Chapter 1 of Holiday Romance is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Holiday Romance is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know. It’s real. You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written. You must believe it all; but you must believe this most, please. I am the editor of it.
Chapter 1 of Holiday Romance is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading “You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.”
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading “You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.”
a person responsible for the editorial aspects of publication; the person who determines the final content of a text (especially of a newspaper or magazine)
From this reading “I am the editor of it.”
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading “THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.”
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “You must believe it all; but you must believe this most, please.”
being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
From this reading “It’s real.”
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading “You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.”
set down in writing in any of various ways
From this reading “You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.”
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.
later than; following
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
(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 You must believe it all; but you must believe this most, please.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am the editor of it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading You must believe it all; but you must believe this most, please.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
a person responsible for the editorial aspects of publication; the person who determines the final content of a text (especially of a newspaper or magazine)
From this reading I am the editor of it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I am the editor of it.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading You must believe it all; but you must believe this most, please.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’s real.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
used to form the superlative
From this reading You must believe it all; but you must believe this most, please.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading You must believe it all; but you must believe this most, please.
being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
From this reading It’s real.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I am the editor of it.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
set down in writing in any of various ways
From this reading You must believe this beginning-part more than what comes after, else you won’t understand how what comes after came to be written.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading THIS beginning-part is not made out of anybody’s head, you know.
Chapter 1 of Holiday Romance by Charles Dickens holds 214 sentences, grouped into 43 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 214 sentences of Holiday Romance, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Holiday Romance by Charles Dickens exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 214 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 Holiday Romance by Charles Dickens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 824 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #809 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #809, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 68 minutes of reading across 165 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Holiday Romance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Holiday Romance 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 Holiday Romance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
