Chapter 2 of Old Friends and New is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Old Friends and New is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
JOHN AINSLIE. Boston, Aug. 2, 1877. This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother. We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
Chapter 2 of Old Friends and New is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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 month following July and preceding September
From this reading “Boston, Aug.”
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading “Boston, Aug.”
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading “We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.”
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading “We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.”
the body of faculty and students of a college
From this reading “We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.”
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.”
an educational institution
From this reading “We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.”
being or feeling set or kept apart from others
From this reading “We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.”
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 “We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.”
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 2, 1877.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 2, 1877.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
in the past
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JOHN AINSLIE.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
the month following July and preceding September
From this reading Boston, Aug.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading Boston, Aug.
the two together, not just one
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
the body of faculty and students of a college
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
a small worthless amount
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading JOHN AINSLIE.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
used to form the superlative
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
and nothing more
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
an educational institution
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
being or feeling set or kept apart from others
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We had been separated most of the time since our childhood; for my father and mother both died then, and our home was broken up, as Jack was to be away at school and college.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading This was a letter which came to me one morning a year or two ago from my only brother.
Chapter 2 of Old Friends and New by Sarah Orne Jewett holds 433 sentences, grouped into 87 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 433 sentences of Old Friends and New, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Old Friends and New by Sarah Orne Jewett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 433 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 Old Friends and New by Sarah Orne Jewett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2559 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32382 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32382, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 213 minutes of reading across 512 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old Friends and New section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Old Friends and New 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 Old Friends and New, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
