Chapter 11 of Mothers of men is here in full — 151 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of Mothers of men is here in full — 151 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it. She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction. She paid her fare and sat staring ahead of her. What was to become of her? Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.
Chapter 11 of Mothers of men is here in full — 151 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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.
past form of “board” — get on board of (trains, buses, ships, aircraft, etc.)
From this reading “She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.”
an agenda of things to do
From this reading “She paid her fare and sat staring ahead of her.”
plural of “gum” — a preparation (usually made of sweetened chicle) for chewing
From this reading “Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.”
indistinct enunciation
From this reading “Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.”
in spite of everything; without regard to drawbacks
From this reading “She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.”
a conveyance that transports passengers or freight in carriers suspended from cables and supported by a series of towers
From this reading “She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.”
a wheeled vehicle that runs on rails and is propelled by electricity
From this reading “There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.”
the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention
From this reading “There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.”
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 trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.”
a transit line using streetcars or trolley buses
In this reading “There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.”
come into being or existence, or appear on the scene
In this reading “She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.”
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 trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.
at or in the front
From this reading She paid her fare and sat staring ahead of her.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading What was to become of her?
past form of “board” — get on board of (trains, buses, ships, aircraft, etc.)
From this reading She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.
a line leading to a place or point
From this reading She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
an agenda of things to do
From this reading She paid her fare and sat staring ahead of her.
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.
set up or found
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
plural of “gum” — a preparation (usually made of sweetened chicle) for chewing
From this reading Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
the world of commercial activity where goods and services are bought and sold
From this reading Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.
indistinct enunciation
From this reading Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
marked by the reception of pay
From this reading She paid her fare and sat staring ahead of her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
in spite of everything; without regard to drawbacks
From this reading She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading She paid her fare and sat staring ahead of her.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading She paid her fare and sat staring ahead of her.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading What was to become of her?
in the direction of
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
a conveyance that transports passengers or freight in carriers suspended from cables and supported by a series of towers
From this reading She boarded the first tram that came along, regardless of the direction.
a wheeled vehicle that runs on rails and is propelled by electricity
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What was to become of her?
in or at the place that
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading There was a trolley line along the end of the street where Von Pfaffen lived, and almost without her own volition, Marie found herself making toward it.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Across the way, a fat market woman sat mumbling her gums.
Chapter 11 of Mothers of men by William Henry Warner holds 151 sentences, grouped into 31 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 11 holds 151 sentences of Mothers of men, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of Mothers of men by William Henry Warner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 151 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 11 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 Mothers of men by William Henry Warner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5281 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #75783 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #75783, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 440 minutes of reading across 1057 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mothers of men section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Mothers of men 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 Mothers of men, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
