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VAN LAUN'S 
FRENCH GRAMMAR 

PART H. 

SYNTAX 

S/6 




j 





■iHit muni Him 

600085608X 



h 




GRAMMAR 



OP THB 



FRENCH LANGUAGE. 



SECOND PABT. 

SYNTAX. 



BT 



HENRI VAN LAUN, 



FRENCH VASTEB IN THE CLASSICAL DEPARTMENT OF CHELTENHAM 

COLLEGE. 




363. a. S2X, 



LONlVON, 1863: 
TRTTBNER AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW. 

DAVID NTJTT, 270, STJJ^ND. 





R L0KD01T. 



PREFACE. 



Though many excellent French Grammars exist in this 
country, I believe that this Syntax and my Accidence 
are the first attempts made in England to establish, 
whenever possible, a comparison between the Latin 
and French tongues. That this is necessary in order 
to acquire a knowledge of the French language, based 
on scientific and etymological principles, has, I think, 
been generally admitted. A translation of the Latin 
examples is always given for those pupils not acquainted 
with the Roman tongue. 

In the Appendix will be found a comparative List 
of the gender of French and Latin Nouns; a list of 
words written in French the same and pronounced 
differently ; and an example of Grammatical Analysis. 

My most cordial thanks are due to my former 
colleague, the Rev. Dr. Brette, now Head French 
Master at Christ's Hospital, London, and to Monsieur 
A. Leblain, B.A., French Master at the Jews' College, 
London, for their active and valuable co-operation. 



Henei tan Law. 



The College, Cheltenham, 
October, 1863. 



CONTENTS. 



\ 



CHAPTER I 



The Definite Article used 
The Indefinite Article used 
The Partitive Article used 
No Article used in French 
Repetition of the Article . 



— The Article. 



PAGB 

X 
6 
6 
8 
13 



CHAPTER II.— The Substantive. 

The Dependence of one Noun on another 
Nouns of Multitude .... 

Nouns of different Gender in lingular and Plural 
The Plural of Proper Names 



15 
16 
17 
19 



CHAPTER in.— The Adjective. 



Agreement of Adjectives • 

The place of Qualificative Adjeotives 
Government of Adjectives 
Adjectives of Dimension . 
Degrees of Comparison . 
Possessive Adjectives 
Demonstrative Adjectives 
Indefinite Adjectives 
Numeral Adjectives 



20 
23 
29 
81 
32 
34 
36 
36 
41 



CHAPTER IV.— The Pboxoto. 

The place of Conjunctive Personal Pronouns 
The place of Disjunctive Personal Pronouns 
Order of the Personal Pronouns • . 

Repetition of the Personal Pronouns 



43 
46 
48 
49 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Remarks on the Pronouns le t la, let 
Remarks on se 9 soi 
Possessive Pronouns 
Demonstrative Pronouns 
Relative Pronouns 
Indefinite Pronouns 



PlOB 

51 
61 
52 
54 
65 
57 



CHAPTER V.— The Verb. 

The Subject or Nominative . . . . 

Place of the Subject • . 

The Object or Government of Verbs . 
The different Prepositions which Verbs require . 
Verbs requiring no Preposition before the following Verb 
Verbs' requiring a before the following Verb 
Verbs requiring de before the following Verb . 
Verbs requiring sometimes de and sometimes d . • < 

Verbs governing a direct object with a Noun or Pronoun 
Verbs requiring de before a Noun or Pronoun • 
Verbs requiring ci in French and not in English with a Noun 
Verbs haying a in French and a Preposition in English 
Verbs governing a Noun or Pronoun with or without a Prepo- 
sition ......< 

The Use of Tenses — the Indicative Mood 

The Conditional Mood ...... 

The Subjunctive Mood . . 

Verbs that express a wish, a will, etc. . 

Verbs of thinking, believing, etc. • 

Verbs of fear, doubt, etc. . . • 

The Subjunctive after Unipersonal Verbs 

Particular Cases . . . 

Concord of the Tenses of the Subjunctive with other Tenses 

Peculiar Laws of the Participle .... 

The Past Participle with avoir ... 

The Past Participle with Ure .... 

CHAPTER VI.— The Adyebb. 

Place of the Adverb • 

On the Negative . • - 

Observations on some Negations . 



61 
63 
64 
66 
66 
67 
70 
73 
74 
75 
76 
76 

77 
78 
85 
86 
87 
87 
88 
89 
90 
93 
95 
96 
100 






101 
102 
103 



CONTENTS. IX 

Pi.OB 

Gases in which ne stands alone . % 104 

Cases in which ne is omitted . 105 

Cases in which ne is used in Frenoh and no negative in English . 106 

Bemarks on some Adverbs ..... 108 

CHAPTER TIL— The Pbeposttioit. 

Observations on some Prepositions .... 110 

CHAPTER Vm.— The Conjuwotiof. 

The Conjunction ....... 115 

APPENDIX 

Comparison between the gender of French and Latin Nouns . 119 

Words written in Frenoh the same and pronounced differently . 125 

Model of grammatical Analysis ..... 135 



' • 



\ ERRATA. 



Page 80 line 14 forhonteux, happy road honteux, shameful 

„ 106 „ 21 „ craignez-vout qv'U ne lite ? „ craignez-vout qu'il 

ne lite pat ? 



SYNTAX. 



CHAPTEE I. 

THE ARTICLE. 

§ 1. In the Accidence (§ 5) we have already mentioned 
that there are three different sorts of articles, the definite, 
the indefinite, and the partitive. "We will now consider — 
I. When the definite article is used in French. 
II. When the indefinite is used. 
III. When the partitive is used. 
IV. When no article is used. 

I. — THE DEFINITE ABTICLE USED IN FBENCH. 

§ 2. The definite article is used in French before all 
nouns taken in a general as well as in an individual sense : — 

Le vinaigre est utile dans les Vinegar is useful in illness 
maladies 

L'konneur, la probite, le sens Honour, honesty, good sense, 
et la ration demandent qu' and reasonrequirethat one 
on s J applique a remplir ses should do one's best to ful- 
devoirs (Volt.) fil one's duties. 

§ 3. The article is used before names of arts, sciences, 
virtues, vices, and metals : — 

B 



2 STNTJlX. 

Le vice et la vertu ont des Vice and virtue have oppo- 

effets contr aires site effects 

Onto decrieVor leger (Acad.) They have called in gold of 

light weight. 

§ 4. The article is used before nouns of dignity, title, or 
profession (when it is generally not used in English) : — 

Le general Ytcsuf et le doc- General Tusuf and Doctor 
tewr Cabrol descendirent a Cabrol landed. 
terre (De Bazancourt) 

§ 5. The definite article is used before the names of 
countries, provinces, rivers, mountains, winds, and also 
before the four quarters of the globe : — 

La France, V Allemagne, la Prance, Germany, Belgium. 

Belgique 

Les Pyrenees, les Alpes, le The Pyrenees, the Alps, 

Vesuve. Vesuvius. 

§ 6. Kemabk 1. — Some names of islands take the article, as : la 
Sar&aigne, la Corse, VIrlande, les Hebrides, les Antilles, Sardinia, 
Corsica, Ireland, etc. ; others must haye the word ile placed before 
them, as : Vile Saint Thomas, Vile Maurice, les ties Philippines. 

§ 7. Remark 2. — Some names of towns do take the article, as : 
V Orient, la Rochelle, la Ferte, la Haye, la Cologne, la Mecque, le 
Hdvre, etc., but generally nouns of towns do not take the article. 

Observe that when countries bear the same name as their capital 
neither takes the article, as : fai visite Naples, Venice, et Some, 

§ 8. Exceptions.— Names of countries governed by en, 
and those used adjectively and preceded by de ; also those 
governed by etre, alter, venir, sortir, retourner, arriver, and 
partir (with de) : — 

Une foule d'objets preeieux A great many costly objects 

que je n'ai jamais vus en which I have never seen in 

France (Vaill.) Prance 

Thus Venvoyez en Europe You send him to Europe 
(B. de St. Pierre) 



THB ABTIOLE. 3 

i 

11 a achete des fruits d y JEs- He has bought Spanish fruits 

pagne et dufer de Suede and Swedish iron 

Quand Napoleon revint When Napoleon returned 

d'ISgypte (S6gur) from Egypt 

Le comte d'Jrtois et ses deux The Count of Artois and his 

file sortvrent de France two sons left France. 

(Mignet) 

§ 9. Remabk 1. — The article is always placed before the names of 
certain distant countries, as : le Canada, le Japon, let Indes, VEthiopie ; 
and observe that then, instead of en, the declension of the definite 
article is used, as : il vient du Canada, nous allons au Japon. The 
definite article is also used with names of countries employed in the 
plural number. 

§ 10. Remake 2. — In going from one country to another, en is used ; 
in speaking of towns a is employed, as: il est oUe $ Italic en France, 
he is gone from Italy to France ; but il est oUe de Londres a Pari*. 

Observe that de is used in mentioning the setting out from 
countries as well as from towns. 

§ 11. Remaek 3. — In general, the English national adjective is 
translated in French, when speaking of some commodity, production, 
or peculiarity, by the name of the country or city itself ; thus, in the 
example given above, he has bought Spanish fruits and Swedish iron, 
instead of translating Spanish by espagnol, and Swedish by suedois, the 
French national adjective, we s&y cC Espagne, of Spain, and of Sweden, 
de Suede. 

Observe that the national adjective never begins, in French, with 
a capital letter, as in English, except when it commences a sentence. 

§ 12. The definite article is used before the names of the 
days of the week, when specified, or followed by a comple- 
ment, also before the names of religious festivals, and 
before the names of ships : — 

Ufaut sanctifier le dimcmclie One must keep holy the 

(Acad.) Sunday 

Le merer edi des Cendres Ash Wednesday 

Zevendredije partis de bonne Friday I started early for 

Tuure de Bruxelles ( Janin) Brussels 



SYNTAX. 



Le " Saint Geran " parut 
avec son pont charge de 
monde (6. de St. Pierre) 

A midi Vamiral Hamelin 
envoy a le "Frimauquet" 
avecune lettre pourVamiral 
Dundas. A trots heuree le 
"Caton" revint (De Ba- 
zancourt) 

JZntre ci et la JPentecote 
(Mad. de Sevigne) 



The ship "Saint Geran" 
made its appearance, its 
deck covered with people 

At twelye o'clock the Ad- 
miral Hamelin sent the 
ship u Primauquet " with 
a letter for Admiral Dun- 
das. At three o'clock the 
" Cato " returned 

Between this time and Whit- 
suntide. 



§ 13. Bemaek 1. — Noel, Christmas, and Pdques, Easter, generally 
do not take the article ; we say, howeyer, d la Noel, at Christmas, and 
as a proverb : Quand Noel est vert les Tuques seront blanches (Acad.), 
A green Christmas makes a frosty Easter. 

Bemaek 2. — The names of Saints' days are always preceded 
by la, as : la St. Michel, la St. Jean, Michaelmas, St. John's day. 
This la is placed there because the -word/Ste is understood. 

§ 14. The definite article is used before nouns of measure, 
weight, and number, when mentioning the price or cost of 
things : — 



Ce cliocolat se vend trois 

francs la livre 
J'ai achete ce drop trois 

schellings Vaune 



This chocolate is sold for 
three francs a pound 

I bought this cloth at three 
shillings a yard. 



§ 15. Beicabk. — In speaking of what is paid for wages, attendance, 
admittance to public places, or in reckoning by times, we use in French 
sometimes the articles le, la, les, but generally in English a or per, and 
in French par : cinq schellings par billet, five shillings a ticket ; dix fois 
par semaine, ten times a week. Observe that if the price is not 
mentioned, the preposition by is generally translated by a, as : je les 
pave a lajournee, a la piece, I pay them by the day, by the piece. d 

§ 16. The definite article is used before all words 
employed as substantives : — 



THE RETICLE. 



Zes absents (adj.) ont tort 

(Acad.) 
Depechons-nous, c'est le plus 

sage (superl.) (Scribe) 
Le cinq (numer.) de trefle 

(Acad.) 
II est plein Regards pour 

moi etpour les miens (poss. 

pron.) (Acad.) 
Au doux tomber (pres. inf.). 

dujour (Latnart.) 
II a toujours des si, des mats 

(conjunct.) (Acad.) 

Observe that all words 
culine. 



Those who are absent are in 

the wrong 
Let us make haste, that is 

the wisest thing we can do 
The five of clubs 

He is full of consideration 
for me and mine 

At the gentle decline of day 

He has always "ifs" and 
"buts." 

substantively used are mas- 



II. — THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE USED IN FBENCH. 

§ 17. The indefinite article is properly only a numeral 
adjective, and is used to denote a noun in the singular, but 
also often when nouns, in a general sense, are mentioned : — 

Cesar prend le premier une CaBsar takes the first a cup 



coupe a la main (Eac.) 
On ne saurait nier qu'un 
homme n'apprenne quand il 
voyage (Fen.) 



in his hand 
One cannot deny that a man 
learns many things when 
he travels. 



§ 18. Sometimes the indefinite article is used with proper 
names when one person is mentioned as representing the 
whole race, or when the names of authors or artists are 
used in the place of their works : — 

On y remarquait le Comte de They observed there the 



Dampierre 9 un Choiseul,un 
Castellme, un Colbert 
(Daunou.) 



Count of Dampierre, a 
Choiseul, a Castellane, a 
Colbert 



6 STHTAX. 

(Petait la qu'on eUtpu trouver It was there one might have 

nonpas settlement un Zon- found not only a Longus, 

gus, mais un Plutarque, im but a Plutarchus, a Dio- 

Eiodore, ou un Potybe dorus, a Polybius. 
(Cuvier) 

§ 19. The indefinite article can also be used with all 
parts of speech used as substantives :— 

Uh cinq de carreau A five of diamonds 

Un rien Ufdclie A nothing makes him angry 

Un Hens vaut mieux que deux One bird in the hand is better 
tu V auras (La Font.) than two in the bush ; lite- 

rally, one hold is worth 
more than two you shall 
get it. 

III. — THE PABTITIYX ABTICLE USED IN XHEXOH. 

§ 20. The partitive articles du, de la, de V, des, can be 
used before any noun or any part of speech substantively em- 
ployed, and signifying a part or a portion of the whole : — 

Vous ferez du bien a vous- Tou will do good to your- 

meme (Fen.) self 

(Test unpere qui a du bon et It is a father who has some- 

du mauvais (Acad.) thing good and bad in him. 

Bemaek. — The partitive article in the plural is often used to 
denote a large number, as : vous ne mourrez pas tons sous des bras 
intrSpides (V. Hugo), you shall not all die through the hands of intre- 
pid men ; cet homme a des projets sinistres (Acad.), this man fosters 
sinister projects. 

§ 21. "We have already said in the Accidence (see § 10) 
that when an adjective preceeds the noun, de only was used : 
as, proposons-nous de grands exemples a imiter plutot que 
de vains systemet a suivre (J. J. Bouss.), let us propose 
to ourselves great examples to imitate rather than vain 



THE jLBTICLX. 7 

systems to follow. Let it, however, be remembered that if 
the adjective and substantive form a compound noun, or 
are inseparably united, the partitive article is used, and 
not de : — 

11 riy a dans VInde que des There are in India only 

grands seigneurs et des great noblemen and starv- 

misirdbles ing people 

Je veux a la eampagne du I will have in the country 

j)etit-lait f de bon pot age. whey and good soup. 

Bbmabk. — The compound nouns most generally used are amour' 
propre, self-love ; beaux-arts, fine arts ; beaux- 1 sprits, wits ; belle-mere, 
stepmother ; blanc-bec, greenhorn ; bon-mot, witticism ; grand- seigneur, 
great lord ; jeunes-gens, young men ; petit-last, whey ; petit-mattre, 
fop ; petite-maUrssse ; petits-pois, green peas 5 plain-chant, chant j 
rouge-gorge, robin red-breast. 

§ 22. In a negative sentence de only is used instead of 
the partitive article : — 

H riest point defierte que le There is no pride which fate 

sort rihumilie (Crebillon) does not lower 

L'ambition,seigneur,riaguere Ambition, my lord, has 

de limites (Boursault) scarcely any limits 

11 riy a d' utile que ee qui est Only that which is just is 

juste (Mirabeau) useful. 

§ 23. Remabk. — When the sentence is not strictly negative, or very 
often when the noun is followed by a complement, the partitive article 
is used, as : Je ne connate pas des auteurs grecs modernes, I do not 
know modern Greek authors. 

§ 24. After adverbs of quantity, and collective nouns 
preceded by un, une, de must be used instead of the partitive 
article : — 

Combien de jours avez-vous mis How many days have you 

pourfairecevoyage?(A.ca,&.) taken to make this voyage? 

11 y avoit une foule de specto- There was a crowd of spec- 

teurs tators. 



8 SYOTAX. 

§ 25. Observe that when the noun, preceded by the collective 
substantive or adverb of quantity, is described by something coming 
before or after it, the partitive article must be used, as : un grand 
nombre des personnes que fai vues hier, a great number of the per- 
sons I saw yesterday. Des is used here and not &e y because the noun 
personnel is described by que fed vues hier. 

Bxmabk. — Bien, in the sense of beaucoup, la plupart, and le plus 
grand nombre takes the partitive article, as : Men du vin sera v 5« ce 
sow (C. Delay.), much wine will be drunk this evening. Bien followed 
by autres does not take the article, as : bien (Tautres vous le diront, 
many others will tell it you. 

IV. — CASES Iff WHICH NO ABTICLE IS USED IN FBENCH. 

§ 26. No article is used in French before any noun used 
adjectively, that is, qualifying the noun or pronoun going 
before (see § 8). A noun so used is generally placed 
between two commas, or used with etre : — 

Les beaux-arts sont ami* et les The fine arts are friends and 

muses sont soeurs (Delay.) the muses are sisters 

Le JPhenicien, sacrificateur The Phenician who offers up 

homicide de MoloJc (Voln. ) men as a sacrifice to Molok 

Milord Kilbour den, vieilavare Milord Kilbourden, an old 

hypocondre (Andrieux) hypochondriacal miser 

II est devenu ministre (Acad.) He has become a secretary 

of State. 

§ 27* Bemabk 1. — But when the noun qualifying the noun going 
before, is itself qualified, then the article is again used : — 

Le paon est le roi des oiseaux The peacock is the king of birds 

(Buff.) 
Le pain est V aliment le plus sain Bread is the healthiest food. 

(Berquin) 

§ 28. Kemaek 2. — The article is also used when the verb Stre has 
for its nominative the word ce, as: (Test la mere des pauvres (Acad.), 
she is the mother of the poor. 

§ 29. No article is used in proverbial sentences, or in 
certain old fashioned phrases : — 



THE ARTICLE. 9 

Abandon fait larron Opportunity makes the thief 

Femme sage est plus que A good woman is better than 
femme belle (Yolt.) a handsome woman. 

§ 30. No article is used in addressing persons, or things 
personified : — 

Baraissez,Navarrois,Maure8 Appear, Navarrese, Moors 

et Castillans (Corn.) and Castilans 

Soldats et marins de Varmee Soldiers and sailors of the 

d* Orient (Napol.) army in the East. 

§ 31. Remabk 1. — Sometimes the article is used to show familiarity 
or inferiority, as : IS ami, crois-moi, ventre chez toi (V. Hugo), Friend, 
believe me, go home; Lavieille! oil peut-on se cocker id? (Balzac), 
Old woman, where can one hide one's-self here ? 

Remabk 2. — It is also customary to prefix monsieur, madame, etc., 
to nouns of title or profession, when addressing persons, and then to 
use the article, as : monsieur le baron, madame la princesse. 

§ 32. The definite article is generally omitted in enume- 
rations : — 

On joue argent, bijoux, One gambles away money, 
maisons, contrats, honneurs jewels, houses, title-deeds, 
(Regnard) honour. 

§ 33. It is also omitted before ordinals qualifying names 
of sovereigns or books, also before the title of books, their 
number, chapter, page, and in addresses : — 

Charles premier Charles the Eirst 

Tome cinq, chapitre dix The fifth volume, the tenth 

chapter 
Poesies fugitives de M Light poetry of M- 



Ce billet au Marquis de Torcy, This note to the Marquis of 
hotel de Vambassade (Scribe) Torcy, at the embassy. 

§ 34. Eemaek 1. — Sometimes the article is used when the author 
wishes to specify in the title the subject particularly, as : " Les Mise- 
rable*," " La sorcUre." 



10 syhtax. 

Bto a bt 2.— With the mines of sovereigns, and such words as tivre, 
chapitre, page, we always use in French premier. With names of 
sovereigns we use premier and second, but beyond these two, the 
cardinal numbers trots, quatre, etc., as : Charles premier, Quillaume 
quatre, Henri cinq, etc. 

§ 35. No article is employed after quel, quelle, etc., in 
exclamations or interrogations :— 

Quelle heure est-il ? What o'clock is it ? 

Quel air ! quelle disgrdee ! What an air ! what a dis- 
grace! 

§ 36. It is also omitted when nouns are repeated and 
governed by a preposition : — 

De larrons a larrons il est There is a great difference 

Hen de* degree (Neuf- between one thief and 

chateau) another 

Les voila aux prises, pieds Behold them fighting, feet 

contre pieds, mains contre against feet, hands against 

mains (Fen.) hands. 

§ 37. The noun takes no article when it follows an adjec- 
tive or participle requiring de (see § 89) or en (see § 40) : — 

11 est jaloux de son fr ere He is jealous of his brother 
Son sort est digne cfenvie His lot is enviable 

(Acad.) 
Get homme estriche en vertus This man is rich in virtues. 

§ 38. It is also omitted when the noun is the indirect 
object of the verbs, remplir, to fill ; entourer, to surround ; 
garnir, to furnish ; orner, to adorn ; border, to line ; combler, 
to load ; couvrir, to cover ; peupler, to people, etc. : — 

Cette nouvelle les remplira de That news will fill them with 

joie joy 

Couvrant ma tete dupan de Covering my head with a 

mon manteau (Voln.) corner of my cloak. 



THE ASTIOLE. 11 

§ 89. The article is not used after such words as : espece, 
f ante, forme, genre, melange, sorte, etc. : — 

Vne sorte de fruit qui est A kind of fruit ripe in 

mur en hiver winter 

Tine espece de hois qui est A sort of wood which is very 

fort dur hard. 

§ 40. The article is suppressed after ni . . . ni, soit 
. . . soit, ne . . . que, jamais (standing first in a sen- 
tence) ; after the preposition en (as, like a), entre, avec, pour, 
par, sur, sans, and the adverb comme, but only when the sense 
is indeterminate : — 

La nature nefait ni princes, Nature creates neither 

ni riches, ni grands seig- princes, nor moneyed 

neurs (see Accidence, men, nor great lords 
§ 27) (J. J. Bouss.) 

U alia par monts et par vaux Hewent up hilland down dale. 

§ 41. In French as well as in English, the article is sup- 
pressed in such expressions as : sovr et matin, evening and 
morning ; jour et nuit, day and night ; corps et dme, body 
and soul, etc. 

§ 42. No article is used when the verb and the noun 
form a phrase which expresses only one idea : — 

ajouterfoi, to believe avoir envie, to desire 

avoir .besom, to want, to be avoir f aim, to be hungry 

in need of avoir soif to be thirsty 

avoir carte blanche, to have avoir honte, to be ashamed 

full power avoir patience, to have pa- 
avoir chaud, to be warm tience 

avoir froid, to be cold avoir peur, to be afraid 

avoir compassion, to have avoir pitie, to pity 

mercy avoir raison, to be in the 
avoir dessevn, to intend right . 



12 



8TNTAX. 



avoir tort, to be in the 

wrong 
avoir soin, to take care 
donner carte blanche, to give 

full power 
faire attention, to attend, to 

mind 
faire peur, to frighten 
faire plaisir, to oblige 
faire semblant, to pretend, 

to feign 
faire tort, to wrong 
faire voile, to Bet Bail 
mettrefn, to put an end 
parler anglais, to speak En- 
glish 
parler francais, to apeak 
French 



porter bonheur, to bring good 

luck 
porter malheur, to bring bad 

luck 
porter envie, to bear envie 
prendre courage, to take 

courage 
prendre garde, to take care 
prendre jour, to appoint a 

day 
prend/re patience, to take 

patience 
prendre plaisir, to delight 
prendre racine, to take root 
rendre visit e, to pay a 

visit 
tenir tete, to cope with one, 

etc. 



§ 43. Finally, no article is used before the names of 
deities, towns (for exceptions see § 7), places, and persons, 
when taken in a general and indeterminate sense : — 



Corneille, Racine, et Molifae 
ont illustre la scene fran- 
caise 

Napoleon est parti de Valla- 
dolid; le 18 il est arrive a 
Burgos et le 19 a Bayonne 
(A. Dumas) 



Corneille, Racine, and Mo- 
liere have rendered the 
French stage renowned 

Napoleon set out from Val- 
ladolid; the 18th he ar- 
rived at Burgos, and the 
19th at Bayonne. 



But the names of persons do take the article : — 

§ 44. 1st. When used as proper names of families, or when they 
are in the plural, as : Buvons & la sante des Htnris (Ber.), Let us 
drink the health of the Henrys ; La noble file des Stuart*, The noble 
daughter of the Stuarts. 



THE ARTICLE. 13 

§ 45. 2nd. To distinguish one individual from others of the same 
name; also before proper names preceded by an adjective: le 
Cromwell de 1650 riUait pas le Cromwell de 1640 (Guizot), The 
Cromwell of 1650 was not the Cromwell of 1640; lejeune JEdmond, 
the young Edmund ; la superbe GSnes, proud Genoa. 

§ 46. If the adjective comes after a proper noun, the article is 
placed between, as : QuiUaume le Taciturne, William the Silent ; 
Philippe le Bel, Philip the Fair. 

§ 47* 3rd. In speaking of the works of artists or authors, as : 
VApollon du Belvedere, le TeUmaque de FSnelon. 

§ 48. 4th. Before proper names, taken as specifying a whole class, as : 
si tons lei hommes etaient des Socrates, la science alors ne lew strait 
pas nuisible (J. J. Rouss.), if all men were like Socrates, science 
would then not do them any harm ; les Berlin, les Lacy, les Qirardin^ 
les ChamboUe se disputaient V empire des esprits (Lam.), The Bert ins, 
the Lacys, the Girardins, the Chambolles vied with each other to rule 
the mind of the people. 

§ 49. 5th. The names of a few poets and painters tal^e the article, 
as : le Dante, le Tasse, le Camoens, le Cortege, le JPoussin, la Rachel. 

Observe that the article remains unchanged in such names as : 
Lefort, Leroux, Lebrun, le Beau, le Vaillant, le Sage, Lamartine, La 
Touche, La Bruyere, La Fontaine, La JECarpe, etc. 



REPETITION OF THE ARTICLE. 

§ 50. The articles must be repeated in French before 
every noun : — 

Us croient gjte les sorciers et They believe that wizards 

les sorcieres ont le pouvoir and witches have the 

d'attirer les esprits (La power of evoking fan- 

Harpe) toms 

Le cceur, Vesprit, les moeurs The heart, the mind, the 

tout gagne a la culture manners, everything gains 

(Boil.) by culture. 

Bemaek 1. — The article is not repeated when the same or synony- 
mous objects are mentioned under different names, as : il en 
Hait de mime des ministres et grands officiers (J. J. Rouss.), it was 
the same with the ministers and grand officers of the Crown. 



14 SYNTAX. 

"Rmmix 2. — In narrations the article is also often omitted, and 
then the last substantive is followed by such words as personne, tout, 
rien, etc., as : vitillards, femmes, cnfants, tout fut egorgS, old men, 
women, children, everyone was killed. 

§ 51. When two adjectives, united by et or on, relate to 
more nouns than one, but when only one is expressed, the 
article has to be repeated : — 

La corrvparaison de quelques The comparison of some 

scenes de laPhedre grecque, scenes of the Greek, the 

de la laime, de la fran- Latin, the French, and 

caise, et de Vanglaise the English Fhedras. 
(Montesquieu) 

§ 52. But if two or more adjectives qualify the same 
noun, the article is not repeated : — 

Les bons autewrs du dix-sep- The good authors of the 
Heme et dix-huitienie siecles seventeenth and eigh- 
(Volt.) teenth centuries. 

§ 53. The article has to be repeated before superlatives 
where there are, several qualifying one noun ;— • 

Le plus grande et la plus im- The greatest and most im- 

portante chose du monde a portant thing in the world 

pour fondement lafaiblesse has weakness for its foun- 

(Pasc.) dation. 

Observe that this principle of repetition applies also to the words 
««, mon, ton, son, noire, voire, leur, aucun, tout, plusieurs, etc. 



THE SUBSTANTIVE. 15 



CHAPTEE II. 

THE SUBSTANTIVE. 

I. — OK THE DEPENDENCE OF ONE STTBSTANTIYE ON 

ANOTHEB. 

