Chapter 4 of The Mary Frances Sewing Book is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Mary Frances Sewing Book is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door: “Great kind of bird, Upon my word! Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.” “Peep! Sweet, sw-e-et!
Chapter 4 of The Mary Frances Sewing Book is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 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.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:”
someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police
From this reading “SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:”
someone who is a detective
From this reading “SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:”
plural of “france” — a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading “SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:”
look furtively
From this reading ““Peep!”
joining or attaching by stitches
From this reading “SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:”
deliver by singing
From this reading “Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.””
plural of “tease” — someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity)
From this reading “SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:”
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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
anew
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
someone who is a detective
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
take in solid food
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
plural of “france” — a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading “Great kind of bird, Upon my word!
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading “Great kind of bird, Upon my word!
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Great kind of bird, Upon my word!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Great kind of bird, Upon my word!
look furtively
From this reading “Peep!
joining or attaching by stitches
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
deliver by singing
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sweet, sw-e-et!
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
plural of “tease” — someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity)
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
a special situation
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading SEWING BIRD TEASES DICK CANARY MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
a formal word for “on”
From this reading “Great kind of bird, Upon my word!
which person or people
From this reading Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading “Great kind of bird, Upon my word!
Chapter 4 of The Mary Frances Sewing Book by Jane Eayre Fryer holds 67 sentences, grouped into 14 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 67 sentences of The Mary Frances Sewing Book, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Mary Frances Sewing Book by Jane Eayre Fryer exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 67 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 Mary Frances Sewing Book by Jane Eayre Fryer on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3661 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58937 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58937, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 305 minutes of reading across 733 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mary Frances Sewing Book section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Mary Frances Sewing Book 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 Mary Frances Sewing Book, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
