Chapter 2 of The children of Dickens is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The children of Dickens is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“There’s half a pint of ale for you. Will you have it now?” I thanked him and said “Yes.” Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful. “My eye!” he said.
Chapter 2 of The children of Dickens is here in full — 451 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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 general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the United States an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume
From this reading ““There’s half a pint of ale for you.”
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading “Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.”
the organ of sight
From this reading ““My eye!” he said.”
a large bottle with a narrow mouth
From this reading “Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.”
a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 4 gills or 568.26 cubic centimeters
From this reading ““There’s half a pint of ale for you.”
past form of “pour” — cause to run
From this reading “Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.”
past form of “thank” — express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading “I thanked him and said “Yes.””
a gymnast who performs rolls and somersaults and twists etc.
From this reading “Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.”
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.
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’s half a pint of ale for you.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the United States an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume
From this reading “There’s half a pint of ale for you.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I thanked him and said “Yes.”
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
the organ of sight
From this reading “My eye!” he said.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “There’s half a pint of ale for you.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading “There’s half a pint of ale for you.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Will you have it now?”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I thanked him and said “Yes.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I thanked him and said “Yes.”
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Will you have it now?”
a large bottle with a narrow mouth
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “My eye!” he said.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Will you have it now?”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “There’s half a pint of ale for you.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 4 gills or 568.26 cubic centimeters
From this reading “There’s half a pint of ale for you.
past form of “pour” — cause to run
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading I thanked him and said “Yes.”
past form of “thank” — express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading I thanked him and said “Yes.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “There’s half a pint of ale for you.
a gymnast who performs rolls and somersaults and twists etc.
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Upon which he poured it out of a jug into a large tumbler, and held it up against the light, and made it look beautiful.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Will you have it now?”
an affirmative
From this reading I thanked him and said “Yes.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “There’s half a pint of ale for you.
Chapter 2 of The children of Dickens by Samuel McChord Crothers holds 451 sentences, grouped into 91 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 2 holds 451 sentences of The children of Dickens, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The children of Dickens by Samuel McChord Crothers exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 451 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 2 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 children of Dickens by Samuel McChord Crothers on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The children of Dickens section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The children of Dickens 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 children of Dickens, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
