Chapter 4 of Pygmalion is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Pygmalion is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DOOLITTLE. Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor. She’s that kind of woman: you know. I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine. I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
Chapter 4 of Pygmalion is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
conforming to your own liking or feelings or nature
From this reading “I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.”
United States Air Force officer who electrified the world in 1942 by leading a squadron of 16 bombers on a daylight raid over Tokyo (1896-1993)
From this reading “DOOLITTLE.”
the head of a state government
From this reading “Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.”
a landlord who is a woman
From this reading “Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.”
force somebody to do something
From this reading “I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.”
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading “I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.”
stout-bodied short-legged omnivorous animals
From this reading “I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.”
(of persons) worthy of trust or confidence
From this reading “Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.”
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 I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
conforming to your own liking or feelings or nature
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
a youthful male person
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
United States Air Force officer who electrified the world in 1942 by leading a squadron of 16 bombers on a daylight raid over Tokyo (1896-1993)
From this reading DOOLITTLE.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
the head of a state government
From this reading Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.
and nothing more
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading She’s that kind of woman: you know.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading She’s that kind of woman: you know.
a landlord who is a woman
From this reading Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
engage in
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
force somebody to do something
From this reading I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading She’s that kind of woman: you know.
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She’s that kind of woman: you know.
stout-bodied short-legged omnivorous animals
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading She’s that kind of woman: you know.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine.
(of persons) worthy of trust or confidence
From this reading Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading She’s that kind of woman: you know.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Landlady wouldn’t have trusted me with it, Governor.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading She’s that kind of woman: you know.
Chapter 4 of Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 4 holds 412 sentences of Pygmalion, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 4 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 Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3679 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3825 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3825, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 306 minutes of reading across 736 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Pygmalion section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Pygmalion 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 Pygmalion, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
