Chapter 3 of The Woman with the Fan is here in full — 111 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Woman with the Fan is here in full — 111 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends. They had been for a time at Harrow together. Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds. Carey had a thousand and did nothing. He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
Chapter 3 of The Woman with the Fan is here in full — 111 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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 “acquaintance” — personal knowledge or information about someone or something
From this reading “ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.”
precise; explicit and clearly defined
From this reading “He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.”
earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
From this reading “He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.”
draw a harrow over
From this reading “They had been for a time at Harrow together.”
plural of “hundred” — ten 10s
From this reading “Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.”
cut or make a way through
From this reading “ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.”
small Old World songbird with a reddish breast
From this reading “ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.”
past form of “work” — exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading “Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.”
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 They had been for a time at Harrow together.
plural of “acquaintance” — personal knowledge or information about someone or something
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
any thing at all
From this reading He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading They had been for a time at Harrow together.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading They had been for a time at Harrow together.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
precise; explicit and clearly defined
From this reading He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Carey had a thousand and did nothing.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
From this reading He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
indicating exactness or preciseness
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading They had been for a time at Harrow together.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading They had been for a time at Harrow together.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.
draw a harrow over
From this reading They had been for a time at Harrow together.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
plural of “hundred” — ten 10s
From this reading Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Carey had a thousand and did nothing.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
cut or make a way through
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
small Old World songbird with a reddish breast
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had been for a time at Harrow together.
the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
From this reading Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading They had been for a time at Harrow together.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He had never done anything definite, anything to earn a living.
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading They had been for a time at Harrow together.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading ROBIN PIERCE and Carey were old acquaintances, if not exactly old friends.
past form of “work” — exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading Pierce had six thousand a year and worked hard for a few hundreds.
Chapter 3 of The Woman with the Fan by Robert Hichens holds 111 sentences, grouped into 23 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 3 holds 111 sentences of The Woman with the Fan, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Woman with the Fan by Robert Hichens exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 111 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 3 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 Woman with the Fan by Robert Hichens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6918 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #8549 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #8549, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 576 minutes of reading across 1384 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Woman with the Fan section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Woman with the Fan 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 Woman with the Fan, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
