Chapter 2 of Hunger is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Hunger is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"May I offer you a cigarette?" "Thank you!" The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind. Thank you very much all the same. Was it long since his eyes got bad?
Chapter 2 of Hunger is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading “Was it long since his eyes got bad?”
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading “The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.”
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading “"May I offer you a cigarette?"”
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading “The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.”
make available or accessible, provide or furnish
From this reading “"May I offer you a cigarette?"”
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading “The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.”
refrain from harming
From this reading “The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.”
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading “"Thank you!"”
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 "May I offer you a cigarette?"
(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 Thank you very much all the same.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading Was it long since his eyes got bad?
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading "May I offer you a cigarette?"
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
opinion or judgment
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Was it long since his eyes got bad?
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "May I offer you a cigarette?"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Was it long since his eyes got bad?
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading "May I offer you a cigarette?"
to a great degree or extent
From this reading Thank you very much all the same.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
make available or accessible, provide or furnish
From this reading "May I offer you a cigarette?"
Identical; not different.
From this reading Thank you very much all the same.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Was it long since his eyes got bad?
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
refrain from harming
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading "Thank you!"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
precisely as stated
From this reading Thank you very much all the same.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The man did not smoke; he had to give it up to spare his eyes; he was nearly blind.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "May I offer you a cigarette?"
Chapter 2 of Hunger by Knut Hamsun holds 417 sentences, grouped into 84 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 2 holds 417 sentences of Hunger, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Hunger by Knut Hamsun exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 417 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 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.
Common questions about reading Hunger by Knut Hamsun on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4142 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #8387 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #8387, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 345 minutes of reading across 829 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Hunger section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Hunger 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 Hunger, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
