Chapter 4 of The Rectory Children is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Rectory Children is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.' JEAN INGELOW. Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint. 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said. 'That is to say if it is fine,' said Mrs. Vane.
Chapter 4 of The Rectory Children is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
adult female chicken
From this reading “BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'”
-ing form of “comprehend” — get the meaning of something
From this reading “Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.”
an indirect suggestion
From this reading “Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.”
a coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric
From this reading “JEAN INGELOW.”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading “Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.”
an individual instance of a type of symbol
From this reading “Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.”
mechanical device attached to an elevated structure; rotates freely to show the direction of the wind
From this reading “Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.”
used when the people spoken to are both doing and receiving the action
From this reading “'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.”
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 Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
adult female chicken
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
-ing form of “comprehend” — get the meaning of something
From this reading Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading 'That is to say if it is fine,' said Mrs. Vane.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
an indirect suggestion
From this reading Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading 'That is to say if it is fine,' said Mrs. Vane.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JEAN INGELOW.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading 'That is to say if it is fine,' said Mrs. Vane.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
a coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric
From this reading JEAN INGELOW.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
a form of address for a man
From this reading Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading 'That is to say if it is fine,' said Mrs. Vane.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
express in words
From this reading 'That is to say if it is fine,' said Mrs. Vane.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
carry out
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading 'That is to say if it is fine,' said Mrs. Vane.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS 'O, children take long to grow.'
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
an individual instance of a type of symbol
From this reading Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
mechanical device attached to an elevated structure; rotates freely to show the direction of the wind
From this reading Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.
the act of traveling by foot
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
used when the people spoken to are both doing and receiving the action
From this reading 'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.
Chapter 4 of The Rectory Children by Mrs. Molesworth holds 192 sentences, grouped into 39 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 4 holds 192 sentences of The Rectory Children, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Rectory Children by Mrs. Molesworth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 192 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 Rectory Children by Mrs. Molesworth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2551 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #18275 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #18275, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 212 minutes of reading across 511 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Rectory Children section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The Rectory Children 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 Rectory Children, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
