quran daily. She cooks food for us. She cleans the house daily. She helps me with my studies. She is a simple woman. She always helps the poor. I love her very much. May she live long!

The Telephone

The telephone is a wonderful gift of science. It was invented by Graham Bell. The two telephone sets are connected by wires. People use it everywhere. In every phone, it has a number. It has a speaker and a microphone. It has a dialing pad that shows numbers. It saves time and money. It is very useful to mankind.

A Hockey Match

Last year, the Inter-board Tournament was held in our school. The final match was played between the teams of D. G. Khan and Rajanpur. Everybody was excited. The match started at 9 am. During the first half, both teams played well. Only a minute before the end of the first half, the Rajanpur Team made a fast move. Their center forward hit the ball into the goal. After that, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half. In the second half, the D. G. Khan Team attacked well to equal the score. At last, they scored the equalizer. Now the match was in full swing. Each team was trying hard to score the winning goal. But no team could succeed in its efforts. At last, the Rajanpur Team secured the winning goal. The people in favor of the winning team shouted and clapped. It was a wonderful match.

This age is the age of dearness. A man has to do a lot of work from morning till evening to earn his living. Sometimes, he has to labor beyond his capacity to meet his needs and desires properly. Thus he feels boredom. To keep the boredom away, he tries to enjoy some kind of recreation. A picnic party is also a source of recreation. During the summer vacation, we, the students of class seven, decided to take a trip to the Murree Hills. We went there by bus. We started our journey early in the morning. We were very happy and made the journey pleasant by talking and cutting jokes. The Journey through the mountainous area was very pleasant. There was greenery everywhere. We passed through the high hills of Marghala. The road lay ahead moving round the lofty rocks. The scenery was very charming. The ascent and descent of the road were very enjoyable. We stopped on the way and had our lunch at a restaurant. We reached Murree before sunset. We stay at Edina rest house. We enjoyed ourselves in the beautiful scenery of Murree Hills. A ride on the chairlift at Ayoubia was very thrilling. We stayed there for a week. It was a wonderful experience. We cannot forget those happy moments.

A visit to Hill Station

After taking exams I felt boredom. I managed to go to Murree to keep the boredom away. I with my class fellows went to Murree by bus. We start our journey early in the morning. We made our journey pleasant by cutting jokes. There was greenery everywhere near the mountainous area. We passed through the high hills of Marghala. The ascent and descent of the road were very enjoyable. We reached Murree before sunset. We enjoy ourselves in the beautiful views of Murree. A ride on the chair lift at Ayoubia was very exciting. We stayed there for a week.

It is a cow. It is a pet animal. It is in many colors. It has two eyes, two ears, and two horns. It has a long tail. It has four Legs. It eats grass. It gives us milk. We make butter, ghee, and cheese from it. We eat its meat. Its skin is used in bag, belt, and shoe making. We use its dung for manure. It is a very useful animal. It is found everywhere.

The computer has changed the world altogether. It has made things easier. There are many types of computers. In the beginning, computers were very big in size. But nowadays quite slim and smart computers are made. We can keep all types of records on computers. The most amazing thing is that we can talk to anybody, anywhere, and at any time in the world through the internet. It has reduced the distances and made the world a global village. In fact, it is the most amazing invention of the present age. We should use this device for useful purposes only.

My Favorite Game

Sports are necessary for our health. Games improve our fitness. Hockey is our national game. Football is also a favorite game of our people. “Sometimes to work, sometimes to play” is a right English proverb. It must be followed in life by everybody. My favorite game is cricket. I play cricket with my friends on holiday. The cool morning hour is the best time for playing. On Sunday, I go to vast open ground with my friends. We play cricket with a team spirit and obey the discipline of the team. This game builds our body and refreshes our minds. It also makes us active and improves our fitness. In the playground, we learn how to cooperate with one another and to be just and fair as well. All the games benefit both mind and body and improve fitness but I like cricket the most. It has created confidence in me and made me a good citizen.

