Chapter 2 of Em's husband is here in full — 222 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Em's husband is here in full — 222 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE AGENT A man in middle age. Busy, and hard to please. TAYLOR. “Well, runaway! Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
Chapter 2 of Em's husband is here in full — 222 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect
From this reading “THE AGENT A man in middle age.”
a line of approach
From this reading “Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.”
in a brisk manner
From this reading “Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.”
something regarded with special favor or liking
From this reading “Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.”
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading “Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.”
United States golfer (born in 1929)
From this reading “Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.”
an easy victory
From this reading ““Well, runaway!”
United States composer and music critic (1885-1966)
From this reading “TAYLOR.”
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.
the time of life between youth and old age (e.g., between 40 and 60 years of age)
In this reading “THE AGENT A man in middle age.”
In this reading “Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.”
trace
In this reading “Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.”
bring forth, usually something desirable
In this reading “Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.”
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 THE AGENT A man in middle age.
how long something has existed
From this reading THE AGENT A man in middle age.
an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect
From this reading THE AGENT A man in middle age.
(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 Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Busy, and hard to please.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
a line of approach
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
in a brisk manner
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading Busy, and hard to please.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
a female human offspring
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
something regarded with special favor or liking
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading Busy, and hard to please.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE AGENT A man in middle age.
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading THE AGENT A man in middle age.
come together
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
an area that is approximately central within some larger region
From this reading THE AGENT A man in middle age.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
United States golfer (born in 1929)
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading Busy, and hard to please.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
an easy victory
From this reading “Well, runaway!
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
United States composer and music critic (1885-1966)
From this reading TAYLOR.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE AGENT A man in middle age.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Busy, and hard to please.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
(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, runaway!
in or at the place that
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Where have you been all the morning?” briskly inquired John Palmer as he ran down the front steps to meet his favorite daughter as she came up the heavily-shaded avenue.
Chapter 2 of Em's husband by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth holds 222 sentences, grouped into 45 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 2 holds 222 sentences of Em's husband, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Em's husband by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 222 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 2 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 Em's husband by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6953 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #76916 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #76916, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 579 minutes of reading across 1391 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Choose one of the 37 chapters of Em's husband to begin.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Em's husband, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
