Vol 17, Educational Series, price One Shilling. A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. CONTAINING COMPLETE AND CONCISE RULES ON THE GENDEES OF EEENCH NOUNS. By G. L. STRAUSS, Ph. Dr. Professor and Translator of Languages. Formerly Lecturer on French Literature at Besaneon. LOHDOK; JOHN WEALE. 1853. I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 8 M • M M ' ft i *»• & «.* i &> — m I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. I gl^^^^, ^,. IK A GRAMMAR THE FRENCH LANGUAGE, CONTAINING COMPLETE AND CONCISE RULES ON THE GENDEBS OE FEENCH NOUNS. By G. L. STRAUSS, Ph. Dr., Professor and Translator of Languages. Formerly Lecturer on French Literature at Besancon. LONDON : JOHN WEALE, 59, HIGH HOLBOEN. * 1853. LONDON : BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS, PREFACE. The " Grammar " of a language may be defined as a systematically and methodically arranged collection of the rules which govern the proper and correct mode of speaking and writing it. Even an elementary Grammar must, to a certain extent, answer this definition, or it is not what it professes to be. It is upon this view of the subject that I have proceeded in the compilation and composition of the present work ; — and I think, I may safely assert that, though from the restricted limits, and the professedly elementary nature of the book, I have been compelled to confine myself, in a measure, to mere occasional and fragmentary remarks on the grammatical mechanism and the syntactic construction of the French language, yet, in so far as the etymological branch of Grammar is concerned, no rule of any importance has been omitted'; and that the student when he has occasion to consult this work, will rarely find himself disappointed in obtaining the desired information. Noel and Chapsal's truly classical grammar of the French language has supplied the general plan for the present work. I have consulted also the " Grammaire des Grammaires" Levizacs and Brasseur's English-French Grammars, and Arnold's most excellent " First French Book." In the section on the Gender, I have largely drawn from Prideaux's equally concise and complete treatise on that important branch of French grammar. CONTENTS. Introduction. — The Alphabet, 1. — Pronunciation, 3. — Orthography, 13. Chap. I. — The article, 23. — The substantive, 30. Chap. II. — Thequalificative adjective, 50. — The determinative adjective, 63 Chap. III. — The numerals, 70. Chap. IV. — The personal pronouns, 75 The demonstrative pronouns, 85. — The possessive pronouns, 89. — The relative pronouns, 90. Chap. V. — The Verb : — Introductory Kemarks, 100. — Conjugation of the verbs, 102. — Avoir, 104. — Etre, 106. •*— First conjugation, 108. — Second conjugation, 113. — Third conjugation, 119. — Fourth con- jugation, 126. — Passive voice of transitive verbs, 136. — Conjuga- tion of pronominal verbs, 136. — Interrogative and negative forms of conjugation, 139. — Concord of the verb with its subject, 142. — Government of the verb, 145. — Use of the tenses, 147. — The subjunctive mode, 148 — The infinitive mode, 150. Chap. VI. — The participle present, 151. — The participle past, 152. Chap. VII. — The adverb, 157. — The preposition, 158. — The conjunction; 161.— The interjection, 163. GRAMMAR OF THE FEENCH LANGUAGE. INTBODUCTIOJST. THE ALPHABET. The French. Alphabet consists of the following twenty-five letters : — NAME. PRONOUNCED. A a Ah like a in far. B b Bey ■ C 33 c d CeyorSey Dey yey as in they. E e Ey F f Ef G g Jey j like s in pleasure, or z in azure, ey as in they. H h Ash I i E J j Jee j like s in pleasure, or z in azure. K k Kah like ca in calf. L 1 El M m Em N n En P P Pey ey as in they. Q q Kii* R r Err . S s Ess T t Tey ey as in they. U u U* V V Vey ey as in they. X X Ix as in rix-dollar. Y y E grec Z z Zed * The English language has no sounds corresponding to the French u and eu; German letters — the compound vowels u and o, which correspond respectively to the French u and eu — have, therefore, been pressed into the service here, to avoid leaving any gap in the names and sounds of the letters of the French alphabet. B I A GRAMMAR OP THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. Six of these letters are vowels : a, e, i, o, u, and y ; the remaining nineteen are consonants. 'Besides the sonnds expressed by the vowels a, e, i (y), o, and u, there are several other simple sounds in French, which are represented by certain combinations of letters. Such combi- nations are, — 1. The compound vowels : ai, eu (oe, oeu), and ou. Ai Eu. Ou PRONOUNCED. ay as in may o* oo as in room. 2. The so-called nasal vowels : an (en, am, em), in (ion, yn : ym, ein, ain, aim), on (om), and un (um). PRONOUNCED. A n ang as in anguish. In eng or eing, as eng in length. On ong or ongue, as in long and tongue. Un ung, somewhat between the sound eng in length, and ung in rung. The sound o is expressed also by au and eau. To the preceding sounds we have still to add the diphthongs, which are formed in French by the combination of the vowels i, o, ou, and u, with some other vowel. The principal diphthongs are, — PRONOUNCED. ia diacre de-akkre deacon. iai hiais be-ay slope. ian viande ve-ang'd meat. iau miauler me-oley (ey as in they) to mew. rtiel ce-ell heaven. ie < p^erre pe-ayrr stone. [pied pe-ey foot. ie amitie am-e-te-ey (ey as in they) friendship. ie biere be-ayre beer. J audience \ lien o-de-angs audience. ten le-eng tie. ieu lieu le-o* place. io vzolon ve-olong violin. ion passport pass-e-ong passion. iou chiouvme she-urm a galley's crew. iu relmre rel-e-iir * (e very short) binding. oe moelle mo-ell marrow. oif \oi lo-a (a as in fat) law. * See note, page 1. f In the word roide, stiff, stubborn, the oi is sounded ay, except in the elevated and poetic style, where it is pronounced oa (ro-ad). uai nuaison nan nuance ue nuee uen influence ui suite PRONUNCIATION. 3 PRONOUNCED. oin besoin bez-o-eng want, need. oua ouate hwat (a as in far) wadding. ouai ouaicne hwaysh track of a ship. ouan Chouan shoo-ang Chouan « , f foo-ay (the oo somewhat shorter 1 „ -. • tomb | (^n in too) } awhl P- own "Rouen between Eoo-ang and Hwang a city in Normandy. oui oui whee yes. u -u - f bab-oo-eng (the oo somewhat 1 , , tabotttn • shorter than in too) } baboon. {niiazhe * (a a little shorter than | , -, in far ;zh like z in awe) j cloud niiayzong * a trade wind, niiangs * shade, niiey* (ey as in they) cloud, swarm, engfmangs* influence, sveet retinue. T . f between Zhveng and Zhu-eng (zh \ T utn Jum < ,,, ° x ° v >June. like z in azure) J 'Pronunciation of the Letters. The attempt which has been made in the preceding paragraph to imitate the French sounds by combinations of English letters, has not been made so much for the purpose of con- veying a notion of French pronunciation, but rather with a view to show the extreme difficulty, if not positive impracti- cability, of the task. The pronunciation of the French language must be acquired by the ear ; a few lessons from a good master, or a short residence in the country, will benefit the pupil more in this respect than could be accomplished by any imitative writing of sounds, however so ingeniously contrived. Never- theless, considering that there are many students of French restricted in a measure to self-teaching, we shall endeavour here to give as ample rules on the pronunciation of that tongue, as the necessarily confined limits of an elementary work like the present will permit. Pronunciation of tlie Vowels. A. A is pronounced either long or short. The long a sounds like a in far : pkte, dough. The short a sounds like a in fat : p&tte, paw. The a is not sounded in aout, August ; aoriste, aorist ; Saone, a river in France ; t# on, gad-fly ; which are pronounced as if they were written respectively out, oriste, S6ne } ton, * See note, page 1. b2 4 A GRAMMAR OF THE TRENCH LANGUAGE. E. E has three principal sounds, viz., the close or acute, the broad or grave, and the mute. The close or acute e resembles the English ey in they : amenite, pleasantness, sweetness of temper ; rocher, rock ; nez, nose. The broad or grave sound of the e is either long or short ; the long broad e sounds like the English ay in nay ; pere, father ; succhs, success ; tete, head. The short broad e resembles the English e in fell : il appelle, he calls. The mute e is either simply dull and scarcely audible, or absolutely still. In the former case, it resembles the e in battery : me, me ; de, of ; degre, degree ; livre, book ; table, table. The e is absolutely still in paiement, payment \jeprie, I pray ;je prierai, I shall pray, &c. ; and at the end of words when it is preceded by a vowel or a simple consonant ; boule, bowl, ball ; ecole, school; rue, street; vie, life^'o^e, joy; roue, wheel, &c. The e is silent also in Caen, a town in Normandy. The mute e is used sometimes to soften the sound of the g before a, o, it, ai, ou, oi. I. I is pronounced either long or short. In the former case it sounds like the English ee in deer, or like the i in oblique, machine : He, island ; epitre, epistle. The sound of the short i resembles the English i in his, Jig : emissaire, emissary. I is not sounded in oignon, onion ; mo\gnon, stump ; poignard, dagger; poignee, handful, handle of a sword, and in Michel Montaigne, which name is pronounced as if it were written Montagne. (AU, EAU). is either long or short. In the former case it sounds like the English o in rose, bone, stone : motion, motion ; cote, coast, rib; et&u, vice (smith's) ; tuyau, pipe, tube ; morcesiu, bit, morsel ; nouvesm, new, novel. In the latter it sounds like the English o in not; botte, boot ; hotte, dorser, basket. The o does not sound mfaon, fawn ; Laon, a city in France ; paon, peacock. U. U is either long, as in flute, flute ; or short, as in Ixxbte, struggle. It has already been stated that the English language has no sound corresponding to the French u. In club it is sounded by many like o. U is used sometimes to harden the sound of the g before e and i, in which case it is not sounded except in aiguiser, to sharpen; aigmllon, sting; sangxxinaire ; and Guise, proper name. PRONUNCIATION. 5 Y. This letter stands either for one i or for two i's. For one i at the commencement and at the end of words : yacht, dey ; and in the middle of words after a consonant : style, symetrie ; — for two *'s in the middle of words after a vowel: pays, country; moyen, means ; which are pronounced as if written j£>aws, moi-ien. AI (EI) Is pronounced mostly like the English ay in may: aide, help ; haine, hatred; laine, wool (ei has the same sound in baleine, whale ; haleine, breath). In some words, however, it is sounded more like the acute French e, or English ey, as in they : aigu, sharp ; aiguille, needle ; this latter sound it has more particu- larly in the first person singular of the future tense of verbs in general, and in the definite tense of verbs of the first conjuga- tion. Ai has the sound of the mute e in faisant, doing ; and that of a (like a in far) in douairiere, dowager. EI7. Eu is either long, as in jeune, fast ; or short, as in jeune, young. It has already been stated that the English language has no sound corresponding to the French eu. The sound of the short eu, however, may be described as somewhat similar to the English u in tub. OU. On is pronounced either long or short. In the former case, it sounds like the English oo in loon : croute, crust, rind ; in the latter, like u in bushel, full, bull ; goutte, drop. Note. — As a general rule, are short — all vowels followed by a double consonant (bb, cc, cq, dd, gg, 11, mm, nn, pp, rr, ss, tt) : long — all vowels marked with an accent (circumflex, grave, or acute) ; all vowels followed by several different consonants (in the same syllable) ; all vowels before a consonant followed by a mute e ; and all vowels at the end of a syllable. The Nasal Voivels. The general pronunciation of the nasal vowels has already been given, page 2. Am is pronounced without nasal sound at the end of some foreign names, as Abraham., JRoboam, Rotterdam., Potsdam, Cham, &c. ; Adam, however, is pronounced Adang. Amm and ann are pronounced without nasal sound ; thus, constamment is pronounced constammang ; armee, anney. Kmnistie is pronounced amnistee. In damner and condamner the m is not sounded. 6 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. Em is sounded like the English em in hem, in proper names, as Jerusalem, Sem ; and in some words taken from the Latin language; ^em, decemvir, decemvirat. * The. sound of em in hem is given also to emm, except ir compound words, such as emmancher, emmariner, &c, in whicl the preposition is distinctly sounded. In femme, and in adverb* in emment, the e preceding the mm is sounded like the English a in fat : thus/emme is pronounced fam; differemment, diffey- ram-ang ; lemme, lemma, is pronounced laym. Indemnite is pronounced engdamneetey (ey as in they). En is sounded like the English en in men, in abdomen, amen, hymen, examen ; however, hymen is pronounced sometimes also with the nasal sound, and examen is frequently pronounced exameng. In Mentor, Ruben, Benjamin, the en is pronounced eng ; the same pronunciation is given to the en in memento, agenda ; and to en final : ancien, mien, lien, europeen ; and also to en in the singular of the present tense (indicative), and in the future and conditional tenses of venir, tenir, and their compounds : il vient, il viendra, nous tiendrons, votes tiendriez. The termination ent of the third person plural of verbs is sounded like a simple e; Us donnent, Us aimer aient, Us jparlaient, are pronounced as if written donne, aimeraie, parlaie. Enn is pronounced like the English en in men. Solennel and hennir are pronounced respectively solannel and hanneer. In enamourer, enhardir, enharmonique, enivrer, ennuyer, enorgueillir, the en is pronounced like an. Im and in are pronounced without a nasal sound — 1. when the m or n is followed (in the same word) by a vowel or mute h : in&nime, innumain : — 2. in the word interim, and in proper names taken from foreign languages : 8eV\m, Ephrdim, Ibrahim • however, the nasal sound is preserved in Benjamin, Joachim. Imm and inn are not nasal : immoler, immense, inn^ill t0 tnee > tnee a toi, to thee. Direct Complement te, thee toi, thee. Plural, vous, you Subject Indirect Reqimen, or 1 I Indirect Complement J ™^ to you, you Direct Complement vous, you vous, you. de vous, of you. » wits, to you. vous, you. THIED PEESON, MASCULINE. Singular. CONJUNCTIVE. Subject Indirect Regimen, or "I Indirect Complement J Direct Complement Subject it, he en, of him lui (or ?/*), to him, him le, him Plural, Us, they Indirect Regimen, or "| ew, of them Indirect Complement J Zewr (or 2/*) to them, them a eux, to them. ABSOLUTE. lui, he. de lui, of him. & Zm, to him. lui, him. 6M#, they. 6] eux, of them. Direct Complement les, them eux, them. THIED PEESON, FEMININE. Singular, CONJUNCTIVE. Subject elle, she Indirect Regimen, or "I cm, of her Indirect Complement J Zwi (or 2/*) to her. her Direct Complement la, her PZwraZ. eZZes, they en, of them Zewr (or y*), to them Zes, them Subject Indirect Regimen, or Indirect Complement Direct Complement } ABSOLUTE. cZZe, she. cZ'eZZe, of her. a elle, to her. elle, her. elles, they. d elles, of them. a elles, to them. elles, them. * "With reference to persons, y is hardly ever used for the absolute forms a lui, a eux, a elle, a elles, except in connexion with verbs that are used of both persons and things, as se fier, dicouvrir, &c. REMARKS ON THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 77 REELEXIYE PRONOUN EOR THE THIRD PERSON, EOR BOTH NUMBERS AND BOTH GENDERS. CONJUNCTIVE. ABSOLUTE. se, himself, herself, itself, themselves, soi, himself, &c. and also to or for himself, &c. de soi, of himself, &c. a soi, to himself, &c. It need hardly be observed here that the English it is rendered into French by il or elle, according to the gender of the noun represented. The pronouns le, la, les, cannot possibly be confounded with the article, since the latter is invariably followed by a noun, whereas the pronouns are always joined to a verb. 'Remarks on the Personal Pronouns. I. As has already been mentioned, the conjunctive form of the personal pronouns precedes the verb. Exceptions. 1. The personal pronoun conjunctive, used in the capacity of subject of the sentence, is placed after the verb in the simple, and between the auxiliary and the participle past in the com- pound, tenses, a. In interrogative sentences : oil suis-je ? where am I ? Qu'avez-yousfait ? what have you done ? h. In certain exclamatory sentences : .est-eYLe belle ! how beautiful she is ! (isn't she beautiful ?) c. When the verb stands in the subjunctive mode, without any conjunction being expressed. puisse-je le voir ! would I could see him ! (oh, that I might see him !) d. In narration, when reporting the words of some one : non, mon ami, lui repondis-je, il vCa pas perdu autant que vous ; soyez tranquille, disait-il, je men charge, e. When the verb is . preceded by aussi, on that account ; peut-etre, may be, per- chance ; encore, and yet, besides ; toujours, still ; en vain, in vain ; du moins, au moins, at least ; the place to be assigned to the pronoun is optional, and we may say with equal cor- rectness, aussi est-S\. votre ami, and aussi il est voire ami. However, the former way imparts greater force and elegance to the expression. 2. a. A personal pronoun conjunctive, forming the comple- ment of an infinitive under the dependence of another verb, may be placed either before the governing verb, or before the infinitive ; and we may say with equal correctness, je viens vous 78 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. cJiercJier, and je vous viens chercher. b. In affirmative hnpera- tive sentences, the personal prononn is put after the verb, moi and toi being moreover substituted for me and te : ouvrez-moi la porte, open the door to me ; embrassez-moi, ma fille, embrace me, my daughter ; pends-toi si tu veux, mais Jaisse-moi tran- quille, hang yourself if you like (literally, hang thyself if thou likest), but leave me in peace. But if the imperative is accom- panied by a negation, the general rule holds good: ne me trompez pas, do not deceive me. The pronouns me and te are used also when intervening betwixt an infinitive and the im- perative of a neuter verb : venez me voir, va tefaire raser. Remark 1. — If there happen to be two imperatives joined by the con- junction et, and, or ou, or, the pronoun complement of the second imperative may precede the verb : polissez-\e sans cesse, et le repolissez, polish and re-polish it incessantly ; laissez-moi cette chaine, ou m' arrachez lejour, leave me this chain, or take my life. Remark 2. — Of two pronouns accompanying a verb in the imperative, the one in the capacity of direct, the other in that of indirect complement, the former is put first : pretez-le-moi, lend it me ; cedez-le-lui, cede it to him, give it up to him. Exception. — When one of the pronouns, moi, toi, le, la, forms the direct complement of an imperative, being accompanied at the same time by the indirect complement, y, the latter takes precedence: envoy ez-j -moi ; 'pro- menes-j-toi, menez-j-le. It is, however, preferable in such cases to give a different turn to the sentence, and to say, for instance, envoyez-moi la; promene-toi dans ce lieu, &c. II. "When several personal pronouns conjunctive accompany a verb in the capacity of complements, they are respectively placed after one another in accordance with the following order of succession : me, te, se, nous, vous, le, la, les, lui, leur, y, en* This rule must be taken in conjunction with the one given in the paragraph immediately preceding (I. 2. b. Remark 2), by which it is some- what modified. III. A personal pronoun employed as the subject of several sentences, must be repeated before each verb, if the several sentences are connected by any other conjunction than et, and ; ou, or ; ni, nor ; mais, but : nous detestons les meehants, parceque nous les craignons, we hate (detest) the wicked, because we fear them ; elle est encore belle, qruoiqueile ne soit plus de la premiere jeunesse, she is still handsome, although she is no longer in her prime. With regard to the pronouns of the fir.st and second person, they ought to be repeated also if the verbs are in different tenses : je dis, et je dirai toujours, I say and (I) shall always say; or when passing from an affirmation to a negation, or vice versa : vous voulez, et vous ne voulez pas, you will, and you will not. In all other cases, the ear, a correct REMARKS ON THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 79 taste, and the demands of perspicuity, are left to decide on the propriety of repeating the pronoun subject or not. Personal pronouns employed as complements, must be repeated before each verb in a simple tense ; before verbs in a compound tense, the repetition is optional, unless the pronouns happen to form complements of different nature, when the pronoun must always be repeated : il nous a recompenses, et nous a adresse des eloges, — the nous in the first sentence here is complement direct, the nous in the second complement indirect. IV. The pronoun nous, we, when used in lieu oije, I, requires all its correspondents in the singular (with the exception of the verb, of course) : nous ne nous sommes pas cru oblige de lui repondre, we (in lieu of I — the editorial we, for instance) have not deemed ourself (felt) called upon to reply to him. Y. The pronoun le, which makes la in the feminine, and les in the plural for both genders, may represent a substantive or an adjective. "When it represents the former, or an adjective used in a substantive capacity, it agrees in gender and number with that substantive, or adjective used substantively : — Etes vous Madame Roland ? Are you Mrs. Roland ] Je la suis. I am. Etes vous sa mere ? Are you his (or her) mother ] Je la suis. I am. Etes vous lesfils de la maison? Are you the sons of the house ? Nous les sommes. We are. Etes vous les malades ? Are you the patients ? Nous les sommes. We are. Et y es vous la mariee t Are you the bride ] Je ne la suis pas. I am not. Eut when it represents an adjective, or a substantive used adjecfcively, le is used without reference to the gender or number of the adjective in question : — Madame, etes vous malade ? Je le suis. Are you ill, Madam ? I am. Etes vous cuisiniere ? Je le suis. Are you a cook ? I am. Vos amis, sont-ils maries ? lis ne le sont pas. Are your friends married ? They are not. Messieurs Gladstone et Herbert sont-ils ministres ? Us le sont. Are Messrs. Gladstone and Herbert ministers ] They are. The intelligent student will already have perceived that the pronoun le agrees in gender and number with the noun-sub- 80 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. stantive or adjective, in all cases where they are preceded by the article, or a determinative adjective. The pronoun le, placed under the dependence of a transitive or intransitive verb, or of etre, had always better be expressed : il ri est pas aussi riche que je le croyais ; elle est plus sotie quelle ne le par ait ; Us sont moins riche quails ne Yetaient. VI. The pronoun leur, and the pronouns lui, eux, elle, elles, when employed as indirect complements, can be applied, correctly to persons only, and to personified things : in all other cases, the pronouns y and en must be respectively substituted for them. Thus, you must not say, for instance, la piece que nous avons vu jouer avant-hier soir, m'a inter esse si vivement que je rfaifait depuis que songer a elle, the piece which we saw played the day before yesterday, has interested me so much that I have thought of nothing else since ; ce chien est mechant, ne lui touchez pas, that dog is vicious, do not touch him (do not go near him) ; ces bdtiments rfetant pas assez grands, je leur ferai ajouter une aile, these buildings not being spacious enough, I shall have another wing added (to them) ; je viendrai vous rejoindre a la porte de cette maison, ainsi ne vous eloignez pas trop d'elle, I shall rejoin you at the door of this