A hobby is work that we do in our spare time. It is not a profession. Stamps collection, collection of old coins, painting, photography, and gardening are some popular hobbies. Gardening is my favorite hobby. It is a cheap hobby. I have a small grassy plot adjacent to my house. I have grown there different types of plants. I water them twice a day. I remove all kinds of weeds from there. After some days the flower buds become ready. They bloom after a few days. I enjoy their sweet smell. I look after them with care and love. When I am tired, I sit in the company of these pretty flowers. I decorate my drawing room with them. I give some flowers to my friends as a gift, too. This hobby gives me much pleasure and removes my worries. Greenery and flowers are a great blessing of Allah Almighty. I like my hobby very much.

Quaid-e-Azam

Quaid-e-Azam is the greatest leader in our history. His real name is Muhammad Ali Jinnah. His father’s name was Ponja Jinnah. He was a businessman in Karachi. He was born in Karachi on 25th December 1876. He was an intelligent and serious child. He received his early education in Karachi. He was a man of great willpower. He worked very hard for the nation. In 1940 the famous Pakistan Resolution was adopted. Pakistan came into being on 14th August 1947. He became the first Governor-General of Pakistan, He died on 11th September 1948. His tomb is in Karachi.

It is a great blessing to have friends. It is a natural phenomenon to make friends. At the school level, we make friends, share with them our things, and lunch box, and discuss little innocent matters. We feel happy to play with them and sometimes we go to school and play together.

But to make a friend, we must keep some points in our mind. He must be honest, kind-hearted and caring. If a person has these qualities you can make him your friend and start your friendship which will be long lasting. Every person has some weaknesses, so when you say, he is my friend, then accept him with all his weaknesses and improve him through your good behavior and smile. If your friend gives you time for playing and helps you in your studies and does not waste your time and takes care of you, your time and study, are your loyal friend, you can trust him. If your friend respects you and in return you respect him, and he forbids you from wrong doing, is your true friend. In friendship, you must avoid little things because the friendship is based on trust and mutual respect. When you avoid little things, with the passage of time your friendship will be strong.

Traffic Education

Every education helps man to make him civilized, sensible, and a good citizen, therefore the role of Traffic education is very important in this regard to drive the vehicle on the road safely. We daily travel in different vehicles, some use their own cars and some use public transport, therefore we must know the basic rules of how to drive a vehicle, what is a function of one way-traffic and two way-traffic, how we can follow the white lines which are drawn. So the vehicles follow them and avoid overspeed and rash driving. On every big road, we can see traffic signs with the help of the drivers, these signs include maximum speed, turn, signals, overhead bridge underpass, coming city or stop, etc. These signs help us in our driving so that we can safely reach our destination. In big cities, the flow of traffic is greater than the small cities. So we must follow the traffic signals and abide by the rules because these rules are only for our safety. The major cause of accidents on the roads are lack of traffic education which we do not follow. Every driver must get a traffic education and after the test, he/she should come on the road for the safety of himself/herself and others. When we follow the traffic rules, signs, and signals we can become responsible citizens.

My Favorite Animal

I love cats! Cats are my favorite animals because they are cute, cuddly, and full of personality. They have soft fur that feels so nice to pet. Cats come in all sorts of colors and patterns, which makes them even more interesting. Cats are also very playful. They chase after toys and pounce on imaginary prey. It’s so much fun to watch them play. Cats are independent too. They can groom themselves and use a litter box, which makes them easy to take care of. But the best thing about cats is their purring. When a cat purrs, it’s like they’re telling you they’re happy and content. I love snuggling with my cat and listening to her purr. Cats are truly wonderful animals, and I’m lucky to have one as my pet.

