Chapter 4 of The Second Fiddle is here in full — 191 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 Second Fiddle is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Darling: Do come Sunday to tea. Mama is out of town, and I must have some support. Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time. I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort. I haven't had time to tell you anything.
Chapter 4 of The Second Fiddle is here in full — 191 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.
frightening because of an awareness of danger
From this reading “I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.”
used as intensifiers
From this reading “I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.”
a special loved one
From this reading “Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.”
Roman Emperor and nephew of Constantine; he restored paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire and destroyed Christian temples but his decision was reversed after his death (331?-363)
From this reading “Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.”
informal terms for a mother
From this reading “Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.”
first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
From this reading “Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.”
the activity of providing for or maintaining by supplying with money or necessities
From this reading “Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.”
a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
From this reading “Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.”
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.
frightening because of an awareness of danger
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
any thing at all
From this reading I haven't had time to tell you anything.
used as intensifiers
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.
a special loved one
From this reading Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
the act of departing
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I haven't had time to tell you anything.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I haven't had time to tell you anything.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
Roman Emperor and nephew of Constantine; he restored paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire and destroyed Christian temples but his decision was reversed after his death (331?-363)
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
and nothing more
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
informal terms for a mother
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
on the contrary
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
From this reading Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.
the activity of providing for or maintaining by supplying with money or necessities
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
From this reading Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.
express in words
From this reading I haven't had time to tell you anything.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Julian is going to bring his mother to see me for the first time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Darling: Do come Sunday to tea.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading Mama is out of town, and I must have some support.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I haven't had time to tell you anything.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I believe she's rather alarming--awfully blue and booky; just your sort.
Chapter 4 of The Second Fiddle by Phyllis Bottome holds 191 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 191 sentences of The Second Fiddle, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Second Fiddle by Phyllis Bottome exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 191 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 Second Fiddle by Phyllis Bottome on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4282 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41107 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41107, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 356 minutes of reading across 857 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Second Fiddle section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Second Fiddle 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 Second Fiddle, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
