REMARKS ON THE USE OF NUMERALS.

427. Cardinals and Ordinals. 1. Premier = 'first' is the only ordinal used to denote the day of the month or the numerical title of a ruler; otherwise, cardinals are employed:

3. Other numerical titles, book, chapter, scene, page, etc., are expressed as in English, ordinals being used before nouns, and either cardinals or ordinals after nouns :

Tome troisième (trois).

La dixième scène du second acte.

Volume third (three).

The tenth scene of the second act.

a. The first of two ordinals joined by et or ou is not uncommonly

replaced by a cardinal:

La quatre ou cinquième page.

The fourth or fifth page.

The first two scenes.

b. Cardinals must precede ordinals :

Les deux premières scènes.

428. Dimension. The various methods of indicating

dimension may be seen from the following:

(1) Une table longue de dix pieds.

(2) Une table de 10 p. de longueur

(3) Une table de 10 p. de long.
(4) Une table d'une longueur de 10 p.

A table ten feet long.

Obs.: 1. Dimension after an adjective is denoted by de, cf. (1), (5).

2. Substitutes for the adjectival construction of (1) are seen in (2), (3), (4).

3. The verb 'to be' is être, as in (5), or avoir, as in (6), (7), (8).

4. Haut, large, long (but not 'épais,' 'profond') may be used as nouns, instead of hauteur, largeur, longueur, cf. (3), (7).

a. 'By,' of relative dimension = sur; 'by,' after a comparative=de: This table is ten feet long by three wide.

Cette table a dix pieds de longueur sur trois de largeur.

Plus (moins) grand de deux pouces.

Taller (shorter) by two inches.

The method of indicating the time of

429. Time of Day. day may be seen from the following:

Quelle heure est-il ?

Il est une (deux) heure(s).
Il est trois heures et demie.
Trois heures (et) un quart.
Quatre heures moins un quart.
Trois heures trois quarts.
Trois heures dix (minutes).
Six heures moins cinq (minutes).
Cinq heures cinquante-cinq.
Il est midi et demi.

Il est minuit (et) un quart.
A huit heures du soir.
À quelle heure?

À trois heures précises.

Vers (les) trois heures.

What time (o'clock) is it?
It is one (two) o'clock.
It is half-past three.
A quarter past three.
A quarter to four.
A quarter to four.
Ten minutes past three.
Five minutes to six.
Five fifty-five.

It is half-past twelve (noon).
It is a quarter past twelve (night).
At eight o'clock in the evening.
At what o'clock ?

At three o'clock precisely.
Towards (at about) three o'clock.

Obs.: 1. It is (was, etc.)'=il est (était, etc.).

2. Heure(s) is never omitted.

3. Et is essential only at the half hour.

4. Demi(e) agrees with heure (f.) or with midi (m.), minuit (m.).

5. Minutes is often omitted.

3. 'A quarter to,' ' minutes to' is moins before the following hour. 7. Twelve o'clock is never douze heures.

Obs.: 1. The construction with avoir is the more common.

2. An(s) may not be omitted in specifying age.

3. 'By'de, after a comparison.

THE PREPOSITION.

431. Simple Prepositions. The following list contains the commoner simple prepositions:

tional function, mostly ending in de or à, are numerous :

A côté de l'église.

Jusqu'à la semaine prochaine.

À travers la forêt.

Beside the church.

Until next week.

Through the forest.

a. Conjunctive personal pronouns governed by voici, voilà, precede:

Me voici; les voilà.

En voici quelques-uns.

Here I am; there they are.

Here are some of them.

b. Durant is sometimes placed after its noun:

Durant sa vie (or sa vie durant).

During his life.

434. Repetition. The prepositions à, de, en, are regularly repeated before each governed substantive; the repetition of other prepositions is regular in contrasts, but is elsewhere optional, as in English:

Il aime à lire et à écrire.
Le père de Jean et de Marie.
En France ou en Italie.
Sur terre et sur mer.
Par la persuasion ou par la force.
But: Pour lui et (pour) son frère,

He likes to read and write.

The father of John and Mary.
In France or Italy.

By land and sea.
By persuasion or force.
etc.

IDIOMATIC DISTINCTIONS.

435. Prepositions vary greatly as to idiomatic force in different languages. In the following sections are given some of the various French equivalents of the commoner English prepositions.

À quoi pensez-vous?

What are you thinking about?

3. In the sense of 'with,' 'about (the person)'=sur :

Avez-vous de l'argent sur vous?

Have you any money about you?

4. Denoting approximation = environ, près de, à peu près, vers:

Environ (près de, à peu près) deux

mille francs; vers (sur les) dix heures; vers 1830.

437.

About two thousand francs; about ten o'clock; about 1830.

After.

1. Denoting time, rank, order, position = après : Après dîner; le premier après le roi; on met l'adjectif après le nom; courez après lui.

After dinner; the first after the king; the adjective is placed after the noun; run after him.

2. In the sense of 'at the end of'au bout de :

1. In the sense of 'in the midst of,' 'surrounded by ́=parmi, some

times entre:

Une brebis,parmi les loups. Il fut trouvé entre les morts. 2. 'Ampng (distributively or Il le partagea entre ses amis. Ils parlaicent entre eux. 3. Unclassified: C'était ainsi chez les Grecs.

A sheep among wolves.

He was found among the dead.
reciprocally›’= entre :

He divided it among his friends.
They spoke among themselves.

It was so among the Greeks