My family is small but full of love and happiness. It’s just me, my mom, and my dad. We may be small in numbers, but we are big in heart. We do everything together, from playing games to cooking delicious meals. Mom takes care of us and makes our home cozy, while Dad tells us fun stories and teaches me new things. We laugh a lot, share secrets, and support each other.

Our small family is like a close-knit team, always there for one another. I feel safe, loved, and cherished in our little family, and that’s what makes it so special and happy.

My Favorite Book

My favorite book is a magical adventure called “Harry Potter.” It’s about a young wizard named Harry who goes to a school for magic. The book has wizards, witches, spells, and fantastic creatures. I love it because it takes me to a world of imagination where anything is possible. The characters are brave and kind, and they teach important lessons about friendship and courage.

When I read “Harry Potter,” I feel like I’m right there with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, battling dragons and solving mysteries. It’s a book that makes me dream and believe in the power of magic, and that’s why it’s my favorite.

A Day at the Beach

The beach is a magical place for children. One sunny day, I went to the beach with my family. The sky was blue, and the soft sand felt warm under my feet. I could hear the waves gently crashing onto the shore, creating a soothing sound. We built sandcastles, letting the sand slip through our fingers, and decorated them with seashells. The ocean was inviting, so we splashed and played in the cool water. We even saw some colorful fish swimming nearby. Eating ice-cream and watching the sunset, I felt happy and relaxed. A day at the beach is always a day filled with joy and wonderful memories.

The Importance of Trees

Trees are very important. They give us clean air to breathe. Trees take in bad air and make it good. They also give homes to birds and animals. In the summer, trees give us shade. This keeps us cool. Trees also give us fruits like apples and oranges. We can climb trees and play around them. Trees make our world look beautiful. We must take care of trees because they help us in many ways. Planting more trees is good for our earth. We should love and protect trees always. Trees are our friends.

Check: Our Moral Stories Notes for kids

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50+ Very Short English Stories (PDF)

Reading very short stories in English is an important and effective way for ESL students to improve their language skills. Short stories offer a variety of benefits for language learners, such as improving reading comprehension , vocabulary and grammar usage.

These short stories are written in a simple way, making them easy to understand for ESL students. The stories are simple, easy to understand, and teach important English grammar lessons. You can also download English Grammar with Simple Stories and Short English Stories for ESL students PDF files down below.

Very Short Stories

Story 1: introducing my family.

Hello, let me tell you about myself. My name is John, and my last name is Anderson. I’m from Canada, so I’m Canadian. I live not too far from Toronto. I can speak both English and French. I’m a student, and I go to the College. I have many friends, but my best friend is Tom. On the weekends, which are Saturdays and Sundays, Tom and I like to play soccer together. We are good at playing soccer, and I really enjoy sports, but I don’t have a lot of free time.

My family isn’t very big. There are four people in my family: my father, my mother, my brother, and me. My brother is named Mark, and he’s not married; he’s single. We also have a pet cat named Whiskers. We live in an apartment in the middle of the city, but we also have a big house in the countryside. We usually go to the countryside on weekends.

My father is an engineer, and he works at the local firm. My mother is a nurse. My dad enjoys playing basketball, and my mom loves gardening. We often have dinner together. We have a large table for dinners in our apartment. My mom always makes delicious meals for us. My dad and I often watch movies together. We usually sit on our big couch and watch comedies. My brother, Mark, likes to read books and listen to music.

Check Also: Short English Moral Stories & Free PDF Free English Story Books (Level 1) PDF English Story Books for Beginners (Level 2-3-4)

Story 2: Weekend Plans

Tom and Emma are eagerly preparing for a fun-filled weekend activity. They’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. Currently, they are in the kitchen, making delicious sandwiches and packing a picnic basket with their favorite treats. You can feel their excitement as they fill a cool box with refreshing drinks and a variety of snacks.

The plan is to spend the entire day at a nearby park. They have also invited some close friends to join them and enjoy a beautiful day outdoors. Tom and Emma have even brought along a frisbee and a soccer ball for some friendly games. As they load their car with all the picnic essentials, they can’t help but smile, looking forward to a day of laughter, good food, and memorable moments.

