Chapter 4 of The Adventures of François 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 IV
Chapter 4 of The Adventures of François is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life. She might have been then some fifty years old. ’T is now twelve years ago. At her house the marquis met my wife. One day my Renée was gone, and this Quintette with her.
Chapter 4 of The Adventures of François 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.
in the past
From this reading “’T is now twelve years ago.”
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “"There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.”
someone who makes or mends dresses
From this reading “"There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.”
the cardinal number that is the product of ten and five
From this reading “She might have been then some fifty years old.”
humorist who wrote about the imaginary life of cockroaches (1878-1937)
From this reading “At her house the marquis met my wife.”
feeling no shame
From this reading “"There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
From this reading “’T is now twelve years ago.”
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading “"There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.”
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 “She might have been then some fifty years old.”
In this reading “’T is now twelve years ago.”
In this reading “She might have been then some fifty years old.”
In this reading “"There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.”
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 "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
in the past
From this reading ’T is now twelve years ago.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading One day my Renée was gone, and this Quintette with her.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At her house the marquis met my wife.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading One day my Renée was gone, and this Quintette with her.
someone who makes or mends dresses
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
the cardinal number that is the product of ten and five
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
destroyed or killed
From this reading One day my Renée was gone, and this Quintette with her.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading At her house the marquis met my wife.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading At her house the marquis met my wife.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ’T is now twelve years ago.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
humorist who wrote about the imaginary life of cockroaches (1878-1937)
From this reading At her house the marquis met my wife.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading At her house the marquis met my wife.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading At her house the marquis met my wife.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading ’T is now twelve years ago.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One day my Renée was gone, and this Quintette with her.
five performers or singers who perform together
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading One day my Renée was gone, and this Quintette with her.
feeling no shame
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
a base found in DNA (but not in RNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine
From this reading ’T is now twelve years ago.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading One day my Renée was gone, and this Quintette with her.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
From this reading ’T is now twelve years ago.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading At her house the marquis met my wife.
in the company of; together with
From this reading One day my Renée was gone, and this Quintette with her.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading "There was a woman in the village, Mme. Quintette, a dressmaker, a shameless creature of bad life.
a late time of life
From this reading She might have been then some fifty years old.
Chapter 4 of The Adventures of François by S. Weir (Silas Weir) Mitchell holds 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 4 holds 406 sentences of The Adventures of François, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Adventures of François by S. Weir (Silas Weir) Mitchell exactly as it stands in the 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 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 The Adventures of François by S. Weir (Silas Weir) Mitchell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6265 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #43241 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #43241, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 522 minutes of reading across 1253 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Adventures of François section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of The Adventures of François 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 The Adventures of François, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
