§ 365. "Regular" and "Irregular " Verbs.

Regularity and Irregularity are purely relative terms. Their constant application to verbs is misleading.

If we take the Latin as point de départ, verbs which have not followed the Latin are irregular.

If we take the law of the tonic accent, verbs which do not follow the law are irregular.

If we take the usual four conjugations as standards of regularity, verbs which differ from these four standards are irregular. If we take. the systematic formation of tenses from the socalled primitive tenses, verbs which break through this system are irregular.

The list could be easily increased. The above will be sufficient to show that the irregular verbs of our system will be the regular verbs of another. It is better to avoid the term as far as possible.

§ 366. The four Latin and the four French Conjugations. 1. The conjugation in -er corresponds to the first conjugation of the Latin: portare, porter.

2. The conjugation in -ir has a double origin:

(a) The simple or non-inchoative verbs, sentir, mentir, etc., correspond to the verbs of the fourth conjugation, sentire, mentire, etc.

(b) The enlarged or inchoative verbs, fleurir, languir, etc., correspond to a great extent (in form, not in meaning) to the really inchoative or inceptive verbs of the third conjugation of the Latin, florescère, languescère, etc.

3. The conjugation in -oir corresponds to the second conjugation of the Latin: avoir (habere), devoir (debere).

4. The conjugation in -re corresponds to the third conjugation of the Latin vendre (vendere), lire (legere).

5. If we look upon a regular verb as one which is the natural and correct resultant of a Latin verb, in each conjugation irregular verbs abound; (§ 38) for example,

In the first conjugation we have

affliger instead of afflire, from affligère, etc., etc.

In the second conjugation we have quérir, instead of querre, from quaerere, etc.

In the third conjugation we have recevoir, instead of reçoivre, from recipere; savoir, from sapère, etc.

In the fourth conjugation we have rire, instead of ridoir, from ridere, etc., etc.

§ 367. Tenses formed from the Latin.

The only tense-forms of Latin origin which still remain in French are to use the Latin Grammar names

The Gerunds and Present Participle seem together to have given the French Present Participle: chantant, from cantantem and cantandum.

The Past Participle passive remains: chanté, cantatus.

All the remaining parts of a French verb are of French formation.

§ 368. Future Indicative and Present Conditional.

It is convenient to speak of the Future Indicative and of the Present Conditional as of simple formation; in reality they are compound.

(a) The Future has been formed by the Present tense Indicative of avoir with the Infinitive; thus, j'aimerai = j'ai (à) aimer. The Latin Future has been rejected.*

(b) Similarly in the Conditional Present the endings of the Past Imperfect Indicative have been added. The Conditional is in essence a Future Indicative, but a Future viewed from the Past, and not from the Present like the Simple Future. (See Syntax Use of the Tenses.)

I thought yesterday that I should do it next morning.
I think to-day that I shall do it to-morrow.

This difference in meaning explains the difference in formation. The Simple Future is formed by the Infinitive with the Present of avoir, sometimes contracted, sometimes not; the 'Conditional' by the Infinitive with the Past endings only.†

* This paraphrase had its origin in Latin. Cicero has habeo perspectum, habeo cognitum, satis dictum habeo. It is frequent in Low Latin. It is now common to all the Romance languages: cantero, Italian; cantare, Spanish; cantarei, Portuguese, etc. (See Diez, pp. 119, 120, vol. ii. passim.)

It is evident from these considerations, and from the fact that the Future also may have Conditional power, that the term "Conditional Mood" is open to objection. but it is too firmly fixed in the language to be disturbed with impunity. Moreover the forms have as a rule Conditional force. (See Syntax.)

$369. s final in 1st Person Singular.

(a) The -s final, which in some of the French tenses is found in the first person singular, has no right there; in no Latin tense is such an ending found in the first person. Its use is comparatively modern. * Compare

The Future and Conditional follow consistently the endings of

the Present and Past Imperfect of avoir. (§ 368.)

je vendroie

je dormirais

je vendrais

(3) Some verbs of the 2nd Conjugation are also etymologically regular :

je cueille, j'assaille, j'ouvre, j'offre.

(y) In modern verse the -s, where usually present, may often be omitted if necessary to the rhyme, but it may not be added, if usually absent. Thus at the end of a line je dois, je doi; je vois, je voi; je dis, je di; je vais, je vai, are equally correct.

*This addition of s may have the same origin as the t in voilà-t-il (§ 370, note).

R

§ 370. t final in 3rd Person Singular.

1. Here and there in the 3rd Person Singular the -t of the Latin has been dropped.

2. Till about the middle of the thirteenth century this -t remained in all tenses as it does now in the plural.

Quel merveille se li hom tramblet.

(ST. BERNARD, 12th cent.) Ell emportat del fruit si (se) en mangeat et si (se) en donat a son baron (mari) et cil en manjat. (Mor. sur Job.)

Afterwards the -t was omitted in many affirmative and interrogative forms, il donne, il aime, donne-il, aime-il, etc., no doubt because it was not sounded.* Eventually the sound of the t was given to interrogative forms, to prevent hiatus.t But as the origin of this t was forgotten it was written as we now have it, between two hyphens.

In two verbs only, the -t still shows itself in this tense : il ait

*

Littré, Hist. de la Langue Française, vol. ii. p. 23.

†The t is not written, even now, in va-et-vient, often pronounced va

§ 371. Use of 'Avoir' and 'Être' with Intransitive Verbs.

Avoir is employed with Active Verbs; être with Passive Verbs. Some intransitive verbs have a position between the two, and employ sometimes one, sometimes the other, according as the active or passive idea predominates. This is the general principle, but usage does not always correspond.

1. Intransitive Verbs which always take avoir in their compound tenses:

2. Intransitive Verbs which always take être in their compound tenses:

t-et-vient; "Malbrough s'en va en guerre," pronounced s'en va-t-en guerre. Voilà-t-il is a barbarism. Molière, etc., wrote voilà alone. Compare entre quatre yeux, pronounced entre quatre-z-yeux.