Chapter 5 of Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice is here in full — 369 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice is here in full — 369 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Shy_. Shall I not barely have my principal? _Por_. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. _Shy_.
Chapter 5 of Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice is here in full — 369 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/73 · 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.
only a very short time before
From this reading “Shall I not barely have my principal?”
something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty
From this reading “Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.”
a person belonging to the worldwide group claiming descent from Jacob (or converted to it) and connected by cultural or religious ties
From this reading “Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.”
a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
From this reading “Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.”
the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
From this reading “Shall I not barely have my principal?”
an old form of “shall”, used with “thou”
From this reading “Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.”
start suddenly, as from fright
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading “Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.”
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.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
only a very short time before
From this reading Shall I not barely have my principal?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Shall I not barely have my principal?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Shall I not barely have my principal?
a person belonging to the worldwide group claiming descent from Jacob (or converted to it) and connected by cultural or religious ties
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Shall I not barely have my principal?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Shall I not barely have my principal?
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Por_.
the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
From this reading Shall I not barely have my principal?
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading Shall I not barely have my principal?
an old form of “shall”, used with “thou”
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
start suddenly, as from fright
From this reading _Shy_.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
Chapter 5 of Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare holds 369 sentences, grouped into 74 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 5 holds 369 sentences of Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice, unabridged, divided into 74 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 369 sentences, grouped into 74 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 74 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 74 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 5 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 Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1814 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12578 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12578, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 151 minutes of reading across 363 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice 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 Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
