Chapter 1 of The Pleasures of a Single Life is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Pleasures of a Single Life is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament. WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE. _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side. 1709. _Price One Penny._ Wedlock, oh!
Chapter 1 of The Pleasures of a Single Life is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
devoted to a cause or ideal or purpose
plural of “divorce” — the legal dissolution of a marriage
From this reading “Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.”
a legislative assembly in certain countries
From this reading “Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.”
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading “_Price One Penny._ Wedlock, oh!”
past form of “print” — put into print
From this reading “_Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.”
leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure
From this reading “_Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.”
the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
From this reading “_Price One Penny._ Wedlock, oh!”
(law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer
From this reading “Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1709.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
the person or thing chosen or selected
From this reading WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE.
devoted to a cause or ideal or purpose
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
plural of “divorce” — the legal dissolution of a marriage
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
a nonmetallic univalent element that is normally a colorless and odorless highly flammable diatomic gas; the simplest and lightest and most abundant element in the universe
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
plural of “hill” — a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
in the recent past
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
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 Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
sporadically and infrequently
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading _Price One Penny._ Wedlock, oh!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading _Price One Penny._ Wedlock, oh!
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE.
a legislative assembly in certain countries
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading _Price One Penny._ Wedlock, oh!
plural of “pleasure” — a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE.
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
From this reading _Price One Penny._ Wedlock, oh!
past form of “print” — put into print
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
disposed of to a purchaser
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Dedicated to the_ Beaus _against the next Vacation._ _London_: Printed and Sold by _H. Hills_, in _Black-fryars_, near the Water-side.
the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
From this reading _Price One Penny._ Wedlock, oh!
in the company of; together with
From this reading WITH THE CHOICE, OR, THE _Pleasures of a Country_-LIFE.
(law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer
From this reading Occasionally Writ Upon the many DIVORCES lately Granted by Parliament.
Chapter 1 of The Pleasures of a Single Life by Edward [Dubious author] Ward holds 214 sentences, grouped into 43 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 1 holds 214 sentences of The Pleasures of a Single Life, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Pleasures of a Single Life by Edward [Dubious author] Ward exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 214 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 Pleasures of a Single Life by Edward [Dubious author] Ward on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 214 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #13800 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #13800, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 17 minutes of reading across 43 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Pleasures of a Single Life section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Pleasures of a Single Life, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