house, therefore do not stray too far from it; but say, qu'y songer, n'y touchez pas, fy ferai ajouter, ne vous en eloignez pas trop. VII. The pronoun en is rarely used for persons, except in answer to a question, and to avoid the repetition of de lui, d'elle, &c. : avez vous peur de lui? oui, j'en ai peur, are you afraid of frim ? yes, I am. It must never be used in a dependent sentence for the subject of the principal sentence ; hence you must not say, il craint qu'on ne s'en plaigne, but qu'on ne se plaigne de lui, he fears that complaints may be made about him. For things en is used most extensively. It would lead us too far to enumerate and explain the various ways in which the pronoun en may be rendered in English ; a brief allusion to its principal meanings must suffice here. It stands for of him, of her, of it, of them ; from him, &c, with him, &c, about him, &c. ; and accordingly also for the adverbial forms, thereof, thereby, therewith. The French language makes use also of the pronoun en in some cases, where that pronoun is not expressed in English by any equivalent or representative ; for instance, when objects are compared with reference to their number: mon frere a quatre volumes de cet ouvrage, f en ai deux, my brother has four volumes of this work, I have two (scil. of them) : so also in sentences like the following : si vous riavez REMARKS ON THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 81 pas de chapeau,je voas enpreterai un, if you have no hat, I will lend you one (scil. of them, of hats) ; avez vouz recu un paquet hier ? Old, fen ai recu un, have you received a parcel yesterday? Yes, I have. Sometimes en is rendered in English by some, any, none (with the negation) : avez-vous encore de V argent? je crois qiCil m'en reste encore, have you still money left ? I believe I have still some left ; a propos de livres, demandez a voire fr ere s'il en a encore des miens, talking of books, pray ask your brother whether he has still any of mine ; donnez-moi des prunes. II ne m'en reste plus (je n'en ai plus), give me some prunes. I have got none left (I have not got any left). Some- times en refers to a whole sentence : je lui en parlerai, s'il en est temps encore, I will talk to him about it, if it is still time (scil. to talk about it). VIII. The pronoun y, as already mentioned, is used for persons only in a few exceptional cases. For things it is used most extensively. It must not be confounded with the adverb y, there, thither, which it might be the more readily as the latter takes its place equally before the verb : fj vols, I am going there (thither) ; je m'y plais, I find myself comfortable there ; how- ever, even as adverb, it has a pronominal character, referring always to some place antecedently named or understood. The pronoun y has the meaning of a lui, a elle, a cela, and is to be constructed in English by of it, on it, to it, in it, at it, about it, &c, according to the construction of the corresponding English verbs. The French locution il y a corresponds to the English there is, there are. Sometimes y refers, like en, to a whole sentence : on a fait tout pour vaincre sa resistance, mais on n y j est pas parvenu, everything has been done to overcome his opposition, but without success (but one has not [arrived at it] succeeded in it — scil. in overcoming his opposition). Y must always refer to some antecedent ; hence, expressions such as ayant les yeux fermes je ri*y vols goutte, when my eyes are shut I see nothing ; on dirait que vous nj voyez clair, one would say you do not see clear ; and others of a similar kind, are faulty, the y being here absolutely superfluous. IX. The absolute forms of the personal pronouns are used, as already stated, when the pronoun embodies in itself alone the several constituent parts of a sentence, as in elliptical phrases ; for instance, in answer to a question : quifrappe ? 3foi (or c'est moi) — who knocks ? I (pie is here commonly substituted in English also) ; or after que, than, as, and comme, as, like: vous en etes mieux informe que lui, you have more accurate information on the subject than he (scil. has) ; il ne merite pas Vamitie' aVun e3 82 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. homme comme toi (tel que toi), he does not deserve the friendship of a man like thee (of a man such as thou art). The absolute forms are used also : 1. When the pronoun is governed by a preposition : will you go to Italy with me ? Voulez-vous atler en Italie avec moi? 2. When two pronouns, or a pronoun and a noun, are connected by et, and; ou, or; ni — ni, neither, nor, in which case politeness requires also to place the first person last : je vous punirai, toi et ton frere, I shall punish you, thee and thy brother; ni lui ni moi lui avons donne de V argent, neither he nor I have given him money ; eux ou lui nCont vole ma bourse, they or he have robbed me of my purse ; vous et moi nous avons fait cela, you and I did it ; toi et lui vous etes Jieureux, thou and he are happy. 3. Before a relative pronoun or an infinitive : toi qui sais tout, thou who knowest every- thing ; moi, trahir le meilleur de mes amis ! me, betray my best friend ! 4. When the pronoun is opposed antithetically to another pronoun, or to a noun : vous me demandez toujours de V argent, lui m'en donne, you always ash me for money, he gives me money. 5. When the pronoun is separated from its verb by any explanatory incidental notion : lui, en homme d'honneur, se ehargea d'acquitter les dettes de son per e, he, like an honorable man, undertook to pay the debts of his father. 6. When the pronoun is used by way of emphasis to give greater force to a preceding statement or remark : oui, il Va tuee, elle, sa propre mere, yes, he has killed her, her, his own mother. 7. When seul, alone, or meme, self, is added to the pronoun : Y&o\-meme, lui-seul, eux-memes, &c. X. The pronoun soi is always of the singular number, and applies both to things and persons ; to the latter, however, only with one of the indefinite pronouns (either expressed or under- stood), or an infinitive for the subject of the sentence : on doit rarement parler de soi, one should seldom speak of one's-self; chacun pense a soi, every one thinks of himself; il est essentiel de prendre garde a soi (qu' on prenne garde a soi), it is necessary that one should take care of one's-self; ne vivre que pour soi, c'est etre deja mort, to live for one's-self alone is being already dead; en cher chant a tromper les autres, c'est sou/cent soi (or soi-meme) qu^on trompe, in attempting to deceive others we frequently deceive ourselves. Remark. — Soi is sometimes used also in reference to persons, to avoid ambiguity : en remplissant les volontes de son pere, ce jeune homme travaille pour soi, in fulfilling the wishes of his father, this young man is labouring (working) for himself (acting for his own interest) ; pour lui would be ambi- guous here, and would of the two refer rather to the father than the son. With pronominal verbs lui-mSme refers to the complement, soi-meme to INDEFINITE PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 83 the subject : le capitaine sest sauve lui-meme, the captain has saved himself, ie., his own person ; le capitaine s'est sauve soi-meme, the captain has saved himself, i.e., by himself, without the aid of others. B. Indefinite Personal Pronouns oftlie Third Person. Autrui, other people, others. Chacun — chacune, e very-one, each. On (Von), one, people, they, we, somebody. Personne, nobody, no one, none. Quelqu'un — quelquune, one, some one. Plural, quelques-uns — quelques-unes. Quiconque, whoever, whosoever. Men, nothing. Pun Vautre — Vune Vautre, one another, each other. Plural, les uns les autres — les unes les autres. Pun et Vautre — Vune et Vautre, both. Plural, les uns et les autres — les unes et les autres. That the indefinite determinative adjectives tel, nul, aucun, plusieurs, tout (in the sense of everything, all), are nsed some- times also in the capacity of indefinite pronouns, has been mentioned already in Chapter II. B. Observations. I. Autrui applies to persons only, and has no plural. It can never form the subject of a sentence, and is mostly preceded by a preposition ; it occurs sometimes, however, also as direct complement : sans dessein de tromper autrui, without intention to deceive others. II. Chacun, preceded by a noun or pronoun in the plural, requires son, sa, ses, when it stands after the direct complement, or when the verb has no direct complement : Us ont apporte leurs offrandes, chacun selon ses moyens, they have brought their offerings, each according to his means ; Us ont opine, chacun a son tour, they have given their opinion, each in his turn. It requires leur, leurs, when preceding the direct complement : Us ont apporte, chacun, leurs offrandes ; Us ont donne, chacun, leur avis, III. On, though essentially masculine and singular, assumes • the feminine gender when it refers distinctly to a female — and the plural number, when the sense clearly indicates that the pronoun designates more than one person ; in such cases, the adjective and the participle relating to on, take the mark respectively of the feminine, or plural : quand on est belle, jeune et riche, on trouve facilement a se marier, a handsome young girl with a fortune to boot will readily find a husband {literally, when one is handsome, young, and wealthy, one finds readily to get married) ; lorsqu'on s'aime tendrement, on n'est 84 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. pas Jieureux quand on est separes, people who love each other dearly do not feel happy when they are parted. The indefinite pronoun on is used very extensively in French, but more particularly for the purpose of avoiding the passive voice, which is had recourse to much less commonly in French than in English (except as regards verbs expressing love, hatred, esteem, contempt). JO on is substituted for on principally after et, si, ou (or), ou (where) ; and also, but much less generally, after que and qui, and after w r ords ending in e or i : et Ton dit, si Ton voit, ou Ton verra, ainsi Ton ne pourrait lui parler, je crois que Ton frappe ; but we say with equal correctness, ainsi on ne pourrait, &c, quon frappe. This substitution being resorted to simply for the sake of euphony, does not take place before words beginning with I, the dissonance produced by the clashing of two Vs affects the ear more disagreeably than the hiatus resulting from the meeting of a final with an initial vowel : et * on le dit. At the beginning of a sentence on is always preferable to Von. IV. The indefinite pronoun personne is always masculine and singular. It is usually employed in the acceptation of no one, nobody, in which case the verb is accompanied by the negation : nous n'avons vu personne, we saw no one ; personne n'est assez sot pour le croire, no one is stupid enough to believe it. Personne is used sometimes also elliptically, the same as nobody in English, in answer to a question : avez-vous vie entrer quelqu'un ici ? Personne (i. e.,je vJai vu entrer personne) ; have you seen anybody go in here ? Nobody. In affirmative interrogative sentences, and in those expressing doubt, and also where it occurs as the second member of com- parison, personne signifies anybody, anyone, and, of course, is . not accompanied by the negation : personne oserait-il Vaffirmer? would anybody dare to assert it ? je doute que personne en ait connaissance, I doubt whether anybody is cognisant of it ; il sait faire la cuisine mieux que personne, he is a greater adept in the art of cookery (he understands the art of cookery, he can cook better) than anyone. The substantive personne, a person, is of the feminine gender. It cannot well be confounded with the indefinite pronoun, as it is always accompanied by the article, or a determinative adjective. * The t being absolutely and invariably mute in the conjunction et, we may be permitted to look upon that letter as an equivalent simply of the acute accent, and to regard et in the light of e. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS. 85 V. Quelqu'un agrees in gender and number with the noun to which it refers. Taken absolutely, and in an indeterminate sense, it is masculine and singular : f attends quekju'un, I expect somebody. VI. Quiconque refers to persons only, and is always mascu- line and singular. VII. Bien is masculine and singular, and is generally used in the sense of nothing, in which case the verb is accompanied by the negation : vous u'avez rien a craindre, you have nothing to fear. Sometimes rien is used elliptically, the same as nothing in English, in answer to a question: que faites-vous la? rien (i. e.,je nefais rien) ; what are you doing there ? Nothing. It is used elliptically also in locutions like the following : rien de beau que le vrai (i. e., il n'y a rien de, &c), the true alone is truly beautiful. When employed without the negation, rien signifies anything : a-t-on jamais vu rien de semblable, has any- thing like this ever been seen before ? je doute que rien lui reussisse, I doubt whether he will succeed in anything, VIII. Of one another, to one another {of each other, to each other), are rendered respectively by Vun de V autre, Vun a V autre : lesfemmes aiment a medire les unes des autres,* women like to backbite (slander) each other (women dearly love a bit of scandal at each other's expense). Both is rendered also by tous les deux, or tous deux. Some grammarians draw a distinction between these two expressions, looking upon the former as synonymous with Vun et V autre ; upon the latter as synonymous with Vun avec V autre, ensemble, the one with the other, together. This distinction, however, appears a little over refined, and is totally disregarded even by some of the most correct writers. 2. Demonstrative Pronouns. Ce, this, that, it ; ceci, this (this here), this thing ; cela, that (that there) that thing. Celui, celle, this. Plural, ceux, celles, these. Celui-ci, celle-ci, this (this here, this one here), the latter. Plural, ceux~ci, celles-ci, these (these here), the latter. Celui-la, celle-la, that (that there, that one there), the former. Plural, ceux-ld, celles-la, those (those there), the former. * Whenever there are more than two objects, the plural les uns les autres, les unes les autres, must be used (as above) ; mille soldats sexcitent les uns les autres au combat, a thousand soldiers excite each other to the combat. To use Vun V autre in the singular in such instances would be a grammatical blunder. 86 A GRAMMAR OF THE TRENCH LANGUAGE. Observations. 1. The demonstrative pronoun ce must not be confounded with the demonstrative adjective of the same name ; the latter is invariably followed by a substantive, the former is always joined to the verb etre, or followed by the pronouns que, qui, quoi, dont. Ce is used for il, Us, elle, elles, as subject of a sentence of which a noun substantive or a pronoun forms the attribute : ce furent* eux qui me dirent d'attendre, it was they who told me to wait ; bien loin d'etre des dieux, ce ne sont pas wienie des hommes, far from being gods, they are not even men. But where an adjective, or a substantive used adjectively, forms the attribute of the sentence, the personal pronoun must be used : avez-vous vu le cheval que je mens d'acheter ? — il est superbe, have you seen the horse which I have just purchased ? it is a superb animal. Ce may be used, however, even with an adjective, if relating, not to a particular noun or pronoun, but to a whole sentence : J est vrai, it is true ; & est juste, it is just, true, right ; c'est possible, it is possible (viz., that what has just been said, or reported, is true, &c). Ce is also much used in conjunction with etre to impart greater perspicuity, precision, and elegance to a sentence. Thus it is employed: — a. When the sentence begins with ce followed by a relative pronoun : ce qui importe a Vhomme, c'est de remplir ses devoirs, what (that what) concerns man (what concerns man most) is to fulfil his duties ; ce que je deteste le plus, o?est la niedisance, what I hate most is slander. Remarks. — 1. When in sentences of this kind the verb etre is followed by a substantive, the use of the ce is imperative if that substantive stands in the plural number : ce qu!on souffre avec le moins de patience, ce sont les injustices, what we endure least patiently is injustice ; but if the substan- tive is in the singular, the use of ce is optional : ce que je dis est, or c'est, la verite, what I say is the truth. 2. When the verb ttre is followed by an adjective, the use of the ce is dispensed with : ce que vous me dites la est horrible. b. The attribute of a sentence with etre is often made to precede the verb by way of imparting greater emphasis to the idea expressed ; in such cases the use of ce before the verb is resorted to : le plus beau present qui ait ete fait aux hommes, * The verb etre, used in conjunction with ce, is put in the plural only when followed by a noun in the plural, or by a pronoun in the third person plural (as in the instance given above). In all other cases, and even though followed by nous or vous, or by several nouns substantive (in the singular number, of course), the verb is put invariably in the singular. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS. 87 apres la sagesse, c'est Tamitie, the fairest gift that has been bestowed on man, after wisdom, is friendship. Whether the part preceding the verb figures as attribute, may be readily- ascertained by changing the construction of the sentence, placing the part following the verb before, the part preceding the verb after it ; if the sentence will bear this construction, the part preceding the verb forms the attribute of the sentence. Thus, in the instance given above, we may say, Vamitie' est le plus beau present, &c. Kemarks. — 1. In cases where the attribute is of limited extent, consisting of a few words merely, the use of the ce is optional, and we may say, for instance, with equal correctness, le mobile de nos actions est, or c'est noire felicite, our happiness is the moving spring of our actions. 2. Sometimes the verb etre preceded by ce is placed at the head of the sentence and followed by the attribute, the subject being enunciated last ; in sentences of the kind the subject generally takes que before it ; or if it happens to be an infinitive, que de : ce serait un coup de maitre que de s'emparer de sa personne, it would be a master-stroke to seize his person ; c'est un devoir que d'obliger ses amis, it is a duty to serve one's friends ; c'est une belle chose que la sincerite, it is a fine thing, sincerity (sincerity is a fine thing). Custom sanctions, however, the omission of the que in sentences of the kind. c. Ce is used before etre when that verb is preceded by two or several infinitives, and followed by a substantive : jouer aux cartes, medire de son prochain, faire de mediants couplets, c'est Vunique, ou, si vous aimez mieux, la triple occupation de sa vie, to play cards, slander his neighbour, and make bad verses, (such) is the only, or, if you like it better, the triple occupation of his life. If there is only one infinitive preceding the verb, the use of the ce is optional, and we may with equal correctness say, for instance, etre Jionnete homme etait, or c' etait, son unique ambition, his only ambition was to be an honest man. The use of ce before etre is imperative when that verb is both preceded and followed by an infinitive : vegeter c'est mourir, to vegetate is to die ; voyager d pied, c'est voyager comme Thales, JPlaton et Pythagore, to travel on foot, is to travel like Thales, Plato and Pythagoras ; unless the proposition should happen to be nega- tive : vegeter n' est pas vivre, to vegetate is not to live. II. Celui, ceux, celle, celles, express a general idea, which requires to be more accurately denned, either by means of an indirect complement : sa conduite dans cette affaire etait celle d'un honnete homme, his conduct in this business (matter, affair) was that of an honest man ; or by a relative pronoun placed immediately after : ceux qui font des heureux sont les vrais conquerants, those who make people happy are the true conquerors. 88 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. Remark. — Celui is sometimes omitted before the relative pronoun, in the same way as the personal pronoun of the third person is sometimes in English (" who steals my purse, steals trash," &c), to give greater concise- ness, force, and elegance to the expression : qui £ excuse s" accuse (for celui qui, &c), in cases of this kind the qui may be immediately preceded by a preposition governing the omitted antecedent of the relative : tout merit a temps a qui salt attendre (for a celui qui, &c). III. Celui-ci (celle-ci — plural, ceux-ci, celles-ci), celui-la (celle- la — plural, ceux-la, celles-la), correspond to the English this, that, this one, that one (plural, these, those), the latter, the former: le corps per it, et Vame est immortelle; cependant on neglige celle-ci, et tons les soins sont pour celui-la, the body perishes, and the soul is immortal ; yet the latter is neglected, and man bestows all his care on the former (yet man bestows all his care on the former, whilst he neglects the latter). In general propositions relating to persons, celui-ci, &c, celui- la, &c. are sometimes used instead of celui, &c, as antecedent to the relative, provided there be some words intervening between the two pronouns : ceux-la sont a blamer qui vous ont perdu par leur indulgence mal-entendue, those are to be blamed that have destroyed you by their mistaken over-indulgence. Celui-ci, &c, may, however, be followed also immediately by the relative, in sentences where the this, that, are placed in direct opposition : ces deux g argons ne sont jamais a" accord : si ce n'est pas celui-ci qui cherche querelle, c* est celui-la, these two boys can never agree : if it is not this one that seeks a quarrel, it is that one ; or where the relative may be considered to stand in lieu of a conjunction (parceque, since, because ; quoique, though, if) and one of the personal pronouns of the third person : void les deux vieilles dont je vous ai parte ; celle-ci qui a ses quatre- vingt-dix ans oien Sonne's, est plus roouste et active que celle-la, qui n'en a pas encore soixante-quinze, here are the two old women whom I mentioned to you; this one who is (though, though she is) past ninety, is (yet) more robust and active than that one who is (though, though she is) not yet seventy. Celui-la, ceux-la are used sometimes also, in conversational language, for cela, in expressions of approbation or disapproba- tion : celui-la est un peufort, this is coming it a little strong. IV. Ceci, cela, this, that, — this thing, that thing, — are both masculine, and have no plural. They apply only to things mentioned or pointed at in a general way, and not antecedently named; ceci is used with reference to the nearer, cela with reference to the remoter object : que veut dire ceci ? what does this mean ? ne touchez pas a cela, do not touch that ; ceci est hon, mais cela ne vaut rien, this is good, but that is worth POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS. 89 nothing (worthless, bad). If only one object is spoken of, cela may be nsed also in the sense of this : qu avez-vous paye pour cela ? what did yon pay for this ? In the familiar style, cela is applied sometimes to persons — both individually and collectively — but mostly with a con- temptuous meaning implied in it : cela se donne des airs de prince, et cela na pas le sou, the fellow gives himself the airs of a prince, and he is as poor as a churchmouse. 