§ 54. The 's, the sign of the possessive case in English, is 
always expressed in French by de (see Accidence, § 7) : — 

Les livres de ma soewr My sister's books 

Le palais du roi The king's palace. 

Behabk. — When by the '* the words house, dwelling, etc., are 
understood, the French use chez, as : I was at Mr. Smith's, f Stats 
chez M. Smith; he is gone to his father's, il eat alls ohez sonpere. 

§ 55. If a compound noun is formed of two nouns, the 
first of which is used adjectively, whilst the second expresses 
the matter, quality, contents, or origin of the first, de is 
generally used : — 

Des 8ouliers de satin Satin shoes 

Du vin de Champagne Champagne wine 

Tin verre d'eau A glass of water 

Un chapeau d y ite A summer hat. 

Hemaek. — En must be used when we wish to draw particular 
attention to the material of which the object is made. We say there- 
fore, une table d? acajou, a mahogany table, to distinguish it from other 
tables, but une table en acajou, to show that it is made of mahogany. 

§ 56. When the second noun in English expresses use 
or purpose, a is employed between, and the second noun in 
English comes first in French : — 



16 BYXTAX. 

Une chambre a coucher A bed-room 

Des armes a feu Fire-arms 

Une botte a the A tea-caddy. 

§ 67. A is also used when with or having can be under- 
stood : — 

TJne voiture a guatre roues A four-wheeled carriage 
Un jar din a terr asses A garden with terraces 

Une chaise a Iras A sedan-chair. 

§ 68. The article is generally employed with the pre- 
position a (contracted in the masculine) before the noun 
representing some peculiarity of dress or appearance, the use 
of a certain thing, and also what a person sells, or what is 
sold in a certain place : — 

La dame au manteau rouge The lady with the red cloak 

L'homme aux yewx noirs The man with black eyes 

Le marche auxfleurs The flower-market 

Une bouteille a vin A wine-bottle. 

§ 69. Eemaek. — Some words ore simple in French and compound 
in English, as : briqueterie, brick-work ; cahier, copy-book ; chandelier, 
candle-stick; ScaiUdre, oyster-woman; ecolier, school-boy; filature, 
spinning-mill; moutardier, mustard-pot; poirier, pear-tree (and the 
names of many other trees) ; restaurant, eating-house ; ruche, bee- 
hive; saladier, salad-bowl; salon, drawing-room; sourcil, eye-brow, 
etc. 



II. — NOTJITS OF MULTITUDE. 

§ 60. Those nouns which represent the whole of the per- 
sons or things mentioned, as le peuple, la for it , Varmee, etc., 
are called collective general; such nouns require that the verb 
which they govern (as also any adjective or pronoun refer- 
ring to them) should always, in French, be put in the 
singular. 



THE SUBSTANTIVE. 17 

Z'armee des infideles Jut The army of the infidels was 

defaite defeated 

Le peuple accourait en The people hastened in 

foule crowds. 

§ 61. Such nouns as une infinite, une foule, le nombre,etc., 
are called partitive collective. If preceded by the definite 
article le, la, les, the verb of which they are the nomina- 
tive, as also any adjective or pronoun having reference to 
them, must be put in the singular ; when preceded by the 
indefinite un or une, they usually take the verb in the 
plural. 

La foule des hommes est The generality of men are 

asservie a ses passions enslaved by their passions 

Jin millier {Tepees sortiront A thousand swords will leap 

desfourreaux (Dumas) out of the scabbard. 

III. — NOUNS DIFFERENT IN GENDER IN THE SINGULAR 

AND PLURAL. 

' § 62. The rules on the gender, as well as a list of Sub- 
stantives, masculine in one signification and feminine in 
another, will be found in the Appendix of the Accidence. 
In § 25 of the Accidence, a list of the nouns has been 
given which have a different meaning in the singular and 
plural. "We now give those nouns which differ in gender 
and not in meaning, in the singular and plural. A few of 
these have already been mentioned in the Appendix. They 
are: — 

SINGULAR. PLURAL. 

Amove, love, masculine, as : Feminine, as : de folles a- 

un fol amour, un amour mours, except when speak - 

inserts e. ing of Cupids. 

Automne, autumn, mascu- Must always be masculine, 

line and feminine, though as : de beaux automnes, 

the masculine is generally des automnes pluvieux. 
preferred. 



18 



ITKTAX. 



BIKGTTLAB. 

DJslice, delight, masculine, 
as : c'est un vrai delice. 

Enfant, child, masculine 
and feminine, as: un joli 
enfant, une belle enfant. 

Gent, people, feminine, as : 
la gent trotte-menu (La 
Font.), the short-stepping 
race, the mice. 



PXTTB1.L. 

Feminine, as : met plus 
there* delices 

Masculine in the plural 
always, as : ces demoiselles 
sont de beaux enfants. 

Feminine with regard to the 
adjective preceding, as : 
les vieilles gens sont crain- 
tifSy old people are timo- 
rous. Observe vieilles 
precedes and is made 
feminine, but not craintifs. 

Except when gens is preceded by tout, or by an adjective which 
does not alter in the feminine form, then gens remains masculine, as : 
tout les habiles gens, tons les gens du pays. In speaking distinctly of 
men's business gens remains also masculine, as : les gens d'armes, the 
men-at-arms j Quels bons gens de lettres ! What good literary men ! 



Oegtje, organ, masculine, 
as : un orgue excellent. 



Paque, the Jewish Pass- 
over, feminine, as : la 
pdque des Juifs. 



Feminine, as : les plus belles 
orgues, des orgues expres- 
sives. !N".B. — For the 
sake of harmony, the 
French say, un des plus 
beaux orgues, un des plus 
grands delices (see Delice). 

In the plural pdques means 
the Christian Easter, and 
is very seldom spelt 
without an s. If the ad- 
jective which follows it, is 
used in the plural, it must 
always be feminine ; if it 
is used in the singular, 
masculine, as: a Pdques 
procliain, but Pdques fieu- 
ries } Palm Sunday. 



THE SUBSTANTIVE. 19 

snrauLAB. plural. 

Vj£pbe, eve, masculine (now Feminine, vesper, as : les 
obsolete), as : Je donne le vepres sont dites. 
bon vepre a toute la com- 
pagnie (Moliere), Q-ood eve 
to all the company. 

IV. — PLUEAL OP PEOPEB NAMES. 

§ 63. Proper names do not take the sign of the plural, 
as : — 

Jamais les deux Caton vCont Never have the two Catos 
autrement voyage. travelled in any other way. 

Except— 

§ 64. (1.) When speaking of an illustrious family, race, 
or tribe, as : — 

La conjuration des Gracques The conspiracy of the Gracchi 
Des Guises cependant le ra- However the rapid good for- 
pide bonheur (Yolt.) tune of the Guises. 

§ 66. (2.) When individuals are mentioned who repre- 
sent a class, as : — 
Les Stentors des salons (De- The Stentors of the drawing- 

lille) rooms 

Wous n'aurons plus de Sue- We shall have no more his- 

tones (J. J. Eouss.) torians like Suetonius. 

§ 66. (3.) Works of engravers or printers, or collected 
editions of authors, also take the plural, as : — 
Les Elzevirs sont toujours The Elzevirs are always very 

tres estimes esteemed 

Tai les premiers JPlines I have the first Rinys. 

Eemabk 1. — Titles of books do not take the plural sign, as : troi* 
Vtrgile, dix La Fontaine, vingt Teletnaque; it would be better to say, 
trois exemplaires de Virgile, etc. 

Kemabk 2. — The gender of towns varies according to their termi- 
nation, but when the adjective tout precedes a feminine name of* 
a town it never changes, as : tout Marseilles Va t«, all Marseilles has 
seen it. 



20 8YXTAX. 



CHAPTER in. 

THE ADJECTIVE. 

"We have already said in the Accidence (§ 32) that there 
are five classes of adjectives — viz., qualificative, possessive, 
demonstrative, indefinite, and numeral. We will now con- 
sider them more particularly. 

QUALIFICATIVE ADJECTIVES. 

I. Agreement. 
II. Place. 

III. Government. 

IV. Comparison. 

I. — THE AGBEEMENT OP QUALIJICATIVE ADJECTIVES. 

§ 67. Adjectives and past participles, used as adjectives, 
agree in gender and number with the noun or pronoun to 
which they relate : 

La nature avait fait ce prince Nature had formed this prince 
probe et modere (Lam.) honest, and not given to 

excess 

Uhe foisje (fem.) me serais For once I should have seen 
vue riche et paree (Dum.) myself rich and adorned. 

§ 68. But adjectives used adverbially do not agree. 

Ces livres content cher These books are dear 

Oesfemmes chantent juste These women sing in tune 

La belle, tu ne peux marcher "Woman, you cannot walk 

droit (La Ton.) straight. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 21 

§ 69. The adjectives nu, naked ; demi, half ; suppose, sup- 
posed ; and excepts, excepted, when placed before a substan- 
tive, and the adjective yew, late, when followed by an article 
or a possessive adjective, remain also invariable. But if nu, 
demi, suppose, and excepte come after the noun, and \ifeu 
is preceded by an article, etc., they agree : — 

It etait nu-tete et nu-j amies, He was bare-headed and 
or H avait la tete nue et les with bare legs 

jambes nues 

ILier a dix heures et demie Yesterday at half-past ten 

On ne gouverne pas une nation A nation is not governed by 
par des demi-mesures half measures 

Feu ma saeur, or ma feue soeur My late sister. 

Eemaek. — If »«, when placed before the noun, is accompanied by 
something describing the noun, it agrees, as : la nuepropriete cPun lien. 

§ 70. Ci-mchis, here inclosed, and ci-jomt, here added, are 
invariable when they begin a phrase, or when they imme- 
diately precede a substantive used without an article or a 
possessive adjective ; but they agree when the noun has an 
article. Franc de port, prepaid, is also invariable when 
preceding the noun : — 

Vous trouverez ci-joint copie You will find annexed a copy 

de ma lettre et ci-incluse of my letter, and enclosed 

la copie du traite the copy of the treaty 

Vous recevrez franc de port les You will receive, prepaid, 

lettres the letters 

Ces lettres sont f ranches de These letters are prepaid. 
port 

§ 71. When possible, possible, relates to a noun expressed, 
it agrees; when it relates to an infinitive understood, it is 
invariable : — 
On pent reduire en trois One can reduce to three 

classes tons les monstres classes all possible mon- 

possibles sters 



22 8Y2TTAX. 

Tin conquerant extermine le A conqueror destroys as 
plus d'hommes possible many men as he can. 

(understood, qu'il soit pos- 
sible d'exterminer) 

§ 72. An adjective or a past participle qualifying two or 
more substantives must be in tbe masculine plural if tb 
nouns are masculine, in tbe feminine plural if tbe nouns are 
feminine, but in tbe masculine plural only wben tbe sub- 
stantives are of different genders : — 

JPudeur (fem.), sagesse (fern), Basbfulness, wisdom, laws, 

his (fem. plu.), mceurs manners, principles, vir- 

(fem. plu.), principes tues, what has become of 

(masc. plu.), vertus (fem. you ? 
plu.), qu'Stes-vous devsnus? 
(Cbamfort.) 

Foul et Virginie etaient ig- Paul and Virginia were 

norants (B. de St. Pierre) ignorant. 

Exceptions— 

§ 73. If tbe nouns are synonymous tbe adjective agrees 
with the last : — 
JJlysse etait d'une circon- Ulysses possessed an aston- 

spection, d'une prudence, isbing caution and pru- 

etonnante dence. 

§ 74. If the nouns are connected with ou, or, the adjec- 
tive agrees with the last : — 

lis obtinrent Vestime ou la They obtained the public 
conjiance publique esteem or confidence. 

Eemabk. — Sometimes the adjective takes the plural, as : On demande 
un honune ou unefemme dgee, wanted an old man or woman. Quel est 
le bon pere qui ne gemisse de voir ton file ou sa JUle perdue pour la 
societe (Volt.), every good father laments to see his son or his 
daughter lost for society. 

§ 75. In poetical or oratorical style, wben there is a 
climax : — 



THE ADJECTIVE. 23 

Lefir, le bandeau, laflamme The sword, the bandage, the 
est touteprete (Kac.) fire, are quite ready. 

§ 76. Adjectives compounded of two adjectives, or of a 
noun and adjective, are invariable, as well as all nouns 
of colour used adjectively : — 

Neron avait les cheveux Nero had light chestnut hair 

chdtam-clair 

Mile porte toujouts une robe She always wears a flame- 

ponceau coloured dress. 

Except cramoisi, crimson; ecarlate, scarlet; mordore, reddish- 
brown and rose-pink, which have become adjectives, and therefore are 
variable. i 

II. — THE 1PLACE OF QTXALIFICJLTIVE JLDJECTIVES. 

We will consider the place of adjectives under three 
heads : — 

(1.) Those that come after the noun. 
(2.) Those that precede the noun. 
(3.) Those that vary in meaning according as they stand 
before or after the noun they qualify. 

(1.) Qualificative Adjectives coming after the Noun. 

§ 77. Adjectives of colour, form, taste, and other physi- 
cal qualities, also those expressing nationality, are placed 
after the noun : — 

Une table ronde, un habit A round table, a blue coat, 

lieu, une robe noire, un a black dress, a gilt stick, 

baton dordy un homme a blind man, a French 

aveugle, une dame fran- lady. 
caise 

§ 78. All participles of verbs uBed adjectively are placed 
after the noun : — 

Tin enfant instruit A well-informed child 

Une armee vaincue A conquered army 

Une piece interdite A forbidden comedy. 



24 SYETTAX. 

§ 79. Also, adjectives modified by an adverb or by 
something coming after it : — 

Vn eleve tres paresseux A very idle pupil 

Vn malheur cotnmun a tons A misfortune common to all 

men. 

Rema.be. — When two or more adjectives relate to the same noun 
they are usually placed after it, and a conjunction is put before the 
last, even if there is none in English : as, un general vaillant, calme ef 
fart, a brave, calm, and strong general. 

§ 80. Adjectives of several syllables qualifying nouns of 
more than one syllable : — 

Des his severe* Severe laws 

Vn chant delicieux A delightful song 

Vn ton brusque An abrupt tone of voice. 

§ 81. Adjectives ending in esque, isque, and ule, as 
well as those polysyllabic adjectives which do not end in 
e, always come after the noun : — 

Tine vue pittoresque A picturesque view 

Un esprit classique A classical mind 

Tine chaise curule A curule chair 

Tin homme barbu A bearded man. 

(2.) Qualificative Adjectives preceding the Houn, 

§ 82. Adjectives of one syllable are generally placed 
before the nouns they qualify : — 

Le vif eclat The brilliant splendour 

Vn long baton A long stick. 

Bema.sk. — They follow when there are two or more monosyllabic 
adjectives united by the conjunction et. 

§ 83. Whenever the substantive has an object depend- 
ing on it, the adjective generally precedes the noun : — 



THEJLDJECTIVE. 



25 



La miserable chaumiere de The miserable cottage of my 

mon domestique servant 

Les differentes formes du The different forms of the 

gouvernement (Chateaub.J government. 

§ 84. Adjectives of number, and also the following, 
precede generally the noun : — 



beau, fine, handsome 
commun, general 

fou, foolish 

jeune, young 

joli, pretty 

malhonnete, dishonest 



moindre, less, least 
nouveau, new 
prompt, quick 
saint, holy 
sot, silly 
vieux, old. 



§ 85. Adjectives relating to moral qualities or to vices, 
may be placed before or after the substantives, as : — 

TJh savoir profond or un A deep knowledge 

profond savoir 
Vn ami fidele or un fdele A faithful friend. 

ami 

(3.) Qualificative Adjectives which change their meaning 
according as they stand before or after the noun. (From 
Angoyille.) 



§ 86. un bon homme, 
un homme bon, 

une bonne femme, 
unefemme bonne, 

un brave homme, 
un homme brave,* 

un galant homme, 
un homme galant, 

un honnete homme, 
un homme honnete, 



a man easily persuaded 
a kind, charitable man 

a woman easily persuaded 
a kind, charitable woman 

an honest man 
a courageous man 

a complete gentleman 
a polite man (gallant) 

an honest man 
a civil man 



* Brave, courageous, always precedes any noon, except homme, femme, garpon, 
etc, as : ee brave general, lee braves Amazones. 



26 



6YHTAX. 



un grand homme, 
un homme grand,* 

un malhonn&te homme, 
un homme malhonnete, 

<Fhonnetes gens, 
des gens honnetes, 

un mechant homme, 
un homme mechant, 

une m6chante epigramme, 
une epigramme mechante, 

une certaine nouvelle, 
une nouvelle certaine, 

une commune voix, 
une voix commune, 

un cruel homme, 
un homme cruel, 

une cruelleykflMHtf, 

unefemme cruelle, 

tableau place dans un faux 

jour, 
void un jour faux dans ce 

tableau, 

une fausse clef, 
une clef famse, 

un furieux bavard, 
un lion furieux, 

un furieux animal, 
un animal furieux, 



a great man 
a tall man 

a dishonest man 
an uncivil man 

honest people 

civil and polite people 

a dishonourable man 
a wicked man 

an epigram without wit 
a wicked, sharp pointed epi- 
gram 
news requiring confirmation 
news to be depended upon 

unanimously 
a common voice 

a tiresome, troublesome man 
an inhuman man 

a tiresome, troublesome wo- 
man 
an inhuman woman 

picture placed in a wrong 

light 
here is a false light in that 

picture 

a false key 
a wrong key 

a great talker 
a furious lion 

a huge animal 
a fierce animal 



■* Grand always goes before any noun but homme; at, un grand laquai$, ft tatt 
footman. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 



27 



la derniere semaine, 
la semaine derniere, 

avoir le grand air 9 

avoir Vair grand, 

une gvoasefenime, 
la mer est grosse, 

prendre le haut ton, 
prendre un ton haut, 

avoir un mauvais air 9 
avoir Vair mauvais, 

une fausse porte, 
une porte fausse, 

du mort bois, 
du hois mort, 

morte eau, 
eau morte, 

de nouveau vim,, 

du vin nouveau, 

de nouveaux livres, 
des livres nouveaux, 

un nouvel habit y 
un Tidbit nouveau, 
un habit neuf, 

un pauvre homme, 
un homme pauvre, 

une pauvre femme, 
une femme pauvre, 

un pauvre auteur, 
un auteur pauvre, 



the last week of all 
the preceding week 

to have a highly polished 

manner 
to look tall 

a stout woman 
the sea is high 

to assume an arrogant tone 
to speak loud 

to have an awkward figure 
to look wicked, fierce 

a back door 

a false door 

» 

wood which cannot be worked 

dead wood 

dead water 
standing water 

newly tapped wine, other 

wine 
newly-made wine 

other books 
newly-printed books 

a new or another coat 
a coat of a new fashion 
a coat just made, very little 
worn 

a man without talent 
a poor man 

a woman without talent 
a poor woman 

an author without genius 
a poor author 



28 



SYNTAX. 



un plaisant homme, 
un homme plaisant, 

un plaisant personnage, 
un personnage plaisant, 

un plaisant conte, 
un conte plaisant, 

un petit homme, une petite 

femme, 
un homme petit, une femme 

petite, 

tin gentil homme, 
un homme gentil, 

une sage-femme, 
une femme sage, 

les propres termes, 

les termes propres, 

un simple homme, (un gar- 

con), 
un homme simple, 

de simples airs, 
des airs simples, 

unique tableau, 
tableau unique, 

un vilain homme, 
un homme vilain, 

une yil&me femme, 

une femme vilaine, 

heau-pere, 
pere beau, 



a ridiculous fellow 
a facetious man 

an impertinent, despicable 

fellow 
an actor with a merry and 

witty part 

a story without probability 
an amusing story 

a man or woman of small 

size 
a mean man or woman 

a nobleman 

a well-looking man 

a midwife 

a virtuous discreet woman 

the very same expressions, 

words 
the proper expressions, words 

a single man (a bachelor) 

a simpleton 

tunes, without the word's 
simple easy tunes 

one single picture 

an incomparable picture 

an ugly or disagreeable man 
a niggardly man 

un ugly or disagreeable wo- 
man 
a niggardly woman 

father-in-law, step-father 
handsome father 



THE ADJECTIVE. 



20 



belle-mere, 
mere belle, 
be&u-frere, 
frere beau, 

belle-sow, 
soeur belle, 

be&u-Jih, 
fils beau, 

belle-jWfe, 

JlUe belle, 

petit^fe, petite^Zfe, 
fils -petit, fille petite, 

grandpertf, grandm£r<?, 
jpere grand, mere grande, 



mother-in-law, step-mother 
handsome mother 
brother-in-law, step-brother 
handsome brother 

sister-in-law, step-sister 
handsome sister 

son-in-law, step-son 
handsome son 

daughter-in-law, step-daugh- 
ter 
handsome daughter or girl 

grandson, granddaughter 
son, daughter or girl of small 
stature 

grandfather, grandmother 
tall father or mother. 



Eemaez. — The above adjectives, when accompanied by others, re- 
sume their literal sense, as : un grand homme sec, a tall thin man ; 
except beau, petit, and grand, prefixed to the last five substantives. 



III. — GOVEBNMEKT OP ADJECTIVES. 

§ 87. Some adjectives require no government, because 
they have a distinct meaning by themselves ; others which 
have a vague meaning require some preposition before the 
substantive or noun, which follows : — 

II aime les jpommes mures He loves ripe apples 

Nous sommes fetches contre "We are angry against you 

vous 

II est toujours presse (Far- He is always in want of 

gent (Acad.) money. 

§ 88. Adjectives expressing aptness, fitness, habit, incli- 
nation, disposition, ease, readiness, resemblance, end, or ten- 
dency require the preposition a before the complement, as : — 



80 



SYJTTAX. 



accessible, accessible 
agreable, acceptable 
dpre, eager 
ardent, eager 
cher, dear 

conforrne, conformable 
contraire, contrary 
enclin, inclined 
exact, exact 
facile, easy 
favorable, favourable 
lent, slow 



nuisible, hurtful 
odieux, odious 
pareil, like 
precieux, precious 
preferable, preferable 
pret, ready 
prompt, quick 
propre, fit 
sensible, sensible 
*tt/e£, subject 
sourd, deaf 
uft'fe, useful. 



§ 89. Adjectives expressing plenty or scarcity, want, 
capability, absence, satisfaction, desire, separation, require 
the preposition de before their complement, as : — 



agreable, agreeable. 
aise, easy 
affame, starved 
avide, greedy 
capable, fit 
content, satisfied 
coupable, guilty 
curieux, curious 
digne, worthy 
envieux, envious 
fier, proud 
fou, mad 
furieux, furious 

goiy gay 

glorieux, glorious 
gros, stout 



honteux, happy 
impatient, impatient 
independant independent 
inconsolable, inconsolable 
insatiable, insatiable 
ivre, intoxicated 
jaloux, jealous 
joyeux, joyful 
las, tired 
libre, free 
plein, full 

reconnaissant, grateful 
soigneux, careful 
stir, certain 
vide, empty 
voisin, near. 



heureux, happy 

Remabk.— "Whenever the verb Ure nsed unipersonally ia joined to 
an adjective, followed by an infinitive, that adjective takes generally de; 
as : it est agriable de danser, it is agreeable to dance. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 31 

§ 90. Those denoting affection towards a person require 
envers, as : — 

affable, affable genereux, generous 

bon, good indulgent, indulgent 

charitable, charitable ingrat, ungrateful 

clement, merciful juste, just 

coupable, guilty reconnawsant, grateful 

dur, harsh severe, severe. 

§ 91. The following require en : — 

abondant, abundant ignorant, ignorant 

fecond, fertile expert, skilful 

fort, strong riche, rich. 

Observe. — Many adjectives take different prepositions before 
names of persons and names of things, such are — redevable, responsible^ 
prodigue, reconnaissant, assidu, etc. Others do not take the same 
prepositions before nouns and before infinitives, as : Uair est nScessaire 
d la vie, pour vivre; il est necessaire de travailler ; but practice alone 
can enable the student to acquire the right use of these prepositions. 

IV. — QTTALIEICATIVE ADJECTIVES OP DIMENSION. 

§ 92. In English adjectives of dimension, such as long, 
long ; large, wide or broad ; epais, thick ; haut , high ; profond, 
deep, come after the word of measure. They come before 
it in Prench, and are followed by the preposition de, as : — 

TTne tour haute de sept pieds A tower Beven feet high 
Un chemin long devingt pieds A road twenty feet long. 

We may also let the words remain in French as in 
English, and put de before the number and before the word 
of measure or dimension. In this case, the substantive of 
dimension is often used instead of the adjective, as : — 

TTne towr de sept pieds de A tower seven feet high 
haut, or de hauteur 



32 SYNTAX. 

Un ehemin de vingt pieds de A road twenty feet long. 
long, or de longueur 

The French, in general, prefer using the verb avoir, the 
English to be, when expressing dimension. De is then left 
out before the number, and the phrase is rendered thus : — 

Cette tour a sept pieds de haut, That tower is seven feet 
or de hauteur high. 

Bemjlbk. — When there are two or more dimensions mentioned, the 
conjunction and is elegantly expressed by sur, but de is then not 
repeated, as* une chambre de dix pieds de largeur sur vingt de lon- 
gueur, a room ten feet wide and twenty long. In preceding a word of 
dimension is usually expressed by de and not by dans or en. 

V. — DEGBEE8 OF COMPARISON OF QTTALIFICATITE 

ADJECTIVES. 

§ 93. If there are several adjectives in a sentence, and 
the first stands in the comparative or superlative degree, 
those that follow must take the same degree, as : — 

Des maux encore plus longs Evils still longer and more 
el plus cruels que les siens cruel than his. 

(Fen.) 

§ 94. Adjectives in the comparative or superlative 
degree generally stand after the noun (except those men- 
tioned § 84), as: — 

JUlionneur est plus puissant, Honour is more powerful, 
plus sacreque laloi (Volt.) more sacred than the law. 

Remake:. — Sometimes the adjective in the superlative degree stands 
before the noun ; in that case the article precedes it also, as : la plus 
heureusefamille du monde, the happiest family in the world. 

§ 96. By whatever preposition an adjective in the com- 
parative or superlative degree is followed in English, it 
must in French always be followed by de, as : — 

H etait plus grand de toute He was taller by the whole 
la tite, quoiqu'il fut plus head, though he was 

jeune de dix arts (Villem.) younger by ten years. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 38 

§ 96. In a comparison, than coming before an infinitive 
is expressed by que de or qv!a, as : — 

II vaut mieux que vous soyez It is better that you should 

heureux que de briller a be happy than to shine at 

la cour court 

H est plus dispose a vous He is more inclined to hurt 

nuire qyta vous obliger than to oblige you. 

§ 97. But after any tense of the indicative than is ex- 
pressed by que . . ♦ ne, as : — 

II est plus vertueux que vous He is more virtuous than 

ne croyez you think 

H est moins beau que vous He is less beautiful than you 

nepensez believe. 

Remake:. — The ne is omitted when the first part of the sentence 
is either interrogative or negative, as : Stes-vous moins fatigue que 
vous Vetiez; il n'est pas moins fatigue que vous Vetiez. Ne is also 
omitted when there is a conjunction between que and the verb, as : 
je suis meiUeur cavalier que quand f etais en France ; il est plus vertuewc 
que lorsque vous Vavez connu. 

§ 98. In a comparison, than followed by a numeral 
adjective is always expressed by de, as : — 

Nous avons recu plus de dix "We have received more than 
livres ten pounds. 

§ 99. The article is not used in French in comparatives 
of proportion when the more, the less, the sooner, the later, 
the longer, the shorter, etc., are employed, as : — 

Plus il a bu, plus il veut The more he drinks, the 
boire (Arnault) more he wishes to drink 

"Plus fy r6flechis,et moins je The more I reflect on it, 
trouve cette scene naturelle the less natural I consider 
(Volt.) this scene. 

i) 



84 SYNTAX. 

§ 100. The article is invariable in the superlatives le 
plus, le moins, le mieux, the most, the least, the best, when 
it modifies an adjective, a verb, or an adverb, as : — 

(Test aupres de ses enfant* She is the most happy when 

qu'clle est le plus heureuse with her children 

(Test pour le dessem qu'ils They are most happily gifted 

sont Is plus heureusement for drawing. 
doues 

§ 101. But the article is variable if the person or thing 
is compared to another person or thing, as :— 

De toutes lesfemmes c'est la She is of all women the 

plus heureuse happiest 

Zes arts les plus utiles ne The most useful arts are not 

sont pas les plus considered the most valued. 

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES. 

We have already spoken of the possessive adjectives in 
the Accidence, § 62 — § 65 ; we shall now give a few more 
particulars about them. 

§ 102. In French we generally use the possessive 
adjective when addressing any one, as : — 

Venez, tries enfants (Berquin) Come, my children 
Comment, mon cher comte, What, dear count, you are 
vous etes marie? (Scribe) married ? 

