Chapter 15 of Three Soldiers is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of Three Soldiers is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....” The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud. Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly. There was only one other cafe. That would be just like this one.
Chapter 15 of Three Soldiers 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.
without aim; in an aimless manner
From this reading “Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly.”
United States naturalist who contributed to paleontology and geology (1884-1960)
From this reading “Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly.”
a small restaurant where drinks and snacks are sold
From this reading “There was only one other cafe.”
past form of “graft” — cause to grow together parts from different plants
From this reading ““That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....””
water soaked soil; soft wet earth
From this reading “The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.”
full of ruts
From this reading “The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.”
plural of “sergeant” — any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the Army or Air Force or Marines ranking above a corporal
From this reading ““That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....””
past form of “wander” — move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
From this reading “Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly.”
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 “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
without aim; in an aimless manner
From this reading Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
United States naturalist who contributed to paleontology and geology (1884-1960)
From this reading Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading That would be just like this one.
a small restaurant where drinks and snacks are sold
From this reading There was only one other cafe.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
to a great depth psychologically or emotionally
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly.
past form of “graft” — cause to grow together parts from different plants
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
and nothing more
From this reading That would be just like this one.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading That would be just like this one.
water soaked soil; soft wet earth
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
not one thing; not anything
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
and nothing more
From this reading There was only one other cafe.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading There was only one other cafe.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
full of ruts
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
plural of “sergeant” — any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the Army or Air Force or Marines ranking above a corporal
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That would be just like this one.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was only one other cafe.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading That would be just like this one.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “That's nothing; one of our sergeants had to have a new nose grafted on....”
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
past form of “wander” — move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
From this reading Andrews wandered up and down aimlessly.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The village street was dark and deeply rutted with mud.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading That would be just like this one.
Chapter 15 of Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos holds 419 sentences, grouped into 84 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 15 holds 419 sentences of Three Soldiers, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos exactly as it stands in the public-domain 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 15 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 Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10744 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6362 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6362, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2149 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Three Soldiers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Three Soldiers 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 Three Soldiers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
