La servante a-t-elle nettoyé mes, Has the servant cleaned my snuffer porte-mouchettes ? Où avez-vous acheté ces beaux cure dents? trays? Where did you buy those fine tooth-picks? Y a-t-il dans cette maison des ré- Are there any aların-clocks in this veille-matin? house? CHAPTER II. OF THE ARTICLE. When a substantive, preceded by a or an, is not restricted by a particular idea, the a or an is not expressed in French; thus, I am a Frenchman, must be translated by, Je suis Français, and not Je suis un Francais, because the noun Français is not restricted. But in this sentence, I am a Frenchman of an illustrious family, the sentence must be rendered thus-Je suis un Français d'une famille illustre ; a is here rendered, because the noun Français is restricted by d'une famille illustre. When the verb être is preceded by the demonstrative pronoun ce, un, une, is always required before the substantive, as, c'est un Français, c'est une Italienne. The article le, la, les, must be used before common nouns, which are taken in a definite sense, bringing to mind a whole. species of individuals or objects, or a particular individual or object; as, L'homme est plutôt faible que méchant, Man is rather feeble than wicked; Les douleurs de la captivité, the griefs of captivity. The definite article is also used before the names of countries, provinces, rivers and mountains, La Tamise, la Seine, l'Europe, l'Asie, l'Afrique, l'Amérique, les Alpes, les Pyrénées, la mer noire, &c. But when the names of countries are used in an indefinite sense, or seem to be employed as adjectives to determine the signification of the preceding noun, the article is omitted, as, Du vin de France. La noblesse de France. Des soies d'Italie. Du vin de champagne. French wine. The nobility of France. ON MEASURE, WEIGHT, &c. I. The word a or an is used in English before a noun of measure, weight, as, Wheat is sold for a crown a bushel; butter sells for sixpence a pound; but in French we make use of the article, le, la, as, le blé se vend un écu le boisseau ; le beurre se vend six sous la livre. II. When we speak of time, a or an is expressed in French by the preposition PAR, as, so much a week, tant par semaine. III. The more you speak, the less I shall obey. In French the article is never expressed, and we say, plus vous parlez, moins je vous obéirai. REMARKS. 1. We make use of the article before the names of countries, as we have just said; but when those countries have the name of their capitals, we do not: as, Naples est un pays délicieux, Naples is a delightful country. 2. Neither do we use the article before the names of countries, when these names are governed by the preposition en; as, il est en Angleterre, he is in England; il est en Amérique, he is in America. 3. We say also Je viens de France, and not Je viens de la France; elle vient d'Espagne, instead of elle vient de l'Es pagne. 4. The article is not used before proper names, except when they are used in a limited sense; as, Dieu est juste, Jupiter était le premier des dieux, Le Dieu des Chrétiens, EXERCISE ON THE ARTICLE. He was a man of uncommon probity and of tried virtue; (as a) Ce reward un rare 2 f. 1. un éprouvé 2 1 for the services he had rendered to the church and que le récompenser de m. pl. pour église pr. art. Neoptolemus had hardly told évêque. Neoptolème eut à peine dit me that he was a Greek when I (cried out): O enchanting words, que after so many years of silence and unceasing de s'écrier ind-3 doux parole pain! O my son, sans consolation 2 pr. 1. f. pl. what misfortune, what storm, or rather what propitious wind has brought malheur m. tempête f. plutôt favorable 21 conduire you hither to end my woes ? He replied I am of the island mal? m. pl. répondre ind-3 pour retourner y les. Corn sells Veal and ile of Scyros, I am returning thither; (I am said) (to be) the son of Achil on dit que ind-1 for eight shillings a bushell. schelling boisseau art. veau This lace is sold f. se vendre art. blé m. se vendre * mutton cost ten pence a pound. livre f. coûter sou art. at half a guinea demi 21 f. an ell. aune The best French wines are sold at from twelve to fifteen de France 2 1 ind-1 shillings a bottle. My father goes to Ireland four or five times a bouteille f. va en Irlande year. He gives his son seven shillings a day. an fois It (is necessary), if you falloir fast) that you should take a lesson three times desire to (improve preniez a week. The more I contemplate those precious remains of antiquity, the more I am struck with wonder. What a beautiful morning! come, frappé de étonnement let us go and walk se promener into the fields. champ m. pl. matinée f. QUESTIONS. Avez-vous reçu des soies d'Italie ? Votre oncle ne vous a-t-il pas envoyé des vins de France ? N'aime-t-il pas la France autant que l'Italie ? Have you received Italian silks? Does he not like France as well as Votre cousin va-t-il en France trois Does your cousin go to France fois par an? three times a year? Votre oncle ne lui donne-t-il pas Does not your uncle give him ten dix guinées par semaine? guineas a week? Votre sœur prend-elle leçon trois Does your sister take a lesson three fois par semaine ? Les bons vins de champagne ne se vendent-ils pas huit francs la bouteille? Le