Chapter 4 of Ulysses is here in full — 568 sentences across 114 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Ulysses is here in full — 568 sentences across 114 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A woman and a man. I see her skirties. Pinned up, I bet. Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides. Looking for something lost in a past life.
Chapter 4 of Ulysses is here in full — 568 sentences across 114 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/113 · 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.
past form of “amble” — walk leisurely
From this reading “Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.”
maintain with or as if with a bet
From this reading “Pinned up, I bet.”
gradually decreasing until little remains
From this reading “Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.”
inflected form of “pin” — to hold fast or prevent from moving
From this reading “Pinned up, I bet.”
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading “Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.”
plural of “side” — a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading “Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.”
-ing form of “sniff” — perceive by inhaling through the nose
From this reading “Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.”
inflected form of “trot” — run at a moderately swift pace
From this reading “Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.”
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 A woman and a man.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
(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 Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
past form of “amble” — walk leisurely
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A woman and a man.
sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
maintain with or as if with a bet
From this reading Pinned up, I bet.
a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
gradually decreasing until little remains
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Looking for something lost in a past life.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I see her skirties.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I see her skirties.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Looking for something lost in a past life.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Looking for something lost in a past life.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Looking for something lost in a past life.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading Looking for something lost in a past life.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A woman and a man.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading Looking for something lost in a past life.
inflected form of “pin” — to hold fast or prevent from moving
From this reading Pinned up, I bet.
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading I see her skirties.
plural of “side” — a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I see her skirties.
-ing form of “sniff” — perceive by inhaling through the nose
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Looking for something lost in a past life.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
inflected form of “trot” — run at a moderately swift pace
From this reading Their dog ambled about a bank of dwindling sand, trotting, sniffing on all sides.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Pinned up, I bet.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading A woman and a man.
Chapter 4 of Ulysses by James Joyce holds 568 sentences, grouped into 114 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 568 sentences of Ulysses, unabridged, divided into 114 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Ulysses by James Joyce exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 568 sentences, grouped into 114 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 114 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 114 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 Ulysses by James Joyce on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ulysses section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Ulysses 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 Ulysses, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
