Chapter 1 of If: A Play in Four Acts is here in full — 206 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of If: A Play in Four Acts is here in full — 206 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Carry your bag, sir? JOHN Go to hell! [Exit through door.] BILL Ullo. BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.
Chapter 1 of If: A Play in Four Acts is here in full — 206 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/41 · 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.
a flexible container with a single opening
From this reading “Carry your bag, sir?”
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading “BILL Ullo.”
move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading “Carry your bag, sir?”
an opening that permits escape or release
From this reading “[Exit through door.]”
the act of acquiring something
From this reading “BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.”
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading “JOHN Go to hell!”
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading “JOHN Go to hell!”
possessive form of “somebody” — a human being
From this reading “BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.”
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.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.
a flexible container with a single opening
From this reading Carry your bag, sir?
the past participle of “be”
From this reading BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading BILL Ullo.
move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading Carry your bag, sir?
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading [Exit through door.]
an opening that permits escape or release
From this reading [Exit through door.]
the act of acquiring something
From this reading BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading JOHN Go to hell!
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading JOHN Go to hell!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading JOHN Go to hell!
term of address for a man
From this reading Carry your bag, sir?
possessive form of “somebody” — a human being
From this reading BERT Somebody's been getting at 'im.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading [Exit through door.]
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading JOHN Go to hell!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BILL Ullo.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Carry your bag, sir?
Chapter 1 of If: A Play in Four Acts by Lord Dunsany holds 206 sentences, grouped into 42 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 206 sentences of If: A Play in Four Acts, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of If: A Play in Four Acts by Lord Dunsany exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 206 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 If: A Play in Four Acts by Lord Dunsany on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1448 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1311 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1311, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 120 minutes of reading across 290 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through If: A Play in Four Acts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of If: A Play in Four Acts 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 If: A Play in Four Acts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
