Chapter 1 of The Pretentious Young Ladies is here in full — 527 sentences across 106 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Pretentious Young Ladies is here in full — 527 sentences across 106 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
COMÉDIE EN UN ACTE. A COMEDY IN ONE ACT. (_THE ORIGINAL IN PROSE_.) 1659. INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
Chapter 1 of The Pretentious Young Ladies is here in full — 527 sentences across 106 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/105 · 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.
plural of “character” — an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)
From this reading “Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.”
light and humorous drama with a happy ending
From this reading “A COMEDY IN ONE ACT.”
presently existing
From this reading “Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.”
serving to open or begin
From this reading “INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.”
make a painting
From this reading “Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.”
plural of “play” — a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
From this reading “Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.”
making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction
From this reading “Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.”
ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
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 (_THE ORIGINAL IN PROSE_.) 1659.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading A COMEDY IN ONE ACT.
perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
From this reading A COMEDY IN ONE ACT.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading COMÉDIE EN UN ACTE.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
plural of “character” — an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
light and humorous drama with a happy ending
From this reading A COMEDY IN ONE ACT.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading COMÉDIE EN UN ACTE.
half the width of an em
From this reading COMÉDIE EN UN ACTE.
presently existing
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A COMEDY IN ONE ACT.
serving to open or begin
From this reading INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
plural of “lady” — a polite name for any woman
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
engage in
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
social deportment
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
the force of workers available
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
an announcement containing information about an event
From this reading INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading A COMEDY IN ONE ACT.
preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed
From this reading (_THE ORIGINAL IN PROSE_.) 1659.
make a painting
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
plural of “play” — a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
From this reading (_THE ORIGINAL IN PROSE_.) 1659.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading (_THE ORIGINAL IN PROSE_.) 1659.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security
From this reading COMÉDIE EN UN ACTE.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading Molière began in _The Pretentious Young Ladies_ to paint men and women as they are; to make living characters and existing manners the ground-work of his plays.
Chapter 1 of The Pretentious Young Ladies by Molière holds 527 sentences, grouped into 106 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 527 sentences of The Pretentious Young Ladies, unabridged, divided into 106 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Pretentious Young Ladies by Molière exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 527 sentences, grouped into 106 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 106 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 106 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The Pretentious Young Ladies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