§ 103. But when speaking of any one with whom we 
are not intimate, monsieur, madame, mademoiselle must 
be used before the possessive adjective, as : — 

Monsieur votre frere est-U Is your brother at home ? 
chez lui ? 

§ 104. Whenever the sense clearly points out who is the 
possessor, or whenever a reflective verb is used, the definite 



THE ADJECTIVE. 35 

article is employed instead of the possessive adjective, 

as: — 

Ouvrez les yeux Open your eyes 

H s*est blesse au Iras He has hurt his arm. 

§ 105. Rbmabk 1. — A is generally used when speaking of feeling 
produced in any part of the body j as in the above example, il 8* est 
blessS au bras; also il a Jroid awe mains, he has cold hands. Couper 
au doigt y means to cut the finger slightly; camper le do%gt t to out the 
finger off. 

§ 106. Remaez 2. — When we speak of a part of the body which 
is used as nominative or subject to the verb, the possessive adjective 
must generally be used : as, son pied est enflS, his foot is swollen. 

§ 107. The definite article le, la, les is also used in speaking 
of an action over any part of the body or intellectual faculty 
and the person on whom the action thus falls is repre- 
sented by a conjunctive pronoun in the dative case, as : — 

TJn boulet de canon lui em- A cannon-ball carried away 

porta lajambe his leg 

Je lui ai donne la replique I have given him his cue. 

§ 108. Its and their, relating to inanimate things, are 
always expressed by en before the verb, and by placing the 
article before the noun, as : — 

Zondres est une grande ville ; London is a large town ; its 
la situation en est tres com- situation is very conve- 
mode pour le commerce nient for trade. . 

But when its and their are preceded in English by a 
preposition, or are nominative to any verb (except etre) in 
a sentence of two or more members, son, sa, ses, leur, or 
leurs must be used, as : — 

Zondres est une grande ville ; London is a large town ; I 

f admire la largeur de ses admire the size of its 

rues ; son commerce pro- streets ; its trade produces 

duit d'immenses ressources immense resources* 



36 SYNTAX. 

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES. 

§ 109. These adjectives always precede the substantive, 
and must be repeated before every noun, as : — 

Get encens, ces honneurs que This incense, these honours 
le vulgaire admire (Soulie) which the plebs admire. 

Observe not to mistake ce, the demonstrative adjective, for ce, 
the demonstrative pronoun; the first always precedes a noun, the 
second always a verb, or qui, gtu/as : ce monsieur ignore ce que je fait, 
tliis gentleman does not know what I do. 

INDEFINITE ADJECTIVES. 

§ 110. Aucun,none, forms its feminine regularly; it takes 
ne before the verb, and is used in the plural when relating to 
a noun that has no singular. (See Accidence, § 22.) This 
is also the case with nul and pas un, which have the same 
meaning in English, though nul means also null, void. All 
these adjectives drop ne when used in sentences expressing 
doubt, in interrogations, or when there is no verb expressed. 
Pas un has no plural, but all three may be used without a 
substantive. 
Ne lui ferez-vous grdce Will you not show him any 

aucune ? (Mol.) favour ? 

Aucun riest prophete chez No one is a prophet in his 

soi (La Font.) own country 

11 Va obtenu sans aucuns He has obtained it without 

frais (Aead.) any expense 

Nulle paix pour Vimpie No peace for the wicked 

(Rac.) 
Pas un seul petit morceau Not a single little piece. 

(La Font.) 

§ 111. Autre, other, agrees with the noun to which it 
relates, even when that noun is understood : — 

Connaissez-vous mon autre Do you know my other 
soBur f (Acad.) L sister P 



THE ADJECTIVE. 37 

(feat un autre moi-rneme He is my alter-ego 

Un autre eependant a flecTii Another has however sub- 
son audace (Eac.) dued his boldness. 

It is also sometimes used in opposition, as : autrea aont lea temps 
de Mo'ise, autre* ceux de Joaue et dee Juges, autrea ceux dea Rois 
(Bossuet), 

§ 112. Choque, each, is the same in the masculine and 
feminine, it has no plural, and is always followed by a 
substantive : — 

Chaque passion parte un dif- Each passion vents itself in 
ferent langage (Boileau) a different way. 

Observe. — Do not mistake chaque, adjective, for chacun the in- 
definite pronoun ; the former is always united to a noun, the inde- 
finite pronoun never. 

' § 113. Maint, many, takes an e for the feminine, and is 
used in the same sense 2& plusieurs : — 

Maint rocTier ecrase en torn- Many a rock crushes whilst 

bant falling 

Mainte femme qui raisonne Many a woman fond of 

arguing. 

§ 114. In French meme is used as an adjective and as 
an adverb. It is an adjective : — 

(1.) "When it precedes the noun, which it then modi- 
fies with an idea of identity,* as : — 

Les peuples se ressemblent Nations are everywhere alike, 
p art out, memes vices, memes the same vices, the same 
vertus (Lemare) virtues. 

(2.) Meme is an adjective when it modifies the noun 
with an idea of similitude and resemblancef : — 



* Compare the Latin idenr, as : 'Semper idem, Always the same, 
t Compare the Latin nmilis, as : Similit patri, Like his father. 



38 SYNTAX. 

Voild les freres Martin, mime There are the brothers 

Utile, mime figure, mimes Martin, the same shape, 

habitude* de corps (Paul- the same face, the same 

mier) habits. 

(3.) Mime,* when preceded by moi, tod, lui, etc., is an 
adjective : — 

Nous ne voyons pas nous- We ourselves do not see our 

mimes not defauts(B68cheT) faults 
II fait cela de lui-mime He does it from his own im- 

pulse. 

(4s.) Mime, adjective, is sometimes used to express em- 
phasis, and is then placed after the noun : — 

Cettefemme est la franchise This woman is frankness 

mime (Acad.) itself 

Zee Bomains ne vainquirent The Romans only conquered 

les Orecs que par les Grecs the Greeks by the Greeks 

mimes (Acad.) themselves. 

§ 115. Mime is an adverb when not preceded by an 
article and placed after the verb, as : ils travaillent mime 
la nuitj they even work at night. It is also an adverb when 
used after several nouns, as : les riches, les princes, les rois 
mime ont des peines, the rich, the princes, the kings even 
have troubles. 

§ 116. Phisiewrs, several, sometimes used without a 
noun, has no singular, and is of both genders : — 

It 8' est donne plusieurs com- Several battles have been 

bats (Acad.) fought 

Plusieurs Centre elles ver- Several of them shed tears. 

saient des larmes (Florian) 

§ 117. Quelconque, whatever, generally employed with 
a negative, means nobody, no . . . whatever. It is 

* Compare the Latin ipse, u : Tute ipse praeicripmtti, Yon yourself ordered it. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 



39 



always placed after the noon. Without ne it is used in 
the sense of whatever, whatsoever, any, etc. : — 

11 riy a raison quelconque There is no reason whatever 



quipuisse Vy obliger 



which can oblige him to 
doit 
Give any reason for it. 



Bonnet en une raison quel- 
conque 

§ 118. (1.) Quelque, followed immediately by a noun, or 
an adjective and noun, takes the sign of the plural. If the 
noun is followed by que, it also governs the subjunctive : — 

Quelque* ecrivains ont traite Some writers have spoken 



de ce sujet (Acad.) 

Adressez-vous a quelques ent- 
ires personnes 

Quelque sujet qu'on traite 



about this 
Address yourself to some 

other persons 
Whatever subject one may 



treat of. 

(2.) But when quelque modifies an adjective alone, or an 
adverb, it remains invariable : — 



However powerful they may 
be, I do not fear them 



Quelque puissants quails 

soientje ne les crams point 

(Acad.) 
Quelque heureusement doues 

que nous soyons nous ne 

devons pas en tirer vanite 

(Bon.) 

(3.) Before a verb quelque is written as two words, and 
quel agrees then with the subject of the verb : — 
Quel qu'il soit nul rempart Whoever he may be, no bul- 



However happily gifted we 
may be, we ought not to 
be proud of it. 



ne le pent proteger (Ance- 
lot) 
Quelles que soient vos vues 
(Acad.) 



wark can protect him 

Whatever may be your 
views. 



§ 119. IW,such,is used as an adjective and substantive: — 



40 SYHTAX. 

Un homme tel que lui (Acad.) A man such as he 
Tel est pris qui croyait Such a one is caught who 
prendre (La Pont.) thought to catch others. 

Remaek. — Tel . . , tel (the Latin talis-qualis) is also used, 
as : tel maitre tel valet, like master like man ; it is sometimes even 
used with quel, as : dee gene tele quels, people only so and bo ; je vous . 
rends votre somme d? argent telle quelle, I return you your money which 
has not been touched. 

§ 120. (1.) Tout, any, is used in the sense of every, 
each, and is immediately followed by the noun,* as : — 

JEn toute chose il faut con-' In every thing we must con- 

siderer la fin (La Font.) sider the end 

Tout homme est sujet d la Every man must die. 
mort 

(2.) It also means whole, universal^ and then has for 
the plural masculine tous, for the feminine singular toute, 
feminine plural toutes : — 

On perd tous ses amis en per- One loses all one's friends 

dant tout son lien (Des- in losing all one's wealth 
touches) 

Toute lafamille ie porte lien All the family are well. 

(3.) As an adjective in a distributive sense, J as : — 

Tous les Bomains sont con- All the Romans are in a 

sternes (Vert.) state of consternation 

U passe tous jours a lire He passes all his days read- 

ing. 

Remaek 1. — Tout, adjective (except in the sense of every), is always 
followed by the article or the possessive or demonstrative adjectives. 



• Compare the Latin qtUique, as : Pro se guisque, Eyery man for himself. ' 
t Compare the Latin totus, omnis, as : Totum oppidnm cingit (Cesar), He sur- 
rounds the whole town ; Tota mtnte. With his whole mind. 

% Compare the Latin omnes, as : Ommbm memibus, Eyery month. 



THE ADJECTIVE. 41 

Ebmaek 2.— Tout before the name of a town is always masculine, 
because peuple is understood as : Tout Borne. 

§ 121. Tout is also used as a noun, with or without the 
article : — * 

Le tout se rnonte a tant The whole comes to so much 

Tons ceux quefai vus (Acad.) All those I have seen. 

Observe there is some difference in the pronunciation of tons 
with the final s sounded, and tons without the final s sounded. For 
example : vous Ues tons mes amis, means, if sounded with the final s, 
you are all my friends, but without that letter sounded, you are all 
the friends I have. 

§ 122. Tout as an adverb means quite, entirely, t as : — 

On Va trouvee tout enplewrs They found her all in tears 

(Bon.) 
JElle etait tout a vous She was wholly yours. 

It takes an e when immediately followed by a feminine 
adjective beginning with a consonant, or h aspirated : — 

JElle est toute malade She is quite ill 

La Qrece, toutepolie et toute Greece, though wholly civi- 
le qu'elle etait lized and wise. 

NUMEKAL ADJECTIVES. 

§ 123. Numeral adjectives are of both genders, and 
numbers, except un, premier, and second, which take an 
e in the feminine : — 

JJnfils, unefiUe One son, one daughter 

Le premier roi, la premiere The first king, the first 

reme queen 

Le second enfant, la seconde The second child, the second 

chambre room. 

§ 124. Vingt and cent take an s when not followed 

* Compare the Latin totum, as : Totum in to et&, All depends on that, 
t Compare the Latin totut, as : Tata turn misera, I am wholly miserable. 



42 SYNTAX. 

by any other number. They are also invariable, when 
speaking of dates (see Aooidenci, § 70) : — 

Le royaume a dure* deux The kingdom lasted two 

cent quarante ans, mais la hundred and forty years, 

republique environ cinq but the republic about fife 

cents one hundred years 

La flotte etait composee de The fleet consisted of eighty 

quatre vingts voiles ships 

Charlemagne fut proclame Charlemagne was proclaimed 

empereur en huit cent emperor in the year 800. 

§ 125. The cardinal numbers, except premier, are used in 
French instead of the English ordinal, with the names of 
sovereigns, and also in dates, when speaking of the days of 
the month. The dates always precede the noun in 
French : — 

Francois premier, Charles Francis the First, Charles 

neuf, et Henri quatre etai- the Ninth, and Henry 

ent rois de France the Fourth were kings of 

France 

Le dix-huit Juin le general On the eighteenth of June 

Brunet tomba en soldat G-eneral Brunet died on 

(De Baz.) the battle-field. 

§ 126. Remark 1. — The English word on is never translated when 
speaking of days ; of may be translated or not ; therefore : le IS de 
Juin, or le 18 Juin, 

Remark 2. — Deux or second, may be used indifferently when 
speaking of kings. 

Remark 3. — In speaking of books we may use either cardinals or 
ordinals, but le second tome means simply the second volume of any 
book; le deuxiime tome implies that the work has more than two 
volumes. 

Remark 4. — Before huit, onze, etc., the vowel is not dropped in le 
or la, as : le huit de Janvier, the eight of January. 

Remark 5. — Un is sometimes used as a qualificative adjective, as : 
la mile en effet Stait antsi mains une (V. Hugo), in reality the town 
was also less compact. 



THE PBONOTJK. 43 



CHAPTEE IV. 

THE PRONOUN. 
PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 

Iff the Accidence we have already given a table of the 
conjunctive and disjunctive personal pronouns (see § 75 
and § 80). We will now give some peculiarities of these 
pronouns. Let it, however, be observed that there is a 
great dissimilarity in the French and English languages in 
the use of the pronouns — a dissimilarity not only in respect 
to place and order, but also with regard to case. 

"We cannot therefore too strongly recommend to the 
English student the following rules : — 

"We will consider — x 

I. The place of the Personal Pronouns. 
II. Their order. 
III. Their repetition. 

I.— THEIE PLACE. 

A. Conjunctive Personal Pronouns. 

§ 127. The conjunctive personal pronouns j'i, tu y il, elle, 
nous, vous, ils, elles, always precede the verb of which they 
are the subject : — 

Je vous donnerai un conseil I will give you wholesome 

salutaire; et pour ricom- advice, and for reward I 

pensejene vous demande only ask you to keep it 

que le secret secret. 



44 SYNTAX. 

Except— 

§ 128. (1.) In interrogative sentences: — 
Trouverai-je partout un rival Shall I everywhere find a 

guefabhorre (Eac.) rival whom I detest ? 

Oil suis-je, malheureux ? Where am I, unfortunate 

man? 

§ 129. (2.) In elliptic phrases, chiefly in the subjunctive 
mood, where no conjunction is used : — 

JPuisse-je de mes yeux y voir May my eyes behold a 

tomber lafoudre! (Corn.) thunderbolt fall thereon! 

Que ne puis-je feaprimer ce Why cannot I express to 

queje sens si lien ? you what I feel so well ? 

§ 130. (3.) When the verb forms a kind of parenthesis, 
showing .that we repeat the words said by ourselves or by 
some other person : — 

(Jest simple comme bonjour, It is as simple as anything, 
a-t-il continue (Soul.) he continued. 

§ 131. (4.) When the verb is preceded by aussi, au mains, 
peut-Stre, toujours, encore, enfin, a peine, du moins, eta : — 

A peine la saison est-elle Scarcely is the season over 
passee 

Eeut-etre ai-je eu tort de le Perhaps I was wrong to say 
dire it. 

§ 132. The personal pronoun in the genitive en, and in 
the dative y, are seldom conjunctive in speaking of persons ; 
they are, however, conjunctive in speaking of persons, 
whenever we wish to avoid the repetition of de lui, de 
nous, a lui, a nous, etc., or in answer to a question : — 

Les Troglodytes aimaient The Troglodytes loved their 
leurs parents et en etaient parents and were beloved 
aimes (Mont.) by them 



TUB PBOWOTO. 45 

Avez-vous peur de hit ? Qui, Are you afraid of him ? Yes, 

fen ai peur I am 

Quand je parle beaucoup de When I speak much of you, 

vous ma fille, fy pense my daughter, I still think 

encore davantage jour et more of you by night and 

nuit (Mad. de Sevigne) by day. 

§ 133. But in speaking of things the personal pronouns 
in the genitive and dative are always conjunctive, as : — 

Mien n'est plus dcmgereux Nothing is more dangerous 

que Vautorite en des mains than authority in hands 

qui ne savent pas en favre which do not know how 

usage to use it 

Quant a vos raisons je nCy As for your reasons I give 

rends to them. 

§ 134. Remabk 1. — -En is sometimes used in the meaning of some 
of it, some of them, thence, fcom that, etc., as : vous avez de V argent, 
donnez-en a voire ami, you have money, give some of it to your 
friend. It is also used in several idiomatical phrases, as : en vouhir, 
to he angry with ; en imposer, to deceive ; s J en alter, to go away ; en 
venir aux coups, to come to blows. 

Remaek 2. — T is also used for in it, there, thither , here, etc., 
whether expressed or understood in English, as : fy vais, I am going 
thither. 

§ 135. Personal conjunctive pronouns used as objects, 
either direct or indirect, are generally placed before the 
verb : — 

Je te le dis du fond de mon I say it to you from the 

ccsur (J. J. Eouss.) • bottom of my heart 

lis ont quelques defcvuts, je They have some faults, I 

les leur passe forgive them to them. 

Except— 

§ 136. In the imperative mood used affirmatively the 
pronoun, object to the verb, is placed after it : — 



46 SYNTAX. 

* 

Jtertds-moi Chretienm etlibre Make me a Christian and 

(Volt,) set me free 

Seposez-vous sur moi (Mol.) Bely upon. me. 

§ 137. But if the imperative mood is used negatively, 
the pronoun comes first : — 

Ne me trouble pas par tes Do not disturb me by your 
indignespleurs (Boileau.) unworthy tears. 

§ 138. Remake 1. — When there are two imperatives affirmatively 
joined by one of the conjunctions et or ou> the second pronoun generally 
precedes the verb to which it belongs : 

PoU*sez~le same cene et le re- Polish it continually and repoliah 

polissez (Boileau) it 

Bottez-moi et me loissez rite Beat me and let me laugh. 

(MoL) 

§ 139. Eemaek 2.— When a verb in the imperative affirmative 
governs two pronouns, the one in the accusative comes first, except 
y-moi, y-toi, y-fe*, y-fa : — • 

Si vos amis commettent desf antes If your friends commit faults, 
reprochez les leur reproach them with them 

Heste done le jar din et promenes- Bemain in the garden and walk 
y-toi un moment there for a minute. 

Observe— It is better for the sake of euphony to avoid such 
phrases as ymoi, y-toi, etc. 

B. Disjunctive Personal Pronouns. 

§ 140. The disjunctive personal pronouns moi, toi, lui, 
eUe, nous, vous, eux, elles, are used : — 

(1.) In answering a question or asking one : — 

Qui sera charge de le lui Who will be entrusted with 
armoncer? Toi (Acad.) announcing it to him? 

You. 
Jtfous, alter en ville ? We, go to town P 

§ i41. (2.) After the verb itre ;— 



THE PBOWOTTir/ 47 

West toi, qui le premier, ait It is you who have done that 

f ait <*b for the first time 

(Teat Ui, &est monfrere It is he, it is my brother. 

§ 142. (3.) In exclamations, in addressing a person, 
or when used for emphasis : — 

Moi, favre une Uchete! I commit a cowardly action ! 
(Acad.) 

Toi, Antigone, file cowra- You, Antigone, courageous 
geuse et magnanime (Bal- andloffcy-minded daughter, 
lanche) 

§ 143. (4.) After a comparative : — 

Chez mon oncle qui s'appelle At the house of my uncle, 
eomme moi (Heard) who bears the same name 

as I do 

Vow valez mieux que lui You are worth more than 
(Acad.) he. 

§ 144. (5.) "When they are followed by mime* or seul 
(see Accidence, § 84) : — 

Va, mais nous-memes, allons Go, but we ourselves, let us 

(Rac.) go 

Vou8 seul pouvez parler dig- Tou alone can worthily 

nement de vous-memes speak of yourselves. 

(Volt.) 

§ 145. (6.) When followed by a relative pronoun or 
present participle : — 

r 

Moi, qui vous parle, mon- I, who am speaking to you, 

sieur (Courier) sir 

Eux, regardant attenUvement They, looking attentively at 

cet homme this man. 



* Compare in Latin— egotnet memet ipsum vobismet ipns, etc. 

I myself me myself to you, yourselves. 



48 SYNTAX. 

§ 146. (7.) After a preposition, and also when they are 
joined to a noun or pronoun by a conjunction : — 

H est fort write contre toi He is very angry with you 

(Acad.) 

La fortune nous a persecutes, Fortune has persecuted us, 

lui et moi (Fen.) him and me. 

Bxkase. — A preposition is always used in French when the verb 
governs several pronouns in the same case, as : il parle cl vous et c\ eux t 
he speaks to you and to them ; or when the personal pronoun is 
governed by a pronominal verb, as : il 8* est adressS cL mot, he has 
spoken to me ; or when the pronoun is used with verbs requiring the 
preposition <£ after them, as : aller £, to go to; venir £, to oome j voter 
£, to fly, etc. 

§ 147. (8.) When the verb has several subjects ex- 
pressed by personal pronouns, that verb is put in the plural 
and the resuming pronouns, nous, vous, or Us are usually 
placed before it : — 

Narbal et moi, nous admirions Narbal and I were admiring 
la bontedes dieux (Fen.) the goodness of the gods. 

§ 148. (9.) In the imperative affirmatively, the pro- 
noun used is always disjunctive (see § 136), except in 
the third persons singular and plural : — 

Suivez-moi, mes amis . Follow me, my friends 

JPortez leur ceci Take this to them. 

II. — OEDEE OP THE FEBSOXAL PBONOTTNS. 

§ 149. When two or more conjunctive personal pronouns 
are governed by the same verb, those of the first person, 
precede the second, and the second those of the third. 

Voulez-vous me la montrer ? Will you show her to me P 
Je vous le donnerai I will give it to you. 

§ 150. But when the dative is in the third person singular 
or plural, the accusative comes first, and if y, there, thither, 
in it, is used conjointly with the pronoun it comes last. 



THE PEOKOUN. 



49 



Je le four preterm I will lend it to them 

Nous le% y porterons We will bring them there. 

§ 151. When two conjunctive personal pronouns, one in 
the genitive, the other in the dative or accusative, are 
governed by the same verb, the genitive comes last, and if y 
is used, (which is very seldom) it precedes en, as : — 
lis m'en ont parle They have spoken to me 

about it 
Nous fy en enverrons "We will send you some of it 

• there. 

Observe* — That whether the sentence be interrogative, negative, 
or affirmative, the personal conjunctive pronouns always precede the 
verb or its auxiliary, except when the pronoun is the subject of an 
interrogation, or in the imperative affirmatively. 

§ 152. Table showing the order in which the personal pronouns 
appear when there are two or three governed by the same verb, and 
given to show not only the relative position of the personal conjunctive 
pronouns' with regard to each other, but also with regard to the verb 
and other words connected with them in a sentence : — 



Je 
T» 

n 

JBlle 

Nous 

Vous 

IU 

JEUet 



2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


ne 


me 


le 


lux 


.V 


en 


— 


te 


la 


leur 




— 


— 


89 


Us 


— 


— 


— 


— 


nous 


— 


— 


— 


— 


— 


vous 


— 


— 


— 


— 




se 











8 

auxiliary 
or verb. 


1 1 1 1 1 1 1 g « 


10 
adverb. 













11 

participle. 



III. — EBPETITIOW OP THE PERSONAL PBONOTOS. 

§ 153. The personal pronouns in the nominative are 
repeated in French : — 

(1.) Before every verb, if those verbs are in different 
tenses, but if the verbs are in the same tense, the pronouns 
may be repeated or not. 



II £ecoute> il se plait, il 
8* admire, il s'airne (J. B. 
Bouss.) 



He indulges himself, he is 

pleased with himself, he 

admires himself, he loves 

himself 

E 



60 STJTTAX. 

Nous entendons hien, mats We hear well, but we will 
nous entendrons encore hear still better. 
mieux 

§ 154. (2.) When two members of a sentence are joined 
by any conjunction except et, and, rnais, but, and ni, nor, 
neither. 

II est humble parce qu'U est He is humble because he is 

pauvre poor 

Vous serez estvme si vous etes You will be esteemed if you 

sage are wise. 

§ 155. (3.) When we pass from a negative to an 
affirmative sentence, or from an affirmative to a negative. 

Tu iCas point d'aile et tu Tou have no wings and you 

veux voter ? rampe (Volt.) wish to fly ? creep 

Vous le dites et vous ne le You say it and do not think 

pensez pas it. 

§ 156. Personal pronouns used as the government of 
verbs are always repeated in French before every verb. 

Nous Vaimons et nous le ven- We love and will avenge 

gerons him 

Voila un homme, qui me gene There is a man who hinders 

et me vole and robs me. 

Remark. — Taste will more than any given rules tell when the 
pronoun has to be repeated or not. The pronoun is very often not 
repeated in compound tenses, except if the verbs require different 
complements, when it has to be repeated. 

§ 157. The pronoun is often doubled to repeat an idea 
already expressed. 

Voudriez - vous me perdre, Would you ruin me, I, who 
moi, voire attie ? (Acad.), am your ally? 

§ 158. Often the pronoun is used as an indirect comple- 
ment, sometimes showing that an action is done, having 



THE PK02T0UXT. 51 

« 

some remote reference to the person represented by the 
pronoun.* 

On hii lia les pieds, on vous They tied his feet, they hung 

le suspendit (La Font.) him up 

Olisse moi sur la superficie Skim the surface. 

(Volt.) 

EEMABKS OK THE PBOKOUNS LE, LA, LBS. 

§ 159. When the pronouns le, la, les, have reference to 
a substantive, or to an adjective used substantively, they 
agree with it in gender and number. 

JEtes vous la maitresse du Are you the mistress of the 

logis ? Oui, je la suis. house ? Yes I am 

Sont ce-la vos gants ? Oui ce Are these your gloves ? Yes 

les sont they are. 

§ 160. But when the pronouns le, la, les, have re- 
ference either to an adjective or to a substantive used 
adjectively, or to a sentence, they are invariable. 
Cette femme est belle et le This woman is beautiful, and 

sera longtemps (Acad.) will be so a long time 

11 est de grands hommes qui There are great men who 

ne le sont que par des are only so through their 

vertus virtues. 

BEMABKS ON BE, SOI. 

§ 161. Se, called the reflective pronoun, is of both 
genders and numbers, and is used as direct or indirect 
complement, as : — 

Iletat doit se charger de ce The state ought to undertake 

soin (Eollin) this charge 

21 sefit une hi d'ecrwe tous He made it a law to write 

les jours every day. 

* This dative corresponds to the so-called ethical dative in Latin, as : Quid tnihi 
CeUut agit t How is my Cehras ? Haec vobit iptorum per biduum militia fuit, Here 
was their two days* campaign for you. It is also not unknown in English, as, 
" Villain, I say, knock me at this gate and rap me well" (Shakepeare). 



52 SYNTAX. 

Bshabk. — The passive voice in French is not so generally used 
as in English, and is commonly translated by** or by on, as: on dit 
que U roi vient de mourir, it is said that the king has just died ; or, 
cela se dit, it is said. (See § 182.) 

§ 162. Soi (except in etre soi, to be one's self) is always 
used with a preposition, and comes after the verb. It is 
chiefly employed when referring to persons, in relation to 
some indefinite pronoun, as : on, chacun, jpersonne, quicon- 
que, aucun, etc. It is also used in referring to things or 
indefinite sentences. 

Chacun travaille pour soi Each one labours for himself 

(Acad.) 

La poesie porte son excuse Poetry carries its excuse 

avec soi (Boileau) with it 

11 est beau de triompher de It is beautiful to triumph 

• soi (Corn.) over one's self 

Quand on etait assis on avait When one was sitting down, 

devant soi la cour verte one had a view of the 

(Chateubriand) green court. 

Bbmaek. — Soi never loses the final vowel, se follows the ordinary 
rule of elision. 

POSSESSIVE PBONOUNS. 

§ 163. The possessive pronouns mine, thine, his, hers, 
ours, yours, and theirs are expressed in French by le mien, 
le tien, le sien, etc. (See Accidence, § 85.) But used with 
the verb to be in the sense of to belong, mine is generally 
expressed by a moi, thine by a toi, and so on.* 

11 n'a rien a lui, tout est a Nothing is his, everything is 

ses amis (Lamennais) his friends' 

Ces chevaux sont-ils a moi Are these horses mine ? 



* In Latin there is also a dative of possession : Dives est, cvi tanta pottessio eat, 
ut nihil optet amplius, He is a rich man, to whom such a possession belongs, that 
he desires nothing more. 



THE PBONOHN". 53 

§ 164. Employed in an absolute sense they become 
nouns, and express relations, family, friends, tribe, partisans, 
etc. 

