Chapter 3 of The First Man is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The First Man is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl! MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome? CURTIS--[Kisses her--tenderly.] Martha! What a foolish question, sweetheart. If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
Chapter 3 of The First Man is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
English botanical writer and publisher (1746-1799)
From this reading “CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl!”
pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness
From this reading “MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?”
plural of “kiss” — the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)
From this reading “CURTIS--[Kisses her--tenderly.] Martha!”
ludicrous, foolish
From this reading “CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl!”
the act of gripping and pressing firmly
From this reading “CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl!”
a person loved by another person
From this reading “What a foolish question, sweetheart.”
with tenderness; in a tender manner
From this reading “CURTIS--[Kisses her--tenderly.] Martha!”
displeasing to the senses
From this reading “MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?”
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 What a foolish question, sweetheart.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
English botanical writer and publisher (1746-1799)
From this reading CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl!
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
divisible by two
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
at any time
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
devoid of good sense or judgment
From this reading What a foolish question, sweetheart.
a young female
From this reading CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl!
pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
and nothing more
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
plural of “kiss” — the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)
From this reading CURTIS--[Kisses her--tenderly.] Martha!
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading What a foolish question, sweetheart.
ludicrous, foolish
From this reading CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl!
affectionate play (or foreplay without contact with the genital organs)
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
the act of gripping and pressing firmly
From this reading CURTIS--[Squeezing her.] Silly girl!
not in physical motion
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
having strength or power greater than average or expected
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
a person loved by another person
From this reading What a foolish question, sweetheart.
with tenderness; in a tender manner
From this reading CURTIS--[Kisses her--tenderly.] Martha!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
displeasing to the senses
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If we ever have to grow old, we'll do it together just as we've always done everything.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What a foolish question, sweetheart.
at the time that
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading MARTHA--[Snuggling close to him.] Will you always love me--even when I'm old and ugly and feeble and you're still young and strong and handsome?
Chapter 3 of The First Man by Eugene O'Neill holds 406 sentences, grouped into 82 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 3 holds 406 sentences of The First Man, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The First Man by Eugene O'Neill exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 3 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 First Man by Eugene O'Neill on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2032 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4026 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4026, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 169 minutes of reading across 407 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The First Man section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The First Man 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 First Man, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
