Chapter 3 of Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood is here in full — 62 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood is here in full — 62 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her. We thought her _very_ old. I suppose she was about forty. She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip. Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
Chapter 3 of Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood is here in full — 62 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
carefully weighed
From this reading “Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.”
being ten more than thirty
From this reading “I suppose she was about forty.”
greater in size or importance or degree
From this reading “Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.”
a servant who is employed to perform domestic task in a household
From this reading “Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.”
either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading “She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.”
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading “Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.”
a convict who is considered trustworthy and granted special privileges
From this reading “Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.”
the topmost one of two
From this reading “She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.”
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 Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading I suppose she was about forty.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
harshly critical or expressing censure
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
carefully weighed
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
the property created by the space between two objects or points
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
being ten more than thirty
From this reading I suppose she was about forty.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
greater in size or importance or degree
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
a servant who is employed to perform domestic task in a household
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I suppose she was about forty.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading We thought her _very_ old.
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I suppose she was about forty.
successive (without a break)
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
express a supposition
From this reading I suppose she was about forty.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading We thought her _very_ old.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Indeed the distance from her nose to her mouth was greater than the length of her nose.
a convict who is considered trustworthy and granted special privileges
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
the topmost one of two
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
precisely as stated
From this reading We thought her _very_ old.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I suppose she was about forty.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We thought her _very_ old.
in the company of; together with
From this reading She was not pleasant, for she was grim-faced and censorious, with a very straight back, and a very long upper lip.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Kirsty My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
Chapter 3 of Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood by George MacDonald holds 62 sentences, grouped into 13 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 3 holds 62 sentences of Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood, unabridged, divided into 13 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood by George MacDonald exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 62 sentences, grouped into 13 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 13 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 13 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 3 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 Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood by George MacDonald on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3967 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9301 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9301, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 330 minutes of reading across 794 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood 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 Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
