Chapter 2 of Man and Wife is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Man and Wife is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He attended the funeral--though he was no relation. He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him. He disappeared from his club. He traveled. He came back.
Chapter 2 of Man and Wife is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 75/81 · 5 reading units · Lines 371–375
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.
playing or singing with instrumental or vocal accompaniment
From this reading “He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.”
plural of “blade” — especially a leaf of grass or the broad portion of a leaf as distinct from the petiole
From this reading “He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.”
a team of professional baseball players who play and travel together
From this reading “He disappeared from his club.”
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading “He disappeared from his club.”
a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated
From this reading “He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.”
an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together
From this reading “He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.”
traveled over or through; sometimes used as a combining term
From this reading “He traveled.”
surface layer of ground containing a mat of grass and grass roots
From this reading “He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.”
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 He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
playing or singing with instrumental or vocal accompaniment
From this reading He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He came back.
plural of “blade” — especially a leaf of grass or the broad portion of a leaf as distinct from the petiole
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading He came back.
a team of professional baseball players who play and travel together
From this reading He disappeared from his club.
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading He disappeared from his club.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated
From this reading He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.
shoot down, of birds
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
death of a person
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He disappeared from his club.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
not any; not one
From this reading He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.
no person; not anyone
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together
From this reading He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
traveled over or through; sometimes used as a combining term
From this reading He traveled.
surface layer of ground containing a mat of grass and grass roots
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He attended the funeral--though he was no relation.
at the time that
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He took a few blades of grass from the turf with which they covered her grave--when he thought that nobody was looking at him.
Chapter 2 of Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 2 holds 409 sentences of Man and Wife, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 2 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 Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 16495 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1586 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1586, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3299 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Man and Wife section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Man and Wife 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 Man and Wife, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
