Chapter 27 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd is here in full — 96 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVII
Chapter 27 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd is here in full — 96 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task. My arm aches from writing. A strange end to my manuscript. I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures! Odd, how things pan out.
Chapter 27 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd is here in full — 96 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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.
plural of “ache” — a dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain
From this reading “My arm aches from writing.”
plural of “failure” — an act that fails
From this reading “I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!”
A book, document, or piece of music written by hand rather than typed or printed.
From this reading “A strange end to my manuscript.”
not divisible by two
From this reading “Odd, how things pan out.”
make a sweeping movement
From this reading “Odd, how things pan out.”
prepared and printed for distribution and sale
From this reading “I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!”
any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
From this reading “APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.”
the act of creating written works
From this reading “My arm aches from writing.”
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.
In this reading “I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!”
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 APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
plural of “ache” — a dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain
From this reading My arm aches from writing.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading My arm aches from writing.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading A strange end to my manuscript.
plural of “failure” — an act that fails
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
(of materials or goods) brought to the desired final state
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading My arm aches from writing.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
the aggregate of past events
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Odd, how things pan out.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
A book, document, or piece of music written by hand rather than typed or printed.
From this reading A strange end to my manuscript.
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
not divisible by two
From this reading Odd, how things pan out.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Odd, how things pan out.
make a sweeping movement
From this reading Odd, how things pan out.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
prepared and printed for distribution and sale
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading A strange end to my manuscript.
any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I meant it to be published some day as the history of one of Poirot’s failures!
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading Odd, how things pan out.
depleted of strength or energy
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A strange end to my manuscript.
precisely as stated
From this reading APOLOGIA Five a.m. I am very tired—but I have finished my task.
the act of creating written works
From this reading My arm aches from writing.
Chapter 27 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie holds 96 sentences, grouped into 20 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 27 holds 96 sentences of The murder of Roger Ackroyd, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 27 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 96 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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 27 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 murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6902 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #69087 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #69087, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 575 minutes of reading across 1381 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The murder of Roger Ackroyd section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The murder of Roger Ackroyd 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 murder of Roger Ackroyd, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
