Chapter 8 of The Passionate Friends is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Passionate Friends is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me. For it's lying, Riddling. Listen! It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin. So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
Chapter 8 of The Passionate Friends is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack
From this reading “It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.”
past form of “insist” — be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
From this reading “"You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.”
evidencing the possession of inside information
From this reading “"You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.”
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading “"You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.”
hear with intention
From this reading “Listen!”
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading “For it's lying, Riddling.”
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading “It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.”
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading “"You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.”
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 “"You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.”
hang around idly
In this reading “"You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
divisible by two
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For it's lying, Riddling.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
past form of “insist” — be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading For it's lying, Riddling.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
evidencing the possession of inside information
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
hear with intention
From this reading Listen!
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading For it's lying, Riddling.
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading For it's lying, Riddling.
precisely, exactly
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading It isn't true that I'm besieging Lady Mary Justin.
up to a particular time
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
in or at the place that
From this reading So far from besieging her I didn't even know where she was until you told me.
which person or people
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You should have pulled him up and insisted upon knowing who he was, and what right he had to lie about me.
Chapter 8 of The Passionate Friends by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 8 holds 415 sentences of The Passionate Friends, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Passionate Friends by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 8 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 Passionate Friends by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5776 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30340 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30340, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 481 minutes of reading across 1156 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Passionate Friends section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of The Passionate Friends 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 Passionate Friends, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
