Chapter 1 of The history of Tabby, a favourite cat is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The history of Tabby, a favourite cat is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_A FAVOURITE CAT_. AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN. By E. SMYTH. At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall. C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.
Chapter 1 of The history of Tabby, a favourite cat is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
a competitor thought likely to win
From this reading “_A FAVOURITE CAT_.”
plural of “game” — a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading “At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.”
serving to instruct or enlighten or inform
From this reading “At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.”
of or relating to or characteristic of or appropriate for children or young people
From this reading “At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.”
young domestic cat
From this reading “AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.”
someone whose occupation is printing
From this reading “C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.”
being connected either logically or causally or by shared characteristics
From this reading “AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.”
a facility where things can be deposited for storage or safekeeping
From this reading “At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading _A FAVOURITE CAT_.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.
a degree on the centigrade scale of temperature
From this reading C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.
feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
From this reading _A FAVOURITE CAT_.
a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for normal reproduction; an important antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals in the body
From this reading By E. SMYTH.
an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
a competitor thought likely to win
From this reading _A FAVOURITE CAT_.
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
plural of “game” — a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.
serving to instruct or enlighten or inform
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
a native or inhabitant of Italy
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
of or relating to or characteristic of or appropriate for children or young people
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
young domestic cat
From this reading AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.
a room where books are kept
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.
not any; not one
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
a 17th century game; a wooden ball was driven along an alley with a mallet
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
someone whose occupation is printing
From this reading C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.
being connected either logically or causally or by shared characteristics
From this reading AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.
a facility where things can be deposited for storage or safekeeping
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading By E. SMYTH.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading At the Juvenile Library of English, French, and Italian Books, and Repository of Instructive Games, No. 75, St. James’s-Street, Pall-Mall.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading AS RELATED BY HERSELF TO HER KITTEN.
Chapter 1 of The history of Tabby, a favourite cat by E. Smyth holds 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 186 sentences of The history of Tabby, a favourite cat, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The history of Tabby, a favourite cat by E. Smyth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 history of Tabby, a favourite cat by E. Smyth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 186 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #76440 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #76440, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 15 minutes of reading across 38 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The history of Tabby, a favourite cat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The history of Tabby, a favourite cat 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 history of Tabby, a favourite cat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
