The Secret Garden: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words Frances Hodgson Burnett uses again and again in The Secret Garden 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.
robin/ˈɹɑbən/110× in the book
She thought of the robin and of the way he seemed to sing his song at her, and as she remembered the treetop he perched on she stopped rather suddenly on the path.
moor/ˈmʊɹ/90× in the book
The house is six hundred years old and it’s on the edge of the moor, and there’s near a hundred rooms in it, though most of them’s shut up and locked.
thee/ˈði/90× in the book
“An’ tha’s browt th’ young ’un with thee.”
queer/ˈkwɪɹ/61× in the book
“How queer and quiet it is,” she said.
skip/ˈskɪp/40× in the book
It was a strong, slender rope with a striped red and blue handle at each end, but Mary Lennox had never seen a skipping-rope before.
frighten/ˈfɹaɪtən/36× in the book
The woman looked frightened, but she only stammered that the Ayah could not come and when Mary threw herself into a passion and beat and kicked her …
cottage/ˈkɑtədʒ/34× in the book
Then they had passed a church and a vicarage and a little shopwindow or so in a cottage with toys and sweets and odd things set out for sale.
nest/ˈnɛst/32× in the book
He come out of th’ nest in th’ other garden an’ when first he flew over th’ wall he was too weak to fly back for a few days an’ we got friendly.
inquire/ˌɪnˈkwaɪɹ/26× in the book
inquired Mary.
scarcely/ˈskɛɹsɫi/25× in the book
The wine made her so sleepy that she could scarcely keep her eyes open and she lay down on her bed and knew nothing more for a long time.
gardener/ˈɡɑɹdənɝ/25× in the book
A slow smile spread over it and the gardener looked quite different.
lump/ˈɫəmp/23× in the book
“Look along th’ twigs an’ branches an’ if tha’ sees a bit of a brown lump swelling here an’ there, watch it after th’ warm rain an’ see what happens.”
spade/ˈspeɪd/22× in the book
Presently an old man with a spade over his shoulder walked through the door leading from the second garden.
exclaim/ɪkˈskɫeɪm/22× in the book
exclaimed the man, turning to his companions.
softly/ˈsɔfɫi/21× in the book
said Mary, and she moved toward the little tree softly and looked up.
carriage/ˈkæɹɪdʒ/20× in the book
When the next day they set out on their journey to Yorkshire, she walked through the station to the railway carriage with her head up and trying to keep as far away from her as she could, because she did not want to seem to belong to her.
lamb/ˈɫæm/20× in the book
… and the seeds we planted are up, and Dickon has brought the fox and the crow and the squirrels and a newborn lamb.”
temper/ˈtɛmpɝ/19× in the book
Martha sat up on her heels, with her blacking-brush in her hand, and laughed, without seeming the least out of temper.
hop/ˈhɑp/19× in the book
He hopped about and pecked the earth briskly, looking for seeds and insects.
sour/ˈsaʊɝ/19× in the book
She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression.
bush/ˈbʊʃ/18× in the book
The robin flew down from his treetop and hopped about or flew after her from one bush to another.
cushion/ˈkʊʃən/18× in the book
… and they drove off, the little girl found herself seated in a comfortably cushioned corner, but she was not inclined to go to sleep again.
oblige/əˈbɫaɪdʒ/18× in the book
Two or three times she lost her way by turning down the wrong corridor and was obliged to ramble up and down until she found the right one; but at last she reached her own floor again …
startle/ˈstɑɹtəɫ/18× in the book
He looked tired and troubled, but when he saw her he was so startled that he almost jumped back.
mysterious/mɪˈstɪɹiəs/18× in the book
There was something mysterious in the air that morning.
gasp/ˈɡæsp/17× in the book
Mrs. Lennox gasped.
sofa/ˈsoʊfə/17× in the book
It made her jump and look around at the sofa by the fireplace, from which it seemed to come.
weed/ˈwid/17× in the book
She searched about until she found a rather sharp piece of wood and knelt down and dug and weeded out the weeds and grass until she made nice little clear places around them.
scent/ˈsɛnt/17× in the book
The sun was shining and a little wind was blowing —not a rough wind, but one which came in delightful little gusts and brought a fresh scent of newly turned earth with it.
fond/ˈfɑnd/16× in the book
Everyone was too panic-stricken to think of a little girl no one was fond of.
delight/dɪˈɫaɪt/16× in the book
But she knew he had followed her and the surprise so filled her with delight that she almost trembled a little.
puzzle/ˈpəzəɫ/16× in the book
Mary listened to her with a grave, puzzled expression.
grin/ˈɡɹɪn/16× in the book
“That’s th’ moor,” with a good-natured grin.
springtime/ˈspɹɪŋˌtaɪm/15× in the book
That’s because th’ springtime’s on its way.
tantrum/ˈtæntɹəm/15× in the book
If he’d been like he is most times he’d have throwed himself into one of his tantrums and roused th’ house.
squirrel/ˈskwɝəɫ/15× in the book
He moved so slowly that it scarcely seemed as though he were moving at all, but at last he stood on his feet and then the squirrel scampered back up into the branches of his tree, the pheasant withdrew his head and the rabbits dropped on all fours and began to hop away …
till/ˈtɪɫ/15× in the book
He was a sour young man and got no good of all his money and big place till he was married.”
awake/əˈweɪk/15× in the book
She had no intention of going to sleep, and, in fact, she was becoming wider awake every day which passed at Misselthwaite.
rabbit/ˈɹæbət/15× in the book
“Well,” said Martha stoutly, “I’ve told thee that th’ very birds likes him an’ th’ rabbits an’ wild sheep an’ ponies, an’ th’ foxes themselves.
lonely/ˈɫoʊnɫi/15× in the book
Since she had been living in other people’s houses and had had no Ayah, she had begun to feel lonely and to think queer thoughts which were new to her.
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
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