Chapter 1 of The Dutch Twins is here in full — 511 sentences across 103 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Dutch Twins is here in full — 511 sentences across 103 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim. They each had one little fat duckling of their very own. The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water. "Don't do that, Kit," said Kat. "The ducklings don't like it.
Chapter 1 of The Dutch Twins is here in full — 511 sentences across 103 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 35/102 · 5 reading units · Lines 171–175
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.
flesh of a young domestic duck
From this reading “They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.”
plural of “duckling” — flesh of a young domestic duck
From this reading “Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.”
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading “They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.”
the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant
From this reading “Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.”
a case for containing a set of articles
From this reading “Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.”
make a sweeping movement
From this reading “Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.”
travel through water
From this reading “Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.”
the profession of a teacher
From this reading “Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.”
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 Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "Don't do that, Kit," said Kat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Don't do that, Kit," said Kat.
flesh of a young domestic duck
From this reading They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
plural of “duckling” — flesh of a young domestic duck
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water.
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "The ducklings don't like it.
the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
a case for containing a set of articles
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
held up in the air
From this reading The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "The ducklings don't like it.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
above and across; more than
From this reading The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
make a sweeping movement
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Don't do that, Kit," said Kat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water.
travel through water
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
the profession of a teacher
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Don't do that, Kit," said Kat.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
precisely as stated
From this reading They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim.
at the time that
From this reading The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the pan into the water.
Chapter 1 of The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins holds 511 sentences, grouped into 103 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 1 holds 511 sentences of The Dutch Twins, unabridged, divided into 103 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 511 sentences, grouped into 103 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 103 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 103 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 1 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 Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1516 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4012 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4012, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 126 minutes of reading across 304 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Dutch Twins section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of The Dutch Twins 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 Dutch Twins, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
