GRAMMAR.

DEFINITIONS.

1. GRAMMAR is the science of Language.

2. FRENCH GRAMMAR teaches the principles and structure of the FRENCh Language.

8. LANGUAGE Consists of sentences (phrases); sentences consist of words (mots); words conAist of syllables (syllabes); and syllables consist of letters (lettres).

4. The words of sentences are commonly called Parts of Speech (Parties du Discours).

5. There are, in French, Ten parts of speech; Six variable, that is, liable to change their termination, according to circumstances; and Four invariable, that is, never admitting of any change in their termination.

The Six Variable Parts of Speech are:

1. The ARTICLE, l'Article.

2. The SUBSTANTIVE, le Substantif. 8. The ADJECTIVE, l'Adjectif.

4. The PRONOUN,

le Pronom. le Verbe.

5. The VERB,
6. The PARTICIPLE, le Participe.

The Four Invariable Parts of Speech are :

1. The ADVERB, l'Adverbe.
2. The PREPOSITION, la Préposition.

3. The CONJUNCTION, la Conjonction.

4. The INTERJECTION, ' Interjection.

VARIABLE PARTS OF SPEECH.

ARTICLE.

An Article is a word prefixed to a noun, to denote the extent of its signification. There are in French three sorts of articles, viz. :

.......before a Masculine noun beginning with a consonant or h aspirate, la.......before a Feminine noun, do.

do.

do.

.......before nouns of either gender, beginning with a vowel or silent h, les......before any noun, whatever may be its gender or spelling, .....

RULE 2.

Express of the, or from the, by

du......before a Masculine noun beginning with a consonant or h aspirate,
de la...before a Feminine noun, do.

do.

do.

singular.

plural.

singular.

de l'...before nouns of either gender, beginning with a vowel or silent h,
des.....before any noun, whatever may be its gender or spelling, .............................plural.

RULE 3.

....

Express to the, or at the, by

au......before a Masculine noun beginning with a consonant or h aspirate,
à la....before a Feminine noun, do.

à l'....before nouns of either gender, beginning with a vowel or silent h,
aux....before any noun, whatever may be its gender or spelling, ...................................plural.

LESSON FOR READING AND TRANSLATION,

Illustrative of the rules opposite.

Rule 1.-1. Le père et le fils. 2. La mère et la fille. 3. Le frère et la sœur. 4. L'homme et l'enfant. 5. Les pères et les fils. 6. Les mères et les filles. 7. Les frères et les soeurs, 8. Les enfans et les hommes. 9. Où est l'enfant? 10. Il est dans le jardin. 11. Où sont les filles? 12. Elles sont avec le père. 13. Voilà la mère avec la fille, et voici le père avec les fils, ici dans le jardin. 14. Où sont les enfans? 15. Ils sont avec le domestique.

Rule 2.-1. Le jardin du père. 2. La maison de la mère. 3. L'oiseau de l'enfant. 4. LA vie de l'homme. 5. Le bonheur des pères. 6. La bonté des mères. 7. L'amour des enfans. 8. La méchanceté des hommes. 9. Où est le jardin du frère ?-Il est ici, dans le village. 10. Où sont les maisons de la sœur?-Elles sont dans la ville. 11. La maison du père est à la campagne, et le jardin de la mère est au village.

Rule 3.-1. Le chemin du château au village. 2. La route de la campagne à la ville. 3. La mort, ou le passage de la vie à l'immortalité. 4. La ressemblance du singe à l'homme. 5. L'obéissance des fils aux pères. 6. Les conseils des mères aux filles. 7. L'attachement des domestiques aux enfans. 8. Les commandemens de Dieu aux hommes. 9. Où est le chemin du village au château ?—Il est ici. 10. Voici la route de la campagne à la ville.

I. EXERCISE.

Translate into French and write.

Rule 1.-1. The son and the mother. 2. The father and the daughter. 8. The sister is with the brother. 4. Here are the man and the child. 5. There are the sons and the fathers. 6. Where are the daughters and the mothers? 7. They are here in the house. 8. The sisters are with the brothers in the garden. 9. The men are with the children in the (à la) country.