3. Possessive Pronouns. Singular. Masculine. Feminine. le mien la mienne, mine (my own) le tien la tienne, thine (thy own) le sien la sienne, his, hers (his, her, one's own) le ndtre la notre, ours (our own) le vdtre la voti'e, yours (your own) le lew la leur, theirs (their own) Plural, Masculine. Feminine. les miens les tiens les siens les notres les vdtres les leurs les miennes. les tiennes. les sienues. I for both [ genders. Observations. I. The possessive pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun which they represent : they must always refer to a substantive antecedently expressed : nion pere et le votre vien- nent de sortir, my father and yours are just gone out (have just left) ; son frere s'est battu en duel avec le tien, his brother has fought a duel with thine ; . vos ennemis sont aussi les notres, your enemies are also ours. Thus it is incorrect, for instance, to commence a letter with, f ai regit la votre (instead of fai regu votre lettre), I have received yours — there being no noun enunciated here for the pronoun to refer to. Remark. — The possessive pronouns are, however, sometimes used also in the capacity of substantives ; in which capacity, of course, the pre- ceding rule does not apply to them ; le mien et le tien sont la source de toutes les querelles, the meum and tuum are at the bottom of all quarrels; il y met toujours du sien, he always adds some of his own. Les miens, les tiens, &c, used substantively, means my, thy, his, &c, friends, kindred, family, relations, tribe, party, &c. : les votres ont combattu vaillamment, your party (people, army, &c.) have fought valiantly ; il est alle en Ameriqiie avec les siens, he is gone to America with his family. II. Mine, thine, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs, when used with the verb to be, in the sense of to belong, are rendered in French by a moi, ci toi, a lui, a elle, a nous, a votes, a eux, a elles : these shoes are mine, ses souliers sont a moi ; is this horse yours ? ce cheval est-il a vous ? 90 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. III. Mine, thine, &c, in the English expressions, a friend of mine, an aunt of hers, a creditor of his, a trick of his, and others of a similar kind, are rendered in French by the corresponding possessive adjective : un de mes amis, une de ses tantes, un de ses creanciers, un de ses tours. 4. Relative Pronouns. For both Genders and both Numbers. 1. qui who, which (who, whom, in interrogative sentences). de qui, dont of whom, whose, of which. a qui to whom. que whom, which (never used with prepositions). Mas. Fern. lequel laquelle who, whom, which. duquel de laquelle of which (whose, of whom). auquel a laquelle to which, to whom. Plural. Mas. Fern. who, whom, which, of which (whose, of whom). auxquels auxquelles to which, to whom. 3. quoi what, what thing, which thing. de quoi of what, of what thing, of which thing. a quoi to what, to what thing, to which thing. 4. Relative pronominal adverbs : oil, where, when, whither (in which, into which) ; d'ou, whence, wherefrom (from which) ; par ou, through which, by which, with which, which way ; par ou is used in conjunction with passer, venir, &c, to denote motion through a place or part ; par ou etes-vous venu ? which way did you come ? through or by which way, or through or by which part, have you come? par ou commengerons-nous ? what shall we begin with ? where shall we commence at ? with which part shall we begin ? tout le monde sait maintenant les infdmes mot/ens, les viles menees, par ou Vusurpateur parvint a ses fins, everybody now knows the infamous means, the vile intrigues, by which the usurper attained his end. Observations. I. The relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender, number, and person : moi qui suis aimi, I who am beloved ; toi qui es bon et genereux, thou who art good and generous ; lui qui est innocent, he who is innocent; elle qui est bonne et RELATIVE PRONOUNS. 91 genereu&e ; elles qui sont innocentes ; nous qui sommes estiniea, we who are esteemed ; vous qui etes battus, you who are beaten ; (when vous, as pronoun of polite address, is used in lieu of toi, the adjective or participle relating to the relative which repre- sents the personal pronoun, is, of course, put in the singular : vous qui etes battu,jou. who are beaten ;) la lettre qu.efai regue, the letter which I have received ; les lettres quefai regues. Remark. — The adjective having of itself neither gender nor number,* cannot serve as antecedent to a relative pronoun. Hence you must not say, for instance, nous etions deux qui etaient du meme avis, but, nous etions deux qui e"tions du meme avis, we were two of us of the same opinion (we were two who were of the same opinion), giving for antecedent to the relative pronoun the pronoun to which the adjective relates. How- ever, if the adjective is used substantively, and is accordingly preceded by the article, it is made the antecedent to the relative : vous etes le seul qui m'ait donne de bons conseils, you are the only one who has given me good advice (not qui m'ayez donne, who have given me) ; vous etes les cinq qui ont ete elus, you are the five who have been elected ; but vous etes cinq qui avez ete elus, you are five that have been chosen. II. The relative must always be placed as near as possible to its antecedent, so as to point out clearly and distinctly its correspondence with the latter : la paresse est un vice que les homines surmontent difficilement, laziness (indolence) is a vice which it is difficult to overcome ; il y a dans JBline des lettres dont le style est admirable, there are letters in Pliny (in Pliny letters) of which the style is admirable — (not il y a des lettres dans Pline dont, &c, as the dont might here equally refer to JPline) ; ou trouve dans ces discours des maximes qui sont con- tr aires a la morale, there are principles (maxims) enunciated in these lectures (there are in these lectures principles enunciated) which are contrary to morality — (not on trouve des maximes dans ces discours qui, &c, as the qui might here equally refer to discours). Deviations from this rule, are questionable even in poetry. Remark. — A pronoun antecedent forming the direct complement or regimen of a verb, may be separated from its relative by the latter : je le vois qui cow% I see him running. With regard to the intervention of a complement of the antecedent between the latter and its relative, see IV. (substitution of lequel, &c, for qui, que, dont). III. In English the relative pronouns are frequently under- stood ; in Prench they must always be expressed : the man * The adjective has of itself neither gender nor number, but it assumes these properties ; or, more correctly speaking, it adopts certain termina- tions, in order to mark more clearly the relation in which it stands to the noun or pronoun qualified by it. 92 A GEAMMAE OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. you saw yesterday, V'homme que vous avez vu liter ; have you received the money you were expecting ? avez-vous regu V argent que vous attendiez ? IV. Qui, que, and dont, apply both to persons and things : lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles, duquel, de laquelle, desquels, desquelles, are substituted respectively for qui, que, and dont ; but in cases only where such substitution may serve to clear a sentence from ambiguity : je viens de parler au rnari de sa soeur lequel est sur le point de partir pour V Amerique, I have just spoken to his (or her) brother-in-law (to the husband of his [or her] sister), who is on the point of starting for America — (not qui est sur le point, since this would equally apply to soeur) ; je dots recevoir une lettre de mes enfants laquelle f attends avec impatience, I am to receive a letter from my children which I am impatiently waiting for — (not que f attends, since this would equally apply to enfants) ; la bonte de votre pere, de laquelle vous connaissez la grandeur, doit vous rassurer, the kindness of your father, of which you know the greatness (extent), must reassure you — (not dont vous connaissez, since this would equally apply to pere) . But whenever the meaning is perfectly clear, qui, que, and dont ought to be used : Vhomme qui est venu nous voir, the man who came to see us ; on Va forcee de remettre entre les mains de la police tous les objets de prix dont son amant, le pretendu comte, lui avait fait cadeau, she has been compelled to deliver up to the police all the valuables presented to her by her lover, the pretended count — (all the valuable articles of which her lover, the pretended count, had made her a present) ; c'est un brave gar con que tout le monde estime, he is a worthy fellow whom every one esteems. Remark. — With the verb plaire we sometimes find ce que instead of \ce qui : croyez-vous qu'il fera ce qail vous plaira (soil., qu'il fasse) 1 do you think he will do what it shall please you (he should do) ? il plaira figures here as the future of a unipersonal verb (il plait), and the que is governed by qu'il fasse understood. In croyez-vous qu'il fera ce qui vous plaira ? do you think he will do what shall please you, plaira figures as the future of the personal verb plaire, and qui is the subject. V. Qui preceded by a preposition (de, a, parmi, en, dans, avec, sous, &c.,) is used only of persons or things personified : le general B , a qui il s'adressa, lui donna le conseil de, &c, General B , to whom he applied, gave him the advice to, &c. ; rocher a qui je one plains, rock to whom I complain ; le lieutenant avec qui votre frere s'est bathe ce matin, na regu qxCune leg ere blessure au bras droit, the lieutenant with whom your brother fought this morning, has only received a slight wound in the right arm. "RELATIVE PRONOUNS. 9S Dont (or as the case may be, daquel, de laquelle, desquels, desqueUes — see IV.) is generally used instead of de qui, more particularly when a personal pronoun follows : le general dont il possedait toute la confiance, &c, the general whose entire confidence he enjoyed, &c. Sometimes a noun governed by a preposition intervenes between the antecedent and the relative, preceded by de, in which case duquel (de laquelle, desquels, desqueUes) must be used, except the noun substantive intervening happens to be governed by de or a, when de qui is equally admissible : le ministre a la sagesse duquel (or de qui) le pays doit sa prosperity the minister to whose wisdom (to the wisdom of whom) the country owes its prosperity ; cest un homme de la bonne foi duquel (or de qui) on ne peat douter, he is a man-of whose good faith (honesty) there can be no doubt ; la jeune fills avec le frere de laquelle fai voyage Vannee dernier e, the young gin with whose brother I travelled last year. Whose, denoting possession in a material sense, is rendered by a qui : the gentleman whose these houses are lives in London, le monsieur a qui sont ces maisons reside a Londres. De qui should be used when the verb expresses transmission from one individual to another : le soldat de qui je tiens cette nouvelle, the soldier from whom I had that intelligence. Dont is preferred to denote descent or origin: la famille dont sa fernme sort, the family of which his wife comes ; les chefs de brigands dont ces rois sont descendus, the robber chiefs from whom these kings are descended. The pronominal adverb cFou* is used with sortir, descendre, venir, to denote real motion or departure from, out of, &c. : la mile d'ou^e viens, the town from which (whence) I come (the town I come from) ; Venus remonte dans un nuage d'ou elle etait sortie, Venus reascends in a cloud from which (whence) she had issued forth. With the prepositions parmi, sous, and dans, lequel (laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles) is preferable to qui: les voleurs parmi lesquels il y avait plusieurs jeunes gens, &c, the robbers, among whom there were several young men, &c. ; les generaux sous lesquels il avait servi, the generals under whom he had served ; * The pronominal adverbs ou, d'ou, par ou, are used of things only. As regards ou, we may here incidentally remark, that after a substantive expressing an idea of time, the conjunction que may be substituted for oil : a V instant ou (or quit) entra, the moment he entered (when he entered, that he entered); a Vepoque ou (or que) la guerre eclata, at the time when (that) the war broke out. U4 A GRAMMAR OF THE TRENCH LANGUAGE. le regiment dans lequel il s'etait fait enroler, the regiment in which he had enlisted. But with the preposition en, qui should always be used : le ministre en qui le peuple avait confiance, the minister in whom the people had confidence. VI. As has already been stated in the preceding section, qui with a preposition can be used only of persons and things personified. "With reference to things, lequel, &c, must be substituted for it, whenever the relative is preceded by a preposition :* V etude des sciences physiques a laquelle (not a qui) je consacre mes loisirs, the study of the physical sciences to which I devote my leisure ; le cheval sur lequel il etait monte, the horse on which he was mounted. In poetry, however, departures from this rule cannot well be avoided, as locutions such as sous leyuel, par laquelle, &c, cannot be readily intro- duced into a poetic line without impairing its smoothness and harmony. VII. Que is used in some cases in lieu of a qui or dont : c'est a lui qu^7 faut vous adresser, it is to him that you must apply ; de la facon qu^7 a arrange V affaire, in the manner that he has arranged the matter ; the que corresponds here to the English that. VIII. That the demonstrative pronoun, antecedent to qui, is sometimes omitted, has been stated already in the section on the demonstrative pronouns (p. 87). IX. Quoi is only used of things, and is always preceded by a preposition ; it occurs, moreover, but rarely, in reference to a noun substantive : la chose a quoi f je pense, the matter of which I am thinking (what 1 am thinking about) ; les raisons pourquoi (pour quoi) fai pris cette resolution, the reasons why I have taken this resolution; voild les conditions sans quoi je ne peux rien faire, these are the terms without which I can do nothing. It is used principally in reference to a subject of a general and indefinite nature, such as ce, rien, and also after voild : e'est de quoi je ne m'occupe guere, that is what troubles me but little (that does not trouble me much — that engages my attention but little) ; tfest pourquoi on lui a refuse la permission de venir voir son pere, that is (the reason) why they have refused him permission to come and see his father (it is on that account that permission to visit his father has been denied him) ; il n'y * Except the preposition de; since, as we have seen in section IV., dont is used instead of duquel, &c, whenever the meaning is perfectly clear, so that no doubt can arise as to the antecedent to which the relative corresponds. f Even here, however, a laquelle, sans lesguelles, would be more correct. RELATIVE PRONOUNS. 95 a rien * sur quoi il y ait eu plus de discussion, there is nothing on which there has been more discussion ; voila de quoi je me plains, that is what I complain of; c'est en quoi vous vous tromjpez, it is here (in this, in that) that you are mistaken (there you are mistaken). De quoi is used extensively in the sense of something about, something of, something with, &c. : il rfy a pas de quoi me remercier, there is nothing to thank me for (there is no occasion for thanks — I have done nothing to deserve thanks) ; ce pauvre garcon n'a pas de quoi payer son loger, this poor fellow has not got the wherewithal to pay his rent ; on lui donnera de quoi ecrire, they will give him something to write about ; elle a de quoi pleurer, she has something to weep for ; a quoi is used similarly: il y trouvera a quoi s'appliquer, he will find something there (in it) to apply himself to (to occupy himself with). Quoi may also refer to a whole sentence : il a cru qu'on lui rendrait son argent, en quoi il s*est trompe (i. e., en croyant qrion lui rendrait son argent), he thought his money would be returned to him, in (the) which he made a mistake (in [the] which he was mistaken). Qui (lequel, laquelle), que, quoi absolute, i. e., used without an antecedent, as in questions both direct and indirect. Qui absolute stands for both who and whom : qui vous a dit cela? ivho has told you so? qui inviterons-nous ? whom shall we invite ? il ne sait pas qui lui a envoye cette lettre, he does not know who sent him that letter ; je voudrais lien savoir qui Von a envoye a Constantinople, I should like to know whom they have sent to Constantinople ; de qui parlez-vous ? of whom are you speaking? a qui Vavez-vous donne ? to whom have you given it ? It stands also for which (out of two or out of several), and whether^ (out of two). Qui absolute is used of persons only. Lequel (laquelle), in the sense of which (out of two or out of several), or whether (out of two), is used both of persons and things. Some grammarians put the preposition de before both nouns and pronouns following qui or lequel absolute, used in the sense of which or whether : Qui de vous ou de moi * After rien, dont is preferred to de quoi or duquel ; find we always say, tout ce dont, never tout ce de quoi. f Whether, in the sense of which one out of two, is not much used now by English, writers ; it is, however, perfectly legitimate. 96 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. sera recompense, which (of us two) will be rewarded, you or 1 (whether shall I or you be rewarded) ? Qui etait le plus grand general de Wellington ou de Soult ? which was the greater general (of the two) Wellington or Soult ? Lequel preferez- vous de Thackeray ou de Dickens? which do you prefer, Thackeray or Dickens ? Others reject the use of the preposi- tion de in sentences of this kind, and say : qui sera recompense, nous ou moi? Qui etait le plus grand general, Wellington ou Soult ? Lequel preferez-vous, Thackeray ou Dickens ? The former look upon the nouns or pronouns here as indirect complements of qui or lequel, and which accordingly require the preposition before them; the latter regard the sentence as consisting of three propositions, one full and two elliptical ones : qui sera recompense, vous (serez-vous recompense), ou moi (serai- je recompense) ; lequel preferez-vous, Thackeray (preferez-vous Thackeray) ou Dickens (preferez-vous Dickens) ? The Academy having abstained from pronouncing a decided opinion on the disputed point, either way may be considered correct. Que and quoi absolute are used of things only ; the former never takes a preposition before it, the latter is hardly ever used except with a preposition preceding or following it : que faites-vous la ? what are you doing there ? je ne sais que dire, I do not know what to say ; a quoi pensez-vous ? what are you thinking of? de quoi vous plaignez-vous ? what do you complain of? on ne sait pas avec quoi il fait son elixir, it is not known what his elixir is made of. Que is sometimes used instead of de quoi, a quoi: que (de quoi) sert a Vaveugle d* avoir des lunettes ? of what use are spectacles to the blind ? que (a quoi) sert la science sans la vertu? what avails learning without virtue ? Que is used before a substantive complement, quoi before an adjective complement, in elliptical sentences when the verb is understood : O ambition ! que de crimes fais-tu commettre a Thomme ! oh ! ambition, what crimes causest thou man to commit ! quoi de plus odieux que le mensonge ? what more hateful than lying (what can be more hateful than a lie) ? An infinitive following the adjective complement of quoi, takes the preposition de before it: quoi de plus aimahle que la vertu? what (is, can be) more amiable than virtue ? quoi de plus amusant que de lire Don Quixote? what (is, can be) more amusing than to read Don Quixote ? But when the verb is expressed, que is used instead of quoi : que peut-on voir de plus beau que ce tableau ? what more beautiful can one see than this PRONOUNS ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS. 97 picture (can there be seen anything more beautiful than this picture) ? Quoi is used without a preposition in, il (die) a un certain je ne sais quoi, he (she) has a certain indefinable something (there is a certain indefinable something about him (her) ; and in analogous sentences. It is used sometimes, also, in the same way as the English ivhat I how ! in exclamations preceding a question : quoi ! voics osez rne^dire cela en face I what ! you dare tell me so to my face ! "With regard to interrogative sentences in general, we may here incidentally remark, that when the subject of an inter- rogative sentence is a substantive, this is either placed at the head of the sentence, the pronoun being put after the verb — votre frere vous a-t-il donne de V argent ? has your brother given you money ? — or the interrogative form est-ce que ? is it that ? is prefixed to it, and the pronoun omitted : est-ce que votre frere vous a donne de V argent ? When the subject is a personal pronoun, the question may equally be asked by the form est-ce que: — Jinirez-Yous ce soir? est-ce que vous finirez ce soir ? In interrogative sentences with qui and que the form est-ce (qui est-ce qui ? who is it who ? qui est-ce que ? who is it whom ? 2^'est-ce qui? what is it that? [subject], qu' est-ce que ? what is it that ? [direct complement]) is extensively used in conversa- tional language. When the questioner is desirous of obtaining some account or explanation regarding the person or thing forming the subject of the question, the forms qu' est-ce que ? what is it that ? or qu est-ce que c'est que ? what is it that it is that ? are resorted to : qu' est-ce qu.'un Jesuite ? what is a Jesuit ? qu'est-ce que c'est que V instinct ? what is instinct ? Additional Observations on the use of the Pronouns in general, I. The pronoun cannot correctly be used in French to represent a common noun taken in an indeterminate sense ; that is, not being preceded by either the article or one of the determinative adjectives. It is accordingly incorrect to say, for instance,^ vous fais grace, etj'espere que vous la meriterez, I grant you forgiveness, and I hope you will merit it ; il lui a fait peur, de laquelle il ne s'est pas encore remis, he has frightened him (put him in terror), from which he has not yet recovered (and he has not yet recovered from it) ; il nous a regies avec politesse qui nous a charmes, he has received us with politeness which has enchanted us. To make these phrases 98 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. grammatically correct, the article, or one of the determinative adjectives, must be prefixed to the noun to which the pronoun refers ; and, if necessary, their construction must be altered so as to admit of this : je vous accorde votre grace, etj "espere, &c, I grant your pardon, and I hope, &c. ; il lui a fait une peur terrible, de laquelle, &c, he has given him a terrible fright from which, &c. ; il nous a recus avec une politesse qui nous a charmes, he has received us with a politeness, &c. In the same way, etre en sante may be replaced in similar phrases by jouir de la sante, &c. In cases where the genius of the language opposes the article or determinative adjective being prefixed to the noun, a different turn must be given to the sentence ; e. g., quand nous mimes en mer, elle etait paisible, when we put to sea, it (the sea) was calm. To say en la mer, would be contrary to the genius of the French language ; we give, therefore, here a different turn to the phrase, and say : quand nous nous embarqudmes, la mer etait paisible, the sea was calm when we embarked. II. A pronoun should never be repeated in a sentence, as the representative of another object than that to which it refers in the first instance. Hence it is incorrect to say, for instance, George ne put rien refuser a Jacques, il lui envoy a done le cheval qrf'A lui avait fait demander, George could not refuse James anything, he sent him therefore the horse which he had asked him for ; the first il refers to George, the first lui to Jacques, the second il to Jacques, the second lui to George ; la politesse exige qu* on prete attention a ce qu* on nous dit, politeness demands that one should listen to what one says to us (politeness demands that we should listen to what is said to us) ; the first on here represents nous (ourselves), the second stands for le ononde, les autres ; j *ai lu avec plaisir cet ouvrage, qui a ete compose par une personne, qui est versee dans les sciences qui ont pour objet V etude de la nature, I have read with pleasure this work which has been composed by a person who is versed in the sciences, which have for their object the study of nature (I have read with pleasure this work, written — which has been written — by a person well versed in the sciences, having for their object the study of nature) ; the first qui here relates to ouvrage, the second to personne, the third to sciences. To render these sentences correct, the number of pronouns must be diminished, or an equivalent pronoun of a different class must be substituted for one of them : George ne pouvant rien refuser a Jacques, envoy a a celui-ci le cheval qu'il lui {envoy a a ce dernier le cheval que celui-ci lui) avait fait demander ; la COMPLEMENT OF THE PRONOUNS. 