Chapter 2 of The Old Bachelor: A Comedy is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Old Bachelor: A Comedy is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
VALENTINE. My friend, what to do? I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife. I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me. Then, what employment have I for a friend?
Chapter 2 of The Old Bachelor: A Comedy is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 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.
get temporarily
From this reading “I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me.”
an old form of “can”, used with “thou”
From this reading “I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.”
the state of being employed or having a job
From this reading “Then, what employment have I for a friend?”
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading “I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.”
joined in matrimony
From this reading “I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.”
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading “I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me.”
a sweetheart chosen to receive a greeting on Saint Valentine's Day
From this reading “VALENTINE.”
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading “I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.”
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 Then, what employment have I for a friend?
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
get temporarily
From this reading I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me.
an old form of “can”, used with “thou”
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading My friend, what to do?
the state of being employed or having a job
From this reading Then, what employment have I for a friend?
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Then, what employment have I for a friend?
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading My friend, what to do?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Then, what employment have I for a friend?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
joined in matrimony
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My friend, what to do?
not any; not one
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then, what employment have I for a friend?
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading My friend, what to do?
a sweetheart chosen to receive a greeting on Saint Valentine's Day
From this reading VALENTINE.
precisely as stated
From this reading I am very poor, and thou canst not borrow money of me.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading My friend, what to do?
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
in the company of; together with
From this reading I am no married man, and thou canst not lie with my wife.
Chapter 2 of The Old Bachelor: A Comedy by William Congreve holds 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 2 holds 265 sentences of The Old Bachelor: A Comedy, unabridged, divided into 53 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Old Bachelor: A Comedy by William Congreve exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 53 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 53 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 2 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 Old Bachelor: A Comedy by William Congreve on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1579 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1192 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1192, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 131 minutes of reading across 316 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Old Bachelor: A Comedy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of The Old Bachelor: A Comedy 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 Old Bachelor: A Comedy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
