Chapter 2 of Mrs. Dot: A Farce is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Mrs. Dot: A Farce is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MRS. DOT. Well, they taught you nothing about clothes. BLENKINSOP. I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
Chapter 2 of Mrs. Dot: A Farce is here in full — 417 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.
clothing in general
From this reading “Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.”
a very small circular shape
From this reading “DOT.”
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading “I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.”
on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
From this reading “I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.”
inflected form of “teach” — impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading “Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.”
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading “I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.”
hope for; have a wish
From this reading “I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.”
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading “I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.”
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.
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
(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 wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BLENKINSOP.
clothing in general
From this reading Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.
a very small circular shape
From this reading DOT.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading MRS.
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
not any; not one
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
inflected form of “teach” — impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
(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 Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
hope for; have a wish
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I wish sometimes that nice women wouldn’t get themselves up as if they were no better than they should be.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Well, they taught you nothing about clothes.
Chapter 2 of Mrs. Dot: A Farce by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham holds 417 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 2 holds 417 sentences of Mrs. Dot: A Farce, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Mrs. Dot: A Farce by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 417 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 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 Mrs. Dot: A Farce by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham 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 Mrs. Dot: A Farce section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Mrs. Dot: A Farce 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 Mrs. Dot: A Farce, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
