Chapter 17 of A Little Girl in Old Chicago is here in full — 300 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of A Little Girl in Old Chicago is here in full — 300 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
POLLY. I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne. I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years. Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her. Why should a wife then provide for her husband?
Chapter 17 of A Little Girl in Old Chicago is here in full — 300 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/60 · 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 married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading “Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.”
an effortful attempt to attain a goal
From this reading “Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.”
give something useful or necessary to
From this reading “Why should a wife then provide for her husband?”
a stipulated condition
From this reading “Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.”
unique or specific to a person or thing or category
From this reading “Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.”
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading “I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.”
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading “Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.”
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading “I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.”
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 “I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.”
In this reading “Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.”
In this reading “Why should a wife then provide for her husband?”
In this reading “Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.”
In this reading “I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.”
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 I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
engage in
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
an effortful attempt to attain a goal
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading POLLY.
give something useful or necessary to
From this reading Why should a wife then provide for her husband?
a stipulated condition
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading Why should a wife then provide for her husband?
unique or specific to a person or thing or category
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Why should a wife then provide for her husband?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
at the time that
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
which person or people
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why should a wife then provide for her husband?
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading I thought when I was out in the street I would go and see Mother Hayne.
a late time of life
From this reading I would like to know how this matter of the house seemed to a woman who had been a wife many years.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet her husband had not taken pains to make any special provision for her.
Chapter 17 of A Little Girl in Old Chicago by Amanda M. Douglas holds 300 sentences, grouped into 60 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 17 holds 300 sentences of A Little Girl in Old Chicago, unabridged, divided into 60 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of A Little Girl in Old Chicago by Amanda M. Douglas exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 300 sentences, grouped into 60 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 60 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 60 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 17 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 Little Girl in Old Chicago by Amanda M. Douglas on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6157 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58410 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58410, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 513 minutes of reading across 1232 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Little Girl in Old Chicago section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of A Little Girl in Old Chicago 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 Little Girl in Old Chicago, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