Story 3: A Birthday Party

A few months ago, Emily celebrated her birthday with a grand party. She had been planning this special day for a while. She invited all her friends to her house, which was adorned with colorful balloons and streamers. The festivities began with games and dancing to lively music.

The highlight of the party was the chocolate cake, which was decorated with her favorite characters. As Emily blew out the candles, her friends cheered and clapped. They shared the cake, enjoyed ice cream, and exchanged thoughtful gifts. It was a day filled with laughter and joyful memories, and Emily felt truly loved and celebrated.

Story 4: A Rainy Day

Last week, a heavy rainstorm swept through the town, causing everyone to stay indoors. With the rain beating against the windows and thunder rumbling in the background, Mary made the most of her day. She made herself comfortable on the sofa. She had a good novel and a warm cup of tea.

Throughout the day, she read her book, losing herself in the exciting world of the characters. Her cat, Whiskers, nestled on her lap, purring contentedly. Mary felt cozy and relaxed, embracing the opportunity to enjoy some downtime. The rain on the windows created a soothing ambiance that made her enjoy the rainy day.

Story 5: Life Achievements

David has recently achieved a significant milestone in his life. He proudly graduated from college after dedicating four years to his studies. His hard work and determination paid off as he received his degree in engineering.

With his degree in hand, David is now on the lookout for a job in his field. He’s excited to apply what he’s learned in the real world and embark on the next chapter of his journey.

Story 6: Weekend Plans

Amina has an exciting plan for the upcoming weekend. Next Saturday, she will be taking the train to visit her grandparents in a charming little town. The agenda for the visit includes a trip to the local market to select fresh vegetables. Afterward, Amina and her grandparents will head back to their kitchen to cook a special family recipe that’s been passed down for generations.

Amina eagerly awaits the journey, and the thought of quality time with her grandparents warms her heart. The weekend ahead promises to be filled with cherished moments and delicious homemade food.

Very Short English Stories PDF

  50+ Very Short English Stories PDF – download

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These stories are simple and useful. Thanks!

You are welcome! 🙂

my teacher copy and pasted

So very kind of you to share! Lovely!

Short stories online for EFL / ESL

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Very short stories in graded English, levels B1 to C1 - for class and for home

Short stories - advanced english - b2 and c1.

• NEW   Short story: A suitable job  - a short story from Britain in advanced level English, with lesson plan and interactive exercises  - (C1 level - 950 words)
• Short story: The Car  - a short story from Britain in advanced level English, with  audio , lesson plan and interactive exercises  - (C1 level - 950 words)
• Short story: Blue Gum Tree - a short story from New Zealand with  audio and interactive worksheet (B2 level - 850 - 900 words)
• Short Story: Lucky Jim -  an original short story from the USA, with  audio  and interactive worksheet -.  (C1 level  - 800-850 words)
• For Elise - An original short story from the USA - with  audio and interactive worksheet  (B2 level ~ 1150 words )
• A few good reasons - An original short story from the USA  with  audio and interactive worksheet   (B2 level ~ 950 words )
• The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain (Appendix to Mark Twain and the frogs of Calaveras County ) 2600 words.

Short stories - intermediate English,  teenage fiction - B1 and B2

• NEW   Short story: Dr Trelew's encounter  - (B1) a Victorian mystery with worksheet and  audio
• Short story: Driftwood  - (B2) a short story from England with worksheet and  audio
• Short story: Dance Macabre  - (B1) a short story from the USA with worksheets and  audio
• Short story: The Box  - (B2) with interactive worksheet  - a short story in two parts with worksheets and  audio
• Short Story - The Girl in the Denim Jacket , (B2) a story in two parts  with interactive worksheets and  audio
• Short Story - The Trap , ( B1) a story in two parts
• Short story: The Wimp .  (B1) Teenage fiction, in two parts  with worksheet and audio
• Mystery : The Titanic and the Temple of Doom  (B2) Did this really happen ?
• Short Story - One Foggy Night - (B1) with interactive worksheet and audio  - teenage fiction
• Short Story - The path to High Crag , (B1) a story in two parts
• English ghost stories - (B1) with interactive worksheet  - low intermediate level