On n' est jamais trahi que par One is never betrayed ex- 
les siens (Acad.) cept by one's own people 

Les vStres se sont Men battus Your friends have fought 

well. 

There are some, peculiar ways of using the possessive 
pronoun in English, which cannot be literally translated in 
French. 

§ 165. (1.) When the substantive is preceded by this, that, these 
or those, and is followed by of and the possessive pronoun we must 
translate it thus : — 

Where is that book of mine ? Oil est mon livre ? 

Take that watch of his Prenez sa montre. 

§ 166. (2.) When the substantive is followed by of and the 
possessive pronoun we have to turn it thus : — 

There is a friend of mine and a Voila un de mes amis et une de ses 
cousin of hers cousines. 

§ 167* (3.) Sometimes le mien, le tien, le sien, etc., are used for 
my own, thy own, his own, etc., as : — 

II n'y a rien mis du sien He has contributed nothing of 

his own 
Ce quefai perdu du mien What I have lost of my own. 

§ 168. (4.) In some cases my own, thy own, etc., have to be 
translated by £ moi, a tot, etc., and also sometimes by the adjective 
propre,* as :— 

tTai une terre ct moi I have an estate of my own 

Je Vaime comme mon propre frhre I love him as my own brother. 

* In this sense propre is also used in Latin, as : Sua propria facuitate, by his 
own faculty. 



54 SYXTAX. 

DEMONSTRATIVE PBONOTJNS. 

§ 169. Ce is always used before the verb etre, when 
followed by a substantive, an adjective, or one of the 
personal pronouns, moi, toi, lui, etc. (See Accedence, § 88.) 

(Test folie a eux de croire It is madness in them to be* 

(Acad.) lieve 

(Test indiscret a moi (Scribe) It is indiscreet of me. 

§ 170. Bbmabk 1.— When it is followed by an adjective used with a 
complement, that is with something describing the sentence, il must be 
used, as : il est impossible d'Stre heureux sans pratiquer la vertu, it is 
impossible to be happy without practising "virtue. 

Remabk 2. — If Stre is only followed by an infinitive we may use 
either ce or il. Ce must be followed by a, il by de, as : c y est ridicule 
ct voir, it is ridiculous to see ; but il est ridicule de voir. 

Remase 3. — There is often a difference in the use of ce and il j ce 
points out more distinctly. For example, in the phrases, quelle heure 
est-il ? and quelle heure est-ce ? the first question refers simply to the 
time in general, the second to an hour just struck. 

§ 171. Ce is used with the relative pronoun que for 
what in the sense of that which, if used as object, or if 
standing before a noun or pronoun with etre; and that 
which has to be translated by ce qui when used as the sub- 
ject of a sentence. 

Je sais ce que je suis, je sais I know what I am, I know 

ce que vous etes (Corn.) what you are. 

CPest tout ce qui tfentoure, It is all what surrounds you, 

tout ce que tu as aime all what you have loved 
(Souvestre) 

§ 172. Kemaek. — In the second part of a sentence ce is generally 
repeated before Stre, when this verb is followed by another verb, a plural 
noun or a personal pronoun, as : ce qui me fait plaisir c 9 est de n 1 avoir 
rien a /aire, what pleases me is that I hare nothing to do ; ce que f aime 
Zeplus, ce sonb les cerises, what I love most are cherries. But if followed 



THE PBOHOUN. 55 

by an adjective or past participle, the second ce is not used, as : Ce 
que nous anon* fait, Stent nScessaire pour Veffrayer, what we have done 
was necessary to frighten him. 

§ 173. The demonstrative pronouns celui, celle, ceux, 
celles, are generally used with qui or que when he, she, they, 
are followed in English by who or whom (See Accidehce, 
§90), as:— 

Heureux celui qui cramt le Happy he who fears the 

Seigneur (Acad.) Lord 

Celui de vous qui sera le plus He who will be the most dili- 

diligent sera recompense gent shall be rewarded. 

(N. Landais) 

Bemabk. — Celui, celle, etc., in reference to things, correspond to 
the one which, that which, those which, etc., as : Pritez-moi un canif, 
celui que fed ne vaut rien, Lend me a penknife, the one which I hare is 
worth nothing. 

EELATIVE PEONOUNS. 

We have already given in the Accidence (see § 93— 
§ 104) all the rules about the relative pronouns ; we will 
now give the rules when relative pronouns are used in an 
absolute manner, and without an antecedent ; or in other 
words, when they are used as interrogative pronouns. 

§ 174. Qui, relating to persons, can as a relative 
pronoun only be the subject of the verb, but is used both 
as subject and object when employed in an absolute 
manner, i. e., as an interrogative pronoun. In speaking of 
persons or things in the sense of what, quel, quelle, must 
be used, as : — 

Qui sont ces gens en robe? Who are these lawyers ? 

(Rac.) 
A qui pensez-vous parler ? To whom do you think you 

speak? 
Quel est son Age ? quelle What is his age ? what is 

est voire intention ? your intention P 



K 



6 SYNTAX. 



§ 175. Remabx— Qui absolute when repeated more than onco 
in a phrase means some, some others, as: chacun alleguait qui une 
origine, qui une autre, qui la ressemblance du nom, qui des armes (Mon- 
taigne), each brought forward some one origin, some another, some the 
resemblance of the name, some arms. 

§ 176. Que, what, which as a relative pronoun, can only 

be the object of the verb, is used in interrogative sentences, 

as subject or object of the verb, and only applies to things : — 

* 
Que vous en semble ? What do you think about it ? 

Qu'est-ce. done qui vous "What is it that disturbs 

trouble ? (Fen.) you ? 

Remabk. — In interrogative sentences, particularly to express sur- 
prise, instead of que we use qu'est-ce qui, when it is the subject, and 
qu'est-ce que, when the object of the verb, as: Qu*est-ce qui vous 
trouble ? Qu'est-ce que vous dites 1 What do you say ? 

§ 177. Quoi, without antecedent, has the same meaning 
as que absolute. It relates to things only, and is always fol- 
lowed or preceded by a preposition : — 

A quoi pensez-vous ? (Acad.) Of what do you think ? 
De quoi se plaint-il ? Of what does he complain ? 

§ 178. Rehabk 1. — Quoi followed by de, is also used in exclama- 
tions when before adjectives j que de when employed before nouns, as : 
Que de bonheur il a eu sur la terre 1 What happiness has he enjoyed on 
earth! Quoi de plus hargneux qu'un critique edente ! What more 
snappish than a toothless critic ! 

If a verb be expressed, que alone is used, as : Que les Sieves sont 
paresseux ! How idle are the pupils ! 

Remabx 2. — The phrase, je ne sais quoi, always denotes an inde- 
finable quality, as : un certain je ne sais quoi distingue les hommes 
comme ilfaut, an indescribable something distinguishes gentlemen. 

§ 179. Lequel, laquelle, etc., without antecedent, serve 
in interrogative sentences, to mark a distinction between 
two or more persons or things : — 



THE PRONOUN. 57 

Lequel des deux est lefripon? "Who is the rogue of the two ? 
Par lequel des deux chemvns Which of the two roads 
irons-nous ? (Acad.) shall we take? 

§ 180* Remabx. — When things are spoken of oil (see Accidence, 
§ 104) may be used instead of lequel, etc., preceded by en, dans, vers, 
etc., as: — 

I? Stat de violence oik (for dans The state of violence in which 
lequel) Stait alors la socUte society was at that time. 

(Guizot) 

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS. 

The indefinite pronouns, as we have already said, are : 
on, quiconque, quelqu'un, chacun, autrui, personne, Vun 
Vautre, Vun et V autre, (See Accidence, § 105.) 

§ 181. On, they, one, people, requires always the verb in 
French in the third person singular, though it is generally 
used in English in the plural. It can only be the subject, 
and has to be repeated before each verb of a sentence : — 

On pent etudier a tout age, One can study at every age 

mais on nepeut a tout age but one cannot be a stu- 

etre etudiant dent at every age 

Si Von se convenait, on se If they suited each other, 

touchait la main et Von they shook hands and 

etait amis pour toujour* were friends for ever. 

§ 182. Remark. — On is also often used to turn an English passive 
verb not followed by a substantive and the preposition by, into an active 
verb, as : on vient de recevoir des nouvelles, news has just been 
received. (See Remabx, § 161.) 

§ 183. Though generally followed by a masculine sin- 
gular, it may be followed also by a masculine plural, or by a 
feminine singular or plural, as : — 

On n'est pas toujours jeune One is not always young 

et belle (Acad.) and beautiful 

Aujourd'hui on est amis et To-day we are friends and 

demam rivaux to-morrow rivals. 



58 6THTAX. 

§ 184* BxiCAXX. — 3Tor the sake of euphony, Von m used instead of 
on after the words, et t «, o», gue, gwi, guoi, except when le t la, les, Im, 
lew, follow on in the sentence, as : ceux cl qui Von donne, those to 
whom one gives; si on les laisse seuls, if they are left alone, not 
si Von les, etc., because this would sound disagreeable to the ear. 

§ 185. Quiconque, any one, who, has no plural, and re- 
lates only to persons. If speaking distinctly of a woman, it 
is feminine: — 

Le grand jour sert mal qui- Daylight serves badly any 

con que veut mal faire one who wishes to do 

(Boufflers) evil 

Quiconque passe par la doit Any one who passes that 

payer tant (Acad.) way must pay so much. 

§ 186. Quelquun, any one, some one, takes the gender 
and number of the noun, in the place of which it stands, 
thus: Quelqu'mym. s. ; quelqu'une, f. s. ; quelquesltns, m. p. ; 
quelques unes, f. p. Followed by an adjective it requires 
de for its complement, as : est-il quelqu'un d'assez Idche 
pow insulter une femme ? Is there any one cowardly, 
enough to insult a woman ? 

§ 187. Chacun (m.), chacune (f.), each, every, has no 
plural. It takes son, sa, ses after it, when placed after the 
direct object, or when there is no object of that nature ; it 
takes leur, leurs, eux, elles, when it is before the direct, as : — 

Us apporterent des qffrandes They brought offerings to 

au temple, chacun selon ses the temple, each accord- 

rnoyens (Acad.) ing to his means 

LeslanguesontcTiacuneleurs Languages have each their 

bizarreries (Boileau) eccentricities. 

§ 188. Autrui (m. s.), others, is generally used with 
a preposition : — 

11 nefautpas dedrer lelien We must not desire the 
d'autrui (Acad.) good of others 



THE PRONOUN. 59 

Tour consumer autrui le The monster rains itself in 
monstre se consume (Boi- order to rain others, 
leau) 

§ 189. Fersonne, nobody, is used as a noun* and pro- 
noun. As a noun it is feminine, as a pronoun masculine. It 
is always accompanied by ne, which precedes the verb : — 

Je ne connais personne tF I know nobody so happy as 

aussi heureux que cette this woman 
femme (Acad.) 
Je rCy suis pour personne I am at home for no one. 

(Acad.) 

§ 190. Fersonne without ne means anybody, and is 
chiefly used in sentences expressing doubt, or in interroga- 
tions. In answer to a question, personne is also some- 
times used without ne : — 

Je doute que personne ait I doubt if anybody has 
onieux peint la nature ever depicted nature 
(Eestaut) better f 

JT a-t'il quelqu'un ici ? — Is there some one here ? — 
Fersonne. Nobody. 

§ 191. ISun V autre, Vun et V autre, refer to persons ana 
things, and take both genders and numbers. The first relates 
not alone to plural, but also to reciprocal ideas, the second 
suggests only plurality ; they are thus declined : — 

l'ttn l'autee. 
mas. sing. has. plub. 

Vun V autre, one another les uns les autres 

Vun de V autre, of one another les uns des autres 
Vun a V autre, to one another les uns aux autres. 



• As a noun it means in Latin, nemo, as : Nemo me impune laeeuit, None 
touches me with impunity. 



60 



SYNTAX. 



pem. snre. 
Vune V autre, one another 
Vune deV autre, of one another 
ZV/ie a V autre, to one another 



FEH. PLTTR. 

les unes les autre* 
les unes des autres 
les unes aux autres. 



Us se lidi&sent les una les They hate one another 

autres 
lis midisent Vun de V autre They speak illof one another. 



l'un et l'autbe. 



HAS. SING. 

Vun et Vautre, both 

de Vun et de Vautre, of both 

d Vun et a Vautre, to both 



HAS. FLUB. 

les uns et les autres 
des uns et des autres 
aux uns et aux autres. 



PEM. SING. PEM. PLTTB. 

Vune et Vautre, both les unes et les autres 

de Vune et de Vautre, of both des unes et des autres 

a Vune et a Vautre, to both aux unes et aux autres. 

This pronoun takes the verb in the plural. 

Hun et Vautre stmt morts Both are dead 

JJun et Vautre consul sui- Both consuls followed his 
vaient ses etendards (Corn.) standards. 



THE VEBB. 61 



CHAPTEE V. 

THE VEBB. 

Iw no part of the syntax has the French language more 
analogy with the Latin than in that which relates to the 
verbs. We have therefore given under this head several 
points of comparison to which we beg to draw the parti* 
cular attention of the student. 

THE SUBJECT OE NOMINATIVE OF THE VERB. 

§ 192. Geneeal exile. — The verb agrees in number and 
person with its subject,* as : — 

H revient, lespeuples accoivr- He returns, the nation has- 

ent sur son passage ; il tens to meet him ; he re- 

rentre en triomphe dans sa turns in triumph to his 

ville episcopate (Ch&teanb.) episcopal town 

On porle sans cesse du bon~ People speak continually of 

Tieur ; tons les horrmes le happiness ; all men look 

cherckent ; aucun ne le for it ; none find it ; few 

trouve ; peu le connaisseni are acquainted with it. 

§ 193. The verb is put in the plural when there is more 
than one subject, and agrees with the first person rather 
than with the second, and with the second rather than with 
the third. f But in this case one of the resuming pronouns, 

* This is also the case in Latin (see Barry's " Syntaxis," page 5), Omnia vitia 
pugnant contra naturam, All vices fight against nature. 

t The same in Latin (see Barry's " Syntaxis," pages 6 and 7). A few examples 
are given: Pater et mater mortui aunt, The father and mother are dead; Tu ft 
Tullia vaUtis ; ego et Cicero valemue, Thou andTnllia are well; I and Cicero are , 
well. 



62 8TNTAI. 

nous, vous, generally precedes the verb, according to the 
priority of the subject (see § 147) : — 

Vous et moi, nous somtnes You and I, we are satisfied 

contents de notre sort with our fate 
(Acad.) 

Vous et lui vans savez la You and he you know the 

chose thing. 

§ 194. But when two or more subjects arejoined by ou, op, 
or ni 7 nor, op when the verb is preceded by qui, no resuming 
pronoun can be used. In this case the verb is in the sin- 
gular when the agent is spoken of as singular, in the plural 
when there are several agentB,* as : — 

Mon frere ou moi ferons la My brother or I, we will 

reponse a cette lettre (Acad . ) answer this letter 

Ni son cosur ni le mien ne Neither his heart nor mine 

peut Streperfide (Volt.) can be treacherous 

Ni V 'or ni la grandeur ne nous Neither gold nop greatness 

rendentheureux (TinFont.) make us happy 

(Test vous ou lui qui irez You or he will go. 

§ 195. The verb is also used in the singular when the 
subjects are synonymous,t as : — 

Son courage, son intrepidite His courage, his intrepidity 
etonne les plus braves astonish the bravest 
(Domergue) 



* In Latin the verb can also be put in the singular or plural, according to the 
idea predominant in the mind of the writer, aa : Saee si neque ego neque tufeeimus, 
If neither you nor I have done these things. Sine imperio nee domus uila, nee 
civitas, nee gens, nee hominum universum genus stare, nee rerum naturo omnis, nee 
ipse mundus potest; Without government, neither any house, nor state, nor nation, 
nor mankind at large, nor the whole nature of things, nor the world itself, can stand. 
Observe the repetition of the negation in Latin as well as in French. 

f Compare in Latin ; Societas hominum et eommunitas evertatur neeesse est, It 
is necessary that the society and community of men should be destroyed. 



THI YBBB. 68 

Le noir venin, lefiel de leurs The black venom, the mali- 

dcrits, ri excite en moi que ciousness of their writings 

le plus froid mepris (Cohx- only produce within me 

deau) the greatest contempt. 

§ 196. The verb is in the singular when the subjects 
form a climax,* as :— 

Louis, son fits, Vetat y V Europe Lewis, his son, the state, 
est dans vos mams (Yolt.) Europe is in your hands. 

§ 197. It is also employed in the singular when the sub- 
jects are either followed or preceded by such words as 
chaetm, nul, aucun, personne, rien, tout, etc., as : — 

Thus rietes point a vous, le You do not belong to your- 
temps, les biens, la vie, rien self, your time, your 
ne vous appartient, tout est wealth, your life, nothing 
a la patrie (Gresset) belongs to you, everything 

belongs to your native 

country. 

§ 198. Bbmabk. — Sometimes when the verb precedes the subjects, 
it agrees only with one of them, as : Tombe Argos et see murs, May 
Argos and its walls fall,f though the plural can also be used : Vivent 
la Champagne et la Bourgogne pour les bons vins (A.cad.) ; Champagne 
and Burgundy for ever for their good wines. 

PLACE OF THE SUBJECT. 

§ 199. As a general rule, we may say that the subject is 
always placed before the verb, as : — 

JTn Dieu suffit, la nature We need a God, nature 

Vatteste (Chenier) bears witness to it 

Les Mens (see § 164) cesse- Thy race will cease to 

ront de regner (!F£n.) reign. 

* Compare in Latin : JStae et forma et tuper omnia Bomanun nomen te fero- 
cioremfacit, Your age and your handsomeness, and above all your being a Boman, 
make you more ferocious. 

t Compare in Latin: C&nvicta ett MeuaKna et Siluu, Messalina and Silius 
were proved guilty. 



64 SYNTAX. 

§ 200. But in interrogations, when the subject is a pro- 
noun ; in exclamations ; in the subjunctive mood, no conjunc- 
tion being used, and in quotations (see § 128 — § 131) the 
subject is generally placed after the verb, as : — 

Que deviendrai-je ? What will become of me 

Tombe sur moi le del, pourvu Let heaven fall upon me, 

queje me venge (Corn.) provided I have my re- 

venge 
Juste, Jerome, continua le Tou are right, Jerome, con- 

vieux soldat (Souv.) tinued the old soldier. 

§ 201. Bemabx 1. — If in an interrogation the subject is a noun, 
it must, as a general rule, be placed before the verb, and then repeated 
after it by means of a pronoun, as : par oil Napoleon avait-ilperit (L. 
Blanc), through what did Napoleon perish P 

§ 202. Eemabx 2. — If the subject is preceded by the interrogation 
est-ce, est-ce que, it is'placed before the verb : Est-ce que le roiest mort ? 
Is the king dead P 

§ 203. The subject is also generally placed after the verb 
in a sentence beginning with aussi, encore, en vain, toujours, 
peut-etre, au moins, a peine, etc., (see § 131) as: — 

JPeut-etre, Sophie, vous entre- Perhaps, Sophia, I will speak 

tiendrai-je de V astronomic to you about astronomy 
(Aim6-Martin) 

Ces etoffes sont belles, aussi These goods are beautiful, 

elles coHtent cher (Acad.) therefore they are dear. 

§ 204. Bemabk. — Sometimes in poetry the subject is left out alto- 
gether, M: sine Vai plus, dit-il, qui tn'aimera ? (Leb.) ; if I have it no 
more, he said, who'll love me ? The il of uniperaonal verbs is also some- 
times left out, as : je trien irai, messieurs, quand bon me semblera 
(Cour.), I will go, gentlemen, when I like. 



THE OBJECT OR GOVERNMENT OP VERBS. 

§ 205. Some active verbs can have two objects, the one 
direct, the other indirect, as : — 



THE YEEB. 65 

Le dernier degre de la per* The last degree of corrup- 
versite est de favre servir tion is to make of the laws 

les his a V injustice (Volt.) an instrument of injustice. 

Observe here les lois is the direct, a V injustice the indirect 
complement. 

§ 206. But one verb cannot govern two genitives, two 
datives, or two accusatives, as : — 

(Test a vous mon esprit que It is to you, my mind, that 

(not a qui) je veux parler I wish to speak 
(Boil.) 

jSPinforme-t-il de ce que (not Does he inquire what I 

de que) jefais ? do ? 

§ 207. When two verbs do not govern the same case, 
each has its distinct object, as : — 

Je vais a Londres, et fen I am going to London, and 
reviens en quatre heures I'll return from it within 

four hours. 

Observe. — We would not say here :je vais et reviens de Londres 
en quatre heures, because alter requires a after it, whilst revenir 
governs the genitive. 

§ 208. The object of passive verbs is expressed by de 
when we want to express a feeling or an operation of the 
soul, and by par when we want to express some physical " 
action, as : — 

L'honnSte Jtomme est estime The honest man is esteemed 

meme de ceux qui n 9 ont even by those who are not 

pas deprobite honest 

Les Gaules furent conquises Gaul was conquered by 

par Cesar Caesar. 

EeKaek. — Passive verbs are seldom used in French with inanimate 
objects. We prefer using an active verb with on (see § 182) or a. 
pronominal verb (see Ebmaee, § 161), as : its se sont promene's, they 
have been taking a walk % on avait appris beaucoup de lecons, they 
have been learning many lessons* ' ~ J 

7 



66 



SYNTAX. 



§ 209. A preposition is used in French in the comple- 
ment of neuter verbs transitive, because such verbs have 
of course no direct government, as : — 

Ce travail nuit a sa santS This labour is injurious to 

his health 
Tax dine <Fun poulet I have dined of a fowl. 

thb difpuhbht prepositions which verbs 

REQTJI&E. 

As a general rule, nothing is more difficult than to 
know what prepositions to place in French after verbs 
having as their object another verb in the present infinitive, 
or a noun or pronoun. Lists of the principal verbs are given 
here below. 



L— GOVERNMENT OF VERBS WITH OTHER VERBS., 

§ 210. VEBBS BEQUTEINO- NO PREPOSITIONS BEFORE THE POLLOWDW 

VXSB. 

N.B.— Some observation* are made on page 67 on all verbs in thta 
list marked thus *. 



aimer nueuXy 

oiler, 

a/percevoir, 

assurer, 

compter', 

croire, 

daigner, 

declarer, 

deposer, 

*d£sirer 9 

devoir, 

entendre, 
envoyer, 



{ 



{ 



i 



to like better, to 
prefer, etc, 

to go 

to perceive 

to assure 

to expect, to in- 
tend 

to believe 

to deign 

to declare 

to depose 

to wish 

to owe, to be 
obliged 

to bear 

to send 



m esperer, 
*faire, 
falloir, 
*s'imaginer, 
*se laisser, 
laisser, 
nier, 
oser 9 
paraitre, 
*penser, 
*pr£tendre, 
pouvoir, 
reconnoitre, 
regarder, 
retourner, 
tavoir, 



to hope 

to make, to cause 

to be necessary 

to fancy 

to allow one's self 

to let, to allow 

to deny 

to dare 

to appear 

to think 

to pretend 

to be able 

to recognise 

to look 

to go back 

to* know 



THE YEBB. 6? 

sembler, to seem valoir mieux, to be worth more 

sentir, to feel *venir t to come 

*souhaiter 9 to wish for voir, to see 

soutenir, to maintain votdoir, to be willing. 

• 
Observations on some of the Verbs given above, 

§ 211. De'sirer, to wish ; esperer f to hope ; and souhaiter, to wish 
for, sometimes take the preposition de. DSsirer takes de when the wish 
expressed is not certain to be realized, as : il desire de gagner son 
proces, he wishes to gain his lawsuit ; esperer, in the infinitive, takes 
always de before another infinitive, as : pent on espSrer de vous revoir 
aujourd'hui? may we hope to see you again to-day ? The best French 
grammarians maintain that souhaiter takes de before an infinitive ; the 
Academy uses it however without a preposition. 

§ 212. S*imaginer and se laisser are the two only pronominal verbs 
which require no preposition before an infinitive. JPenser in the sense 
of to think of, to intend, requires £, as : je pense £ m'y trainer (Yolk), 
I intend to drag myself there. JPrStendre, meaning to aim afy to aspire, 
takes <J, as : ne prStendez jamais & Stre mon ami, never aspire to be my 
friend. (For venir taking a and de, see Accidence, Observations, 
page 81.) 

§ 213. Faire, followed by an infinitive with an accusative, requires 
the person in the dative, as :je lui aifait raeonter son histoire, I have 
made him tell his history. But if there be no accusative after the 
infinitive, the pronoun stands in the accusative, as : mon pet's les a fait 
partir, my father made them depart. 



§ 214. YIBBS BBQUIBIKO a BEFORE THB FOLLOWING YEBB. 

"N.B. — Some observations are made at the bottom of this list on all 
Terbs marked thus *. 

jabaisser &, to stoop to s'acharner a $ *° ** oruB ^7 ^ ent 

tabanhmnerl, / *° abandon one'. * X «8«^ 

I self admettre a, to admit 

aboutirh, to end to s t adonnerk % to addict one's self 

s* abuser \ to mistake *aiderk, to help 

s'accorderh, to agree aimer a, to like 

accoutumer a, to accustom faguerrir a, to inure one's self 

( to accustom one's famuser a, to delight in 

Saecoutumerk, J ^ animerk, to excite, 



68 



BYXTAX* 



Jammer k, 
s*appliquer a, 
apprendrek, 
opprHerl, 
fapprUer a, 
s'arrUer a, 
aspirerk, 
assigner a, 
s'assujettir a, 
s* attacker a, 
attendre a, 
s'attendre a, 
s'augmenter a, 
autoriserkj 

s'avilir a» 

avoir a, 
balancer a, 
foroera, 

se homer h, 

chercherk, 
se complaire &, 
concourir a, 
condamner a, 

se condamner a, $ 

condescendre a, 
consijterk, 
conspirer a, 
consumer a, 
se consumer a, 
contribuer a, 
convier a, 
*co4ter a, 
decider a, 
«e decider a, 
demeurer k 9 
depenser a, 



to excite one's self dSterminer a, to determine 
to apply one's self «e determiner a, to resolve upon 



to learn how *« devouer k, 
to afford matter disposer a, 
todi.poseoi.e'.self^^^ 
to stop 

to aspire se divertir a, 

to summon donner a, 

to submit one's self employer a, 
to stick to encourager a, 

to wait enhardir a, 

to expect enseigner a, 

to increase s' entendre a, 

to authorise s'itudier a, 

! to degrade one's sUvertuerk, 
self excelUr a, 

to have exciter a, 

to hesitate J exciter a, 

to confine exoefcer a, 

C to confine one's exhorter a, 
| self 

to endeavour 

to take pleasure in sefatiguer a, 

to concur gagner a, 

to condemn habituerk, 

to condemn one's ^ aWlffWr ^ 
self 

to condescend 

to consist 

to conspire 

to consume 

to decay 

to contribute 

to invite 

to cost 

to decide 

to decide - 

to stay 

to spend 



exposerk, 



se hasarder a, 
kisiter a, 
incliner a, 
instruire a, 
interesserk, 

s'interesser a, 

e7re interesse a 
inviter a, 
#re thvtfe a, 
jouerk) 



to devote one's self 
to dispose 

{to prepare one's 
self 
to amuse one's self 
to give 
to employ 
to encourage 
to embolden 
to teach 

to understandhow 
to study how 
to strive 
to excel in 
to excite 

to excite one's self 
to exercise 
to exhort 

expose one'* 

self 
to tire one's self in- 
to gain by 
to accustom 
to accustom one's 

self 
to hate 
to hazard 
to hesitate 
to incline 
to teach how 
to interest ; 

{to interest one's 
self in 
to be interested 
to invite 
to be invited 



r, 



{ 



desapprendre a, to forget 
destiner a, to design for 



to play 

se lasser a ou de, to tire one's self in 
mettre a, to put 



THE VERB. 



69 



semettrek, 
montrer a, 
s'obstiner a, 
occwperk, 

s'occuper a, . \ 

s'offrir a, 
s 9 opinidtrer k t 
iopposer a, 
passer k, 

avoir peine a, 3 

pencher\ 
penserk, 
perdre a, 
perseverer a, 
persister k, 
*se plaire a, 

se plier a, 



se preparer a, 



to set about 

to show 

to be obstinate in Ureprit a, 

to employ prStendre a, 

to employ one's provoquer a-, 

self rSduire a, 

to offer one's self se reduire a, 

to be obstinate in renoncer a, 

to oppose one'sself* , % 

rr *repugnerk, 

to spend 

to find difficulty se resigner k t 

in rester a, 

to be inclined to reussir k 9 



{ 



i 



m risquerk, 
m servir a, 
songer a, 
se soumettre k, 
*suffire a, 



porter a, 
pousser k, 
prendre plaisir 



to think 
to lose 
to persevere 
to persist 
to take delight in 
to conform one's *tarder a, 
self tendre a, 

to induce tenir a, 

to excite ■• travailler a, 

a, to delight in viser a, 



{ 



to prepare one's 
self 

to be disposed 

to aspire 

to provoke 

to reduce 

to reduce to 

to renounce 

to have a reluc- 
tance 

to submit to 

to stay 

to succeed 

to run the risk 

to serve 

to think 

to submit to 

to suffice 

to delay, to long 

to aim 

to aim at, to wish 

to work 

to aim. 