Rule 2.-1. Where is the house of the father? 2. It is (elle est) in the village. 3. Here is the garden of the mother. 4. Where is the bird of the child? 5. It is (il est) in the house. 6. The life of (the) man. 7. The kindness of the fathers. 8. The happiness of the mothers. 9. The wickedness of the children. 10. The love of men (say-of the men). 11. The men of the town are here. 12. The child of the castle is in the house.

Rule 3.-1. Where is the road from the village to the castle? 2. It is (el'e est) here. 3. Where is the way from the country to the town? 4. (The) death, or the passage from (the) life to (the) inmortality. 5. The resemblance of the monkey to (the) man. 6. The counsels of the fathers to the daughters. 7. The obedience of the children to the servants. 8. The affection of the mothers for the daughters (say-to the daughters). 9. Here are the commandments of God to men (say-to the men).

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INDEFINITE AND PARTITIVE ARTICLES- · IDIOMATICAL RULES.

II. Indefinite Article.

4. The English INDEFINITE ARTICLE a or an is rendered in French by the NuMERAL ADJECTIVE un masc., une fem. (one), which is declined thus:

5. Some and any, expressed or understood in an English sentence, and signifying a part of any thing, or a few, are represented in French by the DEFINITE ARTICLE le, la, l', les, connected or contracted with the preposition de. The French Definite Article is then called Partitive.

Je prends du lait.
Nous avons de la crême.

Have you any pens? | Avons-nous des amis?

understood.
I take milk.
We have cream.
Have we friends?

6. The Partitive Article is used even before nouns expressing moral qualities or defects; as,

Ce soldat a du courage.

Cette dame a de la jalousie.

That soldier has courage.
That lady has jealousy.

7. If the noun used in a partitive sense is preceded by an adjective, the preposition de is generally admitted without the article; as,—

8. The preposition de is likewise used without the article before a partitive noun which is the direct object of a negative verb.

9. The ENGLISH POSSESSIVE ('s) is always translated, in French, after the noun representing the object possessed, and preceded by the definite article, contracted or connected with the preposition de.

10. Nouns expressing material, species, or country, do not, by transposition, become adjectives, as in English; but are preceded by the preposition de, without the article; as,

3. REPETITION OF THE FRENCH ARTICLES AND PREPOSITIONS.

11. The French Articles, and the Prepositions à and de, whether contracted or not, are repeated before each noun of a sentence.

J'ai vu le père, la mère, et les enfans.
Du frère, de la soeur, et des cousins.
Au mari, à la femme, et aux filles.

I have seen the father, mother, and children.
Of the brother, sister, and cousins.
To the husband, wife, and daughters.

EXERCISES ON THE RULES OF THE PAGE OPPOSITE.

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VOCABULARY FOR THE EXERCISES UNDER.

NOTE.-The words not mentioned in the vocabularies will be found among the examples in the page opposite.

aussi,

fromage, m.

gant, m.

LESSON FOR READING AND TRANSLATION,

Illustrative of the rules opposite.

Rule 4-1. Voilà un chapeau sur une chaise. 2. Voici les plumes d'un oiseau. 3. Voilà les gants d'une dame. 4. Donnez le parapluie à un monsieur et l'ombrelle à une dame.

Rule 5.-1. Avez-vous du pain 2. Oui, monsieur, j'ai du pain. 3. Avons-nous de la viande? 4. Qui, madame, nous avons de la viande. 5. L'enfant a-t-il des plumes? 6. Oui, mademoiselle, il a des plumes.

Rule 6.-1. Avez-vous du courage? 2. Oui, monsieur, j'ai du courage. 4. Votre sœur a-t-elle de la jalousie? 4. Oui, madame, ma sœur a de la jalousie et de la paresse aussi. Rule 7.-1. Avons-nous de bon pain et de bonne viande aujourd'hui ? 2. Nous avons dé mauvais pain, mais nous avons de bonne viande. 8. Voici d'excellent fromage.

Rule 8.-1. Avez-vous un couteau ?-Non, monsieur, je n'ai pas de couteau. 2. Votre père a-t-il un canif?—Non, mademoiselle, mon père n'a pas de canif.