Teachers, writers ? Got a good short story you'd like us to publish? If so, let us know

Short stories must be your own ©  original work, be set in an English-speaking environment, and be appropriate for teenagers or young adult readers. Linguapress is also interested in publishing good short stories by established writers whose works are in the public domain, and welcomes suggestions. To be in the public domain, works must be by a writer who died over 70 years ago.

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Alice Munro, Nobel Laureate and Master of the Short Story, Dies at 92

Her stories were widely considered to be without equal, a mixture of ordinary people and extraordinary themes.

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By Anthony DePalma

Alice Munro, the revered Canadian author who started writing short stories because she did not think she had the time or the talent to master novels, then stubbornly dedicated her long career to churning out psychologically dense stories that dazzled the literary world and earned her the Nobel Prize in Literature, died on Monday night in Port Hope, Ontario, east of Toronto. She was 92.

A spokesman for her publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, confirmed the death, at a nursing home. Ms. Munro’s health had declined since at least 2009, when she said she’d had heart bypass surgery and had been treated for cancer, though she continued to write.

Ms. Munro was a member of the rare breed of writer, like Katherine Anne Porter and Raymond Carver, who made their reputations in the notoriously difficult literary arena of the short story, and did so with great success. Her tales — many of them focused on women at different stages of their lives coping with complex desires — were so eagerly received and gratefully read that she attracted a whole new generation of readers.

Ms. Munro’s stories were widely considered to be without equal, a mixture of ordinary people and extraordinary themes. She portrayed small-town folks, often in rural southwestern Ontario, facing situations that made the fantastic seem an everyday occurrence. Some of her characters were fleshed out so completely through generations and across continents that readers reached a level of intimacy with them that usually comes only with a full-length novel.

She achieved such compactness through exquisite craftsmanship and a degree of precision that did not waste words. Other writers declared some of her stories to be near-perfect — a heavy burden for a writer of modest personal character who had struggled to overcome a lack of self-confidence at the beginning of her career, when she left the protective embrace of her quiet hometown and ventured into the competitive literary scene.

Her insecurity, however powerfully she felt it, was never noticed by her fellow writers, who celebrated her craftsmanship and freely lent her their highest praise.

The Irish novelist Edna O’Brien ranked Ms. Munro with William Faulkner and James Joyce as writers who had influenced her work. Joyce Carol Oates said Munro stories “have the density — moral, emotional, sometimes historical — of other writers’ novels.” And the novelist Richard Ford once made it clear that questioning Ms. Munro’s mastery over the short story would be akin to doubting the hardness of a diamond or the bouquet of a ripened peach.

“With Alice it’s like a shorthand,” Mr. Ford said. “You’ll just mention her, and everybody just kind of generally nods that she’s just sort of as good as it gets.”

In awarding her the Nobel in 2013 , when she was 82, the Swedish Academy cited her 14 collections of stories and referred to her as “a master of the contemporary short story,” praising her ability to “accommodate the entire epic complexity of the novel in just a few short pages.”

As famous for the refined exuberance of her prose as for the modesty of her personal life, Ms. Munro declined to travel to Sweden to accept her Nobel, saying she was too frail. In place of the formal lecture that winners traditionally give, she taped a long interview in Victoria, British Columbia, where she had been visiting when her award was announced. When asked if the process of writing her stories had consumed her entirely, she responded that it did, then added, “But you know, I always got lunch for my children.”