Observations on some of the Verbs mentioned above, 

§ 215. With the exception of sHmaginer and se laisser (see § 212), 
and the pronominal verbs ^mentioned above, all other pronominal verbs 
require de before another infinitive. 

§ 216. Codter, to cost ; se plaire, to take delight ; repugner, to 
have a reluctance ; servit\ to serve ; sujfire, to suffice 5 and tarder, to 
delay, to be long, take de when used unipersonally, as: il me coUte, il 
me plait, il me repugne, il me sert, il me suffit, il me tarde de venir, 
Misquer t to run the risk, when only followed by an infinitive, takes de, 
as : il risque de se noyer, he runs the risk of being drowned. 

§ 217* Aider a, is, to give personal assistance to another by labour, 
etc. Aider une personne, is to assist any one without sharing personally 
in his work, as : je hi ai aide exporter cefardeau etje Vai aide de mon 
argent, I assisted him to carry this burden, and with my money. 



70 



8INTAX. 



§ 218. TXBB8 niQvntnra de betobe this voixownra vebb. 
N.B. — Some observations are made at the bottom of this list on all 



verbs marked thus *• 

iabttenir de, 
accuser de, 
s y accuser de, 

achever de, 



to abstain avoir permission ( to have permis- 

to accuse de, I sion 

to accuse one's self avoir jpeur de, to be afraid 

C to complete, to avoir raison de, to be in the right 

1 finish avoir soin de, 



tfffecterde, 
affliger de, 
faffliger de, 



to affect avoir for* de, 

to afflict lldmer de, 

to grieve briguer de, 

s'ooir de (unip.), to be question of Mler ^ 

, . .. , (to have the ambi- 

ambitionner de, < , 

( tion centurer de, 

opporAwiir dO toWon - cew«r de, 

(unip.), J cAa^ri»«r de, 

e'apercevoir de, to be aware [fear charger de, 
apprihender de, to apprehend, to „ forger a* $ 
arrSterde, 
attendrir de, 



(to 



attrister de, 
avertir de, 
e'aviser de, 



choisir de, 
commander de. 
conjurer de, 
conseiller de, 

«6 consoler de, -j 
m contenter de, 



to stop, to fix 
to move 
to sadden 
to warn 
to think of 
avoir V ambition e to have the am 

de, (, bition to 

avoir far* de, to have the art 
avoirV avantage C to have the advan- convoinore de, 

de, ( tage convenir&e, 

avoir Vaudace r to have the auda- conclure de, 
de, t city crainorede, 

avoir le bonheur t to have the good decourager de, 
de, ( luck dedaignerde, 

avoir lemalheur € to have the mis- ee didire de, 
de, (. fortune *difendre de, 

avoir coutume de, to be in the habit ee dSfler de, 
avoir garde de, to mind lest degoHter de, 

avoir Aonto de, to be ashamed of diliberer de, 
avoir occasion t tohaveanoppor- demander 
de, | tunity oroctf de, 



to take care 
to be in the wrong 
to hurt 

to be ambitious 
burn, to be 
anxious 
to censure 
to cease 
to grieve 
to charge, etc. 
C to take upon one's 



en 



self 
to select 
to command 
to beseech 
to advise 
to console one's 

self 
to be satisfied 
to convince 
to agree 
to conclude 
to fear 
to dishearten 
to disdain 
to retract 
to forbid 
to distrust 
to give a dislike 
to deliberate 
beg as a fa* 

vour 



| to 



THfl VBBB* 



se depicher de, to make haste 
dSsaccoutumerde, to A disaccustom 



dSsesperer de, 
dSsliabituer de, 
sedSsister de, 
determiner de, 
detester de, 
detourner de, 
differer de, 
«ttre de, 



to despair 
to disaccustom 
to giro oyer 
to determine 
to detest 
to turn from 
to put off 
to say, to tell 



discontinuer de, to leave off 
diteonvenir de, to disown 



^mr de, 
ee flatter de, 
frSmirdd, 
*gager de, 
#e garder de, 
gemir de, 
^ner de, 
w glorifier de, 
gronderde, 
se hdter de, 
*heriter de, 



to finish 

to flatter one's self 

to shudder 

to wager 

to forbear 

to groan 

to incommode 

to glory 

to scold 

to hasten 

to inherit 

to hesitate 



*6 



hSsiter de, 
disculver de f *° ^^P 8 * 6 one,fl 9*inipaHewter de, to grow impatient 
9 (. self importer de(unip.),to matter 

dispenser de, 
dissuader de, 

sedouterde. . , 

— L wwrpwer de, 

interdire de, 



to dispense 
to dissuade 



imputer de, 
s'indigner de, 



C to surmise, to sus» s'ingerer de, 
C pect 



ecrir* de, 
defrayer de, 
empScher de, 
enjoindre de, 



y«rcr de, 
justifier de, 
«6 Z<mer de, 
Zouer de, 
mander de, 
mSditerde, 
se mSler de, 



to write 

to be afraid 

to prevent 

to enjoin 
s'enorgueilHr de, to be proud of 
enrager de, to be in a rage 

entreprendre de, to undertake 
epargner de, to spare 
essayer de, to try 

s'Stonner de, to be astonished tnenacer de, 
eYre accuse de, to be accused meriter de, 
4fr* bien-aise de, to be glad fnowrir de, 

4fre Stonne de, to \>e astonished nigliger de, 
eYre rassassie de, to be satiated row de, 
lire raw de, to be delighted notifier de, 

to be discouraged oW . , 

to be tempted 

to avoid 

to excuse 

to free 

to hasten 

to feign 

to congratulate 



to impute 
to feel indignant 
to interfere 
to inspire 
to interdict 



,;" wjrer d propos de, to judge proper 



#re r^butS de, 
6tre tenti de, 
eetfcr de, 
MWftrerde, 
exempter de, 
s'empresser de, 
feindre de, 
rifticterde, 



obtenir de, 
*o#Wrde f 
omettre de, 
ordonner de, 
oublier de, 
pardonner de, 



to swear 

to justify 

to grow tired 

to praise 

to inform 

to meditate 

to interfere 

to threaten 

to deserve 

to die 

to neglect 

to deny 

to notify 
C to oblige, doing a 
1 service 

to obtain 

to offer 

to omit 

to order 

to forget 

to forgive 



72 



.SYNTAX. 



*parier de, 
porter de, 
permettre de, 
persuader de, 
pUiller de, 

plaindre de, 



to bet 

to speak 

to allow 

to persuade 

to be full, to boil 

to pride 

to pity 

to complain 



a* plaindre de, 

m prendre garde de,to take care 

prescribe de, to prescribe 



*prefererde 9 
presser de, 
primmer de, 
priver de, 
prqjeter de, 
promettre de, 
proposer de, 
*e proposer de, 
protester de, 
2?w»r de, 



to prefer 
to urge 
to presume 
to deprive 
to intend 
to promise 
to propose 
to intend 
to protest 
to punish 



*** rappeter de, to remember 
recommander de, to recommend 



*refUser de, 
regretter de, 



to ref pse 
to regret 



serSjouirdt, 
remereierde, 
se repenUr de, 
reprendre de, 
reprimander de, 
reproeher de, 
*e ressouvenir de, 
nVc da, 
risquer de, 
rougir de, 
scandaUser de, 
*«nr de (unip.), 
«tf servir de, 
sommer de, 
*0 soucier de, 
souffrir de, 
soupqonner de, 
sourire de, 
$e souvenir de, 
suggefer de, 
supplier de, 
tenter de, 
trembler de, 
«e vanter de, 



to rejoice 
to thank 
to repent 
to reprove 
to reprimand 
to reproach 
to remember 
to laugh 
to risk, 
to blush 
to, scandalize 
to suit 
to use 

to summons 
to care 
to allow 
to suspect 
to smile 
to recollect 
to suggest 
to beseech 
to attempt 
to tremble 
to boast. 



Observations on some of the Verbs mentioned above, 

§ 219. DSfendre, to forbid, takes gete and the subjunctive when it 
is not followed by a noun or pronoun, as : j'e defends qu'on prenne let 
armes, I forbid them to take up arms. Oager and parier both mean to 
bet, but when we use the first we attach to our bet a greater amount of 
probability in gaining it, than when we use the second. Offrir, to offer ; 
and refuser, to refuse, take & when used reflectively. Prendre garde, 
to take care, takes ci when followed by an infinitive and a negation, as : 
prenez garde a ne pas danser, take care not to dance ; but : prenez garde 
•de danser, 

§ 220* Seriter, to inherit, when having two governments, one of 
persons, another of things, takes only de before the person, as : vous 
avez heriti ce nom de vos aieux (Corn.), you have inherited this name 
from your ancestors. JPreferer, to prefer, is used without a preposition 
when only followed by an infinitive, as : Je prefere mourir, Se rappeler t 



TSB YBEB. 



73 



to remember, takes no preposition before a noun, as : je me rappelle cet 
homme. Be/user takes ct when used with a noun, il a refuse d son 
pkre, he refused his father ; we may also say, il lui a refuse £ diner, 
etc, because diner is used here substantively. 



§ 221. TEBBS BEQUIBIHGt SOMETIMES de AND SOMETIMES ct BEFORE 

THE FOLLOWING TEEB. 



Commencer a, to begin, when the 
action continues, as : cet enfant 
commence & marcher 

Consentir may take & or de 
Continuer a, to go on without in- 
terruption, as : continues a lien 

vivre 
Contraindre a, to compel when 

there is a purpose, as: on le 
. contraignit a marcher 
Demander, to ask, may take a or 

de 
S'effbrcer a, to exert our strength, 

as: ne vous effbrcez point a 

parler 
S'empresser, to hasten, may take 

a or de 
Engager, to advise, may take 

a or de 
Sennuyer, to be tired of, takes 

& or de 
JSssayer, or tdcher, to try, when 

wishing to show purpose, takes 

a, as: essay ez d lef aire parler 

Forcer, to compel, takes £ or de 
Manquer, to fail, takes a or de 
when affirmatively; de when ne- 
gatively, as : qui cherche Dieu 
de bonne foi ne manque jamais 
de le trouver 



Commencer de, when the action is 
over, as : cet oratewr commenca 
de parler a quatre hewesetfinU 
% dix 

Continuer de, to go on with inter- 
. ruption, as ; continuez cFagir 

Contraindre de, in the passive voice, 
as: il a ete contraint de venir 



S'effbrcer de, to exert our 
mind, as: on s'efforce en vain 
de me f aire taire 



Essayer de, or tdcher de, in the 
sense of to endeavour, when 
wishing to show the action, as ; 
cet homme a essay e de marcher 

Manquer, in the sense of to be 
near, takes de, as : ila, manqui 
de tomber 



74 



SYNTAX. 



ObUger a, to force, to compel, 
supposes some outward cause, 
as : lee soldats nous dbligeaient 
dfuir; it takes also a as .a pro- 
nominal verb, as : il J oblige a 
nous servir 



Oublier a, to forget how to do a 
thing, as : on oublie a danser 

Frier a, to invite formally, as : je 
vous prie £ diner Mardi pro~ 
chain; also always with a in 
the passive voice, as: none 
eommespriSs £ diner 

Eisoudre, to resolve, takes a or de 
in the passive ; a only as a pro- 
nominal verb, as : je suit risolu, 
orje me euis risolu & icrire 

Seiner, to kill one's self, takes &, 
as : mon pere se tne a voyager. 
Meaning to be tired ot, it takes 
£ or de. 



ObUger de, to force, to compel 
when the obligation exists with- 
in ourselves, as : m'e'tant 
caesS le brae, je Jus obligS de 
m'arriter. ObUger ■, in the sense 
of to render a service, to do a 
favour, takes de t as : vout 
m'obUgerez beaucoup de me re- 
commander ; in the passive 
voice this verb takes also de, 
as : He eont obligSs de vivre 

Oublier de, to forget to do a thing, 
as : on oublie oV oiler done un 
endroit 

Frier de, when there is no formal 
invitation, as: U eet venu me 
voir & Vheure de diner, etje Vai 
priS de diner 

R&oudre de, as an active verb, as : 
JTaireeolu d?6crire. 



H.— GOYEBNMENT OF TEEBS WITH NOUNS OR 

PEONOUNS. 

§ 222. TBBBS GOVERNING ▲ DIRECT OBJECT IN ERENOH THOUGH 

NOT IN ENGLISH. 

to accept of demander, 



accepter, 

admettre, 

approuver, 

aitendre, 

chercher, 

connattre, 
coneiderer, 



i 



to admit of 
to approve of 
to wait for 
to look for 
to be acquainted expier, 
with fournir, 

to look upon payer. 



dSsvrer, 

icouter, 

envoy er chercher, 

*esp4rer, 



to ask for 
to wish for 
to listen to 
to send for 
to hope for 
to atone for 
to supply with 
to pay for 



THE VERB. 



75 



possider, 
prierlHeu, 
*regarder 9 
remettre, 



to be possessed of renoontrer, 
to pray to God *resoudre, 
to look at or upon *souhaUer 9 
to pat off 



to meet with 
to resolve upon 
to wish for. 



Observe. — Megarder takes no preposition before a verb ; espirer 
and sonkaUer require a preposition before a verb in the infinitive. (See 
§ 210 and § 211.) For rSsoudre followed by a verb see § 221. 

§ 223. VEBBfl BEQUntlXGt CT WBBKB. THE PEEPOSITION de BEFORE 

A 2TOUH OB PBOTTOUK. 

K.B. — All the verbs marked thus * take also de before another 
verb following them. (See § 218.) 



accabler de, to overwhelm 

s'acquitter de, to discharge 
*£ of/tiger de, to grieve at 
*s'apercevoir de,fto be aware of 
approcher de,f to approach 
s^ approcher de, to draw near 



se demettre de, 
*di$convenir de, 
dottier de, 
envelopper de, 
faire de, 
/aire eadeam de, 



farmer de, | 



to arm one's self *fWwter de? 
with (*ith things) $ 



avoir besoin de, to want, to TeqxdrefovrmiUer de, 



avoir pitiSde t 
*avoir 9 or pren- 
dre soin de, 
m briUer de, 
changer de 
*charger de, 
combler 



rde, -> 
de, J 



to pity 
I to take care of 

to burn with 
to change 

to load with 



*g6mirde t 
honorerde, 
jouir de, 

medirede, 

*se mSler de, 
ee moquer de, 



( 



**e contenter de, to be satisfied with *mourir de, 

couvrir de, to cover with 

*,*<*#erde) todktruBt 
de, ) 



mnjitrde, 

*e mSfier de, ) «e passer de, 

f to be dependent p^n'r de, 
<*4P«"fr«<tet 1 upon profiler d^ 



{ 



to give up 

to disown 

to doubt 

to wrap up in 

to make use of 

to present with 

to congratulate 

on 
to swarm with 
to lament 
to honour with 
to enjoy 
to traduce, to 

slander 
to meddle with 
to laugh at 
to die 
to furnish, to 

provide with 
to do without 
to perish with 
to profit by 



t Apereevoir not used as a pronominal verb, governs the accusative and applies 
to visible objects, as : fapercus Varc-m-ciel, I perceived the rainbow. Approcher, as 
an aotive verb, can also be used without de, above all in the sense of to advance, to 
push near. 



76 



SYNTAX. 



pourvoir de, to provide with rempUr de, to fill with 

m punir de (with ) , DuniaH for *** repentvr de, to repent 

things) J 

rScompenser de, to reward for 
regarder de, to regard with 

*«0 rSjou&r de, to rejoice at 
•raa^merde ] tothankfol . 

(with tilings) ) 

Observe.— Besides the here-above given list nearly all verbs 
which in English require the preposition of or from take de before * 



*rire de, to laugh at 

*se souvenir de, to remember 

**ourire de, to smile at 

triompher de, to triumph over 

$e tromper de, to mistake. 



noun. 



§ 224. VERBS REQUIRING Iff TRENCH THE PREPOSITION d BEFORE A 
NOUN OB PRONOUN, AND HAYING THB DIBEOT OBJECT IN ENGLISH. 



*apprendre a, 
attenterk, 
conseiller a, 
convenir k, 
difendre a, 
deplaire a, 
cMsobeirk, 
dire a, 
/air<? fortf a, 
se fier a, 
importer k, 
nuire k, 
0&6tr ft, 
ordonnerk, 
pardonnerk, 
parvenir a, 
permettre a. 



toteaohsomethingjperMKwfer a, 



to attempt 

to advise 

to suit 

to forbid 

to displease 

to disobey 

to tell 

to wrong 

to trust 

to concern 

to hurt, to injure succHer a, 

to obey 

to order 

to forgive 

to attain 

to allow 



to persuade 
to please 
to remedy 

!to renounce some* 
thing 
to reproach 

!to resign some- 
thing 
to resist 

to resemble 

to relieve 

to succeed 

. . N ( to keep out of the 
soustratrek, { 

I way 

survivre a, to outlive 

(to touch some- 

*■"*'*» \ thing. 



plairek, 
remedier a, 

*renoncer a, 
reprocher a, 
r feigner k, 

risisterk, 
ressemblerk, 
subvenir a, 



se 



Observe. — Apprendre and renoncer take also the preposition & 
before another verb following them. (See § 214.) 

§ 225. VERBS REQUIRING IN TRENCH THE PREPOSITION & BEFORE A 
KOTO OR PRONOUN, AND REQUIRING ALSO A PREPOSITION IN ENGLISH* 

•emprunterk, i to horr(m of or pou™*rk, to provide for 

' C from premier k, 

frapper k, to knock at reprocher k j 

*penser a, 1 ^ ^^ rf quelqu'un, f 

*songer h, j 



to preside over 
to reproach some 
one with. 



THE VERB. 



77 



Observe. — Emprunter, when used with a personal pronoun, re- 
quires a, or rather governs the dative, as : je lui emprunte cet argent, 
I borrow this money from him. But when used with a noun & or de can 
be employed, as : il*emprunte £, or de monfrere. Fenser a and longer 
£ can also be followed by a verb. 

226. VEEBS WHICH GOYEBN A T&OTT& OR FBOKOUK WITH OB WITH- 
OUT A PREPOSITION, ACCORDING- TO THEIR DIFFERENT MEANINGS. 



4 

abuser quelqu'un, 
abuser de quelque chose, 

applaudir quelque chose, 
applaudir £ quelqu'un, 

assister quelqu'un, 
assister ct quelque chose, 

changer quelque chose, 
changer de quelque chose, 
changer en, 

convenir de quelque chose, 
convenir ck quelqu'un, 

croire quelqu'un ou quelque chose, 
croire a quelque chose 
croire en quelqu'un, 

demander quelqu'un ou quelque 

chose, 
demander & quelqu'un, 

Schapper and s'tSchapper de, 
echapper d, 

insulter quelqu'un ou quelque chose, 
insulter & quelqu'un, 

jouer cL quelque jeu, 
jouerde V argent, 
jouer cCun instrument, 
se jouer de quelqu'un, 

persuader quelqu'un de quelque 
' chose, 

persuader quelque chose ct quel' 
qu'un, 

repondre £ quelqu'un, 
repondre de quelqu'un, 



to deceive some one 
to abuse something 

to applaud something 
to applaud some one 

to assist some one 
to be present at 

to change, to alter ' 

to choose one thing for another 

to be turned into 

to agree (with Stre) 
to suit 

to believe some one or something 
to believe in something 
to believe in some one 

to ask for some one or something- 

to ask a person 

to escape from 

to avoid, to be preserved from 

to insult some one or something 
to deride, to scorn 

to play at a game 

to play for money 

to play on an instrument 

to laugh at, to deceive 

to convince a person of the truth 

of a thing 
to persuade one to something 

to answer 
to answer for* 



78 SYNTAX. 

sotisfaire quelqiCun, to satisfy 

sotisfaire a quelque chose, to fulfil duties to 

servir quelqtfun, to serve some one , 

servir de quelque chose, to serve as something 

souscrire quelque chose, to subscribe, to sign 

souscrire d quelque chose, to approve of, to subscribe to 

user quelque chose, to use, to wear out 

user de quelque chose, to make use of. 



THE USB OF TENSES, SIMPLE AND COMPOUND. 
* INDICATIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT. 

§ 227. This tense expresses generally an actual state,* 

as: — 

Notre Steele est fecond en Our age is fertile in foolish 

sots admirateurs (Boil.) admirers 

La superstition cause mills Superstition causes a thou* 

accidents (La Font.) sand accidents. 

§ 228. Bemabk 1. — Sometimes the present is used for an action 
not yet finished, as : Tout, fiefs, chdteaux, vasselages, pour ce coup a 
frapperje te Us donne, ami (V. Hugo) ; Everything, fiefs, castles, vas- 
salage, I'll give them to you, Mend, if you strike this blow. 

Remark 2. — The present is also used when speaking of past events 
connected with present actk>ns,t as : Depute que tu es avec moi, je ne 
suis plus reine (Scribe) j Since you have been with me I am no longer 
queen. 

§ 229. It is also used, in French as well as in English, 
in mentioning events which are past. This is chiefly done 
to give more animation to the narrative ; this tense is then 
called the Historical present. % 



• Compare in Latin : Onus animal tmtus habet, Every animal has sense*, 
t Compare in Latin : VeniutU, ut dieo, ad Chelidonem, They come, as I say, to 
Chelidon. 

X Compare in Latin: Turn dkceduni; postridie revertwytor, Than they depart) 
the next day they return. 



THE TEBB. 79 

Cesar s'ecrie, scelerat, que Caesar cries out, Villain,. 

fais-tu? Gasca appelle what are you doing? 

son frere a son secours. Gasca calls his brother to 

Dee que Cesar voit Brutus his assistance. As soon 

lever le poignard sur lui as Caesar sees Brutus raise 

il quitte la main de Casca his dagger against him, he 

(Michelet) let go Casca's hand. 

§ 230. Bbmabk. — The present can be followed or preceded by an 
imperfect or preterite,* as : Phaon arrite Neron et lui offre un asile ; 
il V accept e etfuit. LHnfame Sporue et trots enclave* compotaient aa 
settle escorte (Se*gur), Phaon stops Nero, and offers to give him shelter; 
he accepts it, and flees. The infamous Sporus and three slaves formed 
his only escort. 

§ 231. The present is also sometimes used instead of the 
future, when the period of time referred to, is short, as : — 

Demain V Europe entiere at- To-morrow the whole of 

tend cette pour suite (Pon- Europe will await this 

sard) pursuit 

Des que je le pourrai je re- As soon as I am able I will 

mens sur vos traces (Bac.) return on your steps. 

Observe that after such expressions as as soon as, when, etc., the 
JTrench use the future, the English the present. (See § 246.) 

IMPERFECT. 

§ 232. This tense is used when two actions are taking 
place at the same time,f as : — 
Lorsqu'il etait laquais, il When he* was a lackey he 

lietait pas si sage (Qui- was not so wise 

nault) 



* This alteration of tenses takes also place in Latin, as : Quum diu ancep$fu,i*$et 
certamen hoitem expellunt, After the contest had been for a long time doubtful, 
they expelled the enemy. 

t Compare in Latin : OatiUna erat unut Hmendm tarn diu, dum manibui urbis 
eoKtitubatur, Catilina was alona to be feared as long as he was contained within the 
walls of the city. 



80 • SYNTAX. 

Leg vaisseaux restaient a see The ships remained ashore 
tout que durait Thiver as loog as the winter 
(Le Bas.) lasted. 

§ 233. This tense is also used to describe two actions, 
one of which may or may not be finished. But in the latter 
case, the verb expressing the action going on, must be in the 
imperfect, whilst the second verb is generally in the prete- 
rite definite or indefinite. Observe that the imperfect can 
never be used in describing an action which is ended at the 
moment we are speaking, as : — 

Je dormais lorzqyUil entra I slept when he came in 

Je le surpris pendant quHl I surprised him whilst he 
ecrivait was writing. 

§ 334. The imperfect is employed when actions are 
performed, habitually or frequently. In this case it can 
always be translated by the English words used to, or was: 
in the habit of: — * 

'Roland avait des manieres Roland had very simple 

simples, il aimait la liberie manners, he loved liberty 

(Michelet) 

Augustin disait a ceux qui Augustine said to those who 

allaient pieds-nus (Cha- were going barefooted. 

teaubriand) 

§ 235. It is also used in describing the qualities or the 
character of persons and things, as : — 

Charles avait le titre d'invin- Charles had the name of in* 

cible (Volt.) vincible 

Jerusalem etaitentoureed^une Jerusalem was surrounded 

triple muraille (Gapefigue) by a triple wall. 

§ 236. The imperfect is also used in the descriptive 
style, as : — 



* Compare in Latin : Maiore$no$tri UbertU non multo tecut, tie $ervi$ imperabant, 
Our ancestors used to command their freedmen very much the same as they did'' 
their slaves. 



THE YEBB, 



81 



Ih se quittaient, il* revenai- 
ent s'embrasser encore. 
Oonzalve demandait a]Zara 
de ne point chercher les 
perils; Lara suppliait Gon- 
zalve de moderer safierte 
natwrelle (Florian) 



They left each other, they 
returned to embrace each 
other. Gonzaivo begged 
of Lara not to run into 
dangers; Lara entreated 
G-onzalvo to moderate his 
inborn haughtiness. 



§ 237. After the conjunction si, when meaning if, the 
French employ the imperfect; after si } when meaning 
whether, the conditional, as : — 



Si le Iras du Turc vCavait 
fait un mouvement, le roi 

etait mort (VoltJ 
Si f avals dit un mot on vous 

donnait la mort 
JTignore si mon frere viendra 

cette annee a Paris 



If the arm of the Turk had 

not moved the king would 

have been killed 
If I had said one word they 

would have killed you 
I do not know whether my 

brother will come this 

year to Paris. 



PRETERITE DEFINITE, 

§ 238. This tense is generally used in the historical 
style, and expresses actions or past facts completely finished, 
but the day in which we speak cannot form a part of the 
time in which the action took place, as : — 

Jl vint ici Van dernier He came here last year 

H se rendit le sovr a la so- He went in the evening to 



ciete populaire, il lut le 
discours (Mignet) 
Je lepriai de me prendre sur 
son clieval, il y consentit 
(Florian) 



the club, he read his 
speech 
I begged of him to take me 
on his horse, he con- 
sented to do it. 



Observe that the imperfect is used when speaking of persons or 
things as they were, the preterite definite in speaking of actions or 
facts past* 

O 



82 SYNTAX. 

PRETERITE INDEFINITE. 

§ 239. This tense refers to a past action, without spe- 
cifying the time when it happened, and which generally is 
not far distant, as : — 

J J ai eu une tongue conversa- I have had a long con- 

tion avec Mrmin. Tai versation with Firmin. 

commence par V assurer que I began by assuring him 

son mariage etait certain ; that his marriage was 

il 8' est obstine a me dire certain ; he persisted in 

que nan (Florian) denying it. 

§ 240. The preterite indefinite must also be used when 
speaking of an action that happened at a time extending up 
to or beyond the moment of speaking. In such a case the 
expressions ce matin, aujourtfhui, cette semaine, etc., are 
generally used,* as : — 

Le rot m*a nomme awjour$- The king has to-day ap- 

hui archevegue (Fen.) pointed me archbishop 

Tai tenu hier ma seconde I gave yesterday my second 

seance, fai ete combU d 9 lecture, I was much ap- 

applaudissements (B. de plauded. 

St. Pierre) 

PRETERITE ANTERIOR. 

§ 241. This tense is generally preceded by a conjunction 
or an adverb of time, such as dies que, aussitot que, lorsque, 
etc. : — 

* " The limitation of particular past or future inflections, or even auxiliary com* 
binations, to specific portions of time, is a source of constant embarrassment in the 
use of words without any corresponding logical or rhetorical benefit. Thus the 
French rule, strict conformity to which requires us to say : elle ehanta hier au lever 
du soleU, she tang yesterday at sunrise, but elle a ehanti ce matin, au lever du, 
toleil, she has sung this morning at sunrise, is a blemish in the syntax not an advan^ 
tage. In these, and other like phrases, the time is really fixed, not by the form of 
the verb, bui by the words yesterday and this morning; and the distinction between 
the tenses has, m their present use, no solid foundation ; whereas in English the 
difference between the preterite and the compound, he sang and he has sung, is a 
logical one. The consequence is, that in French practice the grammatical has been 
found too subtle to be observed, and the compound is very frequently employed 
where the preterite should be."— Gbobqs P. Massh, The Origin and History of the 
English Language, 



1 



THE TEBB. 83 

Zorsqu'il eutjlni Us* en alia "When he had done he went 

away 
Des que le parlement se fut As soon as the parliament 
assemble Vemeute cessa was assembled the riot 

ceased. 

