Chapter 1 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 is here in full — 702 sentences across 141 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 is here in full — 702 sentences across 141 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
[Postmark May 27, 1796.] DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May. I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes. I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it. The money would be superfluous to me, if I had it.
Chapter 1 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 is here in full — 702 sentences across 141 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/140 · 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.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading “I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.”
clothing in general
From this reading “I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.”
something that interests you because it is important or affects you
From this reading “I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.”
the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
From this reading “I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.”
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May.”
a cancellation mark stamped on mail by postal officials; indicates the post office and date of mailing
From this reading “[Postmark May 27, 1796.]”
plural of “purpose” — an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions
From this reading “I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.”
serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
From this reading “The money would be superfluous to me, if I had it.”
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 [Postmark May 27, 1796.]
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [Postmark May 27, 1796.]
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The money would be superfluous to me, if I had it.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.
a degree on the centigrade scale of temperature
From this reading DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May.
clothing in general
From this reading I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.
something that interests you because it is important or affects you
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
dearly loved
From this reading DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May.
posing no difficulty; requiring little effort
From this reading DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May.
the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
to or at a greater extent or degree or a more advanced stage (“further” is used more often than “farther” in this abstract sense)
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The money would be superfluous to me, if I had it.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading The money would be superfluous to me, if I had it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
engage in
From this reading DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading [Postmark May 27, 1796.]
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The money would be superfluous to me, if I had it.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
not any; not one
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
marked by the reception of pay
From this reading I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May.
a cancellation mark stamped on mail by postal officials; indicates the post office and date of mailing
From this reading [Postmark May 27, 1796.]
plural of “purpose” — an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.
being or characteristic of a single thing or person
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
not in physical motion
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
From this reading The money would be superfluous to me, if I had it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was flush of money, and am so still to all the purposes of a single life, so give yourself no further concern about it.
at the time that
From this reading I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading The money would be superfluous to me, if I had it.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I paid his bill, when I sent your clothes.
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading DEAR C---- make yourself perfectly easy about May.
Chapter 1 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 by Charles Lamb holds 702 sentences, grouped into 141 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 702 sentences of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5, unabridged, divided into 141 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 by Charles Lamb exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 702 sentences, grouped into 141 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 141 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 141 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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Yes. All 11239 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9365 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9365, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2248 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 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 Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
