Chapter 5 of The City of the Discreet is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The City of the Discreet is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.” “Very well,” Quentin answered, “must I go today?” “You’d better.” “Then I shall.” “Do you remember where he lives?”
Chapter 5 of The City of the Discreet is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading “BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.””
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading “BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.””
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.””
plural of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading ““Do you remember where he lives?””
humorist who wrote about the imaginary life of cockroaches (1878-1937)
From this reading “BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.””
used with “to” to say what is right or advisable
From this reading “BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.””
To recall to mind.
From this reading ““Do you remember where he lives?””
the present time or age
From this reading ““Very well,” Quentin answered, “must I go today?””
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 “BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.””
In this reading “BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.””
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading “Very well,” Quentin answered, “must I go today?”
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading “You’d better.”
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “Do you remember where he lives?”
opinion or judgment
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Do you remember where he lives?”
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Very well,” Quentin answered, “must I go today?”
plural of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading “Do you remember where he lives?”
humorist who wrote about the imaginary life of cockroaches (1878-1937)
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading “Very well,” Quentin answered, “must I go today?”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
used with “to” to say what is right or advisable
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
To recall to mind.
From this reading “Do you remember where he lives?”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading “Then I shall.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “Then I shall.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
the present time or age
From this reading “Very well,” Quentin answered, “must I go today?”
precisely as stated
From this reading “Very well,” Quentin answered, “must I go today?”
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Very well,” Quentin answered, “must I go today?”
in or at the place that
From this reading “Do you remember where he lives?”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading BLUE EYES, BLACK EYES “See here, Quentin,” said his mother, “you ought to go and call on the Marquis.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You’d better.”
Chapter 5 of The City of the Discreet by Pío Baroja holds 177 sentences, grouped into 36 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 177 sentences of The City of the Discreet, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The City of the Discreet by Pío Baroja exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 177 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 The City of the Discreet by Pío Baroja on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6657 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56324 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56324, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 554 minutes of reading across 1332 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The City of the Discreet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The City of the Discreet 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 City of the Discreet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
