Chapter 23 of Les Misérables is here in full — 61 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of Les Misérables is here in full — 61 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A man overboard! What matters it? The vessel does not halt. The wind blows. That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
Chapter 23 of Les Misérables is here in full — 61 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
plural of “blow” — a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon
From this reading “The wind blows.”
produced by or subjected to forcing
From this reading “That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.”
cause to stop
From this reading “The vessel does not halt.”
plural of “matter” — a vaguely specified concern
From this reading “What matters it?”
to extremes
From this reading “A man overboard!”
a course of conduct
From this reading “That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.”
carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in
From this reading “That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.”
a tube in which a body fluid circulates
From this reading “The vessel does not halt.”
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 A man overboard!
plural of “blow” — a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon
From this reading The wind blows.
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The vessel does not halt.
produced by or subjected to forcing
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
cause to stop
From this reading The vessel does not halt.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading What matters it?
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A man overboard!
plural of “matter” — a vaguely specified concern
From this reading What matters it?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The vessel does not halt.
to extremes
From this reading A man overboard!
a course of conduct
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
transport commercially
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
lacking brightness or color; dull
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The vessel does not halt.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
a tube in which a body fluid circulates
From this reading The vessel does not halt.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What matters it?
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading That sombre ship has a path which it is forced to pursue.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading The wind blows.
Chapter 23 of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo holds 61 sentences, grouped into 13 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 23 holds 61 sentences of Les Misérables, unabridged, divided into 13 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 61 sentences, grouped into 13 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 13 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 13 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 23 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 Les Misérables by Victor Hugo on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Les Misérables section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Les Misérables 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 Les Misérables, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
