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A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12
A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12

Chapter XXXII

Chapter 32 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12 is here in full — 394 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Cover illustration for A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12
Context Illustration Reading 1/78 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
PHY.
No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.
AGEN.
I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.
PHY.
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Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12

Chapter XXXII

Chapter 32 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12 is here in full — 394 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/78 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
PHY.
Line 2
No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.
/noʊ sɜːr hiː kəˈmændɪd ˌɪˈmiːdiːət ˈnoʊtəs ʃʊd biː ˈɡɪvən ʌv jɔːr ˈkʌmɪŋ/
Line 3
AGEN.
Line 4
I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.
Line 5
PHY.

Learner Dictionary

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.

castle noun US /ˈkæsəl/

a large and stately mansion

From this reading “I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.”

commanded verb US /kəˈmændɪd/

past form of “command” — be in command of

From this reading “No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.”

duty noun US /ˈduːti/

the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force

From this reading “I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.”

governor noun US /ˈɡʌvərnər/

the head of a state government

From this reading “I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.”

hath auxiliary verb US /hæθ/

an old form of “has”

From this reading “I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.”

immediate adjective US /ˌɪˈmiːdiːət/

of the present time and place

From this reading “No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.”

minute noun US /ˈmɪnət/

a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour

From this reading “I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.”

Notice noun US /ˈnoʊtəs/

an announcement containing information about an event

From this reading “No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.”

Word partnerships in these lines

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.

stay at verb + particle

reside temporarily

In this reading “I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.”

at the castle preposition + article + noun counted as “at … castle”

In this reading “I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.”

All words in this reading · 35

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.

AGEN

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading AGEN.

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

beauxiliary verbUS /biː/

used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

butconjunctionUS /bʌt/

used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

castlenounUS /ˈkæsəl/

a large and stately mansion

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

comingnounUS /ˈkʌmɪŋ/

the act of drawing spatially closer to something

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

commandedverbUS /kəˈmændɪd/

past form of “command” — be in command of

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

despatches

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

dutynounUS /ˈduːti/

the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

fearverbUS /fɪr/

be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

fromprepositionUS /frʌm/

showing where something starts, or who sent it

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

givenadjectiveUS /ˈɡɪvən/

acknowledged as a supposition

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

governornounUS /ˈɡʌvərnər/

the head of a state government

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

hathauxiliary verbUS /hæθ/

an old form of “has”

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

hepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

immediateadjectiveUS /ˌɪˈmiːdiːət/

of the present time and place

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

madeadjectiveUS /meɪd/

produced by a manufacturing process

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

minutenounUS /ˈmɪnət/

a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

mydeterminerUS /maɪ/

belonging to the person speaking

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

NodeterminerUS /noʊ/

not any; not one

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

notadverbUS /nɑːt/

used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

NoticenounUS /ˈnoʊtəs/

an announcement containing information about an event

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

PHY

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading PHY.

seemverbUS /siːm/

give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

shouldmodal verbUS /ʃʊd/

used to say what is right, expected, or advisable

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

sirnounUS /sɜːr/

term of address for a man

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

stayverbUS /steɪ/

stay the same; remain in a certain state

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

ThisdeterminerUS /ðɪs/

used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

tillprepositionUS /tɪl/

up to a particular time

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

unmannerlyadjective

socially incorrect in behavior

From this reading I fear my stay at the castle hath made My duty seem unmannerly; but till This minute I had not my despatches from the governor.

yourdeterminerUS /jɔːr/

belonging to the person or people being spoken to

From this reading No, sir, he commanded immediate Notice should be given of your coming.

Chapter 32 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12 by Robert Dodsley holds 394 sentences, grouped into 79 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.

What does chapter 32 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12 contain?

Chapter 32 holds 394 sentences of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 32 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12 by Robert Dodsley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 394 sentences, grouped into 79 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.

How do I study chapter 32 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12?

Work through the 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 79 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.

Can chapter 32 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 32 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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Common questions about reading A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12 by Robert Dodsley on this page, its source edition and its audio.

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Yes. All 13539 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46791 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

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Project Gutenberg eBook #46791, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

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About 600 minutes of reading across 2708 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

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Vocabulary met early in A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12

Words and structures a reader meets early in A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Select
A word that appears in the opening chapter of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Collection
A word that appears in the opening chapter of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
English
A word that appears in the opening chapter of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Plays
A word that appears in the opening chapter of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.