Chapter 40 of The Coquette is here in full — 46 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XL
Chapter 40 of The Coquette is here in full — 46 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TO MISS JULIA GRANBY. BOSTON. A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene. Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner? Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
Chapter 40 of The Coquette is here in full — 46 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 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.
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading “BOSTON.”
past form of “conceive” — have the idea for
From this reading “Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?”
occurring at or forming an end or termination
From this reading “A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.”
causing distress or worry or anxiety
From this reading “Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?”
a feeling of thoughtful sadness
From this reading “A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.”
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading “A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.”
very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
From this reading “A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.”
past form of “unfold” — develop or come to a promising stage
From this reading “A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.”
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 A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading BOSTON.
past form of “conceive” — have the idea for
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
occurring at or forming an end or termination
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
dearly loved
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
causing distress or worry or anxiety
From this reading Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
destroyed or killed
From this reading Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TO MISS JULIA GRANBY.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TO MISS JULIA GRANBY.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?
a feeling of thoughtful sadness
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading TO MISS JULIA GRANBY.
used to form the superlative
From this reading Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
capable of happening or existing
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
the place where some action occurs
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Is she then gone? gone in this most distressing manner?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading TO MISS JULIA GRANBY.
very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
past form of “unfold” — develop or come to a promising stage
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Have I lost my once-loved friend? lost her in a way which I could never have conceived to be possible?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading A melancholy tale have you unfolded, my dear Julia; and tragic indeed is the concluding scene.
Chapter 40 of The Coquette by Hannah Webster Foster holds 46 sentences, grouped into 10 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 40 holds 46 sentences of The Coquette, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 40 of The Coquette by Hannah Webster Foster exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 46 sentences, grouped into 10 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 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 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 40 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 Coquette by Hannah Webster Foster on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3063 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12431 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12431, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 255 minutes of reading across 613 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Coquette section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Coquette 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 Coquette, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
