Chapter 20 of The Countess Cosel is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Countess Cosel is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city. It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility. It was full of soldiers. Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures. No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
Chapter 20 of The Countess Cosel is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
capital of Germany located in eastern Germany
From this reading “At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.”
a prominent attribute or aspect of something
From this reading “It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.”
a city in southeastern Germany on the Elbe River; it was almost totally destroyed by British air raids in 1945
From this reading “No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.”
coming next after the seventeenth in position
From this reading “At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.”
plural of “pleasure” — a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading “Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.”
set down as a rule or guide
From this reading “Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.”
The quality or state of being tranquil; calm and peaceful.
From this reading “It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.”
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading “Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.”
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 “At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.”
In this reading “Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.”
In this reading “At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.”
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 At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
later than; following
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
capital of Germany located in eastern Germany
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
(used of soaps or cleaning agents) having a substance (an abrasive or filler) added to increase effectiveness
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.
a period of 100 years
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
a prominent attribute or aspect of something
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
a city in southeastern Germany on the Elbe River; it was almost totally destroyed by British air raids in 1945
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
coming next after the seventeenth in position
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading It was full of soldiers.
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
a feeling of thoughtful sadness
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
not any; not one
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
and nothing more
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
(often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
plural of “pleasure” — a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.
set down as a rule or guide
From this reading Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.
the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
in the recent past
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading It was full of soldiers.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading No other city could be more melancholy, after gay Dresden, than was Berlin.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
The quality or state of being tranquil; calm and peaceful.
From this reading It had only been recently built, and its principal characteristic was cloister-like order and tranquility.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading At the beginning of the eighteenth century Berlin was a small city.
(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 Everything was prescribed, the business transactions as well as the pleasures.
Chapter 20 of The Countess Cosel by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski holds 157 sentences, grouped into 32 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 20 holds 157 sentences of The Countess Cosel, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Countess Cosel by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 157 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 20 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 Countess Cosel by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5282 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37623 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37623, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 440 minutes of reading across 1057 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Countess Cosel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Countess Cosel 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 Countess Cosel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
