Chapter 4 of The Philanderer is here in full — 443 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Philanderer is here in full — 443 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it). What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris? CHARTERIS. Nothing. It's such a confounded room to get about in.
Chapter 4 of The Philanderer is here in full — 443 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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.
a piece of furniture with shelves for storing books
From this reading “CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).”
perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment
From this reading “It's such a confounded room to get about in.”
lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful
From this reading “CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).”
placed crosswise
From this reading “CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).”
a word used in exclamations of confusion
From this reading “What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?”
-ing form of “do” — engage in
From this reading “What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?”
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading “CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).”
the act of rotating in a circle or spiral
From this reading “CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).”
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's such a confounded room to get about in.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading It's such a confounded room to get about in.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?
a piece of furniture with shelves for storing books
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?
perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment
From this reading It's such a confounded room to get about in.
lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
placed crosswise
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
a word used in exclamations of confusion
From this reading What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?
-ing form of “do” — engage in
From this reading What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading It's such a confounded room to get about in.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It's such a confounded room to get about in.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's such a confounded room to get about in.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Nothing.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading It's such a confounded room to get about in.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading It's such a confounded room to get about in.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
in or at that place or location
From this reading What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?
the act of rotating in a circle or spiral
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
which person or people
From this reading CRAVEN (who has crossed to the whirling bookcase and stopped it).
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading What the dickens are you doing there, Charteris?
Chapter 4 of The Philanderer by Bernard Shaw holds 443 sentences, grouped into 89 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 4 holds 443 sentences of The Philanderer, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Philanderer by Bernard Shaw exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 443 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 4 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 Philanderer by Bernard Shaw on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2232 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5071 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5071, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 186 minutes of reading across 447 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Philanderer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The Philanderer 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 Philanderer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
