Chapter 29 of John Holdsworth, Chief Mate is here in full — 258 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIX
Chapter 29 of John Holdsworth, Chief Mate is here in full — 258 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A VISIT. How was Holdsworth to get a living? For what was he fit? He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment. At any rate, he must try.
Chapter 29 of John Holdsworth, Chief Mate is here in full — 258 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/51 · 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.
an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading “He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.”
an effort that is inconvenient
From this reading “He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.”
the state of being employed or having a job
From this reading “He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.”
be agreeable or acceptable to
From this reading “For what was he fit?”
-ing form of “obtain” — come into possession of
From this reading “He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.”
a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit
From this reading “At any rate, he must try.”
United States general who was commander of all Union troops in the West; he captured Atlanta and led a destructive march to the sea that cut the Confederacy in two (1820-1891)
From this reading “He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.”
go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading “A VISIT.”
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 “At any rate, he must try.”
In this reading “He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.”
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 A VISIT.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading At any rate, he must try.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
an effort that is inconvenient
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
the state of being employed or having a job
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
be agreeable or acceptable to
From this reading For what was he fit?
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For what was he fit?
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading How was Holdsworth to get a living?
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading For what was he fit?
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How was Holdsworth to get a living?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How was Holdsworth to get a living?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading How was Holdsworth to get a living?
a form of address for a man
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading At any rate, he must try.
not any; not one
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
-ing form of “obtain” — come into possession of
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
used with “to” to say what is right or advisable
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit
From this reading At any rate, he must try.
United States general who was commander of all Union troops in the West; he captured Atlanta and led a destructive march to the sea that cut the Confederacy in two (1820-1891)
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading How was Holdsworth to get a living?
in an acceptable (but not outstanding) manner
From this reading He was a good clerk; Mr. Sherman had called him so, at least; Hanwitch was a tolerably large place, and he ought to find no difficulty in obtaining employment.
make an effort or attempt
From this reading At any rate, he must try.
go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading A VISIT.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading How was Holdsworth to get a living?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading For what was he fit?
Chapter 29 of John Holdsworth, Chief Mate by William Clark Russell holds 258 sentences, grouped into 52 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 29 holds 258 sentences of John Holdsworth, Chief Mate, unabridged, divided into 52 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of John Holdsworth, Chief Mate by William Clark Russell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 258 sentences, grouped into 52 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 52 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 52 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 29 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #54303, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 401 minutes of reading across 963 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in John Holdsworth, Chief Mate, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