PLUPERFECT. 

§ 242. The pluperfect is used like the imperfect for 
descriptions, for a continuation of events, and for frequently 
repeated actions,* as : — 

Malesherles avaif herite des Malesherbes had inherited 
vertus parlementaires parliamentary virtues. 

(Mignet) 

§ 243. This tense is also used after the conjunction si, 
if, instead of the conditional past, as : — 

Si vous etiez venu phis tot If you had come sooner you 
vaus m'awriez trouve a la would have found me at 
maison home. 

FUTURE. 

§ 244. This tense denotes, in general, future events, f 
as: — 

Jele dis et je le soutiendrai I say it and maintain it 

(Eegnard) 

Vous serez mon ami qucmd You will be my friend when 

vous me quitterez (Volt.) (see § 246) you leave me. 

§ 245. It is sometimes used as a softened form of the 



* Compare in Latin : Si modum orationi posuisset, mitericordia $ui animos attdien* 
tium impleverat, If he had been moderate in his speech he would have {lit. had) filled 
the minds of his hearers with pity for himself. 

t Compare in Latin : Natxuram si lequemur dttcem, nunquam aberrabimus, If we 
follow [lit. shall follow), nature as our guide, we shall never go astray. 



84 • SYNTAX. 

imperative, implying the expectation of fulfilment,* 



Ces demoiselles voudront Hen Will these young ladies be 
nCexeuser (Berquin) kind enough to excuse me ? 

§ 246. In English the present tense is generally Used 
after tohen y as soon as, do as, it will be as, but in French the 
future is required, as : — 

Vous pouvez v&nir quand vous You can come when you 

voudrez like 

Ce sera comme ton vous sent" It will be as you like. 

Hera 

§ 247* Eemabk 1. — When shall and will denote determination, 
they are to be translated by voulovr, as : Je veux le fairs, I will do it j 
Je veux que vous lefassiez, Yon shall do it. 

§ 248. Bemabe 2. — When we can use in English, instead of the 
future, the yerb to be going to, we hare to render that tense in French by 
alter t as : Napoleon dit a see soldats: nous allons entreprendre la con- 
quite de PEgypte. Zes peuples avee lesquels nous allons vivre sont 
Mahometans, Napoleon said to his soldiers : We (shall) are going to 
undertake the conquest of Egypt. The people amongst whom we 
(shall) are going to live are Mahometans. 

rUTUBE AXTEBIOB. 

§ 249. This tense corresponds to the English,! but the 
preterite definite is sometimes used after when, etc. (see, 
§ 246) ; this cannot be done in French, as : Quand vous 
aurez dit vos legons vous powrrez vous en aller, When you 
have said your lessons you may go. 

§ 250. "Rkmaktc. — Sometimes this tense is replaced by the preterite 
subjunctive, as : J 1 attends pour V&pouser que fate fait fortune, I wait to 
marry her until I hare made my fortune.^ 

* Compare in Latin : Ibi tribunot plebis creabitU, You will appoint (or appoint) 
tribunes of the pleba. See also " Barry's Syntax," p. 29 c. 

t Compare in Latin illn una urbe universam ceperitis Hispamam, In one city 
you will have taken the whole of Spain. 

X Compare in Latin: Brutus $i contervatm srii, vicimut, It Brutus shall hare 
been saved we ehail have conquered. 



THB VEEB. 85 

CONDITIONAL MOOD. 

PBESENT. 

§ 251. This tense is employed in the same way as in 
English, as : — 

Eugene resterait avee ce Eugene would remain with 

monarque; son dge, son this king; his age, his in- 

rang inferieurrepondraient ferior rank would answer 

de sa soumission. 11 en for his submission. He 

donnerait Vexemple aw would give the example of 

autres marechcmx (Segur) it to the other marshals. 

§ 252. The conditional is generally used in depen- 
dent clauses, as : — 

Les Janissaires jur event sur The Janissaries swore by 

leurs barbes quHU riatta- their beards that they 

queraient point le roi would not attack the 

(Volt.) king. 

Nous convinmes que nous par- We agreed that we should 

Urio7i8 le lendemain (Chat.) set out the next day. 

§ 253. Bemabk. — The English I wish, when it does not relate to 
something past, must he translated hy the conditional of vouloir, to 
he willing, as : je voudrais quHl vtnt bientdt, I wish he would come 
soon. 

§ 254. In elegant style the pluperfect subjunctive is 
often used for the conditional past,* and this in simple as 
well as in dependent clauses, as : — 

11 n'edt point de son lime He would not have illus- 

ilhistrS Vltalie trated Italy by his book 

Je me serais console si mon- , I should have consoled my- 

sieur le comte e&t succombS self, if the count had 

(Boileau) fallen. 



* Compare the Latin, as : Si Neptuntu, quod The$eo promiscrat, non feciu*t t 
The$eu$jUio non e»»ei orbatu$, If Neptune had not done what he had promised 
Theseus, Theseus would not hare been depriyed of his son. 



86 SYNTAX. 

§ 255. BEMABK._The auxiliaries should, ought, could, and might, 
when used in a past conditional, are followed in English by a com- 
pound infinitive, in French by the infinitive present only, as : vout 
duriez d4 Scrire une lettre, you ought to have written a letter ; fan- 
raispu lui dormer de V argent, I could have given him some money. 

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. 

§ 256. In most cases the subjunctive is dependent, and 
is chiefly used in subordinate sentences. Therefore, when- 
ever in French a subordinate sentence depends on another 
which contains the idea of something not yet having actual 
existence for the speaker, consequently of something pos- 
sible or uncertain, the verb of the subordinate clause must be 
in the subjunctive mood. This unreality can apply to ex- 
ternal actions and events, as well as to internal conceptions 
and emotions. This is the general ground of distinction 
in the application of the subjunctive. 

Observe that there is a great difference between the use of the 
subjunctive mood in French and in English. In English many verbs 
are placed in the future, conditional, and present indicative, which, in 
French, must be used in the subjunctive : U ne pense pas que je sois si 
malade, he does not think I am so ill j je ne suispas sur qu*il le fosse, 
I am not certain that he will do it. 

§ 257. The verbs which govern the verb of the subor- 
dinate clause in the subjunctive mood can be divided into 
five classes : — 

I. Verbs that express a wish, a will, a command, or a 
permission. 

II. Verbs of thinking, believing, etc. 

. IIL Verbs expressing fear, doubt, sorrow, astonishment, 
denial, joy, or delight. 

IV. TJnipersonal verbs which do not express certainty 
or probability. 

V. Particular, cases. 



T3S TEES. 87 

1. — VERBS THAT EXPRESS A WISH, A WILL, A COMMAND, OB 

A PERMISSION. 

§ 258. Such as aimer, to like ; aimer mieux, to prefer; 
defendre, to forbid ; demander, to ask ; desirer, to wish for ; 
exiger, to demand ; ordonner, to order ; permettre, to allow ; 
prier, to entreat ; recommander, to recommend ; souhaitsr, to 
wish; souffrir, to suffer; supplier, to request; vouloir, to 
be willing, etc., govern the subjunctive, as : — 

II exige que ce monarque He demands that this king 

fCentretienne que cinquante should only keep fifty in* 

invalides (S6gur) valided soldiers 

Souffrez que Bajazet void Suffer Bajazet at last to see 

enfin la lumiere (Volt.) light 

Quevoulez-vousq'uejesache? What do you wish me to 

(Dumas) know ? 

Bbhabe. — But when such verbs do not express a wish, a will, etc., 
the dependent verb is placed in the indicatire mood, as: Oedipe 
ordonna que chacun rignerait ton annie (Bac), Oedipus ordered 
that each should reign his year. 



II. — VERBS OF THINKING, BELIEVING, ETC. 

§ 259. In general such verbs and all those which 
express the intellectual faculties of the mind, only govern 
the subjunctive when they are used negatively, interroga- 
tively, or are preceded by ,the conjunction si (see § 237). 
But if used affirmatively they usually govern the indicative, 
as: — 

2fe vou8 souvenez plus qu'il Do you no longer remember 

vous ait offense'? (Bac.) that he has offended you P 

Crois-tu que dans son ccewr il So you believe that he swore 

ait jure sa mart ? (Bac.) in his heart to kill him ? 

Si tu Hapercois que quelque If you perceive that some 



88 - • STNTAX. 

parent /de Don Gonzale ait relation of Don Gonzalps 
de grandes assiduites aupres is very attentive to him* 
de lui (Le Sage) 



in. — VERBS OF FEAR, DOUBT, SORROW, ASTONISHMENT, 

DENIAL, JOT OR DELIGHT. 

§ 260. Such verbs as avoir pew, craindre, to fear; 
douter, to doubt ; s y etonner, to wonder ; empScher, to hinder ; 
nier, to deny; se rejouir, to, rejoice; trembler, to tremble; 
regretter, to regret ; se plaindre, to complain, etc., govern 
the subjunctive : — 

Je irCetonne quHl ne vote pa* I am astonished that he does 
le danger ou il est (Acad.) not see the danger which 

be is in 

JPaipeur qu'il en ait trop dit I am afraid he has said too 
(Bourienne) much. 

§ 261. The following verbs, formed with etre, take also 
the subjunctive after them : etre Men aise, to be glad ; etre 
char me, etre enchant e, to be delighted ; etre content, to be 
satisfied ; etre afflige, to be afflicted ; etrefdche, to be sorry ; 
etre etonne, to be astonished ; etre swrpris, to be surprised ; 
etre heureux, to be happy, etc. : — 

Je suis charme que vous ayez I am delighted that you 
de moi cette idee (Berg.) have this opinion of me 

Nous sovnmes heureux qu'il We are happy that he has 
n 9 en ait rien su (Acad.) known nothing about it. 

§ 262. Eemaek 1. — The yerbs avoir peur,craindre, and trembler, take 
m before them only when used affirmatively or interrogative-negatively, 
as : je drains qu'il ne vienne ; ne trembUz'tx>U9 pas qu'il ne vienne. But 
when these verbs are used negatively or simply interrogatively, ne is 
not required. 

§ 263* Eemaek 2.— When after the verbs mentioned in §§ 260 and 



THE YEBB, 



89 



261, we wish to express ourselves more definitely, we use the indica- 
tive,* preceded by de ee que, instead of the simple de, as : Claire ee 
plaignait de ee qu'on Vavait appelt par eon nom (Flor.), Clara com- 
plained that they had called her by her name. 



IT. — THE SUBJUNCTIVE AFTEB msnPEBSONAL YEBBS. 

§ 264. After the following unipersonal verbs, the verb 
in the subordinate sentence is always put in the subjunc- 
tive, as : — 



il convient, it is proper ] 

ilfaut, it must 

il imports, it is important, it 

matters, it concerns 
il suffit, it is sufficient 
il vaut mieux, it is better 



il estf&cheux, it is sad 
il est juste, it is just, right 
il est difficile, it is difficult 
il est possible, it is possible 
il est naturel, it is a matter 

of fact 
il sepeut, it may be, etc. 



And likewise after: c*est un malheur, it is a misfor- 
tune ; il est temps, it is time ; c'est dommage, it is a pity* 
etc., as : — 

11 suffit qu'on me craigne It is sufficient that they fear 



(Eac.) 
H faut que just ement je fasse 

wns meprise (Eegnard) 
11 etait naturel que le pouvoi/r 

se concentrdt (Mignet) 



me 

I must precisely commit a 
mistake 

It was natural that the 
government should con- 
centrate itself. 



§ 265. The subjunctive is used after il y a and all uni- 
personal verbs with an adjective, denoting evidence, cer- 
tainty, or probability, when they are used in a negative, 
interrogative, or conditional manner :— 



* Compare in Latin t Qjwd spiratis 
that you breathe. 



indignantur, They are indignant 



00 



Hneme parut point qu'elle 
me remit (LeSage) ( 

Est-il vrai que nous debu- 
tions par une negation? 
(Cousin) 



It did not appear to me that 
she remembered me 

Is it true that we begin with 
a negation ? 



§ 266. Eemabk 1. — After U tumble the indicative mood is used 
when employed affirmatiyelj and with a person for its indirect object, 
Mi Urns semble que fai dtni quand je le vois (MoL), it seems to me 
that I hare dined when I see him ; but, il sembla que ma vue excitdt 
son audace (Bac.), it seemed that my yiew excited his boldness. 

§ 267* Kkmakf 2. — By a or il est, takes the subjunctive mood 
after expressions like these— pas «», aucun, »W, personne, guere t rien, 
etc., as : parmi ces cent mille hommes il Wen Stmt pas un qui ne doutdt 
de vcdncre, among these hundred thousand men there was not one 
who was not sore of conquering. 



T. — PABTIQULAB CASES. 



§ 268. After qui, que, dont, and ou, the subjunctive mood 
is used, to express that which is uncertain, the indicative 
that which is certain, as : — 



Je irCetonne (see § 260) quHl 
ne voie pas le danger ou il 
est (Acad.) 

JElle ne prendra jamais pour 
epoux qu 7 un hornme qui 
craigne les dieux (Fen.) 

Nous ne pouvons jouer que 
des pieces ou il y a pen 
ffacteurs (Volt.)] 



I am astonished he does not 

see the danger in which 

he is 
She will never take any 

other husband but a man 

who fears the gods 
We can only play pieces in 

which there are but few 

actors. 



§ 269. After the superlative relative and such expres- 
sions as, le seul, V unique, le dernier, le plus, le moins, lepeu, 
le meilleur, when used in connection with relative pronouns, 
the subjunctive is used, as : — 



THE YIBB. 



91 



Jjhomme est le seul animal 
qui sache qu'il doit mourir 
(B. de St. Pierre) 

Le meilleur usage que Ton 
puisse favre de son esprit 
c'est de s 9 en defter (Pen.) 



Man is the only animal who 
knows that he must die 

The lest use one can make 
of one's wit is to mistrust 

it. 



§ 270. Bexabk 1. — But if a fact is represented as certain, the 
indicative follows the above-mentioned words, as : NSron est le premier 
empereur qui a persecute Vegli*e y Nero is the first emperor who per- 
secuted the church. 

§ 271. Bemabx 2. — Qui and que never govern the subjunctive 
when preceded by a genitive case to which they refer, as : ne ditet 
rien de ce que je vout ai conJU, say nothing about what I have en- 
trusted to you. 

§ 272. The subjunctive is used after ordinal numbers 
and after quelque, quel que, qui que, qui que ee soit qui, quoi* 
que, quoi que ce soit que, a quoi que, de quoi, si • . . que, 
etc. : — 



Ce maitre nous comble de ses 
Mens quoique nous Voffen- 
sions tous les jours (Cha- 
teaubriand) 

Quelque peril qui me puisse 
accdbler (Bac.) 



This master heaps kind- 
nesses on us though we 
offend him every day 

Whatever danger may over- 
whelm me. 



§ 273. After the conjunctions mentioned in the Acci- 
dence, § 239, the subjunctive is used, and also when que 
is used in place of one of these conjunctions, as : — 



Reviens que je te revoie 
(Dumas) 

Son esprit est toujours actif, 
quoiquHl soit malade et 
qu'il ne puisse travaiUer 



Beturn that I may see you 
again 

His mind is always active, 
though he is ill and can- 
not work. 



92 

§ 274. Bxkabx.— The indicative is sometimes used after avant 
que, juequ'd ce que, rinon que, de sorts que, and de maniere que, when 
no doubt or uncertainty is expressed, as : — 

17 ieet oceupS de eette affaire de Hie has busied himself with this 
maniere qu'on n*apu le bl&mer affair, so that they could not 

frl«ym ft him 

Je gardai man sangfroid jusqu*a I kept my temper till I heard him 
cequeje Ventendis calomnier son slander his brother. 
frere 

§ 275. The subjunctive is also used when the conjunc- 
tion que is employed to avoid the repetition of si, as : — 

Si je ne suis pas rentrS a If I have not returned at 
quatre heures et qu'on four o'clock, and if some 
vienne me demander one comes and asks for 

me. 

§ 276. Rekabjl— The subjunctive is used after attendre, to wait ; 
and observe that till is translated by que, and not bjjusqu 9 ^ ce que, as : 
attendez qu'U review**, wait till he comes back. 

§ 277. The subjunctive mood occurs also sometimes in 
principal sentences, chiefly in exclamations or expressions 
of a wish, as : — 

JPuissiez-vous reussir dans May you succeed in your 

vosprcjets! (Acad.) projects! 

Dieu garde lews etatsl May heaven preserve their 

states! 
Vive le roi ! Long live the king ! 

Vienne qui vaudra I Let come who may ! 

§ 278. "Rkkahtt. — Je ne sache is the only true subjunctive expres- 
sion at the beginning of a sentence, as : je ne sache pas qu'U y ait eu 
tPhommes hlanes devenus noirs (Buffon), I do not know that white men 
ever became black. 



THE YEBB. 



93 



COKCOBD OF THE TWTSES OP THE BTTBJUKCTITE WITH 
THOSE OP THE HTDICATIYE A1TD OOZTDITIOITAL. 

§ 279. The Present Subjunctive corresponds to the — 

Pres. Indie, je desire "^ 

Put. Abs. je desvrerai [■ que tit chant es. 

Put. Ant. faurai desire J 

§ 280. The Imperfect Subjunctive corresponds to the — 

Imperf. Indie, je desirais 
Pret. Def. je desirai 
Pret. Indef. fai dSsire 
Pluperf. favais desire 



-que tu chantasses. 



Pres. Cond. je desirerais j 

Past Cond. j'aurais desire J 

§ 281. The Preterite Subjunctive corresponds to th 

Pres. Indie, je disvre 

Pret. Indef. fai desire 

Put. Abs. je desirerai 

Put. Ant. faurai disiri 



»que tu aies chante. 



§ 282. The Pluperfect Subjunctive corresponds to th 
Imperf. Indie, je desirais 



Pret. Def. 
fret. Indef. 
Pret. Ant. 
Pluperf. 
Pres. Cond. 
Past Cond. 



je desirai 
j f ai desire 
feus desire 
favais desire 
je desirerais 
faurais desire 



\que tu eusses chante. 



§ 283* After the present indicative, or future, the 
present subjunctive is used to express a thing present or 
future; but the preterite subjunctive to express a thing 
past, as : — 



94 



8YBTAX. 



Je defends qu'on prenne les 

amies (Volt.) 
Us croiront en effet meriter 

qu'on les craigne (Bac.) 

H se plaint qu'on Fait ca- 

lomnie (Acad.) 
Nous sommes heureux quHl 

rCen ait rien su (Acad.) 



I forbid them to take up 

arms 
In reality they will think 

that they deserve to be 

feared 
He complains they have 

slandered him 
We are happy that he 

has known nothing at all 

about it. 



§ 284. But the imperfect subjunctive is used instead 
of the present subjunctive, and the pluperfect subjunctive 
instead of the imperfect subjunctive when some conditional 
expression qualifies the sentence : — 



Donnez-moi un lit ou une 

hotte de paille que jepuisse 

dormir (M6rime*e) 
Je ne pense pas que cette 

affaire edt reussi sans votre 

intervention (Poit.) 



Give me a bed or a truss of 
straw so that I may Bleep 

I do not think this affair 
would have succeeded if 
you had not interfered. 



§ 285. After a past tense or a conditional mood, it 
depends on the idea predominant in the mind of the 
writer what tense of the subjunctive has to be used, as : — 



Mieux vaudrait que le soleil 
perdit ses rayons que 
Bouche-d?or ses paroles 
(Chateaubriand) 

Us auraient resiste rieut ete 
le canon (Ponsard) 



Better that the sun should 
lose its rays than Golden- 
mouth (Chrysostomus) 
his words 

They would have resisted, if 
it had not been for the 
cannon. 



THE YEBB. D5 

PECULIAR LAWS OF THE PARTICIPLE. 

PAETICIPLE PBESEMP. 

As there are two classes of words in French ending in ant 
— namely, the present participle and the verbal adjective,, 
the following rules are given to distinguish the one from, 
the other : — 

§ 286. The present participle is always invariable, ex- 
presses an action, and can be . replaced by the present or 
imperfect indicative with qui, comme,parce qw,puisque 9 or 
quand, before it, as : — 

Mali etant sans pilote et ne But being without a pilot 

jpottvant voir les lanes and not being able to see 

(S£gur) the banks 

Zes animaux mvant (Time The animals living in a man- 

maniere plus conforme a ner more conformable to 

leur nature (J. J. Eouss.) their nature. 

§ 287* E-emiek 1. — The present participle when preceded by the 
preposition eny is called the gerund, as : il riait en me regardant (Fen.), 
he laughed whilst looking at me ; on se forme V esprit en lisant de bong 
litres, we form our mind by reading good books. 

§ 288. Remark 2. When the English participle present is pre- 
ceded by any preposition but by and on, such as /row, of, before, after y 
for, etc., it must be rendered in French by the infinitive, with de t a, 
avant, aprhs, pour t etc. :— . 

Je Vai rencontre avant de partir I met him before setting out ' 

H a 6tS chassS pour avoir trop He has been sent away for having 
parU (Acad.) spoken too much. 

§ 289. Remaek 3.— Preceded by a possessive pronoun, the pre- 
sent participle is translated by the conjunctions que y de ce que, cL ce que, 
par ce que, followed by the indicative or subjunctive mood, as : nous 
avons appris quHl s*estfait soldat, we have heard of his becoming a 
soldier* 



96 . 8YHTAX. 

§ 200. KwAttir 4.— The English preposition fcy, followed by the 
present participle, is translated in French by par, and the infinitive 
mood, only when preceded by eommencer orfinir, as : je veux commencer 
par reciter ma lecon, I will begin by saying my lesson; il fimtpar me 
demander pardon, He ended by asking my pardon. 

§ 201. The verbal adjective expresses a quality of a 
noun, a state or manner of being. It is often in Eng- 
lish placed before the noun, as : — 

Des muses la troupe dansanie The dancing troop of the 

muses 

HirCoffrait unemainjumante He offered me a blood- 

de sang (Volt.) stained hand 

Laissez-la les mousquets trop Leave alone those muskets, 

pesants pour vos bras too heavy for your arm, 

(Volt.) 

§ 202. EmiABK 1.— Though as a general role the verbal adjective 
preoedea the substantive in English, they are separated in both lan- 
guages when used with itre or paraitre, as : la preuve est convain- 
quante, the proof was convincing; nos parole* Staientfort consolantes, 
our words were very consoling. 

§ 203* KmrARic 2. — Some present participles when used as ad- 
jectives are spelt differently, as, fatignant, intriguant, extravaguant, 
which lose the u and become fatigant, intrigant, etc. Some lose the u 
and change the q into e, as, convainqnant, fabriquant, etc., which be- 
come convaincantjabricant, etc. Several change a into e, as, affluant* 
exceUant, etc., which alter into affluent, excellent, etc. 

THE PAST PABTICIPLE WITH AVOIR. 

§ 204. The past participle with avoir agrees with its 
direct object or accusative, if that direct object precede* 
the verb ; but if it follows it, or if there is no direct object, 
it remains unaltered : — 

Quelle guerre intestine (ace. "What a domestic war have- 
preceding) avons - nous we kindled I 
allumee! (Cor.) 



THIS VEBB. 



97 



Que de miracles (ace* pre* 
eeding) les historiens out 
prodigues! (Volt.) 

Jjiveque de Meaux acrieune 
langue que (ace. preced- 
ing) lui seul a parUe 
(Chateaubriand.) 

Le bruit de nos tresors les 
(ace. preceding) a tous 
attire's (Bac.) 

Vous riez? ecrivez qu'elle a 
ri (Bac.) 



What miracles hate histo- 
rians lavished ! 

The Bishop of Meaux has 
created a language which 
he alone has spoken 

The report of our treasures 
has attracted them all 

You laugh? write that she 
has laughed. 



§ 295. The past participle used with en does not 
change, whenever en is not preceded by a direct object, 
as : — 

Ces cerises sont-elles bonnes ? Are these cherries good? 
Je n J en ai pas mangS I have not eaten any. 

§ 296. Whenever the past participle, accompanied by 
en, is preceded by an adverb of quantity, it becomes vari- 
able when it relates to a plural noun ; it remains unaltered 
when relating to a noun in the singular, or to a noun 
with no plural idea, as : — 



Son supplicejit plus de pro~ 
selytes que les predications 
n'en avaientfaits (Volt.) 

Autant ses parents lui ont 
laisse de fortune, autant 
il en a dissipi (Foit.) 



His punishment made more 
proselytes than preaching 
had done 

As much money as his pa- 
rents have left him, so 
much he has spent. 



§ 297. The past participle of unipersonal verbs and of 
all verbs used unipersonally, is invariable, as : — 

Toutes les humiliations qu'il All the humiliations you 
vous en a coUte (Volt.) have suffered 



93 SYNTAX. 

Vhe des idies les plus utiles a One of the most useful ideas 
la morale qu'il y ait jamais for morality which has 
eu (Thomas) ever existed. 

§ 208. The participle past of a verb coming between 
que used twice, is also invariable, as ; — 

lies affaires que fai jprevu The business which I have 
que vous auriez foreseen that you should 

have. 

§ 200. The past participle preceded by a direct object 
and followed by an infinitive, is only variable when the 
noun which precedes it, is the object of the verb avoir. 
This is the case whenever the infinitive may be turned 
into a present participle or into an imperfect with qui : — 

Oh -Julie, si le destiti fe4t Oh Julia, if fate had allowed 
laissSe vivre ! (J. J. Eouss.) you to live ! 

A peine Vavons nous entendue Scarcely have we heard her 
parler (Volt.) speak. 

§ 300. The participles of the verbs pouvoir % vouloir, 
devoir, falloir,faire 9 and laisser, remain unaltered before an 
infinitive expressed or understood as : — 

Les povres que fai vouht The pears I have wished to 

acheter buy 

jy*ou viewnent cesfieurs ? Je "Whence come these flowers? 

les ai fait planter I ordered them to be 

planted 

II a fait les excuses qtfil a He made the excuses which 

M (faire understood) he should have made. 

§ 301. If there is an ellipsis of the sentence, which 
forms the complement of the past participle, it remains 
unaltered, as :— 



THE VEBB. 



99 



Je lui aurais fait tons les 
vers quHl await desire 
(understood que je lui 
fisse) 



I should have made for 
him all the verses which 
he would have desired me 
to make. 



§ 302. The past participle used with avoir, followed by 
another verb in the infinitive, remains invariable, when the 
accusative which precedes, is not the direct object of the 
past participle but of the infinitive following, as : — 
L' alliance que Judas avait The alliance which Judas 



envoye demander (Boss.) 
Asservie a des his que f aim 
respecter (Eac) 



had asked for 
Subjected to laws which I 
have known to respect. 



Observe in the first sentence que is the accusative of demander 
not of envoye; in the second sentence que is the accusative of respecter 
and not of su . 

§ 303. The past participle is variable when it has for 
its direct complement the pronoun V standing in the place 
of a noun or pronoun. If V stands for a whole sentence 
it is invariable as : — 



Cette chose est telle que vows 
Vavez annoncee (Foit.) 

Cette ferrme est plus instruite 
que je ne Vavais cru {V 
stands here for qu'elle 



This affair is like you have 
foretold it 

This woman is better in- 
formed then I thought 
her td be. 



etait instruite) 

§ 304. When a noun, preceded by lepeu, is used before 
a past participle, the participle agrees with the noun, if le 
peu denotes a small quantity ; if it means want, it agrees 
with lepew, as : — 



Le pew ^instruction qu'il 

a eu 
JLe pen de viande que j 9 ai 

mangee, w? a fait mal 



The little (want of) instruc- 
tion which he has had 

The little meat I have eaten, 
has made me ill. 



100 . SYNTAX. 



THE PAST PAETICIPLB WITH ETBE. 

§ 305. The past participle with etre is a verbal adjec- 
tive, and therefore agrees in gender and number with the 
noun to which it relates, as : — 

liefer est eniousse, les bUchers The sword is blunted, the 
sont eteiwts (Yolt.) funeral piles are extin- 

guished 

Nos . arts semblent homes Our arts seem limited. 
(Delille) 

§ 306. A pronominal verb, with a noun in the accusa- 
tive after it, remains invariable as : — 

Cleopdtre s'est donne (not Cleopatra has killed her- 
donnee) la mort self. 

§ 307. A few pronominal verbs formed from neuter 
verbs remain invariable ; they are : se jplaire, se complaire, 
se deplaire, se rire, se sourire, se parler, se succeder, se 
nuire, se convenir (to suit one another), and #6 ressembler : — 

Mies se sont deplu (but not They have displeased each 

deplues) other 

Nom rums sommes nui (not We have hurt each other. 

nuis) 

Observe the past participles of pronominal verbs agree with the 
subject when any of the words, me, te, se, nous, vous, is used as a 
direct object, as : — • 

La Iiaine Jest emjparee de son Hatred has got hold of his 

dme mind 

Ces dames se sont rencontrees These ladies have met. 