During the presentation of the taped interview at the Swedish Academy, the Swedish actress Pernilla August read an excerpt from Ms. Munro’s story “Carried Away,” a multi-decade tale of dashed expectations that typified the complicated, often disappointing, world of her stories.

“She had a picture taken. She knew how she wanted it to be,” the excerpt read. “She would have liked to wear a simple white blouse, a peasant girl’s smock with the string open at the neck. She did not own a blouse of that description and in fact had only seen them in pictures. And she would have liked to let her hair down. Or if it had to be up, she would have liked it piled very loosely and bound with strings of pearls.

“Instead she wore her blue silk shirtwaist and bound her hair as usual. She thought the picture made her look rather pale, hollow-eyed. Her expression was sterner and more foreboding than she had intended. She sent it anyway.”

‘Our Chekhov’

Ms. Munro’s early success in Canada, where her first collection of stories, “Dance of the Happy Shades” (1968), won the Governor General’s Literary Award, the equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, spread to the United States after her stories began to be published in The New Yorker in 1977. She was an important member of a generation of Canadian writers, along with Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, whose celebrity reached far beyond the country’s borders.

Ms. Munro went on to win the Governor General’s award twice more, along with two Giller Prizes, another important national award in Canada, and many other honors. In 2009, she withdrew her collection “Too Much Happiness” from consideration for yet another Giller because she believed that a younger writer should have a chance to win it.

That same year she was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for her lifelong body of work, which the judges claimed was “practically perfect.” The awards committee commented that although she was known mostly as a short-story writer, “she brings as much depth, wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels.”

“To read Alice Munro is to learn something every time that you never thought of before,” the judges said.

As her many-layered style developed, her short stories came to be neither short nor simply stories — she included 15 stories in her first book, but only eight or nine longer ones in some of her most recent collections. The greater length of each story gave her room to explore the psychological profiles of her characters more fully, and the resulting works are tightly woven tapestries of great tension, lasting resonance and stunning breadth that combine the emotional thrust of a novel with the pinpoint power of a masterful poem.

Over the years, her stories seemed to grow darker and more paradoxical, even though she often described her own life as ordinary and generally upbeat. Often her characters were simple people confronting unusual circumstances. But those situations could be odd, even bizarre, such as an accident in which a soldier who returned from war is decapitated after his sleeve is caught in a factory machine, or the actions of an unattractive girl who steals so much money from her parents’ store to pay boys for sex that her parents are forced to declare bankruptcy. The women in her stories tended to be emotionally pierced — divorced women, adulteresses and noble victims of life’s vicissitudes.

Like Faulkner, Eudora Welty and the other Southern writers she admired, Ms. Munro was capable of breathing life into an entire world — for her, the importunate countryside of southwestern Ontario and the placid, occasionally threatening presence of Lake Huron.

Cynthia Ozick called her “our Chekhov,” and the description stuck.

In a 2009 review of “Too Much Happiness,” Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times described the collection’s title story as “a brilliant distillation of her Chekhovian art.”

Never a Novel

Ms. Munro was able to live a life remarkable for its normalcy. Her days, like her characters’, were filled with quotidian routines punctuated by the explosive mystery of happenstance and accident.

Outside of a decade spent on the west coast of Canada during her first marriage, she lived with a great deal of satisfaction in the Ontario bramble she celebrated in her stories, quietly composing them in the house where her second husband was raised, not far from the place where she was born.

Perhaps the question that most dogged her throughout her long career was why, with her abundant talents and perceptive eye, she restricted herself to what is generally seen as the limited world of the short story rather than launch into the glittery universe of the novel.

“I don’t really understand a novel,” Ms. Munro confessed to Mervyn Rothstein of The Times in a 1986 interview. “I don’t understand where the excitement is supposed to come in a novel, and I do in a story. There’s a kind of tension that if I’m getting a story right I can feel right away.”

