The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words Mark Twain uses again and again in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete that are outside the 4,000 most common in English. Learn them first and the opening chapters read much more easily. Each comes with its pronunciation and a sentence from the book.
reckon/ˈɹɛkən/76× in the book
Well-a-well, man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble, as the Scripture says, and I reckon it’s so.
till/ˈtɪɫ/55× in the book
After struggling till both were hot and flushed, each relaxed his strain with watchful caution, and Tom said:
presently/ˈpɹɛzəntɫi/44× in the book
Ben Rogers hove in sight presently—the very boy, of all boys, whose ridicule he had been dreading.
aunt/ˈænt/31× in the book
“I don’t know, aunt.”
widow/ˈwɪdoʊ/27× in the book
“I reckon maybe we’ll tackle the old tree that’s over yonder on Cardiff Hill back of the widow’s.”
mighty/ˈmaɪti/26× in the book
It’s mighty hard to make him work Saturdays, when all the boys is having holiday …
treasure/ˈtɹɛʒɝ/25× in the book
… his pliant toes closed upon it, and he hopped away with the treasure and disappeared round the corner.
fool/ˈfuɫ/23× in the book
But old fools is the biggest fools there is.
tick/ˈtɪk/19× in the book
“Nothing but a tick.”
pirate/ˈpaɪɹət/19× in the book
He would be a pirate!
bout/ˈbaʊt/18× in the book
… and cut the wart so as to get some blood, and then you put the blood on one piece of the bean and take and dig a hole and bury it ’bout midnight at the crossroads in the dark of the moon, and then you burn up the rest of the bean.
lick/ˈɫɪk/17× in the book
… and he knows if he can make out to put me off for a minute or make me laugh, it’s all down again and I can’t hit him a lick.
instant/ˈɪnstənt/17× in the book
The lad fled on the instant, scrambled up the high board-fence, and disappeared over it.
tavern/ˈtævɝn/16× in the book
Here—it’s the number of a room—in a tavern, you know!”
alley/ˈæɫi/16× in the book
I’ll give you a white alley!”
auntie/ˈænti/15× in the book
I must call auntie.”
skiff/ˈskɪf/15× in the book
There were a great many skiffs rowing about or floating with the stream in the neighborhood of the ferryboat, but the boys could not determine what the men in them were doing.
awhile/əˈwaɪɫ/15× in the book
The boy mused awhile over the substantial change which had taken place in his worldly circumstances, and then wended toward headquarters to report.
fetch/ˈfɛtʃ/15× in the book
“Say, Jim, I’ll fetch the water if you’ll whitewash some.”
conscience/ˈkɑnʃəns/15× in the book
Every time I let him off, my conscience does hurt me so, and every time I hit him my old heart most breaks.
ling/ˈɫɪŋ/14× in the book
Ting-a-ling-ling!”
dollar/ˈdɑɫɝ/14× in the book
And they get slathers of money—most a dollar a day, Ben Rogers says.
sermon/ˈsɝmən/14× in the book
Two of the children always remained for the sermon voluntarily, and the other always remained too—for stronger reasons.
snatch/ˈsnætʃ/14× in the book
The old lady whirled round, and snatched her skirts out of danger.
mile/ˈmaɪɫ/13× in the book
It was on a hill, about a mile and a half from the village.
melancholy/ˈmɛɫənˌkɑɫi/13× in the book
He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit.
robber/ˈɹɑbɝ/13× in the book
“This ought to be a lesson to grave robbers!”
raft/ˈɹæft/13× in the book
A log raft in the river invited him, and he seated himself on its outer edge and contemplated the dreary vastness of the stream …
groan/ˈɡɹoʊn/13× in the book
This was lucky; he was about to begin to groan, as a “starter,” as he called it …
circus/ˈsɝkəs/13× in the book
“Was you ever at a circus?”
distress/dɪˈstɹɛs/13× in the book
… he flung it out of the window, and the voice of distress quickly thinned away and died in the distance.
devil/ˈdɛvəɫ/13× in the book
you devil!”
mil/ˈmɪɫ/12× in the book
There are wealthy gentlemen in England who drive four-horse passenger-coaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line, in the summer …
trifle/ˈtɹaɪfəɫ/12× in the book
Tom was a trifle disconcerted.
dismal/ˈdɪzməɫ/12× in the book
He got it out, rumpled and wilted, and it mightily increased his dismal felicity.
lad/ˈɫæd/12× in the book
He gathered quite a following of lads interested in the exhibition; and one that had cut his finger and had been a centre of fascination and homage up to this time …
shudder/ˈʃədɝ/12× in the book
How his name would fill the world, and make people shudder!
sob/ˈsɑb/12× in the book
The new boy went off brushing the dust from his clothes, sobbing, snuffling …
rag/ˈɹæɡ/12× in the book
Huckleberry was always dressed in the cast-off clothes of full-grown men, and they were in perennial bloom and fluttering with rags.
exclaim/ɪkˈskɫeɪm/12× in the book
Potter dropped his knife, and exclaimed:
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
Read the book freeEvery sentence translated, natural audio, one-tap dictionary