Chapter 4 of The Grey Woman and other Tales is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Grey Woman and other Tales is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
All this time I was driving at the letter. “I was born at Altenahr. My father is an innkeeper there. He owns the ‘Golden Stag.’ My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
Chapter 4 of The Grey Woman and other Tales is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
brought into existence
From this reading ““I was born at Altenahr.”
having the power of driving or impelling
From this reading “All this time I was driving at the letter.”
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading “He owns the ‘Golden Stag.’”
the owner or manager of an inn
From this reading “My father is an innkeeper there.”
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading “All this time I was driving at the letter.”
joined in matrimony
From this reading “My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.””
third-person singular of “own” — have ownership or possession of
From this reading “He owns the ‘Golden Stag.’”
attend a dance or a party without a female companion
From this reading “He owns the ‘Golden Stag.’”
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.
anew
From this reading My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
(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 All this time I was driving at the letter.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I was born at Altenahr.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading My father is an innkeeper there.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading All this time I was driving at the letter.
brought into existence
From this reading “I was born at Altenahr.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
having the power of driving or impelling
From this reading All this time I was driving at the letter.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading My father is an innkeeper there.
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading He owns the ‘Golden Stag.’
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He owns the ‘Golden Stag.’
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading All this time I was driving at the letter.
the owner or manager of an inn
From this reading My father is an innkeeper there.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading My father is an innkeeper there.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading All this time I was driving at the letter.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
joined in matrimony
From this reading My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading My mother is dead, and he has married again, and has many children.”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My father is an innkeeper there.
third-person singular of “own” — have ownership or possession of
From this reading He owns the ‘Golden Stag.’
attend a dance or a party without a female companion
From this reading He owns the ‘Golden Stag.’
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading All this time I was driving at the letter.
in or at that place or location
From this reading My father is an innkeeper there.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading All this time I was driving at the letter.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading All this time I was driving at the letter.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading All this time I was driving at the letter.
Chapter 4 of The Grey Woman and other Tales by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell holds 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 4 holds 420 sentences of The Grey Woman and other Tales, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Grey Woman and other Tales by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 4 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 Grey Woman and other Tales by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3229 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #28636 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #28636, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 269 minutes of reading across 646 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Grey Woman and other Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Grey Woman and other Tales 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 Grey Woman and other Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