99 politesse exige que nous pretions attention a ce qu*on nous dit ; fai hi avec plaisir cet ouvrage. compose par une personne vemee dans les sciences qui ont pour objet V etude de la nature. III. A pronoun should never be used in a way to admit of an ambiguous construction. Hence do not say, for instance, Virgile a imite Homere dans tout ce quH a de beau, because the il may apply here equally to Virgil and to Homer ; but say, Virgile a imite Homere dans tout ce que celui-ci a de beau, Yirgil has imitated Homer in all the beauties of the latter ; or, Virgile dans tout ce qu il a de beau, a imite Homere, Yirgil in all his beauties, has imitated Homer. IV. "With regard to the agreement of the pronoun with the noun or nouns substantive to which it refers, the same rules hold good which have been laid down for the agreement of the qualificative adjective with the noun or nouns qualified by the latter (see p. 55). Complement (Regimen) of the "Pronouns. The pronoun being the representative of the substantive, may, of course, like the latter, be accompanied by a comple- ment. This complement consists of the preposition de, followed either by a substantive, or by another pronoun, or by an infini- tive : il a achete les chevaux de mon pere et ceux de mon frere, he has bought the horses of my father and those of my brother ; chacun de vous recevra deux francs par jour, every one of you will receive two francs a day ; le desir de voyager et celui de revoir son frere le determinerent de se rendre en France, the desire to travel, and that of seeing his brother again, induced him to go to France. f 2 100 A GRAMMAR OP THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. CHAPTER V. THE VERB. Introductory Remarks. I. The French verbs may be divided : — a. Into abstract and concrete verbs. Properly speaking, there is but one abstract verb, viz., etre, to be, which is termed also the substantive verb ; however, the verbs avoir, to have, and devenir, to become, to grow, partake also in some respects of the nature of etre, and may accordingly be ranked in some measure with the latter as abstract verbs. All other verbs are called concrete or adjective verbs, formed, in fact, by the combi- nation of the substantive verb etre with an adjective : thus, parler, to speak, is formed of etre and the adjective parlant, speaking (to be speaking) ; je vois, I see, of je suis, I am, and voyant, seeing (I am seeing — infinitive, to be seeing, to see) ; vous dites, you say, of vous etes, you are, and disant, saying (you are saying — infinitive, to be saying, to say), &c. b. Into transitive and intransitive verbs. The former express an action emanating from the subject or agent, and bearing directly upon another person or thing, which is called the direct complement of the verb, because it serves to complete the signifi- cation of the verb ; or, in other words, the idea enunciated or conveyed by it; it is called direct, because it completes the signification of the verb without the aid and intervention of a preposition : le pere aime ses enfants, the father loves his children ; ses enfants is here the direct complement of aime (est aimant) ; je cheris la gloire, I love glory ; la gloire is here the direct complement of cheris (suis cJierissant) . The intransitive verbs, which are termed also neuter verbs, express either a state or condition of the subject, or an action confined to the agent; or, finally, an action emanating from the subject, or agent, and bearing indirectly upon another person or thing, which is called the indirect complement of the verb ; it is termed indirect, because it requires the aid of a preposition (de, a, pour, avec, sans, &c.) to join it to the verb : it parte a votre sceur, he k THE VEEB INTEODUCTOEY EEMAEKS. 101 speaks to your sister ; a voire sceur is here the indirect comple- ment of parte {est parlant\ The term indirect complement is, however, bestowed also upon the prepositive complements of those intransitive verbs which express a state or condition of the subject, or an action confined to the agent. The transitive verbs may, besides the direct complement, have also an indirect complement : le pere a donne le livre a son fits ; le livre is here the direct, a son fits the indirect complement of a donne (a ete donnant) . Remark. — The conjunctive pronouns lui, leur, dont, en, y, are indirect complements, on account of the preposition which they enclose within them (lui — a lui, leur — a eux, dont — duquel (de lequel), en — de cela, y — a cela). The conjunctive pronouns me, te, se, nous, vous, may be either direct or indirect complements ; they are direct complements when they stand for the absolute forms, moi, toi, lui, nous, vous : il m'aime, i.e., il aime moi, he loves me ; je t'appelle, i.e., j'appelle toi, I call thee, &c. ; they are indirect complements when they stand for a moi, a toi, a lui, a nous, a vous : mon pere m'a donne un livre, i.e., mon pere a donne un livre a moi, my father has given me a book (given a book to me) ; je vous reponds, i.e., je reponds a vous, I answer you (I reply to you), &c. II. As in most other languages, so also in French, verbs are sometimes both transitive and intransitive : il casse la corde, he breaks the string ; la corde casse, the string breaks. III. The transitive verbs alone are susceptible of forming the passive voice. There are a few transitives, as avoir, to have, epouser, to espouse, to marry, which are not used in the passive voice. IV. The pronominal or reflexive verbs are conjugated with two pronouns of the same person ; as, je me, tu te, il se, nous nous, vous vous, Us se. Some of the pronominal verbs are essentially pronominal ; i. e., they are never used without two pronouns. The second pronoun of an essentially pronominal verb forms always the direct complement of the latter: s'abstenir ; jevcfabstiens, I abstain, refrain (I withhold myself from). The verb s'arroger, to arrogate to one's self, forms the only exception from this rule. V. Personal verbs are those which are conjugated throughout (in their personal modes) with the three grammatical persons. Impersonal, or, more correctly speaking, unipersonal verbs, are those which are only used in the third person singular, in conjunction with the vague and indefinite word il, it : il faut, il y a, il importe, &c. The word il here is not the actual subject of the verb however, but it simply represents and announces that subject which follows in the form of a complement : il est necessaire d'etudier, is is necessary to study (etudier est 102 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. necessaire, to study is necessary, — etudier is here the actual subject). True, in il neige, it snows ; il pleut, it rains ; il tonne, it thunders, the actual subject is not expressed after the verb ; but then, at all events, it is present to the mind. Remark. — Neuter and pronominal verbs, and the passive voice of transit fives are sometimes accidentally employed as unipersonal verbs : il tombe de la pluie, it rains ; il vint un homme, there came a man ; il se presente une difficulty, a difficulty presents itself ; il a e'te" pris des mesures, measures have been taken. Sect. I. — Conjugation of the Verbs. Introductory Remarks. I. The French verbs have, like the English, five modes or moods, viz., the indicative, the subjunctive, the conditional, the imperative, and the infinitive. But whereas the English verbs have only two simple tenses, viz., the present and imperfect, the French verbs have four ; the present, the imperfect, the preterite definite or perfect, and the first {simple or absolute) future. II. The past tenses*: the preterite indefinite or compound perfect, the preterite anterior or paulo-ante pluperfect, and the pluperfect ; and the future perfect {future past or exact future) ; and also the conditional past, are formed by the conjunction of the present, imperfect, perfect {preterite definite), compound perfect {preterite indefinite*), simple future, and conditional present of one of the auxiliary verbs avoir, to have, or etre, to be, with the participle past of the verb. Note A. — With the auxiliary verb avoir are conjugated-- a. All transitive verbs. b. Most intransitive verbs expressing an action. Exceptions : aller, arriver, choir, decider, eclore, mourir, nattre, tomber, venir, and its com- pounds, devenir, intervenir, parvenir, provenir, revenir, survenir, which are conjugated with Ure. c. Certain unipersonal verbs : il a fallu, il a importe, il a tonne, &c. Note B. — With the auxiliary verb etre are conjugated — a. All pronominal or reflexive verbs. b. The greater number of unipersonal verbs : il est arrive des evenements, il est resulte, &c. Note C. — Some intransitive verbs, as accourir, cesser, croitre, dechoir, degenerer, descendre, disparaitre, echapper, echoir, empirer, entrer, grandir, monter, partir, passer, r ester, sortir, vieillir, &c, are conjugated with avoir, when it is the action or fact, with etre, when it is the state or condition expressed by the verb which is uppermost in the mind : elle a disparu * The compound past tense formed of the preterite indefinite of an auxiliary, and the participle past of the verb, is rarely used. CONJUGATION OF THE VERBS — INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 103 subitement, she has suddenly disappeared ; elle est disparue depuis deux ans (literally, she is disappeared since two years), she disappeared two years ago, and has not been heard of since ; la fievre a cesse hier, the fever ceased (has ceased) yesterday ; la fievre est cessee depuis quelgue temps (literally, the fever is ceased since some time), the fever has been gone for some time past ; la rivibx a monte rapidement, the river has rapidly risen ; it est monte, he is gone up ; tandis qu'on le cherchait a Milan, il avait passe en Suisse, whilst they were searching for him in Milan, he had passed into Switzerland ; les chaleurs sont passees, the hot weather is gone, &c. Remark. — Some of these intransitives are sometimes used in an (apparently) transitive capacity ; that is, they are accompanied by a direct complement, in which case they take always the verb avoir as auxiliary : il a passe la nuit sans dormir, t he has passed a sleepless night ; il a monte l'escalier, he has mounted (ascended) the staircase ; on l'a sorti d*une affaire desagreable, they have got him out of a disagreeable fix. Note D. — Some intransitives are conjugated either with avoir, or with itre, according to the different acceptation in which they happen to be used. Thus, convenir, in the sense of to suit, to become, to be proper, takes avoir; whilst in the sense of to agree, to confess, it is conjugated with etre: la place lui aurait convenu sans doute, si seulement il e'tait convenu du salaire, the place would have suited him well enough, if only he had agreed to the salary. Demeurer, in the sense of to remain, to be left, takes etre : plus de trois mille hommes sont demeures sur le champ de bataille, more than three thousand men remained (have remained, were left) on the battle-field (on the ground) ; in the sense of to stay, to reside, to sojourn, it is conjugated with avoir : il a demeure dix ans a Londres, he has resided ten years in London. Hester, in the sense of to stop, to sojourn, takes avoir : il a reste deux jours a Calais, he stopped (has stopped) two days at Calais ; in any other accep- tation it is conjugated with etre: il est reste tout interdit, he remained (was, stood) quite amazed (confused), &c. Expirer, to expire, is said both of persons and of things ; of persons it is used in the sense of mourir, to die, and is conjugated with avoir : il a expire dans mes bras, he (has) died (expired) in my arms. Of things it is used in the sense of to come to an en t d, to be at an end, to run out, and takes avoir to mark the action or fact: son bail a expire hier 9 his lease has expired yesterday ; etre to mark the state : la treve est expiree, the truce has expired (the truce is at an end). We say, cette faute m'est echappee, this fault is a slip of mine ; cette faute m'a echappe, this fault has escaped my attention (scrutiny). III. The passive voice is formed by the conjunction of the verb etre, throughout all its modes and tenses, with the participle past of the verb. 104 A GEAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. THE AUXILIARIES. 1. A VOIR, To have* Indicatite Mode. PRESENT. j'ai, I have. tu as. il (elle, on) a. nous avons. ■vous avez. Us (elles) ont. IMPERFECT. j ' } avals, I had, I was having. tu avals. il (elle, on) avalt. nous avlons. vous avlez. Us (elles) avalent. . PRETERITE DEFINITE, Or PERFECT. j'eus, I had. tu eus. ■il (elle, on) eut. nous eumes. vous eutes. Us (elles) eurent. PRETERITE INDEFINITE Or COMPOUND PERFECT. j'al eu, I have had. tu as eu. II (elle, on) a eu. nous avons t u. vous avez eu, Us (elles) ont eu. PRETERITE ANTERIOR, OT PAULO-ANTE PLUPERFECT. j 'eus eu, I had had. tu eus eu. il (elle, on) eut eu. nous eumes eu. vous eutes eu. Us (elles) eurent eu. PLUPERFECT. j 'avals eu, I had had. tu avals eu. II (elle, on) avalt eu. nous avlons eu. vous avlez eu. Us (elles) avalent eu. FIRST FUTURE. j 'aural, I shall or will have. tu auras. U (elle, on) aura. nous aurons. vous aurez. Us (elles) auront. SECOND FUTURE. j 'aural eu, I shall or will have had. tu auras eu. II (elle, on) aura eu. nous aurons eu. vous aurez eu. Us (elles) auront eu. Conditional Mode. PRESENT (FIRST CONDITIONAL). ^ aurals, I should or would have. tu aurals. II (elle, on) curait. nous aurions. vous aurlez. Us (tiles) anralent. PAST (SECOND CONDITIONAL). j' aurals eu, I should or would have had. tu aurals eu. II (elle, on) aurait eu. nous aurions eu. vous aurlez eu. Us (elles) auralent eu. * Avoir is auxiliary only when accompanied by the participle past of another verb. In all other cases it is an independent transitive verb, and corresponds to the English to have, to possess. AUXILIARY A r ERBS. 105 Or, also, j 'eusse eu tu eusses eu il (die, on) eut eu nous eussions eu vous eussiez eu Us (elles) eussent eu. Imperatiye Mode.* Singular, aie, have thou, do thou have. Plural. ayons, let us have. ayez, have ye or you, do ye have. Subju^ctiye Mode. PRESENT OT FUTURE. que j' aie, that I (may) have. que tu aies. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) ait. que nous ayons. que vous ayez. qu'ils (qu'elles) aient. IMPERFECT. que j 'eusse, that I had, that I might have. que tu eusses. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) eut, que nous eussions. que vous eussiez. qu'ils (qu\ " PERFECT. que j 'aie eu, that I (may) have had. que tu aies eu. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) ait eu. que nous ayons eu. que vous ayez eu. quits (qu'elles) aient eu. PLUPERFECT. que j ''eusse eu, that I had had, that 1 might have had. que tu eusses eu. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) eut eu. que nous eussions eu. que vous eussiez eu. qu'ils (qu'elles) eussent eu. Ifetnitiye Mode. PRESENT. avoir, to have. PAST. avoir eu, to have had. Paeticiples. PRESENT. PAST. ayant, having. eu (eue) had. COMPOUND PAST. ayant eu, having had. * A direct command, request, exhortation, advice, warning, prohibition, can be addressed properly only to the person spoken to ; the French language, however, has a simple imperative form also for the first person plural; but for the third person singular and plural, the corresponding persons of the subjunctive present are had recourse to. f 3 106 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. 2. ETRE, To be.* Indicative Mode. PRESENT. je suis, I am. tu es. il (elle, on) est, nous sommesi vous ites. Us {elles) sont. IMPERFECT. . j'etals, I was, I was being. tu etals. " il (elle, on) etalt. nous etlons. vous etlez. Us (elles) etalent. PRETERITE DEFINITE Or PERFECT. je fus, I was. tu fus. il (elle, on) fut. nous fumes. vous futes. Us (elles) furent. PRETERITE INDEFINITE OV COMPOUND PERFECT. j 'ai ete, I have been. tu as ete. %l (elle, on) a ete. nous avons ete. vous avez ete. Us (elles) ont ete. PRETERITE ANTERIOR, OV PAULO-ANTE PLUPERFECT. j 'eus ete, I had been. tu eus ete. il (elle, on) eut ete, nous eumes ete. voujS eutes ete. Us (elles) eurent ete. PLUPERFECT. j 'avals ete, I had been. tu avals ete. II (elle, on) avait ete. nous avlons eU. vous avlez ete. Us (elles) avalent ete. FIRST FUTURE. je serai, I shall or will be. tu seras. il (elle, on) sera. nous serons. vous serez. Us (elles) seront. SECOND FUTURE. ,; 'aural ete, I shall have been. tu auras ete. II (elle, on) aura ete. nous aurons ete. vous aurez ete. Us (elles) auront ete. Conditional Mode. PRESENT (FIRST CONDITIONAL). je serais, I should or would be. tu serais. il (elle, on) seralt. nous serious. vous serlez. Us (elles) seralent. PAST (SECOND CONDITIONAL.) j 'aurais ete, I should or would have been. tu aurais ete. il (elle* on) auralt ete. nous aurlons ete. vous auriez ete. Us (elles) auralent ete. * Etre is auxiliary only when accompanied by the participle past of another verb. CONJUGATION OF THE VERBS. 107 Or, also, j'eusse etc. tu eusses ete. il (elUy on) eut ete. nous eussiovs ete. ious eussiez ete. ils {elks) eussent ete. Impeeative Mode. Singular, sois, be thou, do thou be. Plural. soyons, let us be. soyez, be you or ye, do ye be. Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. que je sois, that I (may) be. que tu sois. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) soit. que nous soyons. que vous soyez. qu'ils (qu'elles) soient. IMPERFECT. que je fusse, that I were, that I might be. que tu fusses, qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) jut. que nous fussions. que vousfussiez. qu'ils (qu'elles) fussent. PERFECT. quej 'aie ete, that I (may) have been. que tu aies ete. quHl (qu'elle, quon) ait ete. que nous ayons ete. que vous ayez ete. qu'ils (qu'elles) aient ete. PLUPERFECT." que j 'eusse ete, that I had been, that I might have been. que tu eusses ete. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) eut ete. que nous eussions ete. que vous eussiez ete. qu'ils (qu'elles) eussent ete. PRESENT. etre, to be. Infinitive Mode. PAST. avoir ete, to have been. Paeticiples. PRESENT. PAST. etant, being. ete, been. COMPOUND PAST. ayant ete, having been. We have four conjugations in French : * — The verbs of the first conjugation terminate in the infinitive in er. Those of the second in ir. * Though the third and fourth hardly deserve the name of conjugations, consisting as they do only of a small group of verbs conjugated alike. 108 A GRAMMAR OP THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. Those of the third in oir (or rather in evoir — the verbs in oir, not preceded by ev being all irregular). Those of the fourth in re. That part of the infinitive which remains after rescinding the termination, is called the root of the verb : the last letter of the root is called the characteristic of the verb. Thus in parl-er, I is the characteristic ; in Jln-ir, n ; in receY-oir, v ; in rend-re, d ; in etudi-er, i ; in pay-er, y ; in cre-er, e ; in ri~re, i, &c. In conjugating a verb, the respective terminations of the different modes, tenses, &c. (which will be found here below severally nnder the head of the respective conjugations), are added to the root of the verb in the simple modes, tenses, &c. ; the compound modes, tenses, &c, being formed, as already stated, by the conjunction of one of the auxiliaries with the participle past of the verb. . A. First Conjugation. The immense majority of French verbs are of the first conjugation. The respective terminations of the first conjugation are — Infinitive present — er. Participle present — ant. Participle past — e (feminine, ee ; plural, masculine, es ; feminine, ees). Indicative Mode. PRESENT. PRETERITE DEFINITE OT PERFECT. Singular. Singular. 1st person, e. 2nd „ es. 3rd „ e. 1st person, ai. 2nd „ as. 3rd „ a. Plural. Plural. 1st person, ons. 2nd „ ez. 3rd „ ent. 1st person, dmes. 2nd „ dtes. 3rd „ event. IMPERFECT. FIRST FUTURE. Singular. Singular. 1st person, ais. 2nd „ ais. 3rd „ ait. 1st person, erai. 2nd „ eras. 3rd „ era. Plural. Plural. 1st person, ions. 2nd „ iez. 3rd ,, aient. 1st person, erons. 2nd „ erez. 3rd „ eront. FIEST CONJUGATION. 109 Conditional Mode. FIRST CONDITIONAL. Singular. Plural. 1st person. erais. 1st person. erions. 2nd „ erais. 2nd „ eriez. 3rd „ emit. 3rd „ eraient. Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. Singular. 1st person. e. 2nd „ es. 3rd „ e. Plural. 1st person. ions. 2nd „ iez. 3rd ,, ent. IMPERFECT. ■Singular. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ Plural. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ asse. asses. at. assions. assiez. assent. Imperative Mode. 2nd person singular. 1st person plural. 2nd e (es, before y or en), ons. ez. AIMER, To love. Indicative Mode. PRESENT. j'aime, I love. tu aimes. it {die, on) aime. nous aimons. vous aimez. Us (elles) aiment. IMPERFECT. j'aimais, I loved, I was loving. tu aimais. il (elle, on) aimait. nous aimions. vous aimiez. Us (elles) aimaient. PRETERITE DEFINITE. j'aimai, I loved. tu aimas. il (elle, on) aima. nous airndmes. vous aimdtes. Us (elles) aimer ent. PRETERITE INDEFINITE. j'ai aime, I have loved. tu as aime. il (elle, on) a aime, nous avons aime. vous avez aime. Us (elles) ont aime. 110 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE, PRETERITE ANTERIOR Or PAULO-ANTE PLUPERFECT. feus aime, I had loved. tu eus aime, il (elle, on) eut aime. nous eumes aime. vous eutes aime. Us (elles) eurent aime.* PLUPERFECT. j'avais aime, I had loved. tu avais aime. il {elle, on) avait aime. nous avions aime, vous aviez aime. Us (elles) avaient aime. FIRST FUTURE. f aimer ai, I shall or will love. tu aimeras. il (elle, on) aimera. nous aimerons. vous aimerez. Us (elles) aimeront. SECOND FUTURE. faurai aime, I shall or will have loved. tu auras aime". il (elle, on) aura aime, nous aurons aimL vous aurez aime. Us (elles) auront aime. Conditional Mode. PRESENT Or FIRST CONDITIONAL. f aimer ais, I should or would love. tu aimerais. il (elle, on) aimerait. nous aimerions. vous aimeriez. Us (elles) aimeraient. PAST Or SECOND CONDITIONAL. j'aurais aime, I should or would have loved. tu aurais aime. il (elle, on) await aime. Imperative Mode. 2nd person singular, aime (aimes) love, love thou, do thou love. 1st person plural. aimons, let us love. 2nd „ aimez, love you or ye, do you or ye love. Subjunctive Mode. nous aurions aime. vous auriez aime. Us (elles) auraient aime. Or, also, j'eusse aime. tu eusses aime. il (elle, on) eut aimL nous eussions aime. vous eussiez aime. Us (elles) eussent aime. PRESENT or FUTURE. que j' aime, that I (may) love, que tu aimes. qiCil (qu'elle, qu'on) aime. que nous aimions. que vous aimiez. quHls (qu" elles) aiment. IMPERFECT. que j'aimasse, that I loved, that I might love. que tu aimasses. qu'il (quelle, qu'on) aimdt. que nous aimassions. que vous aimassiez. qu'ils (qu'elles) aimassent. * The French language has a fourth preterite, which is very rarely used, however, and which we shall therefore omit from the paradigms of the other conjugations. It is formed of the preterite indefinite of avoir (or etre) and the participle past of the verb : j'ai eu aime, I have had loved, tu as eu aime, il (elle, on) a eu aime, nous avons eu aime, vous avez eu aime, Us (elles) ont eu aime. OBSERVATIONS ON THE FIRST CONJUGATION. Ill PERFECT. que j'aie aime, that I (may) have loved. que tu aies aime. quHl {quelle, qu'on) ait aime. que nous ayons aime. que vous ayez aime. qu'ils (qu'elles) aient aime. PLUPERFECT. que feusse aime, that I had loved, that I might have loved. que tu eusses aime. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'ori) eut aime. que nous eussions aime. que vous eussiez aime. qu'ils (qtielles) eussent aime. Infinitive Mode. PRESENT. aimer, to love. PRESENT. aimant, loving. PAST. avoir aime, to have loved. Participles. PAST. aime (aimee, aimes, aimees), loved. COMPOUND PAST. ayant aime, having loved. Observations. I. The verbs in ger, interpose a mute e* between the characteristic (g) and the terminations beginning with a or o : mang-er (manger), to eat ; nous mang-e-ons (mangeons), we eat ; je mang-e-ais (mangeais), I was eating ; il mang-e-a (mange a), he ate, he did eat, &c. II. The verbs in cer, mark the characteristic (c) with a cedilla * before the terminations beginning with a oy o : com- menc-er (commencer) , to begin ; nous commenc-ons (commengons) , we begin ; il menag-a (menaga), he threatened, &c. III. If the last syllable of the root has for its vowel an e marked with the acute accent (e), this e acute is changed to e grave before a mute syllable : consider-er (considerer) , to con- sider ; je consider-e (considere) ; je consider-erai (consider erai) ; regl-er (regler), to regulate, rule, &c. ; je regl-e (regie) ; je regl-erai (reglerai), &c. Exception. — The verbs in eger keep the e throughout the conjugation. IV. If the last syllable of the root has for its vowel a mute e, followed by any other consonant, except I or t, the e mute of * The mute e and the cedilla serve here simply to secure the soft pro- nunciation of the characteristics g and c, throughout the conjugation of the verb. 112 A GRAMMAR OF TRE FRENCH LANGUAC4E. that final syllable of the root is changed to e before a mute syllable: lev-er (lever), to raise, &c. ; je leve, I raise ; je lever ai, I shall raise, &c. V. The verbs in eler and eter (but not those in eler and eter — see III.)? double the characteristic (I or t) before a mute e: appel-er (appeler), to call; j'appell-e (appelle) ; - f appell-erai (appellerai) ; jet-er (Jeter), to throw; il jett~e (jeite) ; il jett- erait (jetterait), &c. Remark.— The Academy excepts from this rule the following six verbs : acheter, bourreler, deceler, geler, harceler, peler, and instead of doubling the characteristic, changes the mute e of the last syllable of the root of these verbs to e before a mute syllable (in conformity with IV.). It would be difficult, however, to assign any intelligible ground for this exception, and the student had therefore better conform with respect to the six verbs here named, to the general rule on the verbs in eler and eter. VI. The verbs in yer, change the characteristic (y) to i before a mute e: ploy-er (ployer), to bend; je ploi-e (ploie, instead ofploje) ; je ploi-erai (ploierai, instead of ployerai), &c. Remark. — In grassey-er (grasseyer) the characteristic (y) is usually re- tained throughout the conjugation. The Academy retains the y also throughout in all verbs ending in ayer — another unnecessary exception. VII. In verbs ending in ouer or uer, a diaeresis ( •• ) is placed over the i of the termination of the first and second person plural of the imperfect indicative, and present subjunctive : jou-er (jouer), to play; nous jou'ions, we played; que vous jou'iez, that you (may) play; tu-er (tuer), to kill; nous tuions, we killed ; que vous tuiez, that you (may) kill, &c. VIII. Irregular Verbs of the First Conjugation. 1. Alter, to go, is irregular, a in the present indicative, singular, and third person, plural— -je vais, tu vas, il (elle, on) va, Us (elles) vont ; b in the corresponding persons of the present subjunctive — que faille, que tu allies, quit (quelle, quon) aille ; qu'ils (qu' elles) aillent. c Future and conditional : firai, tu iras, il (elle, on) ira, nous irons, vous irez, Us (elles) iront ; firais, tu irais, il (elle, on) irait, nous irions, vous iriez, Us (elles) iraient. d The second person singular of the imperative va ; (before y, vas). The other parts are regular. 2. JEnvoyer, to send, is irregular in the future and con- ditional : f 'enverrai, tu enverras, il (elle, on) enverra, nous enverrons, vous enverrez, Us (elles) enverront ; f enverrais, tu SECOND CONJUGATION. 113 enverrais, il (elle, on) enverrait, nous enverrions, vous enverriez, Us (elles) enverraient. The other parts are regular. Note. — Renvoyer is conjugated like envoyer. The same rule applies equally to all compounds of irregular verbs, with a few 'partial exceptions. 3. Tisser, to weave, makes in the participle past, tissu, tissue. B. Second Conjugation. The respective terminations of the second conjugation, are : — Infinitive present — ir. Participle present — is s ant. Participle past — i (feminine, ie ; plural, masculine, is ; feminine, ies). Indicative Mode. PRESENT PRETERITE DEFINITE Or PERFECT. Singular Singular. 1st person. 2nd „ is. is. 1st person. 2nd „ is. is. 3rd „ it. 3rd » it. Plural. PluraL 1st person. 2nd „ issons. issez. 1st person. 2nd „ imes. ites. 3rd „ issent. 3rd if ireni. IMPERFECT. FIRST FUTURE. Singular Singular. 1st person. 2nd „ issais. issais. 1st person. 2nd „ irai. iras. 3rd „ issait. 3rd }> ira. Plural. Plural. 1st person. 2nd „ issions. issiez. 1st person. 2nd „ irons. irez. 3rd „ issaient. Condition FIRST CON 3rd al Mode. DITIONAL. }> iront. Singular. Plural. 1st person. 2nd „ irais, irais. 1st person. 2nd „ irions. iriez. 3rd ,3 irait. 3rd » indent. 114 A GRAMMAR OP THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. Singular. 1st person, isse. 2nd „ isses. 3rd „ isse. Plural. 1st person, issions. 2nd 3rd isstez. IMPERFECT. Singular. 1st person, isse. 2nd „ isses, 3rd „ it. Plural. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ Imperative Mode. 2nd person singular, is. 1st person plural. issons. 2nd ,, issez. FINIR, To end, to finish. Indicative Mode. PRESENT. je finis, I end, I am ending. tu finis. il (elle, on) finit. nous finissons. vousfinissez. Us (elles) finissent. IMPERFECT. jefinissais, I ended, I was ending. tu finissais. il (elle, on) finissait. nous finissions. vous finissiez. Us (elles) finissaient. PRETERITE DEFINITE. je finis, I ended. tu finis. il (elle, on) finit. nous finimes. vous finites. Us (elles) finirent. PRETERITE INDEFINITE. j'aifini, I have ended. tu as fini. il (elle, on) afini. nous avonsfini. vous avezfini. Us (elles) ontfini. PRETERITE ANTERIOR OT PAULO-ANTE PLUPERFECT. feus fini, I had ended. tu eusfini. il (elle, on) eutfini. nous eumes fini. vous elites fini. Us (elles) eurentfini. PLUPERFECT. j'avaisfini, I had ended. tu avaisfini. il (elle, on) avaitfini. nous avions fini. vous aviezfini. Us (elles) avaientfini. SECOND CONJUGATION. HE FIRST FUTURE. jefinirai, I shall or will end. tufiniras. it (elle, on) finira, nous finirons. vous finirez. Us (elks) finiront. SECOND FUTURE. j'auraifini, I shall or will have ended. tu auras fini. il (elle, on) aura fini. nous auronsfini. vous aurezfini. Us (elles) auront fini. Conditional Mode. PRESENT, je finirais, I should or would end. tu finirais. I il (elle, on) finirait. nous finirions. vousfiniriez. Us (elles) finiraient. PAST. j^auraisfini, I should or would have ended. tu auraisfini. il (elle, on) auraitfini. nous aurions fini. vous auriezfini. Us (elles) auraient fini. Or, also, j'eussefini. tu eussesfini. il (elle, on) eut fini. nous eussions fini. vous eussiez fini. Us (elles) eussent fini. Impeeatiye Mode. 2nd person singular. 1st person plural. 2nd fini, end, end thou, do thou end. • finissons, let us end. finissez, end, end you, do you end. Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. PERFECT. que je finisse, that I (may) end. que tufinisses. qu'il (quelle, qu'on) finisse. que nous finissions. que vous finissiez. qu'ils (qu'elles) finissent. IMPERFECT. que je finisse, that I ended, that I might end. que tufinisses. qu'il (quelle qu'on) finit. que nous finissions. que vous finissiez. qu'ils (qu'elles) finissent. que j'aie fini, that I (may) have ended. que tu aies fini. qu'il (qiCelle, qu'on) ait fini. que nous ayons fini. que vous ayezfini. qu'ils (qu'elles) aientfini. PLUPERFECT. que j'eusse fini, that I had ended, that I might have ended. que tu eussesfini. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) eut fini. que nous eussions fini. que vous eussiez fini. qu'ils (qu'elles) eussent fini. 116 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. Infinitive Mode. PRESENT. finir, to end. PRESENT. rfnissant, euding. PAST. avoir fini, to have ended. Participles. PAST. fini (finie, finis, finies) ended. COMPOUND PAST. ayantfini, haviDg ended. Observations. I. The verb benir, in the sense of to bless, to praise, forms its participle past in the regular way (bent, benie) ; but in the sense of to consecrate (by a religious ceremony), it makes behit, benite in the participle past : de Veau benite, consecrated (holy) water ; du pain benit, consecrated bread. II. Hair, to hate, retains the diaeresis over the i throughout, except in the three persons singular present indicative (je hais, tu hais, il (elle, on) Jiaii), and in the second person singular of the imperative (hais). In the first and second person plural of the preterite definite (nous ha'imes, vous haites), and in the third person singular of the imperfect subjunctive (qu'il ha'it), the diaeresis replaces also the circumflex accent. III. Fleurir, in the figurative sense of to flourish, to be prosperous (said of an empire, of the arts, sciences, &c), makes in the participle present florissant, and in the third person singular and plural of the imperfect indicative florissait, floris- saient. IV. Irregular Verbs of the Second Conjugation. 1. Dormir, mentir, partir, se repentir, sentir, servir, sortir, form the three persons singular of the present indicative, and the second person singular of the imperative by dropping the termination, and changing the characteristic respectively to s for the first and second person (and for the second person of the imperative), to t for the third person: * je dors, tu dors, il (elle, on) dort; dors, sleep, sleep thou ; je mens, &c. ; je pars, &c. ; je me repens, &c. ; je sens, &c. ; je sers, &c. ; je sors, &c. They drop the iss in the participle present, in the plural of the * This latter part of the rule applies only to dormir and servir, t being the characteristic of the other five verbs of this class, and do change being accordingly required in the third person. IRREGULAR VERBS OF THE SECOND CONJUGATION. 117 present indicative, in the present subjunctive, in the imperfect indicative, and in the first and second person plural of the imperative : dormant, instead of dormissant ; nous dormons, instead of dormissons ; vous mentez, instead of mentissez ; Us partent, instead of partissent ; quil se repente, instead of repentisse ; je sentais, instead of sentissais ; nous servions, instead of servissions ; sortons, sortez, instead of sortissons, sortissez. The other parts are regular. Vetir also is conjugated like dorrnir, &c, with the exception of the participle past, in which it makes vetu, instead of veti ; in the first an d second person singular indicative, and in the second person singular of the imperative, it retains the characteristic and adds s : je vets, tu vets ; vets. 2. Acquerir drops the iss in the participle present, and in the imperfect indicative: acquerant, instead of acquerissant ; j'acquerais, instead of facquerissais. In the participle past it makes acquis, acquise ; in the present indicative, j' acquiers, tu acquiers, il (elle, on) acquiert, nous acquerons, vous acquerez, Us acquierent ; subjunctive, que facquiere, que tu acquieres, quit {quelle, quon) acquiere, que nous acquerions, que vous acqueriez, quails (qu'elles) acquierent ; in the preterite definite, f acquis, tu acquit, &c. ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que facquisse, &c. ; in the first future, f acquerrai, tu acquerras, &c. ; in the first- conditional, facquerrais, tu acquerrais, &c. ; in the imperative, acquiers, acquire, acquire thou ; acquerons, let us acquire ; acquerez, acquire you, do you acquire. S'enquerir, requerir, conquerir, are conjugated like acquerir. 3. JBouillir drops the iss in the participle present, in the plural of the present indicative, in the present subjunctive, in the imperfect indicative, and in the first and second person plural of the imperative : bouillant, instead of bouillissant ; nous bouillons, instead of bouillissons ; que je bouille, instead of bouillisse ; je bouillais, instead of bouillissais ; bouillons, bouillez, instead of bouillissons, bouillissez. In the present singular indicative it makes je bous, tu bous, il (elle, on) bout ; in the second person singular of the imperative, bous. 4. Oourir drops the iss in the participle present, in the plural of the present indicative, in the present subjunctive, in the first and second person plural of the imperative, and in the imperfect indicative. It makes in the singular of the present indicative,^ co'urs, tu cours, il court ; in the preterite definite, je courus, tu courus, il (elle, on) courut, nous courumes, vous courutes, Us (elles) coururent ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que je courusse, que tu courusses, &c. ; in the first future, je 118 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. courrai, &c. ; in the first conditional, je courrais, &c. ; in the second person singular of the imperative, cours; in the participle past, couru. 5. Oueillir drops the iss in the same parts as courir (see 4) ; it makes in the singular of the present, je cueille, tu cueilles, il {elle, on) cueille; in the second person singular of the imperative, cueille, cueilles ; * in the first future, je cueillerai, &c. ; in the first conditional,^ cueillerais, &c. (from the old verb cueiller). 6. Faillir, to fail, drops the iss in the same parts as courir (see 4) . It makes in the singular of the present indicative, je faux, tu faux, il {elle, on) faut ; in the second person singular of the imperative, faux ; in the first future and first conditional (both obsolete) respectively, jefaudrai, &c.,jefaudrais, &c. 7. JFuir make in the participle present, fuyant ; in the present indicative (regular), je fuis, tufuis, ilfuit (irregular), nous fuyons, vous fuyez, Us fuient ; present subjunctive, que je fuie, que tu fuies; quit fuie, que nous fuyions, que vous fuyiez, qu'ils fuient ; in the imperfect indicative, je fuyais, &c. ; in the imperative, fuis, fuyons, fuyez. The other parts are regular. 8. Gesir, to lie, is a defective verb, used only in the participle present (gisant) ; in the third person singular, and in the plural of the present indicative (il git, ci git, here lies), nous gisons, vous gisez, Us gisent ; and in the imperfect of the indicative, je gisais, tu gisais, &c. 9. Mourir makes in the participle present, mourant ; in the present indicative, je nieurs, tu meurs, il meurt, nous mourons, vous niourez, Us meurent ; present subjunctive, que je meure, que tu meures, qu'il meure, que nous mourions, que vous mouriez, quails meurent ; in the imperfect indicative, je mourais, &c. ; in the preterite definite, je mourus, &c. (see courir, 4) ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que je mourusse, &c. (see courir, 4) ; in the first future and first conditional respectively, je mourrai, &c, and je mourrais, &c. ; in the imperative, meurs, mourons, mourez ; in the participle past, mort, morte. 10. Offrir and ouvrir drop the iss in the same parts as courir (see 4). They form the singular of the present indicative, and the second person singular of the imperative, the same way as cueillir : j'ofjre, tu cffres, il qffire ; offre (pffres *) ; j^ouvre, tu ouvres, il ouvre ; ouvre (ouvres*) ; in the participle past they make respectively offert, offerte, and ouvert, ouverte. The other parts are regular. Soufrir is conjugated like offrir. * The second person singular of the imperative of cueillir, assaillir, tresaillir, ouvrir, couvrir, offrir, souffrir, takes an s after the e before y and en. THIRD CONJUGATION. 119 11. Saillir, to project, is used only in the participles present and past, saillant, sailli, saillie ; and (as a unipersonal verb) in the following forms : il saille, il saillait, il saillera, il miller ait, qiCil saille, qu'il saillit. Saillir, to gush out, is regular, but mostly used only in the third person (singular and plural). Assaillir and tressaillir drop the iss in the same parts as courir (see 4). They make in the singular of the present indicative, and in the second person singular of the imperative respectively, j' assaille, tu assailles, il assaille — assaille {assailles *) ; je tressaille, tu tressailles, il tressaille — tressaille (tressailles*). Tressaillir makes in the first future and first conditional respectively, je tressaillerai, &c, zxAje tressaillerais, &c; the regular forms {tres- saillirai, tressaillir ais) are, however, also occasionally met with. 12. Tenir makes in the participle present, tenant; in the present indicative, je tiens, iu tiens, il tient, nous tenons, vous tenez, Us tiennent ; present subjunctive, que je tienne, que tu tiennes, qu'il tienne, que nous tenions, que vous teniez, qu'ils tiennent ; in the imperfect indicative, je tenuis, &c. ; in the preterite definite, je tins, tu tins, il tint, nous tinmes, vous tintes, Us tinrent ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que je tinsse, que tu tinsses, qu'il tint, que nous tinssions, que votes tinssiez, qu'ils tinssent; in the first future and first conditional respectively, je tiendrai, &c, and je tiendrais, &c. ; in the imperative, tiens, tenons, tenez ; in the participle past, tenu. 13. Venir is conjugated like tenir. C. Third Conjugation. The respective terminations of the third conjugation, are : — Infinitive present — oir, or rather, evoir.f Participle present — evant. Participle past — u, ue ; plural masculine, us; feminine, ues. Indicative Mode. PRESENT. Singular. 1st person. ois. 2nd „ ois. 3rd „ oit. PluraL 1st person. evons. 2nd „ evez. 3rd ,, oivent. IMPERFECT. Singular. 1st person. evais. 2nd „ evais. 3rd „ evait. Plural. 1st person. evions. 2nd „ eviez. 3rd „ evaient. * See footnote, page 118. f The verbs in oir not preceded by ev are all irregular. 120 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. ERITE DEFINITE Or PERFECT. Singular 1st person. 2nd „ US. us. 3rd Plural. ut. 1st person. 2nd „ umes. utes. 3rd j> went. FIRST FUTURE. Singular. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ Plural. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ evrai. evras. evra. evrons. evrez. evront. Conditional Mode FIRST CONDITIONAL. Singular. 1st person. evrais. 2nd „ evrais. 3rd „ evrait. sui PRESENT 0')' FUTURE. Singular 1st person. 2nd „ owe. oives. 3rd „ oive. Plural. 1st person, 2nd „ evions. eviez. 3rd „ oivent. Plural. 1st person. evrions. 2nd „ evriez. 3rd ,, evraient. Subjunctive Mode. IMPERFECT. Singular. 1st person. usse. 2nd „ usses. 3rd „ ut. Plural. 1st person. ussions. 2nd „ ussiez. 3rd „ ussent. Imperative Mode. 2nd person singular, ois. 1st person plural. evons. 2nd ,, evez. RECEYOIR* To receive. Indicative Mode. PRESENT. je repois, I receive, I am receiving. tu recois. il (elle, on) repoit. nous recevons. vous recevez. Us (elles) repoxvent. IMPERFECT. je recevais, I received, I was receiving tu recevais. il (elle, on) recevait. nous recevions. vous receviez. Us (elks) recevaient. * Observe, that by joining the ev to the termination oir, as we have done here, the characteristic of the verb is shifted; the characteristic here is c f not v. THIRD CONJUGATION. 121 PRETERITE DEFINITE. je repus, I received. tu repus. il (elle, on) recut. nous resumes. vous reputes. its (elles) repurent. PRETERITE INDEFINITE. j'ai repu, I have received. tu as repu. il (elle, on) a repu, nous avons repu. vous avez repu. ils (elles) out repu. PRETERITE ANTERIOR Or PAULO-ANTE PLUPERFECT. j*eus repu, I had received. tu eus repu. il (elle, on) eut repu. nous euraes repu. vous eutes repu. ils (elles) eurent repu. PLUPERFECT. j' 'avals repu, I had received. tu avals repu. il (elle, on) avalt repu. nous avions repu. vous avlez repu. lis (elles) avalent repu. FIRST FUTURE. je recevral, I shall or will receive. tu recevras. II (elle, on) recevra. nous recevrons. vous recevrez. Us (elles) recevront. SECOND FUTURE. j' aural repu, I shall or will have received. tu auras repu. II (elle, on) aura repu. nous aurons repu. vous aurez repu. lis (elles) auront repu. Conditional Mode. PRESENT W FIRST CONDITIONAL. je recevrais, I should or would receive. tu recevrais. II (elle, on) recevralt. nous recevrlons. vous recevrlez. ils (elles) recevralent. PAST Or SECOND CONDITIONAL. j'aurals repu, I should or would have received. tu aurals repu. il (elle, on) auralt repu. nous amnions repu. vous aurlez repu. ils (elles) auralent repu. Or, also, j'eusse repu. tu eusses repu. II (elle, on) eut repu. nous eusslons repu. vous eusslez repu. Us (elles) eussent repu. Impebatiye Mode. 2nd person singular. 1st person plural. 2nd repois, receive, receive thou. recevons, let us receive. recevez, receive, receive you. 122 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. que je regoive, that I (may) receive. que tu regoives. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) regoive. que nous recevions. que vous receviez. qu'ils (qu'elles) regoivent. IMPERFECT. que je regusse, that I received, that I might receive. que tu regusses. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) regut. que nous regussions. que vous regussiez. qu'ils (qu'elles) regussent. PERFECT. que j'aie regu, that I (may) have received. que tu aies regu. qu'il (qu'elle, qu'on) ait regu. que nous ayons regu. que vous ayez regu. qu'ils {qu'elles) aient regu. PLUPERFECT. que j'eusse regu, that I had received, that I might have received. que tu eusses regu. quit (qu'elle, qu'on) eut regu. que nous eussions regu. que vous eussiez regu. qu'ils (qu'elles) eussent regu. Infinitive Mode. PRESENT. recevoir, to receive. PAST. avoir regit,, to have received. Participles. PRESENT. recevant, receiving. PAST. regu (regue, regus, regues) received. COMPOUND PAST. ayant regu, having received. Observations. I. The small group of verbs that figures as the third conju- gation, numbers only the following seven : devoir, redevoir, apercevoir, concevoir, decevoir, percevoir, recevoir. II. By including the letters ev in the termination, the root of devoir is reduced to a single letter (d), to which the respective terminations of the various modes, tenses, &c, are added : d-evoir, je d-ois, nous d-umes, il d-evra, &c. The participle past of devoir and redevoir, take an accent circumflex on the u in the masculine singular : du, redu. III. By including the letters ev in the termination, the letter c becomes the characteristic of apercevoir, concevoir, decevoir, percevoir, and recevoir ; this letter is marked with a cedilla before o and u : je percois ; concu. THIRD CONJUGATION — IRREGULAR VERBS. 123 IV. Irregular Verts in oir. 1. Choir, to fall, is a defective verb ; the participle past (chu, chue) is the only part which is still occasionally met with. 2. Dechoir, to decay, to fall off, lacks the participle present and the imperfect indicative ; it makes in the present indicative, je deeliois, tu dechois, il dechoit, nous dechoyons, vous dechoyez, Us dechoient ; present subjunctive, que je dechoie, que tu dechoies, qu'il dechoie, que nous dechoyions, que vous dechoyiez, qu'ils dechoient ; in the preterite definite, je dechus, &c. (like recus) ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que je dechusse, &c. (like que je recusse) ; in the first future and first conditional respectively, je decherrai, &c, and je decherrais, &c. ; in the imperative, dechois, decJioyons, dechoyez; in the participle past, dechu, dechue. 