Chapter 2 of Vera is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Vera is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ALEX. Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you. If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene. GEN. Actors, are they, Prince?
Chapter 2 of Vera is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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 “actor” — a theatrical performer
From this reading “Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.”
make certain of
From this reading “Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.”
very good; of the highest quality
From this reading “Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.”
informal term for information
From this reading “GEN.”
arousing or holding the attention
From this reading “If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.”
a male member of a royal family other than the sovereign (especially the son of a sovereign)
From this reading “Actors, are they, Prince?”
the place where some action occurs
From this reading “If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.”
past form of “witness” — be a witness to
From this reading “If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.”
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 “If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.”
In this reading “If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.”
In this reading “If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.”
to come or go into
In this reading “If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.”
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 If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
plural of “actor” — a theatrical performer
From this reading Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.
in the past
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ALEX.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.
make certain of
From this reading Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
very good; of the highest quality
From this reading Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.
informal term for information
From this reading GEN.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
arousing or holding the attention
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
used to form the superlative
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.
a male member of a royal family other than the sovereign (especially the son of a sovereign)
From this reading Actors, are they, Prince?
the place where some action occurs
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.
past form of “witness” — be a witness to
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading If you had come in ten minutes ago, you would have witnessed a most interesting scene.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Oh, they are excellent actors, I assure you.
Chapter 2 of Vera by Oscar Wilde holds 433 sentences, grouped into 87 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 2 holds 433 sentences of Vera, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Vera by Oscar Wilde exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 433 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 2 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 Vera by Oscar Wilde on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1739 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26494 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26494, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 144 minutes of reading across 348 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Vera section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Vera 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 Vera, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