Rule 9.-1, Où est le chapeau du monsieur? 2. Le chapeau du monsieur est ici sur une table. 8. Où est l'ombrelle de la dame? 4. L'ombrelle de la dame est là sur le lit.

Rule 10.-1. Avez-vous une montre d'or? 2. J'ai une montre d'or, une bague d'argent, et une robe de soie. 3. Avez-vous souvent le mal de dents? 4. J'ai très-souvent le mal de dents et quelquefois le mal de tête.

Rule 11.-1. Voici le père, la mère et les enfans. 2. Voilà les portraits du frère, de la sœur et des cousins. 8. Donnez cela au mari, à la femme, aur filles et aux garçons.

Rule 4-1. Here is an umbrella upon a table. 2. There is the parasol of a lady. 8. We have here the gloves of a gentleman. 3. Give that to a bird.

Rule 5.-1. Here are some bread, some meat, and some pens. 2. Have you bread? 3. Yes sir, I have bread. 4. Have we meat? 5. Yes, miss, we have meat to-day.

Rule 6.-1. Has your father courage? 2. Yes, he has courage, and my mother also. Rule 7.-1. Here is good bread. 2. There is good meat. 3. We have excellent cheese. Rule 8.-1. We have no knife here. 2. Have you a good penknife ?—No, sir, I have no pen knife. 3. Has your sister prudence ?—No, madam, my sister has no prudence.

Rule 9.-1. Where are the gentleman's gloves? 2. The gentleman's gloves are upon the bed. 3. Here are the children's gloves on a chair. 4. There is the lady's parasol with the umbrella. Rule 10.-1. Have you a silver ring? 2. Yes, sir, I have a silver ring. 3. Has your father a gold watch? 4. Yes, my father has a gold watch. 5. Your sister has a silk gown.

Rule 11.-1. The father, mother, children, and servants are here to-day. 2. Have you the portraits here?-Yes, sir, we have the portraits of the husband, wife, daughters, and boys. 3. Give that to the brother, sister, and servants.

1. A Substantive, or Noun, is a word which expresses the name of a being (person or animal). or that of an object (material or ideal); as,

BEINGS.

Jhomme, man.

oiseau, bird.

MATERIAL arbre, tree. IDEAL espérance, hope. OBJECTS.maison, house. OBJECTS. bonheur, happiness. 2. There are three sorts of Substantives, viz. :-1. Proper, or particularly designating some individual, or a thing; 2. Common, or comprehending all objects of the same class; 3. Collective, that is, representing collection, or plurality, although used in the singular; as,—

PROPER. {

Alexandre, Alexander.
Londres, London.

foule, COLLECTIVE.

peuple, people.

Gender of Nouns.

1. Gender marks the distinction of sex.

2. The French language, agreeably to the number of sexes, has but two genders, the Masculine and Feminine. The neuter it does not admit-inanimate objects being either masculine or feminine.

GENERAL RULE.

The final e mute generally indicates the feminine gender; a final consonant indicates the masculine.

PARTICULAR RULES.

Masculine.

1. All nouns, masculine and neuter, in Latin, very few excepted, such as dolor (la douleur), fons (la fontaine), and os (la bouche).

2. God, his angels, cherubim, and seraphim.

3. All terms seeming to constitute a masculine appellation, and all proper names of men.

4. All names of male animals, when these are distinguished from the females by a different denomination.

NOTE-When the same name is used for both male and female, its gender must then, like that of any Inanimate object, be determined by an article or an adjective.

5. All diminutives of animals, when there is but one denomination for both cases, whatever may be the gender of the original from which they are derived; as.

NOTE-Bécassine (snipe) is feminine; although derived from Bécasse (wood-cock), and belonging to the genus, it is not of the same species.

6. All names of days, months, and seasons.

NOTE-Automne (autumn) is of both genders.

7. Nouns of number.

Note. Une, feminine of un (one), is an exception; un altogether as a numeral or an indefinite article, grees in gender with French substantives.

8. Nouns belonging to the decimal calculation; as,—