3. JSchoir, to fall out, to expire, to happen, to fall to the possession of, makes in the participle present, eclieant ; in the participle past, e'cliu, echue ; the only other parts in use are : the third person singular and plural present indicative (il echoit, or il echet ; Us echeient, or Us echeent) ; the third person singular of the imperfect indicative, and of the preterite definite (il echoyait, il echut) ; the third person singular of the present subjunctive, and of the imperfect subjunctive (qyHil echoie, qu'il eehut) ; the third person singular of the first future and of the first conditional (il echerra, il echerraif). 4. .Falloir, to be needful, to be necessary (to must), is a unipersonal verb ; it lacks the participle present. Participle YAsn—fallu. Indicative Mode. Present— il faut. Imperfect — il fallait. Preterite definite — ilfallut. First future — il faudra. Conditional Mode. First conditional — il faudrait. Subjunctive Mode. Present or Future — qyCil faille. Imperfect — qvJil fattut. 5. Mouvoir, to move, makes in the participle present, mouvant; in the participle past, mu ; in the present indicative, je meus, tu meus, il meut, notes mouvons, vous mouvez, Us meuvent ; present subjunctive, que je nieuve, que tu nieuves, qiCil meuve, que nous mouvions, que vous mouviez, qu'ils meuvent ; imperfect g2 124 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. indicative, je mouvais, &c. ; preterite definite, je mus, &c. (like regus) : imperfect subjunctive, que je musse, &c. (like que je regusse) ; first future, je mouvrai, &c. ; first conditional, je mouvrais, &c. ; imperative, mens, mouvons, mouvez. 6. Pleuvoir, to ,rain, is a unipersonal verb ; it makes in the participle present, pleuvant ; participle past, plu ; present indicative, il pleut ; subjunctive, quit pleuve ; imperfect indica- tive, il pleuvait ; preterite definite, il plut ; imperfect sub- junctive, quilplut; first future, il pleuvra ; first conditional, il pleuvrait. 7. JBourvoir, to provide, makes in the participle present, pourvoyant ; participle past, pourvu ; present indicative, je pourvois, tu pourvois, il pourvoit, nous pourvoyons, vous pour- voyez, Us pourvoient ; present subjunctive, que je pourvoie, que tu pourvoies, quil pourvoie, que nous pourvoyions, que vous pourvoyiez, qu'ils pourvoient ; imperfect indicative, je pourvoyais, &c. ; preterite definite, je pourvus, &c. (like regus) ; imperfect subjunctive, que je pourvusse, &c. (like regusse) ; first future, je pourvoirai, &c. ; first conditional, je pourvoirais, &c. ; impera- tive, pourvois, pourvoyons, pourvoyez. 8. JPouvoir, to be able (to can), makes in the participle present, pouvant ; participle past, pu ; present indicative, je peux, or je puis (interrogatively the latter form is used exclusively), tu peux, il peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, Us peuvent ; present subjunctive, que je puisse, &c. ; imperfect, indicative, je pouvais, &c. ; preterite definite, je pus, &c. (like regus) ; imperfect subjunctive, que je pusse, &c. (like regusse) : first future, je pourrai, tu pourras, &c. ; first conditional, je pourrais, tu pourrais, &c. JPouvoir has, of course, no impera- tive, but it has an optative : puisse-je, would I might, would I could, oh, that I could ; puisses-tu, puisse-t-il, puissions-nous, p uissiez-vous, puissent-ils. 9. Savoir, to know, makes in the participle present, sacliant ; participle past su ; present indicative, je sais, tu sais, il sait, nous savons, vous savez, Us savent ; present subjunctive, que je sache, &c. ; imperfect indicative, je savais, &c. ; preterite definite, je sus, &c. (like regus) ; imperfect subjunctive, que je susse, &c. (like regusse) ; first future, je saurai, tu sauras, &c. ; first conditional, je saurais, tu saurais, &c. ; imperative, sache, saclions, sachez. 10. a Seoir, to become, to befit, to fit, is used only in the participle present, seyant ; and in the third person -singular and plural of the present indicative, il sied, Us sieent ; third person of the present subjunctive, qu'il siee — rarely used ; THIRD CONJUGATION — IRREGULAR VERBS. 125 third person singular of the imperfect indicative, il seyait : third person singular of the first future and first conditional il siera, il sierait. b Seoir, to sit, is used in the participle present and participle past, seant, sis. c Asseoir, to set, to fix, makes in the participle present, asseyant (and also assoyant) ; participle past, assis, assise: present indicative, j'assieds, tu assiedsj il assied, nous asseyons, vous asseyez, Us asseient (and also j' assois, tu assois, il assoit, nous assoyons, vous assoyez, Us assoient) ; present subjunctive, que j'asseie, que tu asseies, qu'il asseie, que nous asseyions, que vous asseyiez, quails asseient (and also que J'assoie, que tu assoies, &c.) ; imperfect indicative, j'asseyais, &c. (and also j'assoyais, &c.) ; preterite definite, y assis, &c. (like finis, preterite definite oifinir); imperfect subjunctive que j"* assisse, &c. (like finisse, imperfect subjunctive of finir) ; first future, j'assie'rai, tu assieras, &c. (and also y asseyerai, tu asseyeras, &c. ; j'assoirai, tu assoiras, &c.) ; first conditional, jassierais, tu assierais, &c. (and also j'asseyerais, &c, j' assoirais, &c.) ; imperative, assieds {assois), asseyons (assoyons), asseyez (assoyez). Asseoir is more frequently employed as a pronominal verb (i asseoir), in the sense of to sit down : je n£ assieds, tu fassieds, il s'assied, &c. (The forms je on' assois, queje m'assoie,je nCassoyais,je m' "assoirai, je rrC assoirais, assois- toi, assoyons-nous, assoyez-vous, are hardly ever met with.) d Surseoir, to put off, to supersede, makes in the participle past sursis ; and in the first future and first conditional respectively, je surseoirai, tu surseoiras, &c. ; je surseoirais, tu surseoirais, &c. In all other respects it is conjugated like voir (see 12). 11. Valoir, to be worth, makes in the participle present, valant ; participle past valu, value ; present indicative, je vaux, tu vaux, il vaut, nous valons, vous valez, Us valent ; present subjunctive, que je vaille, que tu vailles, qu'il vaille, que nous valions, que vous valiez, qu'ils vaillent ; imperfect indicative, je valais, &c. ; preterite definite, je valus, &c. (like recus) ; imper- fect subjunctive, que je valusse, &c. (like recusse) ; first future, je vaudrai, tu vaudras, &c. ; first conditional, je vaudrais, tu vaudrais, &c. Valoir has no imperative.* The compounds of valoir are conjugated the same way ; prevaloir, however makes in the present subjunctive, que je prevale, que tu prevales, qu'il prevale, que nous prevalions, que vous prevaliez, qu'ils 'prevalent — instead of prevaille, es, e, ent. 12. Voir, to see, makes in the participle present, voyant ; participle past, vu, vice ; present indicative, je vois, tu vols, il * Some grammarians assign to valoir an imperative mode : vaux, valon% valez. 126 A GRAMMAR, OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. voit, nous voyons, vous voyez, Us voient ; present subjunctive, que je voie, que tu voie, quil voie, que nous voyions, que vous voyiez, qu'ils voient; imperfect indicative, je voyais, &c. ; pre- terite definite, je vis, &c. (like je finis — preterite definite of finir) ; imperfect subjunctive, que je visse, &c. (like que je finisse — imperfect subjunctive of finir) ; first future, je verrai, tu verras, &c. ; first conditional, je vermis, tu verrais, &c. ; imperative, vois, voyons, voyez. The compounds of voir (with the exception of pourvoir — see 7.), are conjugated the same way ; prevoir, however, makes in the first future and first conditional respectively, je prevoirai, &c, and je prevoirais, &c, instead of preverrai, preverrais. 13. Vouloir, to be willing (to will), makes in the participle present, voulant ; participle past, voulu, voulue ; present indica- tive, je veux, tu veux, il veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, Us veulent ; present subjunctive, que je veuille, que tu veuilles, qytil veuille, que nous voulions, que vous vouliez, quits veuillent; imperfect indicative, je voulais, &c. ; preterite definite, je voulus, &c. (like je recus) ; imperfect subjunctive, que je voulusse, &c. (like que je recusse) ; first future, je voudrai, tu voudras, &c. ; first conditional, je voudrais, tu voudrais, &c. Vouloir has no imperative ; still the forms veuille, veuillons, veuillez, are sometimes met with ; more particularly the latter, in the sense of he so good, have the kindness, please. D. Fourth Conjugation. The respective terminations of the fourth conjugation, are — Infinitive present — re. Participle present — ant. Participle past- — u (feminine, ue ; plural masculine, us; feminine, ices). Indicative Mode. PRESENT. IMPERFECT Singular. 1st person. 2nd ., 3rd „ s. s. t. Singular. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ ais. ais. ait. Plural. Plural. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ ons. ez. ent. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ ions. iez. aient. FOURTH CONJUGATION. 127 PRETERITE DEFINITE Or PERFECT. FIRST FUTURE. Singular. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ is. is. it. Singular. 1st person. rai. 2nd „ ras. 3rd „ ra. Plural. Plural. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ imes. ites. irent. 1st person. rons. 2nd „ rez. 3rd „ ront. Singular. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ Conditional Mode. FIRST CONDITIONAL. rais. rais. rait. Plural 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ mons. riez. raient. Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. Singular. 1st person. e. 2nd „ es. 3rd „ e. Plural. 1st person. ions. 2nd „ iez. 3rd ,, ent. IMPERFECT. Singular. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ Plural. 1st person. 2nd „ 3rd „ isse. isses. it. issions. issiez. issent. Impebatiye Mode. 2nd person singular. s. 1st person plural. ons. 2nd ,, ez. RENDRE, To render, to restore, to deliver. Indicative Mode. IMPERFECT. je rendais, I rendered, I was rendering. tu rendais. il {die, on) rendait. nous rendions. vous rendiez. ils (elles) rendaient. PRESENT. je rends, I render, I am rendering. tu rends. il (elle, on) rend (not rendt, see Obs. I.) nous rendons. vous rendez. ils (elles) rendenU 128 A GRAMMAR 0E THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. PRETERITE DEFINITE. je rendis, I rendered. tu rendis. il {die, on) rendit. nous rendimes. vous rendites. Us (elks) rendlrent. PRETERITE INDEFINITE. j'ai rendu, I have rendered. tu as rendu. il (elle, on) a rendu. nous avons rendu. vous avez rendu. Us (elles) ont rendu. PRETERITE ANTERIOR, Or PAULO-ANTE PLUPERFECT. j'eus rendu, I had rendered. tu eus rendu. il (elle, on) eut rendu. nous eumes rendu. vous elites rendu. Us (elles) eurent rendu. PLUPERFECT. j 'avals rendu, I had rendered. tu avals rendu. il (elle, on) avait rendu. nous avlons rendu. vous avlez rendu. Us (elles) avaient rendu. FIRST .FUTURE. je rendrai, I shall or will render. tu rendras. il (elle, on) rendra. nous rendrons. vous rendrez. Us (elles) rendront. SECOND FUTURE. j' aural rendu, I shall or will have rendered. tu auras rendu. II (elle, on) aura rendu, nous aurons rendu, vous aurez rendu. Us (elles) auront rendu. Conditional Mode. PRESENT Or FIRST CONDITIONAL. je rendrais, I should or would render. tu rendrais. il (elle, on) rendralt. nous rendrlons. vous rendrlez. Us (elles) rendralent. PAST Or SECOND CONDITIONAL. faurals rendu, I should or would have rendered. tu aurals rendu, il (elle, on) auralt rendu. nous aurlons rendu. vous aurlez rendu. Us (elles) auralent rendu. Or, also, j'eusse rendu. tu eusses rendu. il (elle, on) eut rendu. nous eusslons rendu. vous eussiez rendu. Us (elles) eussent rendu. Imperative Mode. 2nd person singular. 1st person plural. 2nd rends, render, render thou, do thou render. rendons, let us render. rendez, render you, do you render. FOURTH CONJUGATION — IRREGULAR VERBS. 129 Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. queje rende, that I (may) render. que tu rendes. quil (qiCelle, qvJori) rende. que nous rendions. que vous rendiez. qiCils (qu'elles) rendent. IMPERFECT. queje rendisse, that I rendered, that I might render. que tu rendisses. qu'il (quelle, qu'on) rendit. que nous rendissions. que vous rendissiez. qu'ils (quelles) rendissent. PERFECT. que j'aie rendu, that I (may) have rendered. que tu axes rendu. quil (quelle, qu'on) ait r que nous ayons rendu. que vous ayez rendu, qu'ils (qu'elles) aunt rendu, PLUPERFECT. quej'eusse rendu, that I had rendered, that I might have rendered. que tu eusses rendu, quil (quelle, qu'on) eut rendu. que nous eussions rendu, que vous eussiez rendu. qiCils (qu'elles) eussent rendu. Ineinitite Mode. PRESENT. rendre, to render. PAST. avoir rendu, to have rendered. Participles. PRESENT. rendant, rendering. rendu (vendue, rendus, rendues), rendered. COMPOUND PAST. ayant rendu, having rendered. Observations. I. The verbs in dre reject the termination t in the third person singular present indicative : il vend, instead of vendt ; il onord, instead of onordt, &c. II. The verbs in ttre reject one of the two fs in the singular of the present indicative, and of the imperative ; in the third person singular of the present indicative the t of the termina- tion likewise is rejected : battre — -je hats, tu bats, il bat ; bats. III. Irregular Verbs. 1. The verbs in aitre and oitre retain the accent circumflex over the i in the third person singular present indicative, and throughout the first future and first conditional: paraitre ; il g3 130 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. para\t ; je paraitrai, &c. ; je paraitrais, &c. Tbese veibs drop the characteristic (t) in the three persons singular present indicative, and in the imperative singular: je parais, tu parais, il par ait, — parais ; they change the characteristic to ss in the participle present ; in the three persons plural of the present indicative ; in the present subjunctive ; in the imperfect indica- tive • and in the plural of the imperative : paraissant, nous paraissojis, vous paraissez, Us paraissent ; que je paraisse, &c. ; je parahmis, &c. ; paraissons, parai&sez. The participle past, preterite definite, and imperfect subjunctive, are formed by changing aitre or oitre respectively, to u, us, usse: paru (parue) ; je pans, &c. ; que je parusse, &c. ; instead of paraitu, paraitis, paraitisse ; cru* (crue),je crus* &c, que je crusse, &c, instead of croitu, croitis, croitisse. In the first future and first conditional, the characteristic is retained unaltered : je paraitrai, &c. ; je croitrai, &c. ; je paraitrais, &c. ; je croitrais, &c. . Notes. — a. The verb naitre makes in the participle past ne (nee) ; in the preterite definite, je naquis, &c. (like je rendis) ; in the imperfect sub- junctive, que je naquisse, &c. (like que je rendisse). Renaitre, to be born again, has no participle past, and accordingly no compound tenses either. b. The verb paitre, to graze, lacks the preterite definite and the imper- fect subjunctive ; but repaitre, to feed, to bait, has all its tenses complete, making in the preterite definite je repus, &c, and in the imperfect subjunc- tive, que je repusse, &c. 2. The verbs in indre (aindre, eindre, oindre) change nd to gn, in the participle present ; in the plural of the present indicative ; in the present subjunctive ; in the imperfect indica- tive; in the preterite definite; in the imperfect subjunctive; and in the imperative plural: johiire, joignant ; nous joignons, vous joignez, its joignent ; que je joigne, &c. ; je joignais, &c. ; que je joignisse, &c. ; joignons, joignez. The first and second person singular present indicative, and the imperative singular, are formed by changing the characteristic (d) to s : je joins, tu joins ; joins ; the third person singular present indicative, by changing the characteristic to t : il joint ; the participle past, likewise, by changing the characteristic to t: joint (jointe). In the first future and first conditional, the characteristic is retained unaltered : je joindrai, &c. ; je joinirais, &c. Note. — Of the verb poindre, to dawn, to peep, to sting, to pierce, the only parts used, besides the infinitive, are the present and future, and even those only in the third person singular: il point, il poindra. * The circumflex accent serves here to distinguish the participle past and preterite definite of croitre from the participle past and preterite definite of croire. FOURTH CONJUGATION — IRREGULAR VERBS. 131 8. The verbs in aire insert an s in the participle present, between the characteristic (ai) and the termination (ant) : plaire, plaisant ; the same insertion is made also in the parts derived from the participle present, viz., in the plural of the present indicative : nous plaisons, vous plaisez, Us plaisent ; in the present subjunctive, que je plaise, &c. ; in the imperfect indicative, je plaisais, &c. ; and in the imperative plural, plaisons, plaisez. The participle past, preterite definite, and imperfect subjunctive, are formed by changing aire respectively to u, us, usse : plu,je plus, que je plusse, instead of plaiu, plaiis, plaiisse. The three persons singular present indicative ; the imperative singular ; and the first future and first conditional, are formed regularly: je plais, tu plais, il plait; plais ; je plairai, &c. ; je plairais, &c. Notes. — a. The participle past of taire (tu) is usually marked with a circumflex over the u, in the masculine singular : til (feminine, tue ; plural masculine, tus ; feminine, tues.) b. Faire, to make, to do, and its compounds (contrefaire, defaire, &c), make in the participle past, fait (faite), contrefait (contrefait e), &c. ; in the second and third person plural present indicative, faites, font ; contre- faites, contrefont, &c. ; in the second person plural of the imperative, faites, contrefaites, &c. ; in the present subjunctive, que je fasse, &c, que je con- trefasse, &c. ; in the preterite definite, je fis, &c, je contrefs, &c. ; in the imperfect subjunctive, quejefisse, &c, que je contrefsse, &c. In the future and conditional, they change the characteristic (ai) to e : je ferai, ferais, — contreferai, contreferais, &c, instead of fairai, &c. In the other parts they are conjugated like plaire. Forfaire, maifaive, mefaire, paifaire, are used only in the infinitive, and in the participle past : forfait, malfait, mefait, parfait. c. Braire, to bray, is used only in the third person singular and plural of the present indicative, first future and first conditional: il brait, Us braient ; il braira, Us brairont ; Ubrairait, Us brairaient. d. Traire, to milk, makes in the participle present, trayant ; participle past, trait; in the plural present indicative, nous trayons, vous trayez, Us traient ; present subjunctive, que je traye, &c. ; imperative plural, trayons, trayez ; imperfect indicative, je trayais, &c. It lacks the preterite definite, and imperfect subjunctive. In the singular of the present indicative, imperative singular, first future and first conditional, it is conj ugated like plaire. Attraire, abstraire, distraire, extraire, rentraire, retraire, soustraire, are conjugated like traire. 4. The verbs in uire, insert an s between the characteristic (j) and the termination, in the participle present : reduire, re'duhant ; in the plural of the present indicative, nous reduisons, vous reduisez, Us reduhent ; in the present subjunc- tive, que je reduise, &c. ; in the imperfect indicative, je reduhais, &c. ; in the preterite definite, je redimis, &c. ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que je reduisisse, &c. ; in the imperative plural, reduiwns, reduisez. The participle past is formed in t : reduit 132 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. (reduite). The singular of the present indicative ; the impera- tive singular ; and the first future and first conditional, are regular : je reduis, &c; reduis; je reduirai, &c; je reduirais, &c. Notes. — a. Bruire, to roar, is a defective verb, having only the participle present (bruyant), and the third person singular and plural of the imper- fect indicative (il bruyait, Us bruyaient). b. Luire (to shine) and reluire (to glitter) make in the participle past lui, relui ; they lack the preterite definite and the imperfect subjunctive. In all other parts they are conjugated like rSduire. c. Nuire, to hurt, makes in the participle past nui. In all other parts it is conjugated like reduire. 5. a. Verbs in ire. — Confire, to pickle, makes in the participle present, confimnt ; participle past, con/It (confite) : plural pre- sent indicative, nous confisons, vous confi&ez, Us confident; present subjunctive, que je confine, &c. ; imperfect indicative, je cofifisais, &c. ; preterite definite, je confis, &c. ; imperfect sub- junctive, que je confisse, &c. ; imperative plural, confisons, con- Jisez. The singular of the present indicative, the imperative singular, and the first future and first conditional, are regular : je confis, &c. ; confis ; je confirm, &c. ; je confirms, &c. b. Circoncire, to circumcise, makes in the participle past, circoncis (circoncise) ; suffire makes suffi. In the other parts these two verbs are conjugated like confire. c. Dire, to say, makes in the second person plural of the present indicative, and of the imperative, vous dites ; dites ; in the participle past, dit (dite). The other parts are con- jugated like confire. Bedire is conjugated like dire. Note. — Dedire, contredire, intredire, medire, predire, make in the second person plural of the present indicative, and of the imperative, vous dedisez, contredisez, interdisez, medisez, predisez; dedisez, &c. ; in the other parts they are conjugated like dire. Maudire makes in the participle present mau- dissant ; in the plural of the present indicative, nous maudissons, vous maudissez, Us maudissent ; in the imperative plural, maudissons, maudissez ; in the present subjunctive, que je maudisse, &c. In the other parts it is conjugated like dire. d. Lire, to read, makes in the participle past, lu (lue) ; in the preterite definite, je lus, &c. ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que je lusse, &c. In the other parts it is conjugated like confire. e. Frire, to fry, makes in the participle past, frit (frite) ; it lacks the participle present, the plural of the present indicative, the present subjunctive, the imperfect indicative, the preterite definite, the imperfect subjunctive, and the imperative plural. These deficiencies are readily supplied, however, by the corre- sponding tenses, &c, of the Yerbfaire, followed by the infinitive jPOURTH CONJUGATION — IRREGULAR, VERBS. 133 frire : faisant frire, je faisais frire, &c. The singular of the present indicative, and the first future and first conditional of frire, ,are conjugated like con/Ire. f. Ecrire, to write, inserts a v between the characteristic and the termination in the participle present, ecrivant ; in the plural of the present indicative, nous ecrivons, vous ecrivez, Us ecrivent ; in the present subjunctive, que j'ecrive, &c. ; in the imperfect indicative, j'e'crivais, &c. ; in the preterite definite, j'ecrivis, &c. ; in the imperfect subjunctive, quej'ecrivisse, &c. ; in the imperative plural, ecrivons, e'crivez. The singular of the present indicative, and of the imperative, and the first future and first conditional, are formed regularly : j'e'cris, &c. ; ecris ; j'ecrirai, &c. ; j'ecrirais, &c. The participle past of ecrire is ecrit (ecrit e). The compounds of ecrire (circonscrire, decrire, &c.) are conjugated in the same way. I g. Hire, to laugh, makes in the participle past, ri ; in the preterite indicative, je ris, &c. ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que je risse, &c. The other parts are formed regularly : ri-ant, je ri-s, tu ri-s, &c. ; que je ri-e, &c. ; je ri-ais, &c. ; je ri-rai, &c; je ri-rais, &c. ; ris, ri-ons, ri~ez. Sourire, to smile, is conjugated like rire. 6. a. Absoudre, to absolve, makes in the participle present, dbsolvant ; in the participle past, absous (absoute) ; in the present indicative, j' absous, tu absous, il absout, nous dbsolvons, vous absolvez, Us absolvent; in the present subjunctive, que j' absolve, &c. ; in the imperfect indicative, j'absolvais, &c. — (absoudre has no preterite definite, nor imperfect subjunctive) ; in the imperative, absous, absolvons, absolvez. The first future and first conditional are formed regularly: j'absoudrai, &c, j 1 absoudrais, &c. b. Dissoudre, to dissolve, is conjugated the same way, and lacks the same tenses, as absoudre. c. Hesoudre, to resolve, is conjugated like absoudre, but has all its tenses complete ; the participle past, resous (no feminine), is used only in the sense of resolved into, or turned into. When employed in the sense of to determine, to fix on, resoudre makes in the participle past resolu (resolue). The preterite definite of resoudre, is je resolus, &c. ; the imperfect subjunctive, que je resolusse, &c. 7. Boire, to drink, makes in the participle present, buvant ; participle past, bu (bue) ; plural present indicative, nous buvons, vous buvez, Us boivent ; present subjunctive, que je boive, que tu boives, qiiil boive, que nous buvions, que vous buviez, quails boivent; imperfect indicative, je buvais, &c. ; preterite definite, 134 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. je bus, &c. ; imperfect subjunctive, que je busse, &c. ; imperative, bois, buvons, buvez. The first future and first conditional are formed regularly : je boirai, &c, je boirais, &c. 8. a. Clove (clorre), to close, is a defective verb, Having, beside the infinitive, only the participle past, clos ; the singular of the present indicative, je clos, tu clos, il clot ; the imperative singular, clos ; and the first future and first conditional, je clorai, &c.,je clorais, &c. b. Declore, to disclose, to open ; and enclore, to enclose, are conjugated the same way, and lack the same parts as clore. c. For clore, to debar, to foreclose (law-term), has, besides the infinitive, only the participle past, forclos. d. JEclore, to be hatched, to blow (of flowers), is used only in the infinitive, in the participle past, eclos {eclose) ; and in the third person singular and plural of the present indicative and subjunctive, il eclot, Us eclosent, qu'il eclose, quails eclosent; and of the first future and first conditional, il eclora, Us ecloront, il eclorait, Us ecloraient. The compound tenses of eclore are formed with etre. 9. a. Conclure, to conclude, makes in the participle past, conclu (conclue) ; in the preterite definite, je conclus, &c. ; in the imperfect subjunctive, que je conclusse, &c. The other parts are formed regularly : conclu-ant, je conelu-s, &c. ; que je conclu-e, &c; je conclu-ais, &c; je conclu-rai, &c; je conclu-rais, &c; conclu-s, conclu-ons, conclu-ez. b. Eocclure, to exclude, is conjugated like conclure-, it has, however, a double participle past: exclu {eocclue), and exclus (excluse). 10. Coudre, to sew (see I.), changes the characteristic (d) to s in the participle present, cousant ; participle past, cousu, cousue ; plural of the present indicative, nous coupons, &c. ; present subjunctive, que je couse, &c. ; imperfect indicative, je cousais, &c. ; preterite definite, je cousis, &c. ; imperfect subjunctive, que je coulisse, &c. ; imperative plural, coupons, cousez. It retains the characteristic unaltered, in the singular present indicative and imperative, je cou&s, tu couds, il coud — couis ; and in the first future and first conditional, je coudrai, &c.,je coudrais, &c. 11. Croire, to believe, changes the characteristic (i) to y, in the participle present, crojant ; in the first and second person plural of the present indicative and subjunctive, and of the imperative, nous croyons, vous croyez, que nous croyions, que vous croyiez, — croyons, croyez ; and in the imperfect indicative, je croyais, &c. It makes in the participle past, cru (crue) ; in FOUETH CONJUGATION IRREGULAR VERBS. 135 the preterite definite, je crus, &c. ; and in the imperfect sub- junctive, que je crusse, &c. The singular and the third person plural of the present indicative and subjunctive ; the imperative singular ; and the first future and first conditional ; are formed regularly: je croi-s, &c. ; que je croi-e, &c. ; croi-s ; je croi-rai, &c. ; je croi-rais, &c. 12. Mettre, to put, (see II.) makes in the participle past, mis (jnise) ; in the preterite definite, je mis. &c. ; and in the imperfect subjunctive, que je misse, &c. The other parts are formed regularly. 13. Moudre (see I.), to grind, changes the characteristic (d) to Z in the participle present, moulant ; participle past, moulu ; plural of the present indicative, nous moulons, &c. ; present subjunctive, que je moule, &c. ; imperfect indicative, je moulais, &c. ; plural of the imperative, moulons, moulez ; and also in the preterite definite, and imperfect subjunctive, which are formed respectively in us and usse, je moulus, &c, que je moulusse, &c. The singular of the present indicative, and the first future and first conditional, are formed regularly. 14. Prendre, to take, makes in the participle present, prenant; participle past, pris {prise) ; plural present indicative, nous prenons, vous prenez, Us prennent ; present subjunctive, que je prenne, &c. ; que nous prenions, que vous preniez, qu His prennent ; imperfect indicative, je prenais, &c. ; preterite definite, je pris, &c. ; imperfect subjunctive, que je prisse, &c. ; imperative plural, prenons, prenez. The singular present indicative, and the first future and first conditional, are formed regularly. 15. Suivre, to follow, makes in the participle past, suivi {suivie) ; and drops the characteristic (v) in the singular of the present indicative, and of the imperative, je suis, tu suis, il suit, — suis. It is regular in all other respects. 16. Vivre, to live, makes in the participle past, vecu (vecue) ; in the preterite definite, je vecus, &c. ; in the imperfect sub- junctive, que je vecusse, &c. It drops the characteristic (v) in the singular of the present indicative, and of the imperative, je vis, tu vis, il vit, — vis. The other parts are formed regularly. 17. Vainer e, to vanquish, to conquer, changes the charac- teristic (c) to qu in the participle present, v clinquant ; plural present indicative, vous vainquons, &c, ; present subjunctive, que je vainqae, &c. ; imperfect indicative, je vainqiiais, &c. ; preterite definite, je vainqnis, &c. ; imperfect subjunctive, que je vainquisse, &c. ; imperative plural, vainquons, vainquez. The other parts are formed regularly, only that the third 136 A GRAMMAR OP THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. person singular present indicative rejects the t : il vainc, instead of vainct. 18. Sourdre, to spring, to rise (of water), Las, besides the infinitive, only the third person singular present, il sourd. Passive Voice of Transitive Verbs. The passive voice of a transitive verb is formed, as has been stated already, by the conjunction of the verb etre, to be, throughout all its modes and tenses, with the participle past of the verb conjugating — which participle past agrees in gender and number with the nominative or subject of the verb : je suis aime or aimee (according to whether the person speaking is of the male on female sex), I am loved; tu es aime or aimee, il (on) est aime, elle est aimee, nous sommes aimes or aimees, vous etes aime or aimee (singular), vous etes aimes or aimees, Us sont aimes, elles sont aimees, &c. Conjugation of Pronominal or Reflexive Verbs. In conjugating a pronominal or reflexive verb, the second pronoun, (pronoun regimen) is placed, in the simple tenses, before the verb ; in the compound tenses, before the auxiliary. As has already been stated, the pronominal verbs are conjugated with etre. Of course, the pronominal verbs follow the conju- gation assigned to them respectively by their termination. BE FLATTER, To flatter one's self. Indicative Mode. je mefiatte, I flatter myself. tu te flattes. il {elle, on) seflatie. nous nous flattons. vous vousflattez. Us (elles) seflattent. IMPERFECT. je me flattais, I flattered myself (I &c. was flattering myself). nous nous fiatiions. &c. PRETERITE DEFINITE. je me flattai, I flattered myself. fee. nous nous flattdmes. &c, PRETERITE INDEFINITE, OV COMPOUND PERFECT. je me suis flatte, or flattee, I have flattered myself. tu fes flatte, or flattee. il (on) s 1 est flatte, or elle s' est flattee. nous nous sommes flattes, or flattees. vous vous etes flattes, or flattees. Us se sont flattes, or elles se sont flattees. CONJUGATION OF PRONOMINAL VERBS. 187 PRETERITE ANTERIOR or PAULO-ANTE PLUPERFECT. je me fus flatte, or flattee, I had &c. flattered myself. nous nous fumes flattes, or flattees. &c. PLUPERFECT. je m'etais flatte, or flattee, I had flat- foe, tered myself. nous nous etions flattes, or flattees. &c. FIRST FUTURE. je me flatterai, I shall or will flatter &c. myself. nous nous flatterons. &c. SECOND FUTURE. je me serai flatte or flattee, I shall or &c. will have flattered myself. nous nous serons flattes or flattees. &c. Conditional Mode. PRESENT OV FIRST CONDITIONAL. je me flatterais, I should or would &c. flatter myself. nous nous flatter ions, &c. PAST or SECOND CONDITIONAL. je me serais flatte, or flattee, I should or would have flattered myself. &c. nous nous serions flattes, or flattees. vous vous seriez flattes, or flattees. &c. Or, also, je me fusse flatte, or flattee. &c. nous nous fussions flattes, or flattees. &c. Imperative Mode. 2nd person singular, flatte-toi, flatter thyself. 1st person plural. flattons-nous, let us flatter ourselves. 2nd „ flattez-vous, flatter yourself, flatter yourselves. Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. que je me flatte, that I (may) flatter &c. myself. que nous nous flattions. &c. IMPERFECT. que je me flattasse, that I might &c. flatter myself. que nous nous flattassions, &c. que je me sois flatte, or flattee, that I (may) have flattered myself. &c. que nous nous soy ons flattes, or flattees. &c. PLUPERFECT. que je me fusse flatte, or flattee, that I &c. had flattered myself. que nous nous fussions flattes, or flattees. &c. 138 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. Infinitive Mode. PRESENT. se flatter, to flatter one's self. s'etreflattS, or flattee ; flattes, or flatties, to have flattered ones self. Participles. seflattant, flattering one's self. PAST. s'etant flatte, or flattee; flattes, or flatties, having flattered one's self. TTnipersonal Verbs. Unipersonal verbs are used onlj in the third person singular ; they follow, of course, the conjugation assigned to them respectively by their termination. TONNER, To thunder. Indicative Mode. PRESENT. il tonne, it thunders. IMPERFECT. il tonnait, it thundered, it was thundering. PRETERITE DEFINITE. il tonna 9 it thundered. PRETERITE INDEFINITE. il a tonne, it has thundered. PRETERITE ANTERIOR Or PAULO-ANTE PLUPERFECT. il eut tonne, it had thundered. PLUPERFECT. il avait tonne, it had thundered. FIRST FUTURE. il tonnera, it will or shall thunder. SECOND FUTURE. il aura tonne, it will or shall have thundered. Conditional Mode. PRESENT Or FIRST CONDITIONAL. il tonnerait, it would or should thunder. PAST Or SECOND CONDITIONAL. il aurait tonne, it would or should have thundered. Subjunctive Mode. PRESENT Or FUTURE. qvlil onne, that it (may) thunder. IMPERFECT. qu-il tonndt, that it thundered (that it might thunder). qyZil ait tonne, that it (may) have thundered. PLUPERFECT. oyCil eut tonne, that it had thundered (that it might have thundered). INTERROGATIVE FORM OE CONJUGATION. 139 Ineinitiye Mode. PRESENT. tonner, to thunder. PAST. avoir tonne, to have thundered. Participles. PRESENT. tonnant. thundering. PAST. ayant tonne, having thundered. Interrogative and Negative forms of Conjugation, A. Interrogative Form. a. The personal pronoun subject is placed, in the simple tenses, after the verb; in the compound tenses, after the auxiliary; and a hyphen is put between the verb or auxiliary and the pronoun: aimes-tu? avez-vous aime? Remarks. — ( a ) When the verb ends in a vowel, a t placed between two hyphens is inserted as a euphonic letter between the verb and the personal pronoun of the third person (il, elle, on) : vous aime-t-il ? vous a-t-elle aime ? finira-t-on bientot ? ( b ) E rnute terminating the verb is changed to e before the pronoun je : aime-je 1 (instead of aime-je ?) eusse-je recu ? (instead of eusse-je regu ? b. The form est-ce que? (is it that?) must be substituted for the direct interrogative form, in the first person singular of the present indicative, when that person happens to have only one syllable : est-ce que je prends ? (not prends-je) ; est-ce que je sers? (not sers-je) ; est-ce que je mens ? (not mens-je), &c. We may say, however, ai-je ? dis-je ? dois-je ? fais-je ? suis-je ? vais-je ? vois-je ? The form est-ce que is preferable also in the first person singular of the present indicative of verbs of the first conjugation : est-ce que je parte ? (better than parle-je .?) est-ce que je donne ? (better than donne-je ?) &c. c. When the subject is a substantive, it is either put at the head of the sentence, with the corresponding pronoun placed after the verb or auxiliary, as the case may be: Has your brother seen him ? votre frere Va-t-il vu? or the form with est-ce que is resorted to : est-ce que votre frere Va vu ? d. With respect to interrogative sentences with the pronouns absolute, qui, que, the student is referred to pp. 95 — 97. 140 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. B. Negative Form. The English, not is rendered in French by ne-pas or ne-point. In the simple tenses, the ne is placed before the verb, or the pronoun or pronouns preceding the latter ; the pas or point is placed after the verb : je ne veux pas ; je ne lui donnerai pas mon argent ; il ne travaille point. In the compound tenses, the ne is placed before the auxiliary or the pronoun or pronouns preceding the latter, the pas or point is placed after the auxiliary : vous ne rrtavez pas (lit cela; il ne nCen a point parle. C. Negative-Interrogative Form. In the simple tenses ne is put before the verb or the pronoun or pronouns preceding the latter, the personal pronoun subject is placed after the verb, and pas or point after the pronoun subject : ne V aime-t-elle pas comme sa soeur ? n'avez-vous pas du pain ? In the compound tenses, ne is put before the auxiliary or the pronoun or pronouns preceding the latter, the personal pronoun subject is placed after the auxiliary, and pas or point after the pronoun subject : ne lui avez-vous pas donne sa demission. The remarks under A, apply equally in negative interrogative sentences. Use of the Negation. "We have three degrees of negation in French : ne, ne pas, ne point ; ne is the slightest, ne point the strongest negation ; ne pas holds the middle between the two. Point is used in connection with ne, in reference to some- thing permanent and habitual ; pas, in reference to something temporary, transient, occasional, accidental: il ne lit point, he never reads ; il ne lit pas, he is not reading (just now). "When the sentence contains an adverb of comparison (si, aussi, tant, autant, plus, moins, &c), or a numeral adjective, pas is always preferable to point : son fr ere n'est pas aussi grand que mon cousin ; il na pas perdu autant que moi ; il ne gagne pas vingt francs par semaine. In interrogative negative sentences, the use of point serves to imply a doubt on the mind of the questioner : n'avez-vous point dit cela ? did you not say so ? (i. e., I think you said so, but I am not quite sure, and therefore address this question to you to remove my doubts on the subject;) pas, on the other USE OF THE NEGATION. 141 hand, implies a positive knowledge or conviction on the part of the questioner : n'avez-vous pas dit cela ? did you not say so ? (i. e., can you deny that you said so ?) JPas and point may be omitted with oser, pouvoir, cesser, savoir, used absolutely, or followed by an infinitive : je n'ose, je n'ose lui dire cela; je ne puis, il ne pent marcher \ nous ne cessons de travailler ; il ne saurait lui pardonner ; ne sauriez- vous y aller ? JPas and point must - be suppressed when the sentence contains some other negative expression, such as jamais, rien, guere, nul, nullement, aucun, personne, ni-ni^ or que used in the sense of but : je ne le reverrai jamais ; elle ne m?a rien donne ; Titus ne passait aucun jour sans fair e une tonne action; je rCai vu personne ; elle n'# ni beaute ni vertu ; je ne vois partout que miser e. The simple negation ne, is used sometimes in French where it is not expressed in English, viz. : — a. After the conjunctive locutions a moins que (unless), de crainte que, de peur que (lest, for fear that, for fear of) ; a moins que vous ne lui parliez, unless you speak to him ; de crainte que son pere ne Voublie, lest his father should forget it ; de peur que safemme ne Vait trompe, for fear that his wife should have deceived him. Notes. — 1. In poetry the negation is not always used after a moins que : &, moins qu' a nos projets un plein effet reponde (Corneille). 2. If the not is expressed in English, ne pas must be used after de peur que, &c. : a moins que Vhonneur de votre famille ne vous soit pas cher, unless the honour of your family be not dear to you. b. After the verbs craindre, avoir peur, apprehender, trembler, when used affirmatively : il craint que cette malheureuse ne soit deja partie, he is afraid that this unfortunate one has already left : je tremble qu'il ne soit arrive quelque malheur, I tremble lest some misfortune should have happened. But when the verbs craindre, &c, are used negatively, no negation is inserted in the dependent sentence : il ne craint pas que vous Voubliez, he is not afraid that you will forget him. Note. — Where not is expressed in English in the subordinate sentence, ne pas must be used after craindre, apprehender, avoir peur, trembler, no matter whether the principal sentence be affirmative or ner/ative : il craint que son frere ne vicnne pas, he is afraid that his brother will not come ; je ne crams point quit ne se tire pas d'affairc, I have no fear of his not getting out of the scrape. c. After autre, autrement,plus 7 mieux, moins, moindre, meilleur, pire, when used in affirmative sentences: il est tout autre quit 142 A GRAMMAR OF THE TRENCH LANGUAGE. rCetait ; il est plus riclie qu'on ne le dit; sa Jllle est mieux instruite que vous ne le croyez. But if the principal sentence is negative, no negation is inserted in the dependent sentence : il ix'est pas plus modest e qu'il le par ait. d. After empecher, to hinder, to prevent ; and eviter, to prevent, to avoid: les fautes d'Homere rCont pas empeche qu'il nefut sublime; je voudrais Men eviter qv?il ne vint chez-moi. e. After nier, douter, disputer, contester, disconvenir, desesperer, when accompanied by a negation : je ne doute point que cela n'ait ete dit; je ne disconviens pas qu'il ne soit plus riche que son frere; je ne desespere pas qu'il ne se tire d' affaire. But when nier, douter, &c, are employed affirmatively, the dependent sentence takes no negation : je doute que cela ait ete dit; je desespere quit se retablisse. Additional Remarks. — The conjunctive locutions avant que, sans que, and the verb defendre, are never followed by ne : avant qu'^ fasse froid : le maitre a defendu que nous allassions aujardin. Concord of the Verb with its Subject. I. A verb must agree with its subject* in number and person : je vous aime; tu ne paries pas ; il s'en va; sa mere lui a donud de V argent; nous avons dine; vous perdriez a ce jeu-ld; les richesses attirent les amis, la pauvrete les eloigne. II. When the subject is composed of several nouns or pronouns, the verb is put in the plural; and, if the several words composing the subject happen to be of different persons, it is made to agree with the person taking precedence : t son pere et son oncle viendront nous voir ; le capitaine et moi nous allames droit a la porte de la chambre ; toi et lui vous etes heureux. Exceptions. 1. The verb agrees with the last of several nouns or pronouns composing the subject. a. "When the words composing the subject are of analogous import (synonymous) : son courage, son intrepidite etonne les plus braves. b. When the words composing the subject are connected by * The subject may be either a noun substantive, or a pronoun, or an infinitive ; or it may consist also of several substantives, pronouns, or infinitives. f The first person takes precedence of the second, the second of the third. CONCORD OP THE VERB WITH ITS SUBJECT. 143 the conjunction ou : il rCy a rien que la crainte ou Vesper ance ne persuade aux homines. Remark. — However, if the words connected by ou happen to be of different persons, the verb is put in the plural and made to agree with the person taking precedence : vous on moi irons ; vous ou voire cousin ecrirez la lettre. c. When the words composing the subject are placed in order of gradation (in other terms, when they are arranged in a sort of climax) ; ce sacrifice, voire interet, voire honneur, la patrie Z'exige. d. When the last of the words composing the subject happens to be a collective or resuming expression, i. e., an expression referring to the other (preceding) components of the subject, collectively or to each of them separately, as tout, rien, nul, per sonne, aucun, cliacun: vieillards,femmes, e?ifants,])er$omie n'echappa au carnage; le temps, les Mens, la vie, tout est a la patrie. 2. "When the subject is composed of two substantives, or pronouns, connected by one of the conjunctions, co?nme, de meme que, ainsi que, aussi Men que* the verb is made to agree with the first of the two nouns or pronouns : la sante, comme la fortune, retire sesfaveurs a ceux qui en abusent. III. JOun et V autre, and also ni Vun ni V autre, or any other compound subject of which the component parts are connected by ni, demand the verb in the plural : plus Vhomme et lafemme s* attacheront Vun a V autre, plus Tun et 1' autre seront heureux; fai lu vos deux discours, ni Tun ni 1' autre ne sont Ions ; ni Tor ni la grandeur ne nous rendent heureux. Remark. — However, if the action or state expressed by the verb can be attributed only to one of the two words connected by ni, and not to both of them at the same time, the verb is put in the singular : ni Vun ni V autre w'obtiendra le prix ; ni M. le Due, ni M. le Cardinal, ne sera nomme ambassadeur a St. Peters' TV. When the subject is composed of two or several infini- tives, the verb is put in the plural : vivre et jouir seront pour lui la meme chose ; lire trop et lire trop pen sont deux defauts. Remark. — We frequently use the pronoun ce after several infinitives, as * We may here incidentally remark, that there are found occasionally even in standard authors deviations and departures from this as well a3 from many other rules. Such deviations, however, are, and remain blunders, and should not be imitated by the student, even though Pascal, Massillon, Racine, or the great Voltaire himself stood godfather to them ; they are like spots on the sun in the writings of these great authors. 