Chapter 16 of A Poor Gentleman is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of A Poor Gentleman is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SIR WALTER AND HIS HEIR. There was a ball at Penton that evening. Nothing was more unusual than a ball at Penton. The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind. Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
Chapter 16 of A Poor Gentleman is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
plural of “collection” — several things grouped together or considered as a whole
From this reading “Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.”
(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government
From this reading “Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.”
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading “Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.”
plural of “festivity” — any joyous diversion
From this reading “The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.”
superlative of “grave” — dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises
From this reading “The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.”
A person legally or magically entitled to the property or rank of another on that person's death.
From this reading “SIR WALTER AND HIS HEIR.”
plural of “potentate” — a ruler who is unconstrained by law
From this reading “Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.”
inflected form of “repay” — pay back
From this reading “Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.”
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.
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 There was a ball at Penton that evening.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading SIR WALTER AND HIS HEIR.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading There was a ball at Penton that evening.
round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading There was a ball at Penton that evening.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
plural of “collection” — several things grouped together or considered as a whole
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
(United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
plural of “duty” — the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading There was a ball at Penton that evening.
a social unit living together
From this reading The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.
plural of “festivity” — any joyous diversion
From this reading The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.
superlative of “grave” — dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises
From this reading The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
A person legally or magically entitled to the property or rank of another on that person's death.
From this reading SIR WALTER AND HIS HEIR.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading SIR WALTER AND HIS HEIR.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Nothing was more unusual than a ball at Penton.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Nothing was more unusual than a ball at Penton.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was a ball at Penton that evening.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
plural of “potentate” — a ruler who is unconstrained by law
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
inflected form of “repay” — pay back
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
term of address for a man
From this reading SIR WALTER AND HIS HEIR.
an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Nothing was more unusual than a ball at Penton.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading There was a ball at Penton that evening.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was a ball at Penton that evening.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading Nothing was more unusual than a ball at Penton.
under normal conditions
From this reading The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.
German conductor (1876-1962)
From this reading SIR WALTER AND HIS HEIR.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was a ball at Penton that evening.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The family festivities were usually of the gravest kind.
which person or people
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Solemn dinner-parties, duties of society, collections of people who had to be asked, county potentates, with whom Alicia and her husband had dined, and who had to be repaid.
Chapter 16 of A Poor Gentleman by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant holds 180 sentences, grouped into 36 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 16 holds 180 sentences of A Poor Gentleman, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of A Poor Gentleman by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 180 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 16 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.
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Yes. All 8342 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61782 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61782, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1669 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Poor Gentleman section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of A Poor Gentleman 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 Poor Gentleman, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
