The Time Machine

The story

A Victorian inventor tells his dinner guests that he has travelled through time. In the year 802,701 he found the gentle, childlike Eloi living in a garden-like world — and soon discovered what lived beneath it.

His time machine is stolen, and to get it back he must go down into the darkness of the Morlocks before travelling even further, to the last days of the Earth.

Themes: time and evolution, social class, the future of humanity, science.

Why it's a good book for language learners

The Time Machine is short, and Wells's English is precise and modern for its age. It is a perfect first classic of science fiction, and its ideas about class and the future give you plenty to talk or write about.

What you'll practise

• Time expressions and tenses
• Scientific explanation
• Describing landscapes and creatures
• Hypotheses and speculation

Did you know?

The novel made the phrase “time machine” part of everyday language.

The PageWalker adventure

In the adventure you choose how to survive in 802,701 — and how to get your machine back. The first page is free to play in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.

The Time Machine in other languages

• EnglishThe Time Machine
• العربيةآلة الزمن
• DeutschDie Zeitmaschine
• EspañolLa Máquina del Tiempo
• FrançaisLa Machine à explorer le temps
• हिन्दीद टाइम मशीन
• ItalianoLa macchina del tempo
• 日本語タイム・マシン
• 한국어타임머신
• PortuguêsA Máquina do Tempo
• РусскийМашина времени
• TürkçeZaman Makinesi
• 简体中文时间机器