Chapter 12 of Manhattan Transfer is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Manhattan Transfer is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
There was a faint tapping at the door. “Who’s that,” she whispered. “It just me,” came a tearful voice. Ellen unlocked the door. “Why Cassie what’s the matter?”
Chapter 12 of Manhattan Transfer is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
tropical American thorny shrub or small tree; fragrant yellow flowers used in making perfumery
From this reading ““Why Cassie what’s the matter?””
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading “There was a faint tapping at the door.”
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading ““Why Cassie what’s the matter?””
the sound of light blow or knock
From this reading “There was a faint tapping at the door.”
filled with or marked by tears
From this reading ““It just me,” came a tearful voice.”
not firmly fastened or secured
From this reading “Ellen unlocked the door.”
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading ““It just me,” came a tearful voice.”
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading ““Who’s that,” she whispered.”
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 “There was a faint tapping at the door.”
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 There was a faint tapping at the door.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading There was a faint tapping at the door.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “It just me,” came a tearful voice.
tropical American thorny shrub or small tree; fragrant yellow flowers used in making perfumery
From this reading “Why Cassie what’s the matter?”
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading There was a faint tapping at the door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ellen unlocked the door.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading There was a faint tapping at the door.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It just me,” came a tearful voice.
and nothing more
From this reading “It just me,” came a tearful voice.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading “Why Cassie what’s the matter?”
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “It just me,” came a tearful voice.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Who’s that,” she whispered.
the sound of light blow or knock
From this reading There was a faint tapping at the door.
filled with or marked by tears
From this reading “It just me,” came a tearful voice.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Who’s that,” she whispered.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There was a faint tapping at the door.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was a faint tapping at the door.
not firmly fastened or secured
From this reading Ellen unlocked the door.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading “It just me,” came a tearful voice.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was a faint tapping at the door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Why Cassie what’s the matter?”
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading “Who’s that,” she whispered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Who’s that,” she whispered.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading “Why Cassie what’s the matter?”
Chapter 12 of Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 12 holds 416 sentences of Manhattan Transfer, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 12 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 Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Manhattan Transfer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Manhattan Transfer 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 Manhattan Transfer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
