Chapter 1 of The New McGuffey First Reader is here in full — 273 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The New McGuffey First Reader is here in full — 273 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Yes, May. It is a yellow rose. If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses. May I have them to keep, mother? You may keep some of them, but you must give some to Lucy.
Chapter 1 of The New McGuffey First Reader is here in full — 273 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/54 · 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.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading “If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.”
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading “May I have them to keep, mother?”
incomplete skeleton of female found in eastern Ethiopia in 1974
From this reading “You may keep some of them, but you must give some to Lucy.”
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “May I have them to keep, mother?”
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading “If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.”
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading “It is a yellow rose.”
plural of “rose” — any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading “If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.”
of the color intermediate between green and orange in the color spectrum; of something resembling the color of an egg yolk
From this reading “It is a yellow rose.”
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 It is a yellow rose.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading You may keep some of them, but you must give some to Lucy.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading May I have them to keep, mother?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is a yellow rose.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is a yellow rose.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading May I have them to keep, mother?
incomplete skeleton of female found in eastern Ethiopia in 1974
From this reading You may keep some of them, but you must give some to Lucy.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading Yes, May.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading May I have them to keep, mother?
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading You may keep some of them, but you must give some to Lucy.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading You may keep some of them, but you must give some to Lucy.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading It is a yellow rose.
plural of “rose” — any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading May I have them to keep, mother?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading May I have them to keep, mother?
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
in the company of; together with
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
of the color intermediate between green and orange in the color spectrum; of something resembling the color of an egg yolk
From this reading It is a yellow rose.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes, May.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
Chapter 1 of The New McGuffey First Reader by William Holmes McGuffey holds 273 sentences, grouped into 55 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 1 holds 273 sentences of The New McGuffey First Reader, unabridged, divided into 55 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The New McGuffey First Reader by William Holmes McGuffey exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 273 sentences, grouped into 55 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 55 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 55 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 New McGuffey First Reader by William Holmes McGuffey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 570 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1489 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1489, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 47 minutes of reading across 114 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The New McGuffey First Reader section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The New McGuffey First Reader 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 New McGuffey First Reader, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
