Chapter 3 of The Old House: A Novel is here in full — 313 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Old House: A Novel is here in full — 313 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Winter came many times. Summer came many times. The children did not count them. Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube. Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
Chapter 3 of The Old House: A Novel is here in full — 313 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/62 · 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.
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading “Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.”
a structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc.
From this reading “Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.”
a series of things depending on each other as if linked together
From this reading “Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.”
the 2nd longest European river (after the Volga); flows from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea
From this reading “Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.”
aimless wandering from place to place
From this reading “Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.”
(of animals) fully developed
From this reading “Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.”
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading “Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.”
at the same time but in another place
From this reading “Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.”
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 “Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.”
In this reading “Winter came many times.”
In this reading “Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
a structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc.
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Winter came many times.
a series of things depending on each other as if linked together
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading The children did not count them.
determine the number or amount of
From this reading The children did not count them.
the 2nd longest European river (after the Volga); flows from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading The children did not count them.
aimless wandering from place to place
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
divisible by two
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
(of animals) fully developed
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
a heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of oxygen by the blood
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading Winter came many times.
at the same time but in another place
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The children did not count them.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
plural of “piece” — a separate part of a whole
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
From this reading Summer came many times.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The children did not count them.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading The children did not count them.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading Winter came many times.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Meanwhile an iron chain bridge had grown together from the two banks of the Danube.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
at the time that
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading Winter came many times.
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading Even when the ice was drifting it was not taken to pieces; it was beautiful and remained there all the year.
Chapter 3 of The Old House: A Novel by Cécile Tormay holds 313 sentences, grouped into 63 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 3 holds 313 sentences of The Old House: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 63 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Old House: A Novel by Cécile Tormay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 313 sentences, grouped into 63 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 63 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 63 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 3 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 House: A Novel by Cécile Tormay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5724 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66344 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66344, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 477 minutes of reading across 1145 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Old House: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Old House: A Novel 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 House: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