144 A GBAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. a species of resuming expression, to impart greater force and precision to the sentence. In sentences of this kind the verb etre is put in the singular : boire, manger, dormir, c'est toute son occupation, V. The verb etre preceded by ce, is put in the plural only when it is followed by a noun in the plural number, or a pronoun of the third person plural : ce sont les gros ecus qui lui manquent ; ne parlez pas a ces hommes, ce sont eux qui vous ont calomnie. VI. A verb preceded by a collective noun (noun of multi- tude), having for its complement the preposition de and a noun substantive, agrees either with the noun of multitude or with the complemented noun, according to whether the action or state expressed by the verb is attributed principally to the former or to the latter : la quantite de fourmis etait si grande quelle detruisait tous les biens que Von confiait a la terre. Here the verb agrees with the collective noun {quantite), as the state expressed by the verb is attributed to that noun, and not to the complemental substantive {fourmis). It is the quantity or number which is stated to have been great, and not the ants. Tine nuee de barbares desolerent le pays. Here the verb agrees with the complemental noun (barbares), as the action expressed by the verb (the laying waste of the land) is attributed to that noun, and not to the collective noun. It is the barbarians that are stated to have laid waste the land, not the cloud or swarm {nuee). Thus it will happen sometimes, that where there are two verbs in a sentence of the kind, the one may agree with the collective, the other with the complemental noun : la moitie des troupes qui firent la guerre perit de misere. Here the one verb (faire—faire la guerre) agrees with the complemental noun (troupes), as the action expressed by that verb is attributed to troupes and not to the collective noun (moitie) ; whereas the other verb (perir) is made to agree with the collective noun (la moitie), as it is not the military forces that are stated to have perished, but only the one-half of them (la moitie). In cases where the action or state expressed by the verb may be attributed equally and indifferently to the noun-collective and to the complemental noun, the general rule is to make the verb agree with the collective, if it happens to be a collective general, with the complemental substantive, if the noun of multitude happens to be a collective partitive (see p. 49) : la totalite des hommes redoute la mort ; wne troupe de nymphes couronnees defeurs nageaient enfoule derriere le char. VII. "When the collective is an adverb of quantity, as beau- coup, assez, peu, tant, inflniment, &c, the verb is always made GOVERNMENT OF THE VERB. 145 to agree with the substantive complement : beaucoup de gens ont pense cela ; peu d'hommes raisonnent et tous veulent decider. VIII. The collectives, beaucoup, peu, la plupart, une infinite, are often used without the complemental substantive belonging to them being expressed; whenever this happens to be the case, the verb is made to agree with the complemental noun understood, just the same as if it were expressed : la flu/part (i. e., des hommes) sont sujets a des infirmites; beaucoup (i. e., de gens) sont a" avis, &c; une infinite (i. e.,depersonnes) pensent, &c; peu (i. e., d'hommes) travaillent avec autant d* ardeur que lui. IX. A verb having for its subject the relative pronoun qui, agrees in number and person with the antecedent of that pronoun : l'homme qui travaille ; le mari et la femme qui vont cm marche ; ce courage, cette intrepidite qui etonne les plus braves ; safaiblesse ou son inexperience qui lui a fait commettre tant de fautes ; c'est vous ou lui qui irez ; c'est voire inter et, voire Jionneur, la patrie qui exige ce sacrifice ; c'est noire temps, voire fortune, voire vie, tout qui est du a la patrie ; c'est Tun et l'autre qui meritent des eloges ; ce n'est ni Tun ni l'autre qui ont gagne la bataille ; ce n'est ni Tor ni la grandeur qui nous rendent heureux ; ce n'est ni Tun ni l'autre qui est le president de VAssemblee ; la totalite des hommes qui redoute la mort ; la moitie des troupes qui firent la guerre perit de niisere. X. After un de, un des, the verb is put either in the singular or in the plural, according to whether the action expressed by it is performed by one single or by several agents : c'est une de mes cousines qui m'envoie cette lettre ; V intemperance est un des vices qui detruisent la santL The same rule applies equally to the participle : c'est une de mes cousines que vous avez vue au theatre ; c'est une des plus belles tragedies que nous ayons vues. Government of the Verb. I. A verb cannot have two distinct* direct complements. Thus, 'Racine commits a blunder when he says, " ne vous informez pas ce que je deviendrai ; " he ought to have written de ce que je deviendrai. II. A verb should never be accompanied by two indirect complements expressing the same relation. Thus, you must not say, for instance, c'est a vous a qui je parle ; c est de vous dont il s'agit, c'est a la ville ou je vais. The suppression of * The student need hardly be told that this rule refers, of course, only to distinct complements ; in il aims son pere et sa mere, the two nouns form a compound complement, not two distinct ones. H 146 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. c'est, which is used simply to impart greater force and precision to the sentence, will suffice to make the fault at once manifest : je parte a vous, a qui ; il sagit de vous, dont ; je vais a la ville, ou. The student will now clearly see that a qui, dont, oil, are here altogether without function. In sentences of this nature, the conjunction que is used to connect the two apparently distinct propositions : c'est a vous que je parle ; cest de vous qu' il s'agit; cest a la ville que je vais (it is to you that I speak, &c.). III. The student should always consult a good dictionary to ascertain the nature of the complement or complements governed by a French verb, as the two languages often differ materially in this respect ; thus, for instance, we say in English, he slanders his neighbour ; whereas in French we must say, il medit de son prochain ; she resembles her mother — elle ressemble a sa mere ; ask your brother — demandez a votre frere, &c. IY. When two verbs are associated, one of which governs a direct, the other an indirect, complement, the proper complement must be given to each of them : le peuple attaqua les Tuileries et s'en rendit maitre (not le peuple attaqua et se rendit maitre des Tuileries). The same rule applies equally in the case of two verbs governing each an indirect complement, dependent respectively on different prepositions : le vaisseau entra dans le 'port et en sortit le meme jour (not entra et sortit du port) . V. When a verb is accompanied both by a direct and an indirect complement, the shorter one of the two is placed first : elle a donne cent louis a lafille de sa nourrice ; elle donne a son frere tout V argent quelle gagne. If the two complements happen to be of equal length, or nearly so, the first place is assigned to the direct complement : elle donne toujour s de F argent a son frere. VI. The indirect complement of a verb should never be placed in a position to lead to a possible misconception of the actual meaning of the sentence ; thus, you must not say, for instance, essay ez d'abord de raniener ces esprit s eg ares, par la douceur ; but de ramener par la douceur ces esprits egares. VII. If the complement of a verb happens to be composed of several parts connected by one of the conjunctions et, ni, ou, the components so connected must always belong respectively to the same part of speech ; in other words, the conjunctions et, ni 9 ou, must only connect a substantive with a substantive, a verb with a verb, a preposition with a preposition, &c. : nous aimons V etude et la lecture des Ions auteurs (not et a lire les USE OP THE TENSES. 147 bons auteurs) ; je crois que voire conduite est irreprochable et qrfon vous a calomnie (not je crois votre conduite irreprochable et qu'on, &c.) ; Us se plaisent au spectacle ou a la promenade (not a se promener) ; il n'est pas necessaire d'apprendre a tirer de Tare ni a manier lejavelot (not le onaniement dujavelot), &c. VIII. Passive verbs require for their complement either the preposition de, or the preposition par ; the former, when the verb denotes a mental action (as to love, to fear, to hate, to praise, &c.) ; the latter, when it denotes & physical or intellectual action : Vhonnete homme est estime de tout le monde ; elle est cherie de sa famille ; la bataille de Wagram fat gagnee par les Frangais en 1809 ; la poudre-a-canon fut inventee par Berthold Schivartz. Eemark. — However, par is sometimes substituted for de, to avoid the repetition of the latter : votre conduite a ete approuvee d'une commune voix par toutes les personnes sages et eclair ees. Use of the Tenses. As regards the respective use of the several tenses of the Indicative and Conditional, the two languages may be said to correspond pretty closely,* except that the French language lacks the periphrastic forms with to oe and to do (the participal inflection and the auxiliary inflection), of which the English language makes such copious and extensive use ; whilst, on the other hand, the latter lacks the preterite definite,^ and the preterite anterior, or paulo-ante pluperfect, of the Trench. The Trench imperfect expresses an action being performed (or a state existing, or an event occurring) at a time past: je lisais quand il entra. It implies continuance or repetition of an action, &c, and corresponds accordingly mostly to the English imperfect of the participal inflection: I was loving, j'aimais : or also to the English imperfect (preterite) of the radical inflection, when denoting a habit, or an action, &c, repeated from time to time. The preterite definite designates a time completely elapsed, and separated from the moment of speaking, by at least one night intervening : je recus une lettre hier, I received a letter yesterday. The preterite definite serves in Erench as aorist or * A dissertation on the nice differences and distinctions (mostly of a purely idiomatic character) that might be pointed out between the two languages, in the respective use of the several tenses, would be out of place in an elementary work like the present. t However, the preterite definite may be said to correspond to the English imperfect (preterite) of the radical and the auxiliary inflection, h2 148 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. historic tense, and is employed accordingly, as the imperfect of the radical inflection (preterite) is in English, in the narrative of past events. The preterite indefinite, or compound perfect, designates either, like the preterite definite, a time completely elapsed, fai recu wne lettre l'annee derniere ; or a time of which a portion remains still unexpired : j 'ai recu une lettre aujourd'hui, cette semaine, ce mois, cette annee. The preterite anterior, or paulo-ante pluperfect, is commonly used after an adverb of time (dies que, lorsque, quand, aussitot que, apres que, a peine que, &c), in accessory sentences, when the verb of the principal sentence is in the perfect (preterite definite) tense : des qu!il eut dejeune, il commenca sa tdche. The English forms to be going to, to be about to, to be on the point of, and to have just, to have recently, to have not long, to have this moment, find their respective French equi- valents in alter and venir de ; nous allions nous mettre a table lorsque, &c, we were going to sit down to table, when, &c. ; monfrere vient de sortir, my brother has just gone out, &c. The Subjunctive Mode. The indicative is the mode of positive, definite, — the sub- junctive the mode of vague, indefinite, problematic — assertion. The former denotes reality, actuality, certainty ; the latter, incertitude, doubt, possibility. The subjunctive mode is used in French — a. In accessory sentences introduced by que, after verbs that denote will, wish, command, desire, request, doubt, fear, denial, or any other idea implying incertitude as to the performance of the action (or existence or realisation of the state, or occurrence of the event), expressed by the second verb : il veut que vous fassiez voire devoir ; j'ai peur qu'il ne soit pas arrive, &c. b. In accessory sentences introduced by que, after unipersonal verbs, or verbs used in the manner of unipersonal verbs, e. g. : il faut, il semble, il convient, il est or c'est fdcheux, il est or c'est utile, il suffit, il vaut mieux, il est juste, il se peut, &c. Exception. — II semble, accompanied by an indirect personal complement, and il y a, il parait, il resulte, il est certain, il est vrai, and some other unipersonal verbs implying positive, definite assertion, demand the second verb in the indicative mode : il me semble que vous avez raison ; il est sur que ses amis se sont charges de payer ses dettes, &c. Unless these verbs happen to be accompanied by a negation: THE SUBJUNCTIVE MODE. 149 il ne me semble pas que vous ayez raison ; il riest pas sur que ses amis se soient charges de payer ses dettes. c. Generally, in accessory sentences after a verb accom- panied by a negation, or nsed in the interrogative form : je ne crois pas qu'il vienne ; croyez-vous qu'il vienne ? Exception. — In sentences where the interrogative form is simply employed as an oratorical turn, by way of affirming with still greater force than is expressed by the positive form, the verb in the accessory sentence must be put in the indicative : oubliez-vous, que cet liomme n'est qu'un vil usurpateur? d. After a relative pronoun (or the relative pronominal adverb ou), when preceded by a superlative relative, and also after peu, le seul, V unique, le premier, le dernier, la seule, les seuls, les seules, la premiere, &c. : donnez-moi la meilleure plume que vous ayez ; le chien est le seul animal dont la fidelite soit a Vepreuve; e'est le moins honnete homme qn' il y ait ;il y a pen d'hommes qui sachent supporter Vadversite; c" est la seule place oil vous puissiez aspirer, &c. Remake. — However, if the verb of the principal sentence expresses positive and incontestible assertion or affirmation, the verb in the relative clause must be put in the indicative : c'est leplusjeune deses freres que je connais; ce n'est pas la plus aimahle des trois soeurs gyCil a epousee. e. After a relative pronoun (or the relative pronominal adverb ou), when the performance of the action (or existence or realisation of the state, or occurrence of the event), expressed by the verb following is doubtful or uncertain : choisissez une femme qui soit prudente; citez-moi un niaitre dont les legogis soient aussi profit ables que celles de V experience. f After quelque-que, quel que, quoi que, quoique (conjunction) : quelque vil que V usurp at eur soit; quels que soient ses crimes; quoi que vous en disiez ; quoique nous ne soyons pas riches. g. After certain conjunctive locutions compounded with que : afin que, pour que, a moins que, "Dieu veuille que, plut a Dieu que, a Dieu ne plaise que, en cas que, pose le cas que, suppose que, avant que, lien que, loin que, excepte que, encore que, non pas que, de crainte que, de peur que, pourvu que, sans que, jusqiC a ce que, moyennant que, tant s^enfaut que, ce n' "est pas que, pourpeu que : je suis venu, pour que nous parlions de cette affaire ; je vous ecrirai avant que vous partiez ; entrez sans qwHlvous voie. h. After que vicarious, i.e., que used in lieu of one of the conjunctive locutions compounded with que, or in lieu of si: approchez que (instead of afin que) je vous parle ; si voire soeur vient demain et qu^7 fasse beau temps (instead of s'il fait beau temps), nous irons nous promener. 150 A GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. i. De fagon que, de sorte que, de maniere que, si ce rHest que 9 si ?w?i que, are construed either with the indicative, or with the subjunctive ; with the former, when the idea conveyed by the second verb is positive, and relates to the present or past : il s'est conduit de maniere qu'z'Z a obtenu Vestime des honnetes gens ; with the latter, when the idea is doubtful, and relates to the future : conduisez-vous de maniere que vous obteniez Vestime des honnetes gens. The Infinitive Mode. An infinitive forming the complement of another verb, is usually joined to the latter by a preposition, and most com- monly by either de or a; by the former, for instance, after achever, apprehender, s'aviser, bldmer, bruler, craindre, dedaigner, defier, se depecher, desesperer, differer, discontinuer, gagner, regretter, resoudre, soupconner, &c. ; by the latter, for instance, after aimer, aider, aspirer, assigner, s'attendre, autoriser, balancer, se borner, decider, desapprendre, encourager, enseigner, s' entendre, exhorter, exposer, habituer, hesiter, inviter, manquer, (with a nega- tive this verb takes de ; and also in some colloquial phrases : il a manque d'etre tue, he has nearly lost his life,) s'obstiner, penser, persister, renoncer, repugner, se resoudre, viser, &c. The student should always, if possible, consult a good French dictionary to ascertain which preposition a verb requires before an infinitive following. After the following verbs the infinitive complement may take d& or a before it : commencer, consentir, continuer, contraindre, determiner, s'efforcer, engager, s^ennuyer, essay er, faillir, forcer, obliger, oublier, solliciter, souffrir, tdcher, tarder. The choice of the proper preposition depends here in a great measure on the ear, and on what good taste may demand; in the case of some of these verbs, however, the meaning is some- what modified by the respective use of either the one or the other of the two prepositions ; for instance, continuer a is used of an uninterrupted action: il continuait a vivre en libertin ; continuer de, of an action that has intervals of suspension : il continue de nous ecrire. Here again I would advise the student to consult a good French dictionary. The preposition de may be put before the infinitive or omitted (as the ear or good taste may require), after desirer, detester, esperer, souhaiter. 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In 1 vol. large 8vo, with 13 Plates, price One Guinea, in half -morocco binding, MATHEMATICS FOR PRACTICAL MEN: Being a Common -Place Book of PURE AND MIXED MATHE- MATICS ; together with the Elementary Principles of Engineering; designed chiefly for the use of Civil Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors. BY OLINTHUS GREGORY, LL.D., F.R.A.S. Third Edition, revised and enlarged by HENRY LAW, Civil Engineer. PART L- CHAPTER I. ARITHMETIC. Sect. 1. Definitions and notation. 2. Addition of whole numbers. 3. Subtraction of whole numbers. 4. Multiplication of whole numbers. CONTENTS. PURE MATHEMATICS. Sect. 5. Division of whole numbers. — Proof of the first four rules of Arithmetic. 6. Vulgar fractions. — Reduction of vulgar fractions. — Addition and NEW LIST OF WORKS. 23 MATHEMATICS FOR PRACTICAL MEN. Sect. subtraction of vulgar fractions. — Multiplication and division of vulgar fractions. 7. Decimal fractions. — Reduction of decimals. — Addition and sub- traction of decimals. — Multipli- cation and division of decimals. 8. Complex fractions used in the arts and commerce. — Reduction. — Addition. — Subtraction and multiplication. — Division. — Duodecimals. 9. Powers and roots. — Evolution. 10. Proportion. — Rule of Three.— De- termination of ratios. 11. Logarithmic arithmetic. — Use of the Tables. — Multiplication and division by logarithms. — Pro- portion, or the Rule of Three, by logarithms. — Evolution and involution by logarithms. 12. Properties of numbers. CHAPTER II. ALGEBRA. 1. Definitions and notation. — 2. Ad- dition and subtraction. — 3. Mul- tiplication. — 4. Division. — 5. In- volution. — 6. Evolution. — 7. Surds. — Reduction. — Addition, subtraction, and multiplication. — Division, involution, and evo- lution. — 8. Simple equations. — Extermination. — Solution of general problems. — 9. Quadratic equations. — 10. Equations in general. — 11. Progression. — Arithmetical progression. — Geo- metrical progression. — 12. Frac- tional and negative exponents. — 13. Logarithms. — 14. Computa- tion of formulae. CHAPTER III. GEOMETRY. 1. Definitions. — 2. Of angles, and right lines, and their rectangles. PART II.— MIXED CHAPTER I. — MECHANICS IN GENERAL. CHAPTER II. STATICS. 1. Statical equilibrium. 2. Centre of gravity. 3. General application of the princi- ples of statics to the equilibrium Sect, — 3. Of triangles. --4. Of qua- drilaterals and polygons. — 5. Of the circle, and inscribed and cir- cumscribed figures. — 6. Of plans and solids. — 7. Practical geo- metry. CHAPTER IV. — MENSURATION. 1. Weights and measures. — 1. Mea- sures of length. — 2. Measures of surface. — 3. Measures of so- lidity and capacity. — 4. Mea- sures of weight. — 5. Angular measure. — 6. Measure of time. — Comparison of English and French weights and measures. 2. Mensuration of superficies. 3. Mensuration of solids. CHAPTER V. TRIGONOMETRY. 1. Definitions and trigonometrical formulae. — 2. Trigonometrical Tables. — 3. General proposi- tions. — 4. Solution of the cases of plane triangles. — Right-an- gled plane triangles. — 5. On the application of trigonometry to measuring heights and distances. — Determination of heights and distances by approximate me- chanical methods. CHAPTER VI. CONIC SECTIONS. 1. Definitions. — 2. Properties of the ellipse. — 3. Properties of the hy- perbola. — 4. Properties of the parabola. CHAPTER VII. PROPERTIES OF CURVES. 1. Definitions. — 2. The conchoid. — 3. The cissoid. — 4. The cycloid and epicycloid. — 5. The quadra- trix. — 6. The catenary. — Rela- tions of Catenarian Curves. MATHEMATICS. of structures. — Equilibrium of piers or abutments. — Pressure of earth against walls. — Thick- ness of walls. — Equilibrium of polygons.- — Stability of arches. — Equilibrium of suspension bridges. 24 JOHN WEALED NEW LIST OF WORKS. MATHEMATICS FOR PRACTICAL MEN. Sect. CHAPTER III. — DYNAMICS. 1. General Definitions. 2. On the general laws of uniform and variable motion. — Motion uniformly accelerated. — Motion of bodies under the action of gravity. — Motion over a fixed pulley, and on inclined planes. 3. Motions about a fixed centre, or axis. — Centres of oscillation and percussion. — Simple and com- pound pendulums. — Centre of gyration, and the principles of rotation. — Central forces. 4. Percussion or collision of bodies in motion. 5. Mechanical powers. — Levers. — Wheel & axle. — Pulley. — In- clined plane. — Wedge and screw. CHAPTER IV. HYDROSTATICS. 1. General Definitions. — 2. Pressure and equilibrium of Non-elastic Fluids. — 3. Floating Bodies. — 4. Specific gravities. — 5. On capillary attraction. CHAPTER V. HYDRODYNAMICS. 1. Motion and effluence of liquids. 2. Motion of water in conduit pipes and open canals, over weirs, &c. — Velocities of rivers. 3. Contrivances to measure the velo- city of running waters. CHAPTER VI. PNEUMATICS. 1. Weight and equilibrium of air and elastic fluids. 2. Machines for raising water by the pressure of the atmosphere. 3. Force of the wind. Sect. CHAPTER VII. MECHANICAL AGENTS. 1. Water as a mechanical agent. 2. Air as a mechanical agent. — Cou- lomb's experiments. 3. Mechanical agents depending upon heat. The Steam Engine. — Table of Pressure and Tempera- ture of Steam. — General de- scription of the mode of action of the steam engine. — Theory of the same. — Description of various engines, and formulae for calculating their power: pucti- cal application. 4. Animal strength as a mechanical agent. CHAPTER VIII. STRENGTH OF MATERIALS. 1. Results of experiments, and prin- ciples upon which they should be practically applied. 2. Strength of materials to resist tensile and crushing strains. — - Strength of columns. 3. Elasticity and elongation of bodies subjected to a crushing or ten- sile strain. 4. On the strength of materials sub- jected to a transverse strain. — » Longitudinal form of beam of uniform strength. — Transverse strength of other materials than cast iron. — The strength of beams according to the manner in which the load is distributed. 5. Elasticity of bodies subjected to a transverse strain. 6. Strength of materials to resist torsion. APPENDIX. I. Table of Logarithmic Differences. II. Table of Logarithms of Numbers, from 1 to 100. III. Table of Logarithms of Numbers, from 100 to 10,000. IV. Table of Logarithmic Sines, Tangents, Secants, &c. V. Table of Useful Factors, extending to several places of Decimals. VI. Table of various Useful Numbers, with their Logarithms. VII. Table of Diameters, Areas, and Circumferences of Circles, &c. VIII. Table of Relations of the Arc, Abscissa, Ordinate and Subnormal, in the Catenary* IX. Tables of the Lengths and Vibrations of Pendulums. X. Table of Specific Gravities. XI. Table of Weight of Materials frequently employed in Construction. XII. Principles of Chronometers. XIII. Select Mechanical Expedients. XIV. Observations on the Effect of Old London Bridge on the Tides, &c. XV. Professor Farish on Isometrical Perspective. Deacidiffed using the Bookkeeper process Treatment Date: Sept. 2006 PreservationTechnologies m Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111