mouton coute-t-il huit sous la livre ? Le bœuf que le cuisinier a acheté ne coute-t-il que six sous la livre? times a week? Do not good Champagne wines sell for eight francs a bottle? Does mutton cost eight cents a pound? Does the beef which the cook has bought cost only six cents a pound? Le blé ne se vend-il que dix francs Does the corn sell for only ten le boisseau ? francs a bushel ? La Tamise est-elle plus large que Is the Thames larger than the Seine? la Seine ? Les Alpes sont-elles plus hautes Are the Alps higher than the Pyque les Pyrénées ? Etes-vous Français ou Anglais ? Est-ce un Français qui vous parlait hier à la sortie du spectacle? L'Italien est-il plus affable que L'homme de probité est-il toujours renees ? Are you a Frenchman or an Englishman? Was it a Frenchman who spoke to Are the Italians more civil than the Is the man of uprightness always Ces maçons, combien gaguent-ils What do those masons get a day? par jour ? Ne gagnent-ils que quatre francs par jour ? Cette paysanne ne vend-elle pas son beurre dix-sept sous la livre ? La blanchisseuse ne va-t-elle à la rivière que deux fois par semaine? Cette toile se vend-elle quatre francs l'aune? Do they get only four francs a day? Does not that country-woman sell her butter for seventeen cents a pound? Does the washer-woman go to the river only twice a week? Does that linen sell for four francs an ell? Le cidre se vend-il quinze sous la Does cider sell for fifteen cents a bouteille? Combien de bouteilles pouvez-vous en boire par jour? Trois bouteilles par jour, ne fontelles pas quatre-vingt-dix bouteilles par mois ? bottle? How many bottles can you drink a day? Do not three bottles a day, make ninety bottles a month? CHAPTER III. OF THE ADJECTIVE. We have already spoken of the adjectives, and we have seen that they agree in gender and in number with the substantives which they qualify. An adjective serves often to qualify two or more substantives, expressing either persons or things of different genders. When the adjective qualifies more than two substantives, it must agree with them, for either these substantives perform the office of subject; as, la grammaire, la logique, et la rhétorique, méthodiquement enseignées, ne s'oublient guère; grammar, logic and rhetoric, when taught with method, are seldom forgotten; or they constitute the regimen ; as, c'est un homme d'une valeur, d'une vertu et d'une fidélité, éprouvées, he is a man of tried courage, virtue and fidelity. EXCEPTIONS. I. The adjective placed after two or several substantives, of nearly the same signification, agrees with the last; la montré une réserve, une rctenue étonnante, he has shown a reserve, an astonishing discretion. II. When the substantives are united by the preposition ou, the adjective agrees with the last only; Un courage ou une prudence étonnante, an astonishing courage or prudence. III. The adjective employed adverbially, that is, employed to qualify a verb, is always invariable;-Ces livres coutent CHER, those books cost dear; Ces fleurs sentent BON, those flowers smell good. IV. Nu, bare, and DEMI, half, when placed before the substantive, do not take the mark of the gender nor of the number of the substantive they qualify, but when placed after, they agree; as, Il va nu-pieds, he goes barefoot; Il a les pieds nus, his feet are bare; une demi-heure, half an hour une heure et demie, one hour and a half. V. Feu, late, when before the article or a pronominal adjective, does not agree with the substantive; but when feu is between the article, or pronominal adjective, and the noun, then it takes the gender and number of the noun it qualifies ; as, feu la reine, the late queen; la feue reine, ma feue mère. OF DIMENSION. Adjectives expressing dimension; as, haut, high; long, long; large, broad; or the substantives hauteur, depth; largeur, breadth; take simply de before them, when avoir is used instead of être; but, when être, voici, or voilà, is used, then de is placed before both the numeral and the adjective; as, cet arbre a huit pieds de hauteur, that tree is eight feet high; Voilà un mur de huit pieds de haut, there is a wall eight feet high, &c. In English, the verb être, to be, is used to express dimension; but in French, we generally make use of the verb avoir; as, Cette rivière a cinquante pieds de large, this river is fifty feet wide; but when être is used, and the adjectives haut, large, long, &c. precede the numerals, then de only is put before the numeral; as, Cette tour est haute de deux cents pieds, this tower is two hundred feet high. In comparative sentences, we often express ourselves as in this sentence: elle est plus grande que sa sœur de toute la tête, she is taller than her sister by the whole head. REGIMEN OF THE ADJECTIVES. Several adjectives have a regimen ; some require the preposition de, and others the preposition à, before a noun or a verb, which is then called the regimen of the adjective; as, Utile à l'homme, useful to man; l'homme, is the regimen of the adjective utile, because it is joined to that adjective by the word à. EXERCISE ON THE ADJECTIVE. He ran through the streets like a madman, bare-foot and bare-headed. ind. 2 His legs rue f. art. jambe f. 2 il avait 1 tête Give me half a guinea, and |