Chapter 3 of Caprice is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Caprice is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“May she——; is she allowed Evening dress?” “Never mind about her dress. Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play. “I should like to know my cue.” “A twitter of birds is all.
Chapter 3 of Caprice is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
past form of “allow” — make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen
From this reading ““May she——; is she allowed Evening dress?””
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading ““A twitter of birds is all.”
a small book usually having a paper cover
From this reading “Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.”
an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech
From this reading ““I should like to know my cue.””
deliver (a speech, oration, or idea)
From this reading “Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.”
-ing form of “place” — put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading “Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.”
in a tart manner
From this reading “Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.”
a series of chirps
From this reading ““A twitter of birds is all.”
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 Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading “Never mind about her dress.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading “A twitter of birds is all.
past form of “allow” — make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen
From this reading “May she——; is she allowed Evening dress?”
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “A twitter of birds is all.
a small book usually having a paper cover
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech
From this reading “I should like to know my cue.”
deliver (a speech, oration, or idea)
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
put on clothes
From this reading “May she——; is she allowed Evening dress?”
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading “May she——; is she allowed Evening dress?”
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading “Never mind about her dress.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I should like to know my cue.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “May she——; is she allowed Evening dress?”
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “I should like to know my cue.”
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading “I should like to know my cue.”
plural of “line” — a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading “May she——; is she allowed Evening dress?”
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading “Never mind about her dress.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “I should like to know my cue.”
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading “Never mind about her dress.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
-ing form of “place” — put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
participate in games or sport
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “May she——; is she allowed Evening dress?”
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading “I should like to know my cue.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
in a tart manner
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “I should like to know my cue.”
a series of chirps
From this reading “A twitter of birds is all.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let me hear how you’d deliver her lines,” Mrs. Mary tartly said, placing in Miss Sinquier’s hands a brochure of the play.
Chapter 3 of Caprice by Ronald Firbank holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 410 sentences of Caprice, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Caprice by Ronald Firbank exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 Caprice by Ronald Firbank on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2064 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #70073 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #70073, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 172 minutes of reading across 413 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Caprice section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Caprice 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 Caprice, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
