Chapter V of Em's husband, “Ronald Bruce,” is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter V of Em's husband, “Ronald Bruce,” is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor. ANON. Ronald Bruce! Yes, it was he. There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
Chapter V of Em's husband, “Ronald Bruce,” is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
at another time
From this reading “ANON.”
comparative of “brown” — of a color similar to that of wood or earth
From this reading “There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.”
Australian physician and bacteriologist who described the bacterium that causes undulant fever or brucellosis (1855-1931)
From this reading “Ronald Bruce!”
an old word for “before”
From this reading “Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.”
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading “Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.”
(classical mythology) a hero noted for his strength; performed 12 immense labors to gain immortality
From this reading “Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.”
a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
From this reading “Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.”
comparative of “tall” — great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading “There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
at another time
From this reading ANON.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
comparative of “brown” — of a color similar to that of wood or earth
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
Australian physician and bacteriologist who described the bacterium that causes undulant fever or brucellosis (1855-1931)
From this reading Ronald Bruce!
an old word for “before”
From this reading Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.
at any time
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Yes, it was he.
(classical mythology) a hero noted for his strength; performed 12 immense labors to gain immortality
From this reading Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Yes, it was he.
a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
From this reading Handsome as Hercules, ere his first labor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ronald Bruce!
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
comparative of “tall” — great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Yes, it was he.
despite anything to the contrary (usually preceding a concession)
From this reading There he stood, taller, browner, and stouter, and, withal, handsomer than he had ever been before.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes, it was he.
Chapter 5 of Em's husband by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth holds 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 5 holds 197 sentences of Em's husband, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Em's husband by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 5 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.
