Chapter 16 of The Head of the House of Coombe is here in full — 234 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Head of the House of Coombe is here in full — 234 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“A nice, well-behaved Royal Family.” There had been several of them in Europe for some time. An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity. The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books. Some, however, had not.
Chapter 16 of The Head of the House of Coombe is here in full — 234 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 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.
enough to be estimated or measured
From this reading “An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.”
a line that indicates a boundary
From this reading “The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.”
a reproduction of a written record (e.g. of a legal or school record)
From this reading “The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.”
the quality of being domestic or domesticated
From this reading “An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.”
written (by handwriting, printing, engraving, or carving) on or in a surface
From this reading “The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.”
with ostentation; in an ostentatious manner
From this reading “An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.”
past form of “pride” — be proud of
From this reading “An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.”
plural of “principle” — a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct
From this reading “The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.”
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 “A nice, well-behaved Royal Family.”
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
enough to be estimated or measured
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
past form of “believe” — accept as true; take to be true
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
a line that indicates a boundary
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
a reproduction of a written record (e.g. of a legal or school record)
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
the quality of being domestic or domesticated
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use “Europe” to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
divisible by two
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
a social unit living together
From this reading “A nice, well-behaved Royal Family.”
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
used to add a contrasting statement
From this reading Some, however, had not.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
written (by handwriting, printing, engraving, or carving) on or in a surface
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behavior and character based on those principles
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading “A nice, well-behaved Royal Family.”
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Some, however, had not.
the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
with ostentation; in an ostentatious manner
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
past form of “pride” — be proud of
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
plural of “principle” — a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
of or relating to or indicative of or issued or performed by a king or queen or other monarch
From this reading “A nice, well-behaved Royal Family.”
(used with count nouns) of an indefinite number more than 2 or 3 but not many
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by an opaque body
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading There had been several of them in Europe for some time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading An appreciable number of them had prided themselves, even a shade ostentatiously, upon their domesticity.
plural of “view” — a way of regarding situations or topics etc.
From this reading The moral views of a few had been believed to border upon the high principles inscribed in copy books.
(usually of children) someone who behaves in a manner that the speaker believes is correct
From this reading “A nice, well-behaved Royal Family.”
Chapter 16 of The Head of the House of Coombe by Frances Hodgson Burnett holds 234 sentences, grouped into 47 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 16 holds 234 sentences of The Head of the House of Coombe, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Head of the House of Coombe by Frances Hodgson Burnett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 234 sentences, grouped into 47 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 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 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 16 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.
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Yes. All 7022 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6491 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6491, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 585 minutes of reading across 1405 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Head of the House of Coombe section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 31 chapters of The Head of the House of Coombe to begin.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Head of the House of Coombe, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
