Chapter 9 of A Personal Record is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of A Personal Record is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Saying these words, I smiled. I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort. It had not to be necessarily a mirthful smile. Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly. “The pony got away from him--eh?”
Chapter 9 of A Personal Record is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.”
apart from; not including
From this reading “I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.”
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading “I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.”
make reference to
From this reading “I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.”
in an essential manner
From this reading “It had not to be necessarily a mirthful smile.”
a range horse of the western United States
From this reading ““The pony got away from him--eh?””
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “Saying these words, I smiled.”
the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course
From this reading “Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.”
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 don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading “The pony got away from him--eh?”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It had not to be necessarily a mirthful smile.
a degree on the centigrade scale of temperature
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “The pony got away from him--eh?”
apart from; not including
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading “The pony got away from him--eh?”
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “The pony got away from him--eh?”
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had not to be necessarily a mirthful smile.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “The pony got away from him--eh?”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Saying these words, I smiled.
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
in a joyless manner; without joy
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
make reference to
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading It had not to be necessarily a mirthful smile.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
in an essential manner
From this reading It had not to be necessarily a mirthful smile.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It had not to be necessarily a mirthful smile.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
a range horse of the western United States
From this reading “The pony got away from him--eh?”
on the contrary
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
From this reading Saying these words, I smiled.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading Saying these words, I smiled.
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “The pony got away from him--eh?”
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading Saying these words, I smiled.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
in the direction of
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course
From this reading Turning his head toward me, Captain C---- smiled, too, rather joylessly.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading I don't know why I smiled, except that it seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile of a sort.
the words that are spoken
From this reading Saying these words, I smiled.
Chapter 9 of A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad holds 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 9 holds 170 sentences of A Personal Record, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 9 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 Personal Record by Joseph Conrad on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2180 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #687 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #687, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 181 minutes of reading across 436 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Personal Record section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of A Personal Record 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 Personal Record, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
