Chapter 19 of The Precipice is here in full — 333 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of The Precipice is here in full — 333 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face. She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone. “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt. “Don’t you feel well.” “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
Chapter 19 of The Precipice is here in full — 333 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/66 · 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.
any person at all
From this reading “She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.”
inflected form of “drink” — take in liquids
From this reading “She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.”
with eagerness; in an eager manner
From this reading “She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.”
depressingly dark
From this reading “Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.”
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading “She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.”
in a polite manner
From this reading ““I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.”
a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information
From this reading “She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.”
experiencing or marked by or causing sadness or sorrow or discontent
From this reading ““Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.”
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 Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
any person at all
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Don’t you feel well.”
inflected form of “drink” — take in liquids
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
with eagerness; in an eager manner
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading “Don’t you feel well.”
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
depressingly dark
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
not any; not one
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
past form of “offer” — make available or accessible, provide or furnish
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
in a polite manner
From this reading “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She eagerly drank a glass of milk, but offered no remark to anyone.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
a light evening meal; served in early evening if dinner is at midday or served late in the evening at bedtime
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
experiencing or marked by or causing sadness or sorrow or discontent
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “I was afraid to ask,” interposed Tiet Nikonich politely.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Don’t you feel well.”
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Vera came that night to supper with a gloomy face.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Why are you so unhappy, Veroshka?” asked her aunt.
Chapter 19 of The Precipice by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov holds 333 sentences, grouped into 67 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 19 holds 333 sentences of The Precipice, unabridged, divided into 67 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of The Precipice by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 333 sentences, grouped into 67 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 67 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 67 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 19 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 Precipice by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7157 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #7307 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #7307, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 596 minutes of reading across 1432 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Precipice section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of The Precipice 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 Precipice, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
