Chapter 1 of Is There a Santa Claus? is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Is There a Santa Claus? is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS? IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS? IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS? "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus? Papa says not.'
Chapter 1 of Is There a Santa Claus? is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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 boy or man
From this reading “"A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?”
a wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country
From this reading “"A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?”
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading “Papa says not.'”
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “"A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?”
the legendary patron saint of children; an imaginary being who is thought to bring presents to children at Christmas
From this reading “IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?”
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading “"A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?”
relating to or characteristic of the western parts of the world or the West as opposed to the eastern or oriental parts
From this reading “"A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?”
third-person singular of “write” — produce a literary work
From this reading “"A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?”
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.
In this reading “"A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?”
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 IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?
a boy or man
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?
a wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Papa says not.'
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading Papa says not.'
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
the legendary patron saint of children; an imaginary being who is thought to bring presents to children at Christmas
From this reading IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading Papa says not.'
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
express in words
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
in or at that place or location
From this reading IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
relating to or characteristic of the western parts of the world or the West as opposed to the eastern or oriental parts
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
third-person singular of “write” — produce a literary work
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "A little chap of six on the Western frontier writes to us: "'Will you please tell me if there is a Santa Claus?
Chapter 1 of Is There a Santa Claus? by Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis holds 95 sentences, grouped into 19 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 1 holds 95 sentences of Is There a Santa Claus?, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Is There a Santa Claus? by Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 95 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 Is There a Santa Claus? by Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 95 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31996 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31996, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 7 minutes of reading across 19 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Is There a Santa Claus? section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Is There a Santa Claus? 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 Is There a Santa Claus?, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
