Chapter 20 of Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE. The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated. Freind never felt more joy. I shared it. But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
Chapter 20 of Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/17 · 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.
take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome
From this reading “A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE.”
widely known and esteemed
From this reading “The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.”
appealing to the emotions as well as the eye
From this reading “The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.”
the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
From this reading “The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.”
an event that occurs at a critical time
From this reading “But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.”
have in common; held or experienced in common
From this reading “I shared it.”
an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
From this reading “But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.”
a state of acute pain
From this reading “But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.”
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 “But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.”
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 TERRIBLE ADVENTURE.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome
From this reading A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
widely known and esteemed
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
made or become different in nature or form
From this reading But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Freind never felt more joy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Freind never felt more joy.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I shared it.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I shared it.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
the emotion of great happiness
From this reading Freind never felt more joy.
appealing to the emotions as well as the eye
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Freind never felt more joy.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Freind never felt more joy.
an event that occurs at a critical time
From this reading But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
have in common; held or experienced in common
From this reading I shared it.
an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
From this reading But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
a state of acute pain
From this reading But the occasion was changed into one of deep sorrow and suffering.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The marriage of John and the lovely Primerose was about to be celebrated.
Chapter 20 of Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume by Voltaire holds 85 sentences, grouped into 17 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 20 holds 85 sentences of Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume, unabridged, divided into 17 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume by Voltaire exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 85 sentences, grouped into 17 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 17 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 17 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 20 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 8779 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35595 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
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About 600 minutes of reading across 1756 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume to begin.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
