Los pazos de Ulloa: reading level, length and free edition

Name: Los pazos de Ulloa
Author: Emilia Pardo Bazán

Los pazos de Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazán is a novel in Spanish. Our team rates it B2. It runs to 83,819 words with 15,030 different word forms, about 7–14 h of reading at 200 to 100 words per minute, and it is free from Project Gutenberg.

By the Readlang Mobile team (an independent app, not affiliated with readlang.com). Updated 31 October 2026.

Author: Emilia Pardo Bazán
Language: Spanish
Level: B2
Form: novel
Words: 83,819
Different word forms: 15,030
Forms for 95% / 98%: 10,840 / 13,354
Reading time: 7–14 h
Free edition: Project Gutenberg

Retrato naturalista de la decadencia de la nobleza rural gallega.

Is Los pazos de Ulloa right for your level?

To recognise 95% of the running words in Los pazos de Ulloa, you need its 10,840 most frequent word forms; for 98%, the share at which most readers manage a novel without a dictionary, 13,354. The median Spanish B2 book in our table needs 7,656 forms for 95%, so by this measure the book is harder than most for its level: number 9 of 10, easiest first.

A word form is any spelling that appears in the text, so “walk” and “walked” count twice, and names count too. These numbers are a guide to how much vocabulary the book asks for, not a test. The level itself was set by hand by our team. Before you commit, read one page of the free edition and count the words you do not know: the one-page test takes two minutes.

Which words should you know before you start?

These are the words that Los pazos de Ulloa uses most often but that are not among the 2,000 most common word forms across all 36 Spanish books in our library; the number is how many times each appears. Names of people and places are left out. Learning a handful of them first makes the opening chapters easier.

abad 53
arcipreste 46
chiquillo 34
señoritas 33
cazador 32
escopeta 28
curas 24
abuelo 23
cuartos 20
rapaz 19
mayordomo 18
elección 18
huerto 17
dedo 15
crucero 15

How does it begin?

Por más que el jinete trataba de sofrenarlo agarrándose con todas sus fuerzas a la única rienda de cordel y susurrando palabritas calmantes y mansas, el peludo rocín seguía empeñándose en bajar la cuesta a un trote cochinero que descuadernaba los intestinos, cuando no a trancos desigualísimos de loco galope.

From the Project Gutenberg edition, which is in the public domain. If this paragraph already feels slow, try a book one level lower.

How long does it take to read?

Hours to read *Los pazos de Ulloa* (83,819 words) at four reading speeds.
Words	100 wpm	150 wpm	200 wpm	250 wpm
83,819	14 h	9.5 h	7 h	5.5 h

Learners reading a book at their level often manage 100 to 150 words per minute, and readers in their first language 200 to 250. Where these speeds come from, and a calculator for your own: How long does it take to read a book?

Where can you read it for free?

The free edition is Project Gutenberg eBook #18005. Project Gutenberg publishes books that are in the public domain in the United States, as EPUB, Kindle and plain text, free and without an account. Copyright terms differ by country: if you live outside the United States, check that the book is out of copyright where you are before you download it.

To read it with a translation over every word you tap, open it in Readlang Mobile on iPhone or iPad.