Chapter 18 of Doña Perfecta is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of Doña Perfecta is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying: “The soldiers!” Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking: “At last they have sent us that rabble.” Others got out of bed hastily, growling:
Chapter 18 of Doña Perfecta is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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.
a gruff or angry utterance (suggestive of the growling of an animal)
From this reading “Others got out of bed hastily, growling:”
plural of “inhabitant” — a person who inhabits a particular place
From this reading “THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:”
a disorderly crowd of people
From this reading ““At last they have sent us that rabble.””
the state of being asleep
From this reading “Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:”
full and loud and deep
From this reading “THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:”
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading “THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:”
unclearness by virtue of being poorly expressed or not coherent in meaning
From this reading “THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:”
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading “Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “At last they have sent us that rabble.”
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading Others got out of bed hastily, growling:
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
opinion or judgment
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Others got out of bed hastily, growling:
a gruff or angry utterance (suggestive of the growling of an animal)
From this reading Others got out of bed hastily, growling:
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading Others got out of bed hastily, growling:
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “At last they have sent us that rabble.”
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
plural of “inhabitant” — a person who inhabits a particular place
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
immediately past
From this reading “At last they have sent us that rabble.”
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
past form of “murmur” — speak softly or indistinctly
From this reading Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Others got out of bed hastily, growling:
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Others got out of bed hastily, growling:
a disorderly crowd of people
From this reading “At last they have sent us that rabble.”
Identical; not different.
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading “At last they have sent us that rabble.”
the state of being asleep
From this reading Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:
full and loud and deep
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “At last they have sent us that rabble.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “At last they have sent us that rabble.”
unclearness by virtue of being poorly expressed or not coherent in meaning
From this reading THE SOLDIERS The inhabitants of Orbajosa heard in the twilight vagueness of their morning slumbers the same sonorous clarionet, and they opened their eyes, saying:
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading Some murmured to themselves between sleeping and waking:
Chapter 18 of Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós holds 163 sentences, grouped into 33 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 18 holds 163 sentences of Doña Perfecta, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 163 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 18 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 Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4292 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2462 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2462, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 357 minutes of reading across 859 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Doña Perfecta section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of Doña Perfecta 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 Doña Perfecta, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
