Chapter 12 of The Kentons is here in full — 187 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Kentons is here in full — 187 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Ah, ha, ha!" Boyne broke in. "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew. Women, I suppose she'd call them." "Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.
Chapter 12 of The Kentons is here in full — 187 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.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading “"Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.”
a battle in the War of the Grand Alliance in Ireland in 1690; William III defeated the deposed James II and so ended the Catholicism that had been reintroduced in England by the Stuarts
From this reading “Boyne broke in.”
lacking funds
From this reading “Boyne broke in.”
a man of refinement
From this reading “"Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.”
plural of “lady” — a polite name for any woman
From this reading “"Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.”
roused to anger
From this reading “"Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.”
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading “"Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.”
express a supposition
From this reading “Women, I suppose she'd call them."”
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 "Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Ah, ha, ha!"
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading "Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.
for the reason that
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
a battle in the War of the Grand Alliance in Ireland in 1690; William III defeated the deposed James II and so ended the Catholicism that had been reintroduced in England by the Stuarts
From this reading Boyne broke in.
lacking funds
From this reading Boyne broke in.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Women, I suppose she'd call them."
a man of refinement
From this reading "Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.
(astronomy) the angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing; the right ascension for an observer at a particular location and time of day
From this reading "Ah, ha, ha!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Women, I suppose she'd call them."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Boyne broke in.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
plural of “lady” — a polite name for any woman
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
roused to anger
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Women, I suppose she'd call them."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
express in speech
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
express a supposition
From this reading Women, I suppose she'd call them."
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Women, I suppose she'd call them."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Lottie is mad because he stopped to speak to some ladies he knew.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, I shouldn't call him a gentleman, anyway," said Lottie.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Women, I suppose she'd call them."
Chapter 12 of The Kentons by William Dean Howells holds 187 sentences, grouped into 38 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 12 holds 187 sentences of The Kentons, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Kentons by William Dean Howells exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 187 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 12 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 Kentons by William Dean Howells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4483 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3362 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3362, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 373 minutes of reading across 897 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Kentons section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Kentons 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 Kentons, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