TOT ADYXBB. 101 



CHAPTEE VI. 

THE ADVEBB. 

PLACE OF THE ADVEBB. 

§ 308. An adverb, whether simple or compound, is 
generally placed after a verb in simple tenses, and after the 
auxiliary verb in compound tenses, but never between the 
subject and the verb : — 

H reussira prdbablement dam He will probably succeed in 

son entreprise (Acad.) his undertaking 

Ma mere ne lui a jamais My mother has never spoken 

parle to him. 

Observe.-^-When bien, jamais, trop, mat, and nueux are used with 
a verb in the present of the infinitive, they generally precede it, as ; se 
bien porter, trop boire, mat parler. 

§ 309. In compound tenses the adverb may be placed 
either before or after the past participle, according as taste 
directs : — 

Peut-Streviendra-t-il (Acad.) Perhaps he will come 
Cela est arrive effectivement That has really happened. 
(Acad.) 

§ 310. This is also the case with many adverbs of 
order or place, and those denoting time : — 

It a ete partout He has been everywhere 

Aujourd'hui ilfait chaud, il To-day it is warm, it will 
gelera peut-etre demain freeze perhaps to-morrow. 



102 SYNTAX. 

§ 811. Adverbs relating to a phrase, following or pre- 
ceding, and also adverbs of interrogation, affirmation, or 
denial, begin the sentence : — 

Certainement les hommes sont Men are certainly very 

bien aveugles ! (Acad.) blind ! 

Non, jamais les vertus ne sont No, never are virtues nume- 

asseznombreuses (Chemer) rous enough 

D'ou vient-il ? "Whence comes he ? 



OK THE NEGATIVE. 

§ 312. A negative is generally composed of two. words 
ne always precedes the verb, but the place of the second 
word is variable. Ne . . . pas, or ne . . . point 
are the negatives most commonly used, as : — 

21 rCest pas tovjours ton It is not always good to be 

d'etre trop politique too cunning 

(Eotrou) 

Non, non, le eonsulat rCest No, no, the consulship is 

point fait pour son dge not made for his age. 

(Volt.) 

§ 313. Ne . . • point is a stronger negative than 
ne . . • pas ; therefore, je n'aipas a" argent, means, I 
have no money about me just now; but, je n'ai point 
& argent, I have no money at all. Point is generally used 
in answer to a question ; above all, when there is a doubt 
about the answer, as: n'avez-vous point pris ma montre? 
did you not take my watch ? Point may also be used alone in 
answer to an interrogation ; pas never, as : Stes-vousjuche? 
Point (Acad.), Are you angry ? Not at all. 

§ 314. Remark. — Sometimes pas or point are used without ne, 
either in poetry or in very familiar phraseology, as : He bien ! Vai-je 
pa* dit? (Bac), Well! have I not said so? (Test pas toi que me 
feras pew, entends-tu ? (Dumas) You won't frighten me, do you hear ? 



THIS. AOTEftB. 103 

§ 315. Ne . . . pas or ne * . . ^0wt£ usually 
precede a verb in the present infinitive : — 

Ne pas apprendre sea legem* Not to learn one's lessons is 
c'est itre poresseux . to be idle. 

OBSERVATIONS ON SOME NEGATIONS. 

§ 316. Not, used in answer to a question, is translated 
hypos, but when coming in the second part of a sentence 
by non. No is always translated by non in answer to 
interrogations : — 

Vous etiez au concert lorsque Tou were at the m concert 

le prince y etait, Tavez-vous when the prince was 

vu ? Pas tres Men there, have you seen 

him ? Not very well 

Saluezlaloi,nonlesindividus Bow before the law, not 

(Ponsard) „ before individuals 

Avez-vous fait voire theme ? Have you written your exer- 

* Non, monsieur cise ? No, sir. 

§ 317. Not that, in the sense of became that, is trans- 
lated in Erench by non que,nonpas que, orce n'estpasque, as : — , 

Je m'avangais vers Athenes I went towards Athens 

avec v/ne espece de plaisir with a kind of pleasure, 

. . . non pas quefeprou- not that I felt some- 

vasse quelque chose de sem- thing like what I had 

liable a ce que f avals senti felt on seeing Sparta. 
a la vue de Lacedemone 
(Chateaubriand) 

§ 318. No more, not any more, is translated by ne . . . 
plus, as : — 

U ne dort nonplus que votre He does not sleep any more 

pere (Rac.) than your father 

U rCenfut nonplus emu que He was not more moved by 

sHl etait innocent (Acad.) it than if he were innocent. 



104 SYNTAX/ 

§ 810. Neither, nor, is expressed by ne . . . ni* 
except at the end of a sentence, when neither is translated 
by nan plus: — 

Je ne veux, ni ne dais, ni ne I neither will, nor ought, nor 

puis vans obeir (Bonif.) can obey you 

Ni vous ni moi ne le pouvans Neither you nor I can 

(Acad.) do it 

Vous ne saurez le dire ni moi You cannot say it nor I 

nonplus neither. 

§ 320. Nothing in French is rien . . . ne, as : — 

Les anvmaux n'inventent et The animals invent and 
ne perfectionnent rien finish nothing. 
(Buffon) 

Sometimes rien is also used without ne, as : Dieua eriS le monde de 
rien, God has created the world out of 'nothing. 

§ 321. But rien used without ne, and employed as a 
noun, that is with an article, means a trifling thing ;f used 
without the negation and without the article, it means any- 
thing ,$ as : — 

U vaut mieux faire cela que It is better to do that than 

defaire des riens to do trifling things 

Y-a-t-il rien de si beau que la Is there anything so beauti- 

vertu ? ful as virtue ? 

CASES IN WHICH ne STANDS ALONE. 

§ 322. JPas or point are not used after the verbs savoir, 
pouvoir, oser, cesser, bouger, and avoir garde, as : — 



• Compare the Latin: Tkemi$toclt$ non vidit nee quomodo Lacedaemoniorum 
nee quomodo suorum eivium invidiam effugeret, Themistocles did not see (neither) 
ho v he should escape the enyy of the Lacedemonians nor that of his oira tituess. 

t It is here the accusative rem of the Latin ret, a thing. 

t The Latin quicquam. 



THE -ADVERB, 



105 



Je ne saurais me 

(Gramm. Nat.) 

La liberte ne cesse d*Stre 

avmable (Corn.) 
Je ne bougerai de la (Acad.) 

Je n'aurai garde d'ymanquer 

(Delav.) 



taire I cannot be silent 



Liberty cjoes not cease 

to be loveable 
I will not stir from tbence 
I shall take very good care 

not to fail in it. 



§ 323. "When que is used in the sense of pourquoi, we 



omit pas or point , as : — 

Jusqu*au bout que nenCecoute- 

t-elle ? (Eac.) 
Que n J ai-je interroge lea 

ministres de Dieu (Delav.) 



Why does % be not listen to 
me till I have done P 

"Why did I not question the 
ministers of heaven ? 



§ 324. Ne alone is used after si, as : mais si vous ne 
regnez, votes vousplaignez toujour* (Rac), but if you do not 
reign you always complain. Ne is also employed alone in 
such phrases as : je n'ai quefaire a cela, I have nothing to do 
with that ; n'importe, no matter ; a Dieu ne plaise, heaven 
forbid ; ne vous en deplaise, if it pleases you ; qu 9 a cela ne 
tienne, let that not prevent you, etc. 



CASES IK WHICH NE IS OMITTED. 

§ 325. In exclamations, commands, answers, and sen- 
tences where no verb is expressed, ne is nearly always 
omitted, as : — 



JSst ce que cela Jest jamais 

vu ? Jamais ! 
Mien de plus facile 
JSh, pas si pres, mon Tionnete 

Asturien (Dumas) 
Point d y argent point de Suisse 
Point de travail qui le rebute 



Has that ever been seen P 

Never! 
Nothing is easier 
Not so near my honest 

Asturian 
No money no soldiers 
No labour repells him. 



106 .8THTAX, 

* 

GASES IK WHICH NE IS USED IN FBENCH AND NO COERESPONDING 

NEGATIVE IN ENGLISH. 

§ 826. After eraindre, avoir pew, apprehender, redouter, 
trembler, eviter* etc.; after substantives likepeur, crainte, 
apprehension, inquietude, or after such adjectives as il est 
dangereux, ne is placed before the verb in the dependent 
clause, if an affirmation takes place, and the speaker wishes 
the action spoken of not to happen. But in case the speaker 
desires that action to take place, ne • • • pas must be 
used. If these verbs are used interrogatively or negatively 
they follow the general rules : — 

II doit apprehender que cette He must fear lest this 

occasion ne lui echappe (La opportunity escapes him 

Bruy^re) 

Tai bienpeur quails ne reus- I am afraid they will not 

sissent a le clottrer ( Vitet.) succeed to get hold of him 

U est dangereux que la vanite It is dangerous that vanity 

iCetowffe une partie de la should partly stifle grati- 

reconnaissance (Fle'cbier) tude. 

* 

Observe, therefore, the great difference between Je crains qu'il 
ne Use pas, I fear lie will not read ; je ne crains pas qu'il lise, I do not 
fear he will read ; craigntz-vous qu'il lise, do you fear he will read ? 
craignez-vous qu'il ne Use ? do you fear he will not read ? 

§ 327. Ebmabk. — Ne is not used when any of the above-men- 
tioned verbs is followed by an infinitive, as : H crcrint cTStre impovtun, 
He fears to be troublesome.f 

§ 328. After nier, douter, desesperer, diseonvenir, tenir 
(used unipersonally), and s*en falloir, the verb of the de- 



• In Latin ne is also used after timer e, metuere, est periculum, etc., as t Timeo 
%e veniat, I fear lest he come. This ne is not a negation, bat the dubiUtive ne. 

t Compare in Latin: Sulla timens poese aeeidere, Sylla fearing that it might 
happen. 



THE ADYEBB. 107 

pendent clause takes ne 9 if the governing verb is used in- 
terrogatively or negativel j : — * 

JSfe desesperez pas que ce Do not despair that this 

moyen ne vous reussisse way should succeed 

(Nap. Landais) 

Point de doute que cela ne No doubt it is so 

soit (Acad.) 

H ne fen faut pas de beau- There is little wanting or 

coup que la somme n'y soit the whole sum is there 

(Gramm. Nation) 

A quoi tient-il que cela ne se . On what does it depend that 

fosse? (Acad.) it should happen ? 

Observe— There is a difference between e'enfalloir and s'en 
fallow de; the first relates to quality, the second to quantity. 

§ 829. Ne is always used before a verb, after empecher, 
dviter, prendre garde (in the sense of taking care), and se 
garder f f when followed by que 9 as : — 

Prends garde qu 9 on ne te voie Take care lest they should 

(Acad.) see you 

Ukritez qu'U ne vous parle Do not let him speak to you. 

(Acad.) 

Observe. — DSfendre, though synonymous with empScher, never 
takes ne. 

§ 330. Ne is also used after a moins que, de crainte que, 
depeur que (see Accidence, § 239) ; after depuis que or il 
y a . . . que, followed by a preterite indefinite, and after 
que used instead of avant que or sans que : — 



• Compare in Latin : Negari non potest quin reditu $ii, It cannot be denied but 
that it is better ; Non dubitabamut quin ti crederemut, We did not doubt bat that 
we should believe him. 

f Ne in also used in Latin after snob verbs as ccwen, contiderare, videre, defen- 
dere, prohibere, impedire, obstare, recu$are t eto. 



108 



SYNTAX, 



X moms quHl ne soit malade 
H 8' est passe' de bien grandes 

chose* depuis queje ne vous 

ai vu (Acad.) 
II y a longtemps que tu ne fee 

occupe de dessem (Dumas) 



Unless he is ill 

Many great things have 

happened since I have 

seen you 
It is a long time since you 

have occupied yourself 

with drawing. 
She saw no suffering being, 

without that her face 

showed her emotion. 



JElle ne voyait aucun etre 
souffrant, que son visage 
n'exprimdt la peine 

Observe. — That after avant que and sons que the negation ne is 
generally not used. 

§ 331. Ne is used after a comparative of superiority 
or inferiority, if the sentence is affirmative ; but the ne 
is dropped when there is a comparison of equality, when 
the verb is not used affirmatively, or when quand or lorsque 
precede the second verb : — 



Je le souhaite plus queje ne 

Vespere (Corn.) 
On se voit d'un autre aril 

qu'on ne voit son prochain 

(Eac.) 

But— 

Jl est aussi aveugle que son 
frere (comp. of equality) 

Nous rietionspas plus avarices 
qu J il VStait 

H est meilleur que lorsque 
vous Vavez achete (Levi- 



I wish it more than I hope 
it 

One looks on one's-self with 
another eye than one looks 
on one's neighbour. 

He is as blind as his brother 

We were not more advanced 

than he was 
It is better than when you 

bought it. 



Alvar£s) 

EEMARKS. ON SOME ADVERBS. 

§ 332. Plus and davantage both mean more, but plus 
is used before adjectives and verbs, davantage at the end of 
a sentence :— 



THE ADVERB. 



109 



U faut aimer sa patrie plus 

que safamille 
La vanite est dangereuse, la 

paresse Vest davantage 

§ 333. Still plus is used 
or when it is modified by one 
beaucoup, etc. : — 

Ses vers me plaisent mats sa 
prose me cliarme encore 
plus 

JSPai-je pas fait plus que je ne 

* devais, et bien plus ? 



One must love one's country 
more than one's family 

Vanity is dangerous, idleness 
is more so. 

when there is an antithesis 
of the adverbs encore, Men, 

His verses please me, but 
his prose delights me still 
more 

Have I not done more than 
I ought, and much more ? 



§ 334. Si and aussi are used in comparisons before 
adjectives, participles, and adverbs, tant and autant before 
nouns and verbs, but si and tant are used in a negative, 
aussi and autant in an affirmative or negative sense, as : — 



He is not so brave as C&sar 
He is as brave as Caesar 



11 n' est pas si brave que Cesar 
II est aussi brave que Cesar 

(Poit.) 
JPaime Horace autant queje 

Tadmire (Buffon) 

In answer to a negative question we use si instead of 
out, as : — 



I like Horace as much as I 
admire him. 



Ne V avez-vous pas vu ? Si 



Have you not seen him? 
Yes. 



§ 335. In English we can say very much, but in French, 
the adverb beaucoup, much, cannot be modified by any 
adverb. Bien, used before another adverb, means very, 
much, quite, as : bien bon, very good ; bien moins, much less ; 
bien assez, quite enough. Used after another adverb it 
means well, as : assez bien, pretty well, etc. 



110 SYNTAX. 



CHAPTEB VIL 

THE PKEPOSITION. 

OBSERVATIONS ON SOME PREPOSITIONS. 

§ 336. A traver8, through, is used in a literal and figu- 
rative sense, as : — 

Alter a travers le hois To go through the wood 

Un roi ne voit lepeuple qu'a A king only sees the nation 
travers le prisme brillant through the brilliant 
de la cour (Malesherbes) prism of the court. 

§ 337. Avant and devant are both translated by before ; 
the first is opposed to apres, the second to derriere ; the 
first relates to time and order,* the second to place : — 

llfaudraitmettreleshistoires One should place general 

generate* avant les histoires histories before private 

particulieres (Acad.) histories 

Avant le canon, c'etait une It was a fortified town before 

ville de guerre (Kcard) cannon was used 

Mettez cela devant lefeu Place that before the fire. 

§ 338. Chez is used in the sense of at the home qf t 
amongst^ etc. : — 

Tai ete chez vous I have been at your house 

Le thedtre respectS chez lea The theatre respected 

• Compare in Latin: Ante Christum, Before Christ; Dulcet ante omnia musa, 
The muses sweet before all things. 

t Compare in Latin: Neoptolemtu apud Lycomedem erat educatus, Neoptolemus 
had been educated at the house of Lyoomedes ; Apud patre$ no$tros t Amongst our 
fathers. 



THE PREPOSITION. Ill 

Grecs, avili chez les Bo- amongst the Greeks, de- 
mains (Chamfort) based among the Romans. 

Sometimes chez is used with another preposition, as : Je mens de 
chez vous (Acad.), I come from your house. 

§ 339. Dans, means in, into, and is used with nouns 
preceded by an article, a possessive, demonstrative, or in- 
definite adjective, as ; il est dans ma chambre ; il itait dans la 
ville ; en is used generally before personal pronouns, dates, 
or nouns, used indeterminately : — 

La nouvelle se repandit Men- The news soon spread in the 

tot dans le chdteau et dans castle and in the town 

la ville (Barante) 

La vertu des liumains rCest The virtue of human beings 

pas dans leur croyance does not consist in their 

(Chenier) belief 

IL rCest 'pas en moi de lefavre It is not in me to do it 

(Acad.) 

Son per e fut nomme en 17 '45, His father was named in 

jardmier en chef (Cuvier) 1745 chief-gardener 

II est tourneur en hois He is a wood-turner. 

(Acad.) 

Dans and en, relating to time, are differently used. 
Dans denotes the point of time, en the duration : — 

Monpere arrivera dans deux My father will arrive in two 

mots months 

*Pai appris le frangais en duff I learned French in ten 

mois months. 

§ 340. JEJnvers, towards, to, is used in a moral sense, 
whilst vers, towards, expresses motion, and is put before 
names of places and persons : — 

La royaute est un mimstere Eoyalty is a ministry of re- 

de religion enters Dieu, de ligion towards God, of 

justice enters les peuples justice towards the people 
(Ftechier) 



112 SYRTAX, 

Levez les yeux vers le del Lift your eyes up to heaven. 
(Acad.) 

§ 841. 'Free and proche both mean near ; the second 
only relates to space : — 

II est Men pres de midi It is very near twelve o'clock 

II 8' est alU loger proche du He has gone to live near the 
palais palace. 

§ 342. Entre, between ; parmi, among ; the first is gene- 
rally only used of two objects, the latter (a contraction of 
par le milieu) is said of several : — 

Tly a proces entre ces deux There is a lawsuit between 

hommes these two men 

M se mSlaparmi eu$ He mixed among them. 

Still entre is very often used with nouns in the plural in the sense 
of among, as : entre toutea lea merveilles de la nature il n'en est pas 
deplus admirable* (Acad), among all the wonders of nature there are 
none more admirable. 

§ 348. Selon, suivani, according to ; the first is generally 
said of opinion, the second of practice : — 

Ohacun sera recompense selon Each one shall be rewarded 

ses osuvres according to his works 

lljuge suvoant les his He judges according to law. 

§ 344. Sur, on, has a great many meanings in French 
(see § 126 Eehabks), as : — 

JPasser la main sur une etqffe To pass one's hand over a 

certain stuff 
ISerire sur du papier To write on paper 

Avoir une arme sur soi To have arms about you or 

upon you 
Je m 9 en repose sur vous I trust to you 

H a un grand avantage sur He has a great advantage 
vous ever you 



THE PREPOSITION. 113 

Tinterrogeak le prophets sur I asked the prophet about 
Vavenir* the future. 

§ 345. From preceding the name of a person or pos- 
sessive adjective, or a personal or interrogative pronoun, 
is generally rendered by de la part de, or de ma part, de ta 
part, de sa part, de notre part, de votre part, de leur part, 
as: — 

JBien des compliments de la Many compliments from our 

part de notre medecin physician 

Je viens de lewr part I come in their name (from 

them). 

§ 346. To is not expressed where an infinitive is the 
subject, as : manger trop nuit a la sante, to eat too much is 
injurious to health. But if, instead of the present infini- 
tive, we can use the English of with the present participle, 
we must employ de in French : il a refuse defaire cela, he 
has refused to do (of doing) this (see § 288). "When to 
shows aim or purpose, and can generally be rendered by 
in order to, it must be translated by pour, as : il etudie bien 
pour passer ses examens, he studies hard to pass his exa- 
mination. 

§ 347. Nearly all prepositions are placed before nouns, 
but a, apres, de, entre, par, and pour can be used before an 
infinitive ; en is the only one which takes the present par- 
ticiple after it (see § 287). 

§ 348. Prepositions in French are placed before the 
words they govern ; in English they are sometimes placed 
after, as : — 

Que cherchez-vous ? "What are you looking for ? 

IShomme pour qui vous vous The man whom you are in- 
interessez terested for. 



* Compare in Latin : Multa tvper Priamo rogitani, asking many things about 
Priam. 

I 



114 



SYNTAX. 



§ 349. As a general rule, prepositions have to be re- 
peated before each noun in a sentence,* as : — 



Quand ceux-ci les virent sans 
chefs, sans ordre, presque 
sans artne8 t gravir des 
rockers d pic (V. Hugo) 



When these saw them with- 
out chiefs, without order, 
almost without arms, climb 
steep rocks. 



§ 350. Two prepositions may have one complement, 
* but then they must both govern the same case, as : — 



11 agissait d'etre pour ou 
contre lepape (V. Hugo) 

Dans ce Steele, oil Von respecte 
le rnerite avee ou sans 
nom (Scribe) 



There was question of being 
for or against the Pope 

In this century, when one 
respects merit with or 
without name. 



* Compare in Latin : Convenit dimicare pro Ugibtu, pro liber tote, pro patria, 
It is meet to fight for our laws, for our liberty, for our country ; Videte quantum 
intervallum ait interjectwrn inter mojorum nottrorum coniilia, et inter ietorum homi- 
num dementiam, You see what a difference there is between the counsels of our 
ancestors and (between) the madness of those men. 



THE CONJUNCTION. 115 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE CONJUNCTION. 

§ 351. The conjunction et is in general only used be- 
fore the last noun of a sentence, though it is sometimes 
repeated before every noun, as : — 

L'airain, le marbre, et Vor, Brass, marble, and gold met 

frappaient Borne eblouie everywhere the dazzled 

(Delille) Romans 

Le beau temps et la pluie, et Fine weather and rain, and 

lefroid et le chaud (Mol.) cold and heat. 

§ 352. The conjunction ni (see § 319) is used in nega- 
tive phrases to connect one or more dependent clauses, as : — 
Je ne crow pas qu'il vienne, I do not think that he will 
ni meme qu'il pense a venir come, nor even that he 
(Acad.) thinks of coming 

JJlSvangile ne connait ni The gospel knows neither 
pauvre ni riche, ni noble, poor nor rich, nor noble, 
ni roturier, ni maitre y ni nor plebeian, nor master, 
esclave (Mass.) nor slave. 

Ni is sometimes used affirmatively, as : Je serais bien fdche que ce 
f4t ct refaire, ni (for et) quelle nC envoy dt assigner la premiere (Rac.) 

§ 353. The conjunction que is used to connect two 
parts of a sentence or of a comparison, as : — 

(Test dommage que vous riayez It is a pity that you did not 
point appris cela plus tot learn that sooner 
(Acad.) 

II y a plus de voitures a There are more carriages in 
Londres qyta Venise London than in Venice. 



116 SYNTAX. 

§ 854. Que is also used to avoid the repetition of a 
conjunction in a sentence : — 

Lorsque unegrande nation est When a great nation is as- 

assembUe et qu'elle exa- sembled and when it 

mine une question (Mira- examines a question 
beau) 

Quoiqu'un peuple V adore et Though a nation adores 

qu'un roi Is car esse (Corn.) him and though a kiug 

* natters him. 

§ 355. In the middle of a sentence que is employed for 
a great many other conjunctions : — 

(1.) For afin que, in order that, as : Beviens que je te 
revoie (Dumas), Come back, in order that I may see you 
again. 

(2.) For puisgue, since, as: Puisqu'on plaide, qu'on 
meurt et qu'on devient malade (La Font.), Since people go to 
law, since they die, and become ill. 

(3.) For aussitSt que, as soon as, as : Aussitot que le 
Samien m'avait porte un faux coup et que son bras s'aUon- 
geait en vain (Fen.), As soon as the Samian had missed, 
and as soon as his arm was extended in vain. 

(4.) For parce que, because, as : 11 agissait avec cTautant 
plus de chaleur qu'il etait animS par la reconnaissance, He 
acted with so much the more warmth because he was ani- 
mated by gratitude. 

(5.) For quand, lorsque, when, as : Je n'etais pas sorti de 
Londres quefai entendu galoper sur mes traces (Scribe), I 
had scarcely left London when I heard some one trotting 
behind me. 

(6.) For comme, as : BicJie qu'il est, Eich as he is. 

(7.) For avant que, before, as : Ne lui payez pas cette 
somme qu'il ne parte, Do not pay him this sum before he 
goes. 



THE CONJUNCTION. 117 

(3.) For cependant, yet, as : On hit donnerait beaucoup 
d' argent qu'il en souhaiterait davantage, They might give 
him much money, yet he would wish for more. 

(9.) For de peur que, de crainte que, for fear that, lest : 
Tremblez quHls ne reussissent, Tremble lest they should suc- 
ceed. H doit se hdter que cette occasion ne lui echappe. He 
must make haste for fear this opportunity fails him. 

(10.) For jusqu'a ce que, until, till : Attendez que le 
concert soitf/ni, "Wait until the concert is over. 

(11.) For depuis que, since, as : Y-a-t-il longtemps que 
vou8 n'etes plus avec votrejrere? How long is it since you 
have left your brother ? 

§ 356. Que is also used for other conjunctions in the 
beginning of a sentence in exclamations, interrogations, 
etc. :— 

Que faille a son secours ou Let me go to his assistance 

que je tneure (B. de St. or die 

Pierre) 

Que n'ai-je interroge les Why did I not ask the 

mvnistres de Dieu ? (De- ministers of heaven P 

lavigne) 



APPENDIX 



COMPARISON BETWEEN THE GENDER OF FRENCH AND 

LATIN NOUNS. 



AS A GENEBAL BULB ALL LATIN MASCULINE NOUNS BEMAIff 

MASCULINE IN PBENOH. 

1. — In the first Latin declension a few nouns change their genders, 
as: — 



PBK. IN 7BENOH. 
la comete 
la Maine 



the comet 

the river Maine 



MAS. IN LATIN. 
cometes 
Matrona* 



2. — Masculine nouns of the second and fourth Latin declensions be- 
come sometimes feminine in French, and generally end in e mute, as : — 

MAS. IN LATIN. 



FEM. IN PBBNCH. 
Varche 
Vasperge 
Vauge 

V&meraude 

lafigue 
lagrenouille 

Vhteble 

la merluehe 
la mousse 
Vobole 
Vopale 
larame 



the arch 
the asparagus 
the trough 

the emerald 

the fig 
the frog 

the dwarf-elder 

the hake 

the moss 

the obolus 

the opal 

the oar, the ream 



{ 
f 



arcus (sometimes fern.) 

asparagus 

alveus 

smaragdus (some- 

times fern.) 
flous (fera. as the tree) 
ranunculus (m.), or 

ranula (f.) 
ebulus (m.), and ebu- 

lum (n.) 
maris lucius 
muscus 
obolus 
opahts 
ramus. 



120 



APPENDIX. 



3. — Masculine nouns of the third Latin declension become often 
feminine in French, and generally end then in e mute, as :— 



TEH. IN FBBNCH. 



HAS. IN LATIN. 



la eendre 


the ashes 


cinis (seldom fern.) 


la chartre 
Vecorce 


( the charter, the 1 
( prison (antiq.) ) 
the bark 


career 

cortex (sometimes fern.) 


la herse 


the harrow 


irpex 


la Loire 


the river Loire 


Liger 


la pause 
la ponce 
lapoudre 
lapuoe 


the stomach 
the pumice 
the powder 
the flea 


pantex 

pumex (fern, by Catullus) 

pulvis (seldom fern.) 

pulex. 


4. — Some masculine nouns of the third Latin declension ending in 


or, and a few others 


ending in x or *, become feminine in French, but 


do not end in e mute, as : — 




7BH. IN FRENCH. 


* 


MAS. IN LATIN. 


leg annates 


the annals 


annates 


la brebis 


the sheep 


vervex 


la couleur 


the colour 


color 


la dent 


the tooth 


dens 


ladouleur 


the grief 


dolor 


lafaveur 


the favour 


favor 


la flew 

la font (antiq.) 

lafureur 


the flower 
the fountain 
the anger 


flos 

fons 

furor 


les mosurs 


the manners 


mores 


la parol 


the wall 


paries 


lasouris 


the mouse 


sorex. 



LATIN NOUNS OP THE TEHHTINB GENDBB BECOHB OFTEN HA8CT7LINB 

IN FRENCH. 

1. — In the first Latin declension the following feminine nouns 
change their gender :— 





APPENDIX. 


FKlf. IN LATIN. 


