Chapter 31 of A farewell to arms is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of A farewell to arms is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry. Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms. My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory. Valentini had done a fine job. I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.
Chapter 31 of A farewell to arms is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents)
From this reading “Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.”
feeling hunger; feeling a need or desire to eat food
From this reading “Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.”
hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading “My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.”
(military) withdrawal of troops to a more favorable position to escape the enemy's superior forces or after a defeat
From this reading “I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.”
giving satisfaction
From this reading “My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.”
not moving or operating freely
From this reading “My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.”
an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion
From this reading “Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.”
inflected form of “swim” — travel through water
From this reading “I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.”
In this reading “Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.”
In this reading “Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.”
In this reading “I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Valentini had done a fine job.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.
next to; at the side of
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.
a heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents)
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading Valentini had done a fine job.
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading Valentini had done a fine job.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.
plural of “gun” — a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.
feeling hunger; feeling a need or desire to eat food
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading Valentini had done a fine job.
hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
above and across; more than
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.
(military) withdrawal of troops to a more favorable position to escape the enemy's superior forces or after a defeat
From this reading I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.
especially of petals or leaves in bud; having margins rolled inward
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
giving satisfaction
From this reading My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.
not moving or operating freely
From this reading My knee was stiff, but it had been very satisfactory.
an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion
From this reading Finally I rolled over and lay flat on my stomach with my head on my arms.
inflected form of “swim” — travel through water
From this reading I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I had done half the retreat on foot and swum part of the Tagliamento with his knee.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Valentini had done a fine job.
precisely as stated
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas I was wet, cold and very hungry.
Chapter 31 of A farewell to arms by Ernest Hemingway holds 67 sentences, grouped into 14 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 31 holds 67 sentences of A farewell to arms, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of A farewell to arms by Ernest Hemingway exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 67 sentences, grouped into 14 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 31 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A farewell to arms by Ernest Hemingway on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9383 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #75201 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #75201, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1877 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A farewell to arms section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of A farewell to arms to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A farewell to arms, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
