Chapter 1 of Breathes there a man is here in full — 472 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Breathes there a man is here in full — 472 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Well, time would tell. He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below. Trees. Green fields. The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.
Chapter 1 of Breathes there a man is here in full — 472 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 20/94 · 5 reading units · Lines 96–100
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 “beginning” — the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading “The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.”
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading “He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.”
rural regions
From this reading “He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.”
plural of “dwelling” — housing that someone is living in
From this reading “The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.”
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading “Green fields.”
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading “He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.”
(American football) an attempt to advance the ball by running into the line
From this reading “He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.”
make square
From this reading “The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.”
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 “Green fields.”
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.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
plural of “beginning” — the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.
rural regions
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
plural of “dwelling” — housing that someone is living in
From this reading The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading Green fields.
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
green color or pigment; resembling the color of growing grass
From this reading Green fields.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
(American football) an attempt to advance the ball by running into the line
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.
make square
From this reading The beginnings of the city of small square dwellings.
express in words
From this reading Well, time would tell.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Well, time would tell.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading Trees.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well, time would tell.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading He glanced out the window at the countryside rushing below.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Well, time would tell.
Chapter 1 of Breathes there a man by Charles E. Fritch holds 472 sentences, grouped into 95 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 1 holds 472 sentences of Breathes there a man, unabridged, divided into 95 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Breathes there a man by Charles E. Fritch exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 472 sentences, grouped into 95 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 95 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 95 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 Breathes there a man by Charles E. Fritch on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 472 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #68615 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #68615, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 39 minutes of reading across 95 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Breathes there a man section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Breathes there a man 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 Breathes there a man, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
