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Geography and Plays
Geography and Plays

Chapter II

Chapter 2 of Geography and Plays is here in full — 40 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Cover illustration for Geography and Plays
Context Illustration Reading 1/8 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
Dear Sir.
A play.
A great many people ask me in misery.
Have they come.
Dear friends.
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Geography and Plays

Chapter II

Chapter 2 of Geography and Plays is here in full — 40 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/8 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
Dear Sir.
/dɪr sɜːr/
Line 2
A play.
/ə pleɪ/
Line 3
A great many people ask me in misery.
/ə ɡreɪt ˈmeni ˈpiːpəl æsk miː ɪn ˈmɪzəri/
Line 4
Have they come.
/hæv ðeɪ kʌm/
Line 5
Dear friends.
/dɪr frendz/

Learner Dictionary

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.

ask verb US /æsk/

make a request or demand for something to somebody

From this reading “A great many people ask me in misery.”

Dear adjective US /dɪr/

dearly loved

From this reading “Dear Sir.”

friends noun US /frendz/

plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust

From this reading “Dear friends.”

many adjective US /ˈmeni/

a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number

From this reading “A great many people ask me in misery.”

misery noun US /ˈmɪzəri/

a state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune

From this reading “A great many people ask me in misery.”

people noun US /ˈpiːpəl/

(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively

From this reading “A great many people ask me in misery.”

play verb US /pleɪ/

participate in games or sport

From this reading “A play.”

Sir noun US /sɜːr/

term of address for a man

From this reading “Dear Sir.”

Word partnerships in these lines

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.

Dear friends adjective + noun counted as “dear friend”

In this reading “Dear friends.”

Dear Sir adjective + noun

In this reading “Dear Sir.”

many people adjective + noun

In this reading “A great many people ask me in misery.”

All words in this reading · 15

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.

AdeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading A play.

askverbUS /æsk/

make a request or demand for something to somebody

From this reading A great many people ask me in misery.

comeverbUS /kʌm/

move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody

From this reading Have they come.

DearadjectiveUS /dɪr/

dearly loved

From this reading Dear Sir.

friendsnounUS /frendz/

plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust

From this reading Dear friends.

greatadjectiveUS /ɡreɪt/

relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind

From this reading A great many people ask me in misery.

Haveauxiliary verbUS /hæv/

used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses

From this reading Have they come.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading A great many people ask me in misery.

manyadjectiveUS /ˈmeni/

a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number

From this reading A great many people ask me in misery.

mepronounUS /miː/

the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading A great many people ask me in misery.

miserynounUS /ˈmɪzəri/

a state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune

From this reading A great many people ask me in misery.

peoplenounUS /ˈpiːpəl/

(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively

From this reading A great many people ask me in misery.

playverbUS /pleɪ/

participate in games or sport

From this reading A play.

SirnounUS /sɜːr/

term of address for a man

From this reading Dear Sir.

theypronounUS /ðeɪ/

the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading Have they come.

Chapter 2 of Geography and Plays by Gertrude Stein holds 40 sentences, grouped into 8 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.

What does chapter 2 of Geography and Plays contain?

Chapter 2 holds 40 sentences of Geography and Plays, unabridged, divided into 8 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 2 of Geography and Plays by Gertrude Stein exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 40 sentences, grouped into 8 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.

How do I study chapter 2 of Geography and Plays?

Work through the 8 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 8 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.

Can chapter 2 be read aloud to me?

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.

Questions about reading Geography and Plays

Common questions about reading Geography and Plays by Gertrude Stein on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of Geography and Plays?

Yes. All 7067 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33403 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of Geography and Plays is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #33403, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does Geography and Plays take to read?

About 588 minutes of reading across 1414 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read Geography and Plays section by section

How to work through Geography and Plays section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 33 chapters of Geography and Plays to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in Geography and Plays

Words and structures a reader meets early in Geography and Plays, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Mabel
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Geography and Plays; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Dodge
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Geography and Plays; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Villa
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Geography and Plays; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Curonia
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Geography and Plays; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.