Chapter 31 of Shirley is here in full — 514 sentences across 103 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of Shirley is here in full — 514 sentences across 103 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
UNCLE AND NIECE. The die was cast. Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it. That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business. Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
Chapter 31 of Shirley is here in full — 514 sentences across 103 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/102 · 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 member of the British order of honor; ranks below a baron but above a knight
From this reading “Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.”
put or send forth
From this reading “The die was cast.”
recognizable; marked
From this reading “That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.”
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “The die was cast.”
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading “That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.”
a daughter of your brother or sister
From this reading “UNCLE AND NIECE.”
Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)
From this reading “Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.”
religious residence in a monastery governed by a prior or a convent governed by a prioress
From this reading “That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.”
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 “That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.”
In this reading “Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.”
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 Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading UNCLE AND NIECE.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
a member of the British order of honor; ranks below a baron but above a knight
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
put or send forth
From this reading The die was cast.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
recognizable; marked
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading The die was cast.
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
a social unit living together
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.
a daughter of your brother or sister
From this reading UNCLE AND NIECE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)
From this reading Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
religious residence in a monastery governed by a prior or a convent governed by a prioress
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.
term of address for a man
From this reading Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir Philip Nunnely knew it; Shirley knew it; Mr. Sympson knew it.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The die was cast.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two or three things conduced to bring the baronet to a point.
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading UNCLE AND NIECE.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The die was cast.
at the time that
From this reading That evening, when all the Fieldhead family dined at Nunnely Priory, decided the business.
Chapter 31 of Shirley by Charlotte Brontë holds 514 sentences, grouped into 103 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 31 holds 514 sentences of Shirley, unabridged, divided into 103 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of Shirley by Charlotte Brontë exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 514 sentences, grouped into 103 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 103 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 103 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 31 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 Shirley by Charlotte Brontë on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 14226 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30486 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30486, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2846 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Shirley section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of Shirley 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 Shirley, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
