Chapter 4 of English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources 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 IV
Chapter 4 of English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl. He informed her he wanted her master. “He is gone out, sir,” said she. “Then your mistress will do,” said the gentleman. “She,” said the girl, “is gone out too.”
Chapter 4 of English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources 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.
subject to appointment
From this reading “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
a man of refinement
From this reading “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
having much knowledge or education
From this reading “He informed her he wanted her master.”
past form of “knock” — deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
come together
From this reading “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man
From this reading ““Then your mistress will do,” said the gentleman.”
unique or specific to a person or thing or category
From this reading “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
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 “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
In this reading “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
In this reading “A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.”
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 gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
subject to appointment
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “Then your mistress will do,” said the gentleman.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
a man of refinement
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
a young female
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
destroyed or killed
From this reading “He is gone out, sir,” said she.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He informed her he wanted her master.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He informed her he wanted her master.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
having much knowledge or education
From this reading He informed her he wanted her master.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “He is gone out, sir,” said she.
past form of “knock” — deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
an artist of consummate skill
From this reading He informed her he wanted her master.
come together
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man
From this reading “Then your mistress will do,” said the gentleman.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading “He is gone out, sir,” said she.
unique or specific to a person or thing or category
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “He is gone out, sir,” said she.
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “He is gone out, sir,” said she.
term of address for a man
From this reading “He is gone out, sir,” said she.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “Then your mistress will do,” said the gentleman.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading “She,” said the girl, “is gone out too.”
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading He informed her he wanted her master.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading A gentleman having appointed to meet his friend on particular business, went to his house and knocked at the door, which was opened by a servant girl.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “Then your mistress will do,” said the gentleman.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Then your mistress will do,” said the gentleman.
Chapter 4 of English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources by Various 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 4 holds 444 sentences of English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources by Various 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 4 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.
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About 290 minutes of reading across 697 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
