Chapter 8 of Major Barbara is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Major Barbara is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands. UNDERSHAFT. Well, have you seen everything? I'm sorry I was called away. [Indicating the telegrams] News from Manchuria.
Chapter 8 of Major Barbara is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading “Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.”
-ing form of “indicate” — be a signal for or a symptom of
From this reading “[Indicating the telegrams] News from Manchuria.”
a region in northeastern China
From this reading “[Indicating the telegrams] News from Manchuria.”
information about recent and important events
From this reading “[Indicating the telegrams] News from Manchuria.”
place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
From this reading “Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.”
a package of several things tied together for carrying or storing
From this reading “Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.”
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading “I'm sorry I was called away.”
plural of “telegram” — a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading “Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.”
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 Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading I'm sorry I was called away.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading I'm sorry I was called away.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading Well, have you seen everything?
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Well, have you seen everything?
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I'm sorry I was called away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I'm sorry I was called away.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
-ing form of “indicate” — be a signal for or a symptom of
From this reading [Indicating the telegrams] News from Manchuria.
a region in northeastern China
From this reading [Indicating the telegrams] News from Manchuria.
information about recent and important events
From this reading [Indicating the telegrams] News from Manchuria.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Well, have you seen everything?
a package of several things tied together for carrying or storing
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading I'm sorry I was called away.
plural of “telegram” — a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I'm sorry I was called away.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well, have you seen everything?
in the company of; together with
From this reading Undershaft comes from the office, with a sheaf of telegrams in his hands.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Well, have you seen everything?
Chapter 8 of Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw holds 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 8 holds 421 sentences of Major Barbara, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 8 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 Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3756 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3790 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3790, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 313 minutes of reading across 752 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Major Barbara section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Major Barbara 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 Major Barbara, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
