Chapter 19 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) is here in full — 160 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) is here in full — 160 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS. P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey. Crammed the house and turned away a crowd. We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before. I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
Chapter 19 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) is here in full — 160 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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.
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading “I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.”
United States writer and humorist best known for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1835-1910)
From this reading “Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS.”
inflected form of “cram” — crowd or pack to capacity
From this reading “Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.”
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading “Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.”
giving satisfaction
From this reading “P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey.”
with sincerity; without pretense
From this reading “Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS.”
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading “I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.”
the one or ones belonging to the person spoken to
From this reading “Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
United States writer and humorist best known for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1835-1910)
From this reading Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS.
inflected form of “cram” — crowd or pack to capacity
From this reading Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
at any time
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
a metric unit of capacity, formerly defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water under standard conditions; now equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters (or approximately 1.75 pints)
From this reading Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
a multivalent nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs commonly in inorganic phosphate rocks and as organic phosphates in all living cells; is highly reactive and occurs in several allotropic forms
From this reading P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS.
giving satisfaction
From this reading P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey.
with sincerity; without pretense
From this reading Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading P. S. Had a satisfactory time at Petoskey.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I believe I don't care to have a talk go off better than that one did.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Crammed the house and turned away a crowd.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading We had $548 in the house, which was $300 more than it had ever had in it before.
the one or ones belonging to the person spoken to
From this reading Yours sincerely, S. L. CLEMENS.
Chapter 19 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) by Mark Twain holds 160 sentences, grouped into 32 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 19 holds 160 sentences of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900), unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) by Mark Twain exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 160 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 19 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 Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) by Mark Twain on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4330 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3196 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3196, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 360 minutes of reading across 866 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) 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 Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
