Chapter 3 of When I Was a Little Girl is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of When I Was a Little Girl is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said. “We keep it in the top bureau drawer.” “What a funny place to keep it....” Delia began, and stopped of her own accord. I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
Chapter 3 of When I Was a Little Girl is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
go together
From this reading “Delia began, and stopped of her own accord.”
large sweet black or very dark purple edible aggregate fruit of any of various bushes of the genus Rubus
From this reading ““We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.”
an administrative unit of government
From this reading ““We keep it in the top bureau drawer.””
diffusing warmth and friendliness
From this reading ““We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.”
plural of “dish” — a piece of dishware normally used as a container for holding or serving food
From this reading “I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.”
a boxlike container in a piece of furniture; made so as to slide in and out
From this reading ““We keep it in the top bureau drawer.””
daughter of George VI who became the Queen of England and Northern Ireland in 1952 on the death of her father (1926-)
From this reading “I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.”
the mother of your father or mother
From this reading ““We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.”
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 ““We keep it in the top bureau drawer.””
take and lift upward
In this reading “I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.”
In this reading “I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.”
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 “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
go together
From this reading Delia began, and stopped of her own accord.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Delia began, and stopped of her own accord.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Delia began, and stopped of her own accord.
large sweet black or very dark purple edible aggregate fruit of any of various bushes of the genus Rubus
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
a glass or plastic vessel used for storing drinks or other liquids; typically cylindrical without handles and with a narrow neck that can be plugged or capped
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
an administrative unit of government
From this reading “We keep it in the top bureau drawer.”
diffusing warmth and friendliness
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Delia began, and stopped of her own accord.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
plural of “dish” — a piece of dishware normally used as a container for holding or serving food
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
a boxlike container in a piece of furniture; made so as to slide in and out
From this reading “We keep it in the top bureau drawer.”
daughter of George VI who became the Queen of England and Northern Ireland in 1952 on the death of her father (1926-)
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
every person
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
arousing or provoking laughter
From this reading “What a funny place to keep it....”
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
the mother of your father or mother
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Delia began, and stopped of her own accord.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “We keep it in the top bureau drawer.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “We keep it in the top bureau drawer.”
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading “We keep it in the top bureau drawer.”
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading Delia began, and stopped of her own accord.
select carefully from a group
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading “What a funny place to keep it....”
To recall to mind.
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading Delia began, and stopped of her own accord.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “We keep it in the top bureau drawer.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “What a funny place to keep it....”
the upper part of anything
From this reading “We keep it in the top bureau drawer.”
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “We got a bottle of blackberry cordial my grandmother made before she died,” she said.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What a funny place to keep it....”
disposed or inclined toward
From this reading I remember that everybody was willing enough to let Mary Elizabeth help pick up the dishes.
Chapter 3 of When I Was a Little Girl by Zona Gale holds 396 sentences, grouped into 80 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 3 holds 396 sentences of When I Was a Little Girl, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of When I Was a Little Girl by Zona Gale exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 396 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 3 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 When I Was a Little Girl by Zona Gale on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4407 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60457 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60457, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 367 minutes of reading across 882 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through When I Was a Little Girl section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of When I Was a Little Girl 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 When I Was a Little Girl, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
