Chapter 1 of The Pretty Lady is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Pretty Lady is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A man of the world! He could phrase his politeness. Ah! There were none like an Englishman of the world. Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
Chapter 1 of The Pretty Lady is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 8/9 · 5 reading units · Lines 36–40
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.
exhibiting courtesy and politeness
From this reading “Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.”
in a delightful manner
From this reading “Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.”
a man who is a native or inhabitant of England
From this reading “There were none like an Englishman of the world.”
plural of “frenchman” — a person of French nationality
From this reading “Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.”
the time that has elapsed
From this reading “Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.”
an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence
From this reading “He could phrase his politeness.”
a courteous manner that respects accepted social usage
From this reading “He could phrase his politeness.”
not giving satisfaction
From this reading “Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.”
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 A man of the world!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ah!
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading There were none like an Englishman of the world.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading He could phrase his politeness.
exhibiting courtesy and politeness
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
in a delightful manner
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
a man who is a native or inhabitant of England
From this reading There were none like an Englishman of the world.
plural of “frenchman” — a person of French nationality
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He could phrase his politeness.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He could phrase his politeness.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading There were none like an Englishman of the world.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A man of the world!
not one, and not any
From this reading There were none like an Englishman of the world.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A man of the world!
the time that has elapsed
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence
From this reading He could phrase his politeness.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
a courteous manner that respects accepted social usage
From this reading He could phrase his politeness.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A man of the world!
in or at that place or location
From this reading There were none like an Englishman of the world.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
not giving satisfaction
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Frenchmen, delightfully courteous up to a point, were unsatisfactory past that point.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There were none like an Englishman of the world.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading A man of the world!
Chapter 1 of The Pretty Lady by Arnold Bennett holds 49 sentences, grouped into 10 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 49 sentences of The Pretty Lady, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Pretty Lady by Arnold Bennett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 49 sentences, grouped into 10 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 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 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 Pretty Lady by Arnold Bennett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5883 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12673 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12673, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 490 minutes of reading across 1177 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Pretty Lady section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Pretty Lady 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 Pretty Lady, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
