Chapter 1 of The Title: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Title: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner. The next evening, after dinner. The next day, before lunch. The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers. There is a door, back.
Chapter 1 of The Title: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 address at which you dwell more than temporarily
From this reading “The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.”
period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
From this reading “An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.”
the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
From this reading “An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.”
take the midday meal
From this reading “The next day, before lunch.”
the place where some action occurs
From this reading “The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.”
in every part of a place, or for the whole of a period
From this reading “The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.”
the countries of (originally) Europe and (now including) North America and South America
From this reading “The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.”
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading “An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.”
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 The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
any address at which you dwell more than temporarily
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
later than; following
From this reading The next evening, after dinner.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading There is a door, back.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading The next day, before lunch.
the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading There is a door, back.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
take the midday meal
From this reading The next day, before lunch.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading The next evening, after dinner.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
the place where some action occurs
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The next evening, after dinner.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is a door, back.
in every part of a place, or for the whole of a period
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
the countries of (originally) Europe and (now including) North America and South America
From this reading The scene throughout is a sitting-room in the well-furnished West End abode of the Culvers.
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading An evening between Christmas and New Year, before dinner.
Chapter 1 of The Title: A Comedy in Three Acts by Arnold Bennett holds 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 419 sentences of The Title: A Comedy in Three Acts, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Title: A Comedy in Three Acts by Arnold Bennett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 Title: A Comedy in Three Acts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
