Chapter 19 of The best short stories of 1917, and is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of The best short stories of 1917, and is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"It's you will be my responsibility now, ma." "No! No!" "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down. Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
Chapter 19 of The best short stories of 1917, and is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading “"The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.”
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “"The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.”
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading “"It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."”
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading “"The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.”
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading “"The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.”
refrain from harming
From this reading “"The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.”
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading “Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.”
plural of “want” — a state of extreme poverty
From this reading “"The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.”
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 "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
informal terms for a mother
From this reading "It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."
not any; not one
From this reading "No!
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading "It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."
precisely, exactly
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
refrain from harming
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
a special situation
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
plural of “want” — a state of extreme poverty
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Wasn't it sweet for him to put it that way right off, ma.
at the time that
From this reading "The first thing Lester says was a flat on Wasserman and a spare room for mother Coblenz when she wants to come down.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "It's you will be my responsibility now, ma."
Chapter 19 of The best short stories of 1917, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien holds 442 sentences, grouped into 89 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 19 holds 442 sentences of The best short stories of 1917, and, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of The best short stories of 1917, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 442 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 19 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 best short stories of 1917, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 18263 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20872 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20872, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3653 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The best short stories of 1917, and section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The best short stories of 1917, and 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 best short stories of 1917, and, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
