Chapter 3 of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes is here in full — 289 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes is here in full — 289 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim. Swan, swan, back again; Well, swan, swam. One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin. How do you do? and how do you do? And how do you do again?
Chapter 3 of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes is here in full — 289 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/57 · 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.
wearing or provided with clothing; sometimes used in combination
From this reading “One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.”
lacking definite form or limits
From this reading “One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.”
an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
From this reading “One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.”
filled or abounding with fog or mist
From this reading “One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.”
an elongated leather strip (or a strip of similar material) for binding things together or holding something in position
From this reading “One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.”
inflected form of “swim” — travel through water
From this reading “Swan, swan, back again; Well, swan, swam.”
to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
From this reading “Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim.”
travel through water
From this reading “Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim.”
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.
a man who is very old
In this reading “One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.”
In this reading “Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim.”
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 One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
anew
From this reading Swan, swan, back again; Well, swan, swam.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading How do you do? and how do you do?
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Swan, swan, back again; Well, swan, swam.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
the protruding part of the lower jaw
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
wearing or provided with clothing; sometimes used in combination
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
lacking definite form or limits
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading How do you do? and how do you do?
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How do you do? and how do you do?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
filled or abounding with fog or mist
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
above and across; more than
From this reading Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim.
an elongated leather strip (or a strip of similar material) for binding things together or holding something in position
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
inflected form of “swim” — travel through water
From this reading Swan, swan, back again; Well, swan, swam.
to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
From this reading Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim.
travel through water
From this reading Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Swan, swan, over the sea; Swim, swan, swim.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
(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 Swan, swan, back again; Well, swan, swam.
at the time that
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
in the company of; together with
From this reading One misty moisty morning, When cloudy was the weather, I met a little old man, Clothed all in leather, Clothed all in leather, With a strap below his chin.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading How do you do? and how do you do?
Chapter 3 of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes by John [Illustrator] Gilbert holds 289 sentences, grouped into 58 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 3 holds 289 sentences of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes by John [Illustrator] Gilbert exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 289 sentences, grouped into 58 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 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 58 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 3 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 Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes by John [Illustrator] Gilbert on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 905 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #39784 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #39784, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 75 minutes of reading across 181 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes 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 Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
