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.
Vrouw Vedder listened. The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy. Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen. Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed. She gave them each a kiss.
Chapter 1 of The Dutch Twins is here in full — 511 sentences across 103 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 9/102 · 5 reading units · Lines 41–45
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 yard adjoining a barn
From this reading “The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.”
(astronomy) an indistinct surface feature of Mars once thought to be a system of channels; they are now believed to be an optical illusion
From this reading “The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.”
an instance of boastful talk
From this reading “The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.”
a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
From this reading “Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.”
plural of “duck” — small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs
From this reading “The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.”
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 were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.”
a case for containing a set of articles
From this reading “Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.”
plural of “rooster” — adult male chicken
From this reading “The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.”
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 Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
in a state of sleep
From this reading Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
a yard adjoining a barn
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
(astronomy) an indistinct surface feature of Mars once thought to be a system of channels; they are now believed to be an optical illusion
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
an instance of boastful talk
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
From this reading Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.
plural of “duck” — small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading She gave them each a kiss.
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading She gave them each a kiss.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
the emotion of great happiness
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
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 were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.
the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)
From this reading She gave them each a kiss.
a case for containing a set of articles
From this reading Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.
a room equipped for preparing meals
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
past form of “listen” — hear with intention
From this reading Vrouw Vedder listened.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
plural of “rooster” — adult male chicken
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
not in physical motion
From this reading Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading She gave them each a kiss.
a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Vrouw Vedder listened.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Vrouw Vedder listened.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her own, as she went back into her kitchen.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy.
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.
