Chapter 1 of Eloisa is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Eloisa is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French. In Four Volumes. MDCCLXI. Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people. I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.
Chapter 1 of Eloisa is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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 “city” — a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading “Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.”
corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
From this reading “Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.”
prepared and printed for distribution and sale
From this reading “I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.”
require as useful, just, or proper
From this reading “Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.”
plural of “romance” — a relationship between two lovers
From this reading “Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.”
plural of “theatre” — a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented
From this reading “Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.”
past form of “translate” — restate (words) from one language into another language
From this reading “Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.”
plural of “volume” — the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading “In Four Volumes.”
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 “Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.”
In this reading “In Four Volumes.”
In this reading “Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.”
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 Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
plural of “city” — a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading In Four Volumes.
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In Four Volumes.
the literary culture
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
social deportment
From this reading I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MDCCLXI.
absolutely essential
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
people in general considered as a whole
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
prepared and printed for distribution and sale
From this reading I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.
require as useful, just, or proper
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
plural of “romance” — a relationship between two lovers
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
cut with a saw
From this reading I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.
similar things placed in order or happening one after another
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
plural of “theatre” — a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading I saw the manners of the times, and have published these letters.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Great cities require public theatres, and romances are necessary to a corrupt people.
past form of “translate” — restate (words) from one language into another language
From this reading Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters Translated from the French.
plural of “volume” — the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading In Four Volumes.
Chapter 1 of Eloisa by Jean-Jacques Rousseau holds 444 sentences, grouped into 89 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 444 sentences of Eloisa, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Eloisa by Jean-Jacques Rousseau exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 444 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 Eloisa by Jean-Jacques Rousseau on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 11409 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #76639 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #76639, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2282 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Eloisa section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of Eloisa 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 Eloisa, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