While one of her early collections, “Lives of Girls and Women,” is sometimes called a novel, Ms. Munro and her longtime editor at Alfred A. Knopf, Ann Close, considered it a collection of linked stories.

“Once I started to write that, I was off,” she told The Paris Review. “Then I made a big mistake. I tried to make it a regular novel, an ordinary sort of childhood adolescence novel. About March I saw it wasn’t working. It didn’t feel right to me, and I thought I would have to abandon it. I was very depressed. Then it came to me that what I had to do was pull it apart and put it in the story form. Then I could handle it.”

At times she swore she would never write a novel — almost dismissing the challenge as too great for her to even attempt. But at other times she seemed to wistfully wonder, as one of her characters might, how different her life might have been had she written a blockbuster novel.

“I’m thinking of something now, how it might be a novel, but I bet you it won’t be,” she said in a 1998 interview, just after publication of her widely acclaimed collection “The Love of a Good Woman.” She confessed that on occasion she had experimented with stretching her stories into novels but said she found that the stories “start to sag” when she did so, as though being taken beyond their natural limits. Still, the lure never completely evaporated. “My ambition is to write a novel before I die,” she said, also in 1998.

She never did.

Shortly before receiving her Nobel in 2013, Ms. Munro told several interviewers that she had decided to stop writing. As far back as 2009, she had disclosed her cancer diagnosis and that she’d undergone heart bypass surgery. Her declining health had robbed her of strength, but she also remarked that she’d been writing since she was 20 and had grown weary of what Del, a character in “Lives of Girls and Women” who is generally taken to be Ms. Munro’s proxy, says is a writer’s only duty, which is “to produce a masterpiece.”

“That’s a long time to be working,” Ms. Munro said, “and I thought maybe it’s time to take it easy.”

Rural Beginnings

Alice Ann Laidlaw was born on July 10, 1931, in the village of Wingham, Ontario, hard by the banks of Lake Huron. She was the first of three children of Robert Eric Laidlaw and Anne Clarke (Chamney) Laidlaw. Her father had tried his luck at the rather exotic undertaking of raising silver foxes and mink, but when that failed he went through a number of professions, including stints as foundry watchman and turkey farmer.

When Anne Laidlaw developed Parkinson’s disease, it fell to Alice, not yet a teenager but the oldest of the three children, to care for her mother, an experience that she wove through her writing. She was able to attend college after winning a two-year scholarship to the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, about 65 miles south of Wingham.

She majored in English but initially kept her ambition to write fiction to herself. She dropped out before completing her studies and married a fellow student, James Munro. She sold her first short work of fiction, a story, to the radio service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Munros settled in Vancouver and had two children; a third died at birth. Ms. Munro said the domestic demands of those years — balancing parenthood with her dream of writing, “getting apple juice, answering the phone and letting the cat in” — left her no time or energy for ambitious projects like writing novels. Instead, she dedicated herself to mastering the short story, a form that she felt she could manage in between raising her children and taking care of her house.

In 1963, Ms. Munro and her husband moved to Victoria, where she helped him found a bookstore, Munro’s, and gave birth to another daughter. The marriage ended in 1973, and she moved back to Ontario.

By then, her literary reputation in Canada was established. In 1968, her first book, “Dance of the Happy Shades,” a collection of short stories compiled over a dozen years, introduced readers to what would later be widely recognized as “Alice Munro Country” — the rigidly introspective landscape of solitary country roads and stolid houses of yellow brick within which shy lives and solemn secrets unfolded.

“Everybody knows what a house does, how it encloses space and makes connections between one enclosed space and another and presents what is outside in a new way,” she wrote in a 1982 essay. “That is the nearest I can come to explaining what a story is for me.”

Her stories are blanketed with countless small but sharp observations that animate Munro Country. For instance, in “Spaceships Have Landed,” a story in the collection “Open Secrets” (1994), the main character drunkenly flirts with her boyfriend’s friend, only to be grossly insulted by him. The next day, she calls him to the porch of her house and confronts him while using a piece of steel wool to clean freshly laid eggs.

