Chapter 1 of An ideal husband is here in full — 294 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of An ideal husband is here in full — 294 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MABEL CHILTERN. [_Looking very disappointed_.] Delighted, Vicomte, quite delighted! [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room? LORD GORING. Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
Chapter 1 of An ideal husband is here in full — 294 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/58 · 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.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading “[_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?”
greatly pleased
From this reading “[_Looking very disappointed_.] Delighted, Vicomte, quite delighted!”
disappointingly unsuccessful
German politician in Nazi Germany who founded the Gestapo and mobilized Germany for war (1893-1946)
From this reading “[_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?”
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading “[_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?”
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading “[_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?”
the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course
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.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MABEL CHILTERN.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
greatly pleased
From this reading [_Looking very disappointed_.] Delighted, Vicomte, quite delighted!
disappointingly unsuccessful
From this reading [_Looking very disappointed_.] Delighted, Vicomte, quite delighted!
the act of departing
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
German politician in Nazi Germany who founded the Gestapo and mobilized Germany for war (1893-1946)
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading [_Looking very disappointed_.] Delighted, Vicomte, quite delighted!
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MABEL CHILTERN.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading [_Looking very disappointed_.] Delighted, Vicomte, quite delighted!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
in or at that place or location
From this reading Not if there is any music going on, Miss Mabel.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
precisely as stated
From this reading [_Looking very disappointed_.] Delighted, Vicomte, quite delighted!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_Looking very disappointed_.] Delighted, Vicomte, quite delighted!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading [_Turning to_ LORD GORING.] Aren’t you coming to the music-room?
Chapter 1 of An ideal husband by Oscar Wilde holds 294 sentences, grouped into 59 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 1 holds 294 sentences of An ideal husband, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of An ideal husband by Oscar Wilde exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 294 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 1 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 An ideal husband by Oscar Wilde on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3526 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #885 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #885, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 293 minutes of reading across 706 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through An ideal husband section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of An ideal husband 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 An ideal husband, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
