Chapter 3 of Better Than Play is here in full — 166 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Better Than Play is here in full — 166 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE LITTLE HERB-BED. For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word. It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still. Indeed, they both felt so. That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
Chapter 3 of Better Than Play is here in full — 166 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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.
causing inconvenience
From this reading “It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.”
cause to be bored
From this reading “It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.”
for the most part
From this reading “It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.”
feeling or caused to feel ill at ease or self-conscious or ashamed
From this reading “It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.”
changed for (replaced by) something different
From this reading “For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.”
feeling a need to see others suffer
From this reading “It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.”
the second day of the week; the first working day
From this reading “For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.”
experiencing or marked by or causing sadness or sorrow or discontent
From this reading “For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.”
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 “It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.”
In this reading “For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.”
In this reading “That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.”
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 For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
later than; following
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
causing inconvenience
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
cause to be bored
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
the two together, not just one
From this reading Indeed, they both felt so.
for the most part
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
feeling or caused to feel ill at ease or self-conscious or ashamed
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
at any time
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
changed for (replaced by) something different
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE LITTLE HERB-BED.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading Indeed, they both felt so.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading THE LITTLE HERB-BED.
feeling a need to see others suffer
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
the second day of the week; the first working day
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
not one and not the other of two
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
only a very short time before
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
the place where some action occurs
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Indeed, they both felt so.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
not in physical motion
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
sullen or moody
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE LITTLE HERB-BED.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Indeed, they both felt so.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading That scene seemed to be for ever between them, and neither could forget it.
experiencing or marked by or causing sadness or sorrow or discontent
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was not that Bella was sulky, or bore malice in her heart; it was chiefly that she felt embarrassed and awkward still.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading For some days after that unhappy Monday Bella and her aunt scarcely exchanged a word.
Chapter 3 of Better Than Play by Mabel Quiller-Couch holds 166 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 3 holds 166 sentences of Better Than Play, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Better Than Play by Mabel Quiller-Couch exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 166 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 3 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 Better Than Play by Mabel Quiller-Couch on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2060 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31836 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31836, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 171 minutes of reading across 412 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Better Than Play section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Better Than Play 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 Better Than Play, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
