Chapter 4 of This Man's Wife is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of This Man's Wife is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between. "You need not speak, child," he said sadly. "It has all been one of my mistakes. I see! I see!"
Chapter 4 of This Man's Wife is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
movement that causes the formation of a curve
From this reading “He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.”
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading “He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.”
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading “He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.”
plural of “mistake” — a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading “"It has all been one of my mistakes.”
not tired; refreshed as by sleeping or relaxing
From this reading “He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.”
in an unfortunate way
From this reading “"You need not speak, child," he said sadly.”
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading “He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.”
(of muscles) relieved of stiffness by stretching
From this reading “He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.”
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 “He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.”
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.
(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 "It has all been one of my mistakes.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading "It has all been one of my mistakes.
movement that causes the formation of a curve
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
a young person of either sex
From this reading "You need not speak, child," he said sadly.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "It has all been one of my mistakes.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I see!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It has all been one of my mistakes.
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
plural of “mistake” — a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading "It has all been one of my mistakes.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "It has all been one of my mistakes.
a condition requiring relief
From this reading "You need not speak, child," he said sadly.
marked by calm self-control (especially in trying circumstances); unemotional
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "You need not speak, child," he said sadly.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "It has all been one of my mistakes.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "It has all been one of my mistakes.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
not tired; refreshed as by sleeping or relaxing
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
in an unfortunate way
From this reading "You need not speak, child," he said sadly.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "You need not speak, child," he said sadly.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading I see!
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
express in speech
From this reading "You need not speak, child," he said sadly.
(of muscles) relieved of stiffness by stretching
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
up to a particular time
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He stretched out his hand to the table, and slowly sat down, bending forward till his arms rested upon his knees and his hands hung down nerveless between.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You need not speak, child," he said sadly.
Chapter 4 of This Man's Wife by George Manville Fenn holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 410 sentences of This Man's Wife, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of This Man's Wife by George Manville Fenn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 This Man's Wife by George Manville Fenn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10274 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40676 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40676, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2055 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through This Man's Wife section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of This Man's Wife 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 This Man's Wife, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