Such details evoke a sense of the semirural Canadian backcountry, a quiet land where people never deliberately call attention to themselves and the ordinariness of life can be suddenly disrupted by accidents, arrivals and unanticipated departures.

Although Ms. Munro was most often described as a Canadian writer, her stories evoked not Canada itself but the bittersweet triumphs, mishaps and humiliations of small town life. And in the end, every landscape served as backdrop for her central themes, which were the unpredictability of life and the betrayals that women suffer or commit — scenes redolent with autobiography.

In “The Albanian Virgin,” a celebrated story featuring a rare exotic setting as well as the familiar Canadian landscape, the female protagonist runs a bookstore in Victoria and dreamily contemplates the errant directions taken by her life: “But I was not despondent. I had made a desperate change in my life, and in spite of the regrets that I suffered every day, I was proud of that. I felt as if I had finally come out into the world in a new, true, skin.”

A Publicity-Shy ‘Plodder’

Ms. Munro shunned much of the publicity usually associated with literary success and limited her book tour appearances and readings. She often referred to herself in a self-deprecating way; she said she had not “come out of the closet” as a professional writer until she was 40, and she called herself a “plodder” because of the slow and deliberate way she worked, often writing in her nightclothes for several hours in the morning and then extensively revising her stories before sending them off.

But to critics, there was nothing plodding about her stories, which were put together so seamlessly that the many flashbacks, flash-forwards and shifts in time and place that she employed happened without notice. She often started her stories at a point where other authors might end theirs, and continued them well past the climax or denouement that would have satisfied others less driven by the twists of fate. Inevitably, this left readers to work out who exactly the narrator was and how one character was related to another.

Eventually, though, every piece would fit together. “It’s like a child’s puzzle,” the novelist Anne Tyler once said of Ms. Munro’s work. “In the most successful of the stories, the end result is a satisfying click as everything settles precisely into place.”

After the turbulence and dislocation she went through before Ms. Munro turned 40, her life and career clicked satisfyingly into place when she returned to southern Ontario. She started seeing Gerald Fremlin, a geographer, and after a brief romance married him and moved into the house in Clinton, Ontario, where he was raised.

She is survived by her daughters, Sheila, Jenny and Andrea. Sheila Munro is the author of the 2001 memoir “Lives of Mothers and Daughters: Growing Up With Alice Munro.”

She embarked on an ambitious schedule of publishing a collection of short stories every three or four years, winning praise and admiration across Canada, where she comes close to being a household literary saint. After receiving her first Governor General’s award, she won it twice more, for “Who Do You Think You Are?” in 1978 and for “The Progress of Love” in 1986.

In 1998, she received the Giller Prize for “The Love of a Good Woman,” and in 2004 she picked up another for “Runaway.” After the National Book Critics Circle agreed for the first time to consider authors from outside the United States for its award, Ms. Munro won in 1998 for “The Love of a Good Woman.”

As if she were a character in one of her stories, plagued by bad timing and unlucky happenstance, Ms. Munro was not at home when the Swedish Academy called to tell her that she had won; it had to leave a telephone message. She was in Victoria visiting her daughter, who heard the news and woke her mother at 4 a.m. Still groggy when interviewed by the CBC, Ms. Munro admitted that she’d forgotten that the prize was to be awarded that day, calling it “a splendid thing to happen,” adding, “more than I can say.”

Struggling to control her emotions, she reflected on her success and what it might mean for literature. “My stories have gotten around quite remarkably for short stories,” she told the interviewer. “I would really hope that this would make people see the short story as an important art, not something you play around with until you got a novel written.”

Lisa D. Awano and Sofia Poznansky contributed reporting.

An earlier version of this obituary misspelled the given name of an author who praised Ms. Munro’s writing. She is Anne Tyler, not Ann.

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