Chapter XXXIX of Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing, “The Invalid,” is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XXXIX of Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing, “The Invalid,” is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge. “How much is he hurt?” “I don’t know. It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day. Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!”
Chapter XXXIX of Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing, “The Invalid,” is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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.
a vehicle that takes people to and from hospitals
From this reading “It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.”
take exception to
From this reading “Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.”
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading “Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.”
a health facility where patients receive treatment
From this reading “It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.”
be the source of pain
From this reading ““How much is he hurt?””
(ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Irish descent
From this reading “Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.”
show unwillingness towards
From this reading “Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!””
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading “Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!””
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 “It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.”
In this reading “Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.”
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 Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
in the past
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
a vehicle that takes people to and from hospitals
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!”
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
take exception to
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!”
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I don’t know.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
the act of departing
From this reading Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “How much is he hurt?”
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
a health facility where patients receive treatment
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “How much is he hurt?”
be the source of pain
From this reading “How much is he hurt?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I don’t know.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “How much is he hurt?”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “I don’t know.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
a particular point in time
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading “How much is he hurt?”
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!”
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
(ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Irish descent
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
show unwillingness towards
From this reading Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!”
successive (without a break)
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!”
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It happened three days ago, and he was taken to a hospital, but father had him brought in an ambulance to our house to-day.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Paddy hesitated a moment, looking straight into Gwen’s eyes, almost with a challenge.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Surely you are not going to refuse to come...!”
Chapter 39 of Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing by Gertrude Page holds 101 sentences, grouped into 21 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 39 holds 101 sentences of Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 39 of Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing by Gertrude Page exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 101 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 39 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 Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing by Gertrude Page on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6380 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38237 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38237, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 531 minutes of reading across 1276 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing 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 Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
