Chapter 4 of Main Street is here in full — 681 sentences across 137 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Main Street is here in full — 681 sentences across 137 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case. “Oh, that is nice of them!” “You bet. I told you you'd like 'em. Squarest people on earth.
Chapter 4 of Main Street is here in full — 681 sentences across 137 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/136 · 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.
maintain with or as if with a bet
From this reading ““You bet.”
plural of “clark” — United States explorer who (with Meriwether Lewis) led an expedition from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River; Clark was responsible for making maps of the area (1770-1838)
From this reading “I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.”
your parents
From this reading “I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.”
past form of “invite” — increase the likelihood of
From this reading “I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.”
come together
From this reading “I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.”
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading ““Oh, that is nice of them!””
On the present night.
From this reading “I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.”
past form of “unpack” — remove from its packing
From this reading “I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.”
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.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
maintain with or as if with a bet
From this reading “You bet.
plural of “clark” — United States explorer who (with Meriwether Lewis) led an expedition from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River; Clark was responsible for making maps of the area (1770-1838)
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading Squarest people on earth.
a quad with a square body
From this reading I told you you'd like 'em.
your parents
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
past form of “invite” — increase the likelihood of
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Oh, that is nice of them!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading I told you you'd like 'em.
come together
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading “Oh, that is nice of them!”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Oh, that is nice of them!”
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh, that is nice of them!”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Squarest people on earth.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading Squarest people on earth.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Squarest people on earth.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Oh, that is nice of them!”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “Oh, that is nice of them!”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading I told you you'd like 'em.
On the present night.
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
past form of “unpack” — remove from its packing
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I “THE Clarks have invited some folks to their house to meet us, tonight,” said Kennicott, as he unpacked his suit-case.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You bet.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I told you you'd like 'em.
Chapter 4 of Main Street by Sinclair Lewis holds 681 sentences, grouped into 137 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 4 holds 681 sentences of Main Street, unabridged, divided into 137 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Main Street by Sinclair Lewis exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 681 sentences, grouped into 137 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 137 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 137 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 4 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 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 11763 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #543 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #543, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2353 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Main Street section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Main Street 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 Main Street, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
