Chapter 1 of Evelina is here in full — 68 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Evelina is here in full — 68 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LADY HOWARD TO THE REV. MR. VILLARS Howard Grove, Kent. CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence? Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
Chapter 1 of Evelina is here in full — 68 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 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.
the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information
From this reading “CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?”
establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
From this reading “Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.”
a small growth of trees without underbrush
From this reading “VILLARS Howard Grove, Kent.”
English actor of stage and screen (1893-1943)
From this reading “LADY HOWARD TO THE REV.”
a county in southeastern England on the English Channel; formerly an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it was the first to be colonized by the Romans
From this reading “VILLARS Howard Grove, Kent.”
inflected form of “pity” — share the suffering of
From this reading “Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.”
set that receives radio or tv signals
From this reading “Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.”
increase the number of rotations per minute
From this reading “LADY HOWARD TO THE REV.”
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 CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
not to your liking
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
morally objectionable behavior
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
characteristic of or befitting a friend
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
a small growth of trees without underbrush
From this reading VILLARS Howard Grove, Kent.
English actor of stage and screen (1893-1943)
From this reading LADY HOWARD TO THE REV.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
a county in southeastern England on the English Channel; formerly an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it was the first to be colonized by the Romans
From this reading VILLARS Howard Grove, Kent.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading LADY HOWARD TO THE REV.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
used to form the superlative
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
a form of address for a man
From this reading MR.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
the condition of being essential or indispensable
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
causing physical or psychological pain
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
inflected form of “pity” — share the suffering of
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
set that receives radio or tv signals
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
increase the number of rotations per minute
From this reading LADY HOWARD TO THE REV.
term of address for a man
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading LADY HOWARD TO THE REV.
a special situation
From this reading CAN any thing, my good Sir, be more painful to a friendly mind, than a necessity of communicating disagreeable intelligence?
information about recent and important events
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading LADY HOWARD TO THE REV.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading VILLARS Howard Grove, Kent.
used to introduce two or more possibilities
From this reading Indeed it is sometimes difficult to determine, whether the relator or the receiver of evil tidings is most to be pitied.
Chapter 1 of Evelina by Fanny Burney holds 68 sentences, grouped into 14 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 68 sentences of Evelina, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Evelina by Fanny Burney exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 68 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 Evelina by Fanny Burney on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5880 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6053 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6053, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 490 minutes of reading across 1176 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Evelina section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Evelina 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 Evelina, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