HAS. IN FRENCH. 


bonahora 


le bonheur 


dama (mas. by Virgil) 


le daim 


festuca 


Ufetu 


hedera 


le lierre 


lacerta 


le lizard 


luscimola 


le rossignol 


malahora 


lemalhew 


orchestra 


V orchestra 


pedica 


le jriege 


spica 


Vepv 


tMfflUB 


lesthermes 


tiliola 


le tilleul 


unyula 


Vongle 



121 



the happiness 
the deer 
a bit of straw 
the ivy 
the lizard 
the nightingale 
the misfortune 
the orchestra 
the snare 
the ear of corn 
the baths 
the willow 
the nail. 



2. — Many feminine nouns of the second and fourth Latin declen* 
sions become masculine in French. 

(a.) Many names of trees, as : — 



PBM. IN LATIN. 


MAS. IN FRENCH. 




alnus 


Vaune 


the alder-tree 


buxus 


le buis 


the box-tree 


myrtue 


le myrte 


the myrtle-tree 


pinus 


le pin 


the pine-tree 


plotonus 

• 


leplatane 


the plane-tree. 


(b.) Several nouns derived from the Greek, as ; — 


FEM. IN LATIN. 


MAS. IN TRENCH. 




atomus 


Vatdtne 


the atom 


dialectus 


le dialecte 


the dialect 


diametrue 


le diamdtre 


the diameter 


paragraphia 


leparagraphe 


the paragraph 


perimetnu 


lepSrimetre 


the perimeter (geom.) 


(c.) A few Latin 


nouns formed from the Greek 6Z6s, as : — 


FEM. IN LATIN. 


HAS. IN FRENCH. 




exodus 


Vexode 


the exodus 


synodus 


le synode 


the synod. 



52 


APBBRDIX. 


' 


(d.) And some 


others, as :— 




VEX. IN LATIN. 


MAS. IN FRENCH. . 




abyssus 


VabUne 


the abyss 


pharus 


Uphare 


the beacon 


portion 


Uportique, leporehe 


the portico. 


3. — Of the feminine nouns of the third Latin declension some 


scome masculine in French, as : — 




MM. IN LATIN. 


MAS. IN FRENCH. 




appendix 


V appendix 


the appendix 


arbor 


Varbre 


the tree 


ars 


Vart f 


the art 


cartUago 


le cartilage 


the cartilage 


duxcesis 


Is diocese 


the diocese 


iaspis 


lejaspe 


the jasper * 


iris 


Viris 


the iris 


potto 


le poison 


the poison ■ 


retit 


le rets 


the net 


solus 


le salut 


the salvation 


sors 


le sort 


the fate 


sphinx 


le sphinx 


the sphinx 


suspicio 


le soupcon 


the suspicion 


vertigo 


leveriige 


the giddiness. 



THE LATIN OOMMUNIA BECOME GENERALLY MASCULINE IN 

FRENCH. 

1. — Names of stones often become masculine, as : — 

COMMUNIA IN LATIN. HAS. IN FRENCH. 

beryllus le beryl the beryl 

crystallus {some- 1 
times crystallum) ) 



le crystal 



the crystal. 



2. — Often names of animals become masculine, as : — 



COMMUNIA ZN LATIN, 
bos 
cams 
lynx 

quadrupes 
serpens 
tigris 



MAS. IN FRENCH. 

lebamf 

le chien 

le lynx 

le quadrupeds 

le serpent 

le tigre 



the ox 
the dog 
the lynx 
the quadruped 
the serpent 
the tiger. 



APPENDIX. 



123 



3. — Some of the communia become feminine in French, as :— 



COMMUNIA IK LATIN. 

achates 
epodus 
grus 
perdix 



MAS. IN EBSNCH. 
V agate 
VSpode 
lagrue 
la per oris 



the agate 

the epode (versif.) 

the crane 

the partridge. 



SUBSTANTIVES OP THE LATIN NEUTER GENDEB TAKE IK FRENCH 
THE GENDEB ACCORDING TO THEIB ENDING } AS A GBNEBAL BULB 
THOSE THAT CHANGE THEIB ENDING INTO E MUTE BECOME 
7EMININE, THOSE THAT CHANGE THE TEBMINATION INTO A CONSO- 
NANT BECOME MASCULINE, 

1. — Neuter nouns of the second Latin declension which become 
masculine in French : — 

NEUTBB IN LATIN. MAS. IN FRENCH. 

ail 

arbuste 
argent 
armistice 
or 
bras 
del 
decret 
fait 

manuscrii 
navire 
huis 
osuf 
plomb 
prS 
prix 
prodige 
regne 
siiecle 
ecu 
signs 
vin 
vice 
vam 

Observe. — Arbuste, armistice, prodige, regne, siiecle, signs, and 
vice, though ending in e mute, are masculine in French. 



arbustum 

argentum 

armistiHum 

aurum 

bracchium 

caelum 

decretum 

factum 

manuscriptum 

navigium 

ostium 

'ovum 

plumbum 

pratum 

pretium 

prodigium 

regnum 

saculum 

scutum 

m 

stgnum 
vinum 
viti^tm 
votum 



garlic 

the shrub 

silver 

the armistice 

gold 

the arm 

heaven 

the decree 

the fact 

the manuscript 

the ship 

the door 

the egg 

lead 

the meadow 

the price 

the wonder 

the reign 

the age 

the shield 

the sign 

wine 

the vice 

the yow. 



124 



APPENDIX. 



2. — Neater nouns of the second Latin declension 'which become 
feminine in French, and end in e mate :— 



TEB IN LATIN. 


PEM. IN 7BENCH. 




apium 


ache 


a kind of parsley 


cymbalum 


cymbals 


the cymbal 


folium 


feuille 


the leaf 


gaudium 


joie 


the joy 


granum 


grai/ne 


the grain 


horologium 


horloge 


the clock 


labium 


levre 


the lip 


morum 


mitre 


the mulberry 


oleum 


huile 


the oil 


• 

ptrum 


poire 


the pear 


pomum 


pomme 


the apple 


prunum 


prune 


the plum 


punctum 


pointe 


the point 


responsum 


reponse 


the answer 


epolium 


depouille 


the spoil 


stabulum 


Stable 


the cow-house 


studium 


Stude 


the study 


tormentum 


tourmente 


the storm 


velum 


voile 


the sail 


viburnum 


viorne 


Tiburnum (botar 



Mare and cocMear change into la mer, la cuiller, though they do 
not end in e mute. A good many words in etum i change in French into 
aie t and become feminine, as : saussaie, a plantation of willows, from 
saliceium ; roseraie, a plantation of roses, from rosetum, etc. Some 
become feminine without haying a feminine termination, as: lajument, 
the mare, from jumentum, etc. 

3. — Neuter nouns of the third Latin declension which become 
feminine in French : — 



NEUTER IN LATIN. 


PEM. IN TRENCH. 




mirabile 


merveitte 


the wonder 


murale 


muraiUe 


the wall 


par 


poire 


the couple » 


pecue. 


pScore 


the fool 


stamen 


ttamvne 


the stamen (botan.) 


volatile 


volatile 


the poultry. 



appendix:. 



125 



4. — Neuter noons of the third Latin declension which beoome 
masculine in French : — 



NET7TEB IN LATIN. MAS. IN FRENCH. 

altare, altar, some- ^ •. . 
times altarium ) 



altar 



cadaver 




cadavre 


the corpse 


carmen 




chant 


the song 


cor 




caw 


the heart 


diploma 




dipldme 


the diploma 


tnarmor 




marbre 


the marble 


nomen 




nom 


name 


tempos 




temps 


time 


vas (vasa 


plur.) 


vase 


the vase 


volumen 




volume 


the volume. 



Observe-— -Cadavre, dipldme, marbre, vase, and volume, though 
ending in e mute, are masculine in French. 

5. — In the fourth declension only one neuter noun, cornu, becomes 
feminine in French, as : la come, the horn. 

6. — Some of the neuter Latin nouns have two genders in French, 
as: foudre, thunder, from fulgw; auvre, work, from opus; orgue, 
organ, from organum; orge, barley, from hordeum. See the Appendix 
of the Accidence, p. 183. 



WORDS WRITTEN IN FRENCH THE SAME AND 
PRONOUNCED DIFFERENTLY. 

1. — The following list, which we believe to be unique, shows a great 
many examples of words written in French in the same way, but pro- 
nounced differently in the last syllable. Some of them differ also in 
accents. The master will, of course, have to give the pronunciation. 



Dans la mSdecine on se sert cPun 

AB8TEBGENT 

In medicine we make use of an 
abstergent 



Les chirurgiens abstebgent leurs 

malades 
The surgeons absterge their 

patients 



126 



APPENDIX. 



Nous aoceftions ces jolts cadeaux 
We aooepted these pretty presents 

Les avocats adherent £ ce qu'ils 

ont dit 
The lawyers adhere to what they 

have said 

Que d? adoptions U y a eu au- 

jourdhui ! 
How many children have been 

adopted to-day ! 

Mafemme et mes enfants sont mes 

plus eheres affections 
My wife and my children are 

what I love the most 

Lefleuve est affluent 
The brook is tributary 

Agib si tu le peux 
Act if you can 

VabeiUe a un AIOTILLON 
The bee has a sting 

*Tai Tab de pique en main 

I have the ace of clubs in hand 

Ce jeune homme est rempU cF 

ATTENTIONS 

This young man is very polite 

Troisfois le parterre a crii BIS 
Three times the pit shouted 
encore 

Les soldats ont vide* deux BBOCS 

devin 
The soldiers drank two jugs of 

wine 

Le Christ est venu pour sauver 

les picheurs 
Our Saviour came to save sinners 



Un mot a. bien des aooeptions 
One word can be used in several 
meanings 

Ce go4t est adherent a la nature 

humaine 
This taste is ingrained in human 

nature 

Nous adoptions ees opinions in- 

dependantes 
We did adopt these independent 

opinions 

Nous affections une somme pour 

payer cette dette 
We appropriated a sum to pay 

this debt 

Les rivUres affluent dans la met 
The rivers mil into the sea 

Agis, rot de Sparte 
Agifl, king of Sparta 

Le due <f AiGurLLON itavt ministre 
sous Louis XV. 

The duke of Aiguillon was secre- 
tary of State under Louis XY. 

As-tu reeu cet argent ? 

Have you received that money P 

Nous attentions ce complot 

We attempted that conspiracy 

Je ne mange que du pain BIS 
I only eat brown bread 

De brie et de bboc Us* est fait une 

jolie fortune 
By hook and by crook he has 

amassed a pretty sum of money 

Notre seigneur Jesus-CsRiBT 
Our Lord Jesus Christ 



APPEHDIX. 



127 



J' at ctnq pommes 
I have five apples 

2£n gSomStrie on parte de coin- 
cident 

In geometry we speak of coin- 
cident 

Hierfai mangi deux COLLATIONS 

Yesterday I did twice eat lunch 

Voila le confluent de ces eaux 
Behold the confluence of these 
waters 

Le mot conniybnt est une tetme 

de botanique 
The word connivewt is a botanical 

term 

Je suis content de cette nouvelle 
I am glad about this news 

Dans ce monde il riy a que CON- 
TENTIONS 

In this world there are nothing 
but quarrels 

Ce rayon est CONVERGENT 
This ray is convergent 

Voire livre me conyient assez 

bien 
Your book suits me pretty well 

Le coq du poulailler est tree 

querelleur 
The cock of the poultry-yard is 

very quarrelsome 

Les pontes COTTYBNT pendant la 

saison 
The hens sit in season 

Les ouvriers ont tranailU aveo un 

OHIO 

The workmen have used a screw- 
jack 



Le prqfesseur a CINQ Sieves 
The teacher has five pupils 

Ces affaires coincident (Tune 
maniere merveilleuse 

These affaire coincide in a wonder- 
ful manner 

II ne fait que de* collations de 

livres 
He only collates books 

Cesjleuves confluent dans lamer 
These streams run together into 
the sea 

lis conntyent d, cette faute 
They connive at that fault 

lis content dejoUes histoires 
They tell pretty tales 

Nous nous contentions de cette 

somme 
We were satisfied with this sum 

Les lignes CONYEBGENT 
The lines converge 

Us nous conyient ct ce banquet 

They invite us at this feast 

On mange toujours un COQ tflnde 
a Noel 

We eat always a turkey at Christ- 
mas 

II y a un joli couvent tout pres 

de Paris 
There is a pretty convent quite 

near Paris 

Cette itoffe en se dSchirant a fait 
ORIO-CttZC 

This stuff in tearing made a pecu- 
liar noise 



128 



APPENDIX. 



Laprincette a une robe de damas 
The prinoeM has a damask dress 

Dans VoreiUe on trouve un conduit 

deferent 
In the ear is a deferent tube 

On punii severement let dEser- 

TION8 

Desertions are severely punished 

Que de detractions pormi let 

hommesf 
What backbiting among men ! 

(Test touted fait DIFFERENT 
That is quite different 

Un de ces rayons est divergent 
One of these rays diverges 

Tai perdu met Echeos 
I have lost my chessmen 

Six editions de ce litre ont paru 
Six editions of this book appeared 

Oregoire porta <Tun systeme Equi- 
pollent 

Gregory spoke of an equivalent 
system 

«7'o» vu que c'etait EQUIVALENT ti 

un refns 
I saw this was tantamount to a 

refusal 

U est francais 
He is French 

Nous avons eu de grands mal- 

heurs 
We have had great misfortunes 



Les Francois sont a Damas 
The French are at Damascus 

Les corps de VStat deferent det 

honneurs a ce general 
The bodies of the state confer 

honours on this general 

Nous desertions de cette mile 

We fled from this town 

Nous ne detractions _pa* eet mat- 
neureum 

We did not slander those unfor- 
tunate men 

Us different de partir 
They delay leaving 

Ces Ugnes divergent 
These lines diverge 

Get amiral tient laflotte en Echbc 
This admiral prevents the fleet 
from acting 

On adit que nous Editions cette 

grammaire 
They said that we revised that 

grammar 

Ces systemes Equipollent 
These systems are equivalent 
Ses chevaux *' Equivalent 

His horses are all of the same 
value 

Le vent <Te8t souffle bienfort 
The east -wind blows very strong 

Le chdteau <f Eu ettpres de Dieppe 

The castle of Ea is not far from 
Dieppe 



APPENDIX. 



129 



II par ait e*vtdbnt qu'on lepunira 
It seems obvious he will be pun- 
ished 

VoiUt U* EXCELLENT SooUer 

There is an excellent scholar 

II y a beaucoup ^'exceptions a 

cetteloi 
There are many exceptions to that 

law 

Que <f executions mUUaires il $ 

aeuen AmSrique ! 
How many military executions 

took place in America ! 

CeprStre a recu des exemptions 
de son cur 6 

This priest has received exemp- 
tions from his vicar 

Cest un expedient tout a fait 

nouveau 
This is quite a new experiment 

Les boulangers se servent de pee- 

MENT 

The bakers use yeast 

A qui peut on se pxbe mavntenant ? 
To whom can one trust one's self 
now-a-days P 

Mon PIXS est Men diligent 
My son is very diligent 

Fobez ee tonneau 
Pierce this cask 

Le premier qui put roi PUT un 

soldat Keureux 
The first who became king was a 

fortunate soldier 



Get ouvriers evident ce fosse* 
These workmen hollow out that 
ditch 

Met classes excellent en Fran- 
cois 
My classes excel in French 

Nous exceptions V enfant de cette 

punition 
We did except the child from this 

punishment 

En Studiant beaucoup nous EXE- 
CUTIONS nos devoirs 

In studying much we did fulfil 
our duties « 

On adit que nous EXEMPTIONS les 

Sieves de leurs themes 
It has been said that we dispensed 

with the exercises of these 

pupils 

Les commis expedient ces mar* 

chandises 
The clerks forward these goods 

lis PBEMENT lew boutique de 

bonne heure 
They shut their shop early 

11 est PIEE comme un CastiUan 
He is as proud as a Spaniard 

Divide* ces pils 
Unravel these threads 

Is Fobxz est une ancienne pro* 
vines francaise 

Fores is a former French pro- 
vince 

Mettes ce put en magasin 
Put this cask in the storehouse. 



130 



APPEHDIX. 



Hestle guide <{* eee enfant* 

He is the guide of these ohildren 
II fait tout a sa GUISE 

He does everything according to 
his fane j 

Ces machines nefont que HIEB 
These machines do nothing bat 
creak 

La Hollands est un royaume 

Holland is a kingdom 
II vient de HoNGBlE 

He comes from Hungary 

Mon libraire a vendu htjit livres 
My bookseller has sold eight books 

Les odeurs ne valent rien centre 

les INJECTIONS 

Perfumes are of no good against 
infections 

Ce ministre est Ms influent 

This secretary of State has much 
influence , 

Les injections sefont avee de la 

cire 
Wax is used for injections 

De toutes parts fentends que nous 
aurons de nouveUes inspec- 

1I3N8 

On all sides I hear we are going 
to have new inspections 

L'homme barbu a Voir <Tun nr- 

SUEOENT 

The bearded man looks like an 
insurgent 



Le Guide est un grand peintre 

italien 
Gnido is a great Italian painter 

Le portrait dm fameux due de 

Guise 
The portrait of the renowned 

duke of Guise 

HlERf Stats en voiiure 
Yesterday I was out riding 

Tax achetS du fromage <THox- 

LANDE 

I have bought Dutch cheese 

Cette femme vend de Veau de la 

reine d* Honoris 
This woman sells Hungary-water 

Htjit en/ants. 
Eight children 

On dit que nous infections Voir 
They say we tainted the air 

Us INFLUENT beaucoup sur ce 

vieillard 
They have much influence over 

that old man 

Nous injections ces vetoes nous- 
mimes 
We injected ourselves these reins 

Les setds pays que nous INSPEC- 
TIONS avecplaisir 

The only countries we visited with 
pleasure 

Les Polonais «'lN8UBGENT a la 
premiere occasion 

The Poles revolt at the first oppor- 
tunity 



.APPENDIX. 



131 



Un certain endroit est pace de 

bonnes intentions 
A certain place is payed with good 

intentions 

Que <f iktbbobptionb dans son 
discours I 

What many interruptions in his 
speech! 

Chaque jour il y a d'autres IN- 
VENTIONS 

Every day produces other inven- 
tions 

Le maZheureux pigeon trainant Us 
morceaux du lacs 

The wretched pigeon dragging the 
pieces of the net after him 

II est laps et relaps 

He has fallen hack to heresy 

Cette demoiselle crime le lis 

This young lady is fond of the 
lily 

*Tcdgagn4legros LOT 

I have drawn the highest prize 

Mais il ne dit rien 
But he says nothing 

Le mabo $ argent a une valeur 

<T environ 60 francs 
The silver marc is worth about 

60 francs 

On vient de trouver le hat d*un 

navire 
They have just found the mast of 

a vessel 
Les inspecteurs ont donnS beaucoup 

de mentions honordbles 
The inspectors have favourably 

mentioned many 



II fond que nous intentions un 

proces oL cesfripons 
We must enter an action against 

these rogues 

On craint que nous ft'nrnsBCXP- 

tions Vow 
They fear we shut out the air 

Les premieres choses que nous 

INVENTIONS 

The first things we did invent 

JEn Suisse il y aplusieurs LACS 

In Switzerland are several lakes 

Un certain laps de temps 
A certain lapse of time 

Dans les armoiries de la France 
on trouve desjleurs-de-ms 

In the arms of France are fleurs- 
de-lis 

La r>ille est dans le departement 

de Lot et Garonne 
The town is in the department 

Lot et Garonne 
ISnpuis-jeMAiB? 
Can I help it P 

"M^RC-Antoine Stait un des tri- 
umvirs 

Marc- Antony was one of the tri- 
umvirs 

II Vafait Schec etiLLT 

He has check-mated him 

H ne /out pas que nous MENTIONS 

We must not tell falsehoods 



182 APPENDIX. 

Un Stive qui oublxe ees livres est Lee paresseu* mteuGBNT lew 

negligent ouvrage 

A pupil who forgets his books is Idle boys neglect their work 

negligent 

Lee neup muses J*ai mange* nbto orange* 

The nine muses » I have eaten nine oranges 

Vos objections sont de rigueur It est nScessaire que nous objec- 
tions & cela 
Your objections are necessary We must object to that 

Dans ee muse's on n*a que dee 08 J*ai donnS un OB & ronger ct ce 

fossUes chien 

In this museum are only, fossil I have given this dog a bone to 

bones gnaw 

Ce monsieur est mon PARENT Sites se parent pour le bal 

This gentleman is one of my re- They adorn themselves for the ball 

lations 
Pabis est la capitate de la France Le berger Paris Stait file de 

Priam, rot de Troie 
Paris is the capital of France The shepherd Paris was the son 

of Priam, king of Troy 
Lee ChrStiens ont bien souffert dee Nous persecutions ces malfai- 

persecutions teurs 

The Christians have suffered We persecuted those evil-doers 

much through persecutions 

Le pied droit me fait mat La chambre n'est qu'un PlBD-a- 

terre 
The right foot hurts me The room is only a temporary 

lodging 

Le vieillard a plus de soixante Plus ou moine 

arts 

The old man is more than sixty More or less 

years old 

Mon cousin a mangS toutes nos R f&*t que nous PORTIONS ces 

PORTIONS paquets 

My cousin has eaten all our We must carry these parcels 

allowance 

Hriy a pas de precedent pour Lee musicians PBiOEDENT la pro- 

la rkgle cession 

There is no precedent for the role Tn° musicians precede the pro- 
cession 



APPENDIX. 



133 



Monsieur est le fbesidbxt de la 

cour 
This gentleman is the ohief-justioe 

in that court 

Le tgran PBS&BBirT le danger 

The tyrant has a presentiment of 
the danger 

Ce mathSmaticien a itudiS la 

QUADBATtTBE 

This mathematician has studied 
quadrature 

Lee soldats ont de double* RATIONS 

en campagne 
The soldiers have double rations 

when in the field 

Mon pere a dee relations avec 

eeepereonnee 
My father is connected with these 

persons 

Mon oncle est besident a la cour 

du roi de , . . 
My uncle is the minister at the 

court of the king of . . . 

U bit, le voila dSsarmi 

He laughs, now he is no longer 
angry 

RAdez, chiens, ri ahoy ez pas 

Prowl about, dogs, do not bark 

Cet homme n'a pas le sens com* 

mun 
This man has no common sense 

Six pains seront bien asset 
Six loaves will be quite enough 



Les gSneraux pbkSident a cette 

assemble* 
The generals preside oyer this 

assembly 

Us se pbessent enfoule pour voir 

le spectacle 
They throng to see the sight 

Dans les montres on trouve une 

QTTADBATTJBE 

In watches there is a motion* work 

TL ne font pas que nous bations 

a la chasse 
We must not miss fire whilst 

shooting 

II est nicessaire que nous BELA- 

tions de par la lot 
We must state things in the name 

of the law 

JTai deux cousins qui besidbnt an 

Japon 
I have two cousins living in Japan 

OnprSche dans cetteigUse icossaise 
selon le bit dee anciens temps 

The service is performed in this 
Scotch church according to the 
old manner 

VabbS Maynal naquit pres de 

Bodez 
The Abbe* Baynal was born near 

Bodez 
Mon coeval court e»SENS inverse 

My horse runs in an opposite 
direction 

Jejoue le double BIX 
I play double six 



134 



APPENDIX. 



H subit outrages sur outrage* 
He suffered many outrages 
Suez, leur dit-il 
Perspire, he said to them 

Z'ouvrier a gagnS cette somme en 

BUS de son salaire 
The workman has gained this sum 

over and above his salary 

Tons ces en/ants doivent Ore 

punts 
All these children ought to be 

punished 

Lhomme leplus violent de la ville 
The most violent man in the town 
Tib si tupeux 
live, if you can 



XTn changemeni sttbit 
A sudden change 

Visthne de Sues 
The Isthmus of Suez 

Sub, mss enfants t ayez courage 

» 
Cheer up, my children, he of good 
heart 

Je les punirai tous 
I will punish them all 

Us violent lews promesses 
They break their promises 

Uy a une VIS de cassSe 
There is a screw broken 



2. — The words given below, though spelt the same, differ in pro- 
nunciation, but in such a manner that the middle vowel only is pro- 
nounced short or long. 



TOWEL PRONOUNCED LONG. 

v 

Levin de Suresnes est aobx 
The wine of Suresnes is tart 

Uh lourdaud baIllb en public 
A lout gapes before every one 
Vdne n'est pas le seul animal qui 

porteun bat 
The ass is not the only animal 

that wears a saddle 

Je dSteste une BOiTE £ musique 
I hate a musical box 

En tombant U s'est cassiwM Cote 
In falling he broke a rib 

Le eaite de VSdifiee 

The summit of the building 



towel pbonounobd shobt. 

It n' a plants qu'un aobe de terre 
He has only planted an acre of 
land 

Mon professeur me Va battle* belle 
My teacher has given it me well 

Un soldat Jrancais se bat bien 
A French soldier fights well 

Le tnalheureux boite 

The unfortunate man walks lame 

Voild ma cote 
There is my share 

La poupee quelle a paite 
The doll she made 



APPEKDIX. 



185 



Nous tr aversions une sombre fobit 
We went through a gloomy forest 

Un homme a Voir GEAVE 
A serious looking man 

Je n* aime pas le jeune 

I don't like fasting 

II le LAISSE tranquille 

He leaves him quiet 

Mon ami joue toujour* pour la 

MASSE 

My friend plays always for the 
stake 

Les enfants ontpeur oVun matin 

The children are afraid of a mas- 
tiff 

Le fruit est mub 
The fruit is ripe 

Notre frere aime a pbOHEB 
Our brother likes fishing 

On me bogne mes appointements 
They diminish my salary 

Un Sieve doit toujour* /aire sa 

TACHE 

A pupil ought always to do his 

task 
My a des hommes qui VOLBNT 
There are men who steal 



On a fait un trou avec un pohet 
They made a hole with a drill 

Ma tante Gbaye sur cuivre 
My aunt engraves on copper 

Quel aimable JEUNE homme ! 
What an amiable young man ! 

Le garde-chasse mene see chiens en 

LAISSE 

The game-keeper leasbes bis dogs 
Quelle masse confuse de livres ! 

What a confused heap of books ! 

Pour avoir les joues vermeilles on 

doit se lever matin 
In order to have rosy cheeks one 

ought to get up early 

Les soldats ont detruit le mub 
The soldiers have destroyed the 
wall 

Malheur a V homme qui nefait que 

PECHEB ! 

Woe to the man who does nothing 

but sin ! 
Le chien est attemt de la BOGNE 
The dog has the mange 
Une tache dans un eahier 

A blot in a copybook 

Les oiseaux yolbnt en Vair. 
The birds fly in the air. 



MODEL OP GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS. 

Thebe are two ways of analyzing a sentence— namely, logically 
and grammatically. The first refers to the meaning, the second 
to the words and form of the sentence. We cannot enter into the 
logical analysis, which ought to be acquired elsewhere, but we give 



136 



appeitdh. 



here below an example of grammatical analysis taken from Poitotin's 
Cours Theorique et Pratique de Langue Irancaise, 

L'onde approche, se brise, et yomit a nos yeux 
Parmi des flots d'ecume, un monstre furieux (Rao.) 

V (pour La) Article simple fe*m. sing., determine onde. 

onde Nom commun, fern, sing., sujet des yerbes approcher, se 

briser, vomit. 

approche, Yerbe intransitif a l'ind. pro's., 3 e pers. du sing., l re oonjng. 
Temps primitifs : approcher, approchant, approchS, J* ap- 
proche, fapprochai. 

se brise, Yerbe refllchi aceidentel a l'ind. pres., 3 e pen. du sing. 
l n conjug. Temps primitifs : se briser, se brisant, s'ttant 
brise*, je me brise, je me brisai. 

et Oonjonction, qui unit ces deux propositions : Vonde se brise— 

Vonde vomit, 
vomit Yerbe transitif a l'ind. pres., 3* pers. du sing., 2* conjug. 

Temps primitifs : vomir, vomissant, vomi, je vomis, je vomis. 

a Preposition, qui e*tablit un rapport entre le yerbe vomW et le 

nom commun yeux. 

nos Adjectif possessif masc. plur., determine yeux. 

yeux Nom commun, masc. plur., complement indirect du yerbe 
vomvr. 

Parmi Preposition, qui e*tablit un rapport entre le yerbe vomir et 
le nom commun Jfofr. 

des (pour de les) Article contraote*, masc. plur., &6termme flots. 

flots Nom commun, masc. plur., complement de la proposition 

parmi* 

d* (pour de) Preposition, qui 6tablit un rapport entre le nom 

commun flots et le nom commun Same. 

Scume, Nom commun, fe*m. sing., complement de la proposition de. 

un Adj. numeral, masc. sing., de*ter. monstre. 

monstre Nom commun, masc. sing., complement direct du yerbe 
vomir* 

furieux. Adjectif qualificatif, masc. sing., qualifie le nom commun 
monstre. 



HJLBBILD, VBIHIXB, L0VDO2T. 



1,