Chapter 21 of Plays : Fifth Series is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of Plays : Fifth Series is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
JOHNNY. Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world. FAITH. [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset. JOHNNY.
Chapter 21 of Plays : Fifth Series is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.”
plural of “baby” — a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading “Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.”
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading “[With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.”
(informal) very unpleasant
From this reading “Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.”
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading “[With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.”
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading “JOHNNY.”
not necessary
From this reading “Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.”
disturb the balance or stability of
From this reading “[With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.”
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 [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
plural of “baby” — a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
(informal) very unpleasant
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
From this reading FAITH.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading JOHNNY.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
not necessary
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
disturb the balance or stability of
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
in the company of; together with
From this reading [With a faint smile] My baby wasn't beastly; but I--I got upset.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading Beastly things, babies; and absolutely unnecessary in the present state of the world.
Chapter 21 of Plays : Fifth Series by John Galsworthy holds 406 sentences, grouped into 82 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 21 holds 406 sentences of Plays : Fifth Series, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of Plays : Fifth Series by John Galsworthy exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 21 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 Plays : Fifth Series by John Galsworthy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9249 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5059 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5059, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1850 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Plays : Fifth Series section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of Plays : Fifth Series 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 Plays : Fifth Series, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
