Chapter 1 of Howards End is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Howards End is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister. Howards End, Tuesday. It isn’t going to be what we expected. It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick. We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
Chapter 1 of Howards End is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/15 · 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.
third-person singular of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading “We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.”
rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material
From this reading “It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.”
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading “It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.”
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
arrange in a container
From this reading “We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.”
the day after today
From this reading “We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.”
the third day of the week; the second working day
From this reading “Howards End, Tuesday.”
used of the younger of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a son from his father
From this reading “We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.”
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.
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.
third-person singular of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It isn’t going to be what we expected.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material
From this reading It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
dearly loved
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading Howards End, Tuesday.
considered likely or probable to happen or arrive
From this reading It isn’t going to be what we expected.
the act of departing
From this reading It isn’t going to be what we expected.
come to pass
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Howards End, Tuesday.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It isn’t going to be what we expected.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It isn’t going to be what we expected.
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
the literary culture
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
arrange in a container
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
United States feminist (1885-1977)
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading It is old and little, and altogether delightful—red brick.
only a very short time before
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
a male human offspring
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
the day after today
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
the third day of the week; the second working day
From this reading Howards End, Tuesday.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading It isn’t going to be what we expected.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading It isn’t going to be what we expected.
at the time that
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
in the company of; together with
From this reading One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.
used of the younger of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a son from his father
From this reading We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow.
Chapter 1 of Howards End by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster holds 79 sentences, grouped into 16 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 79 sentences of Howards End, unabridged, divided into 16 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Howards End by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 79 sentences, grouped into 16 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 16 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 16 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 Howards End by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8538 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2891 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2891, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1708 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Howards End section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of Howards End 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 Howards End, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
