1. According to modern usage: (1) Nominative qui, Accusative que, are common in relation to persons, animals, or inanimate objects. (2) Preference is given to à qui, avec qui, par qui, etc., for persons; to auquel, avec lequel, pour lequel, etc., for animals and inanimate objects. (See Examples §§ 290-292.) (3) But when clearness is gained, lequel is employed even for persons: J'allai trouver l'homme qui m'avait parlé du mariage de Mme. de Miramion, lequel me parut dans les meilleurs sentiments. (RABUTIN, 17th cent.) § 315. Aucun. Aucun is substantive or adjective. It is derived from aliquis and unus. It is essentially affirmative: "Les aulcuns disoient que les altres que." (RABELAIS, 16th cent.) Its constant employment with ne has given it its negative force. Compare personne, pas, point, goutte, jamais, all affirmative words. Aucun is constantly found in the plural*" Des gens qui (MONTESQUIEU, 18th cent.) n'ont aucuns besoins.' § 316. Autre, autrui. Autre is from alter, autrui from alterius. Compare lui and celui (§§ 298-304). In Old French it is therefore employed as an objective with a preposition or without. This remains; autrui cannot be used as subject. § 317. Chaque and chacun. Chaque is essentially adjectival: Chaque homme. Chacun is substantival: "Chacun se disputait la gloire de l'abattre" (RACINE). "Chacune avait sa brigue" (Id.) Formerly chacun was employed also as an adjective: "chacune sœur" (LA FONTAINE). Chacun does not admit of a plural. § 318. Quelque (some) quelques. Quelque is a compound of quel (qualis) and que. As que is incapable of plural, it would be supposed that in its compound forms it would be equally without s, and that the distinction of gender and number would fall upon quel. This, in fact, was done till about the end of the 13th century, when the word was first written as now, quelque, quelques, in the sense of some: thus Ou par quiexque malaventures. (La Rose, 13th cent.) (COMMINES, 15th cent.) * No doubt it is more common in the singular, but we can well imitate such examples as these: Aucuns projets (VOLTAIRE); aucunes peines (B. DE ST. PIERRE); aucunes larmes (LAMARTINE), etc. § 319. (1) Quelque (2) Quel.. que, Quelle . . que, (3) Quelque.. que. It does not seem necessary to give a long explanation of these words. A careful study of the construction will make them easy to an English reader. 1. Quelque is an indefinite adjective some: quelques hommes. 2. Quel.. que is an indefinite adjective ( = of what kind) + a conjunction (= that) in : quel que soit votre plaisir ; quels que soient les enfants. 3. In quelque adverb = que, the word quelque is now treated as an however. Quelque bonnes que soient vos raisons. But occasionally it is treated as an adjective whatever: Quelques bonnes raisons qu'il ait données. Till the 16th century no such distinction existed; quelque was always capable of s. Quelques trois jours après. An example occurs even in Corneille: "Et n'oser de ses feux quelques ardents qu'ils soient." Between the 14th century and the 16th arose quelque. que. Till the 18th century, quel que, quelle.. que, etc., were often written and correctly written. $320. Quelconque. Quelconque is from qualiscunque, what kind soever. When used with a negative, it generally stands for nul, aucun, and remains invariable; but when used without a negative it admits of a plural: Deux points quelconques (Acad.). § 321. On. Homo has given on; hominem, homme.* Hom, homs, hon, om, on, are all found in Old French, with or without the preceding article l'. This article is now employed for the sake of euphony: VAUGELAS. No rule is followed; on and l'on are both found (and that too in the same authors); with a preference for l'on in all cases of doubtful euphony. § 322. Maint. Maint (many a) is of German origin, same root as many. It ceased to be employed during the 18th century, but seems to be gradually regaining favour. In La Fontaine, etc., it is common in the singular and in the plural. J'ai maints chapitres vus. Princes et rois. jetaient maint pleur. * See Substantives, origin of 8 (§ 209). CHAPTER III.-VERBS. § 323. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Verbs have Voice, Mood, Tense, Number, Person. There are two voices (1) Active.* (2) Passive. Active verbs are Transitive. Intransitive. Transitive verbs include Ordinary transitive verbs. Reflexive verbs. Reciprocal verbs. Intransitive verbs include Ordinary intransitive verbs. Impersonal verbs. Passive verbs are only of one kind, for they can only be formed from transitive verbs. Each voice has two parts, Finite and Infinite. i. The Verb Finite has four moods : 1. Indicative. 2. Subjunctive. 4. Imperative. ii. The Verb Infinite consists of the 1. Infinitive mood, or verbal noun. 2. Participles, or verbal adjectives. * In many French Grammars 'Active' =‘Transitive.' This is contrary to English practice, and is misleading. CLASSIFICATION OF VERBS. § 324. CONJUGATION. Independently of their uses as Transitive, Intransitive, Reflexive, etc., verbs are classified according to certain points of resemblance in their forms. This is called the Conjugation of Verbs. French Verbs are usually divided into four classes according to the ending of the Present Infinitive, Active. 1st, ER; 2nd, IR; 3rd, OIR; 4th, RE. Verbs are also divided into Strong and Weak. Any form of a verb which has the tonic accent on the stem is said to be "strong;" any form which has the tonic accent on the ending is said to be "weak." A verb which has a strong Simple Past Indicative, is said to be a STRONG VERB: je tins. A verb which has a weak Simple Past Indicative is said to be a WEAK VERB. All strong verbs are old. Many verbs, which were formerly strong are now weak. Every new verb is weak. The customary classification into four conjugations is easier for the beginner; but the verbs once learnt by their means, it is good to study the strong and weak classification. 66 § 325. REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS (so called). It is usual to speak of verbs as "regular" and "irregular," certain verbs being taken as models of "regularity." The model verbs are not in reality more regular than many of the so-called "irregular" verbs. -er There may be several thousand verbs in the 1st conjugation; nearly all are conjugated like PORTER. -ir There may be several hundred verbs in the 2nd conjugation; the greater number are conjugated like FINIR; a smaller number like SENTIR. -oir There may be sixty or seventy verbs in the 3rd conjugation. No model verb can be given which will include more than six or seven verbs. -re There may be several hundred verbs in the fourth conjugation; most of these are conjugated like VENDRE ; many are like PEINDRE; many like CONDUIRE; and many like PARAÎTRE. AUXILIARY VERBS. § 326. Auxiliary Verbs are of two kinds : 1. Auxiliaries of Tense (time). 2. Auxiliaries of Mood* (manner). The Auxiliaries of Tense are Avoir and Être. These, with the Past Participle, form the compound' or tenses. ' combinate In spite of their real irregularity, it is necessary to learn avoir and être first. Without the help of one or the other of these verbs, but few tenses in any verb can be formed. They are given a second time among the irregular verbs. The Auxiliaries of Mood are— These are joined to the Present Infinitive, and not to the Past Participle. The Auxiliaries of Mood are only given among the irregular verbs. It is well to give them early and special attention. TENSES. § 327. Tense is another word for time. Time can only be Present, Past, or Future. But besides the time there are three principal ways in which an action or state may be spoken of: 1. It may be spoken of in the simplest and most indefinite way (SIMPLE). I write. I wrote. I shall write. * The term ‘Auxiliary of Mood' has been adopted here from the German Grammars: it is short and convenient. Of course the number of such auxiliaries of mood might be increased; but this is true of the auxiliaries of tense: for example, venir in je viens de lui parler, I have just spoken to him, is an auxiliary of tense, and avoir in j'ai à lui parler is an auxiliary of mood. |