DIFFERENT SHADES OF EXPRESSION IN Est-ce ? is the simplest way of putting a question, and is used to ascertain the person or object in view: Est-ce vous? Is it you? In saying Est-ce que ? we mean, Is it possible that Est-ce que vous êtes Tartare? You are a Tartar, are you?_or, Surely you are not a Tartar, are you? Is it possible you are a Tartar? Est-ce is also used in the inversion of a monosyllabic verb in the present indicative, as, Est-ce que je sers? Do I serve? instead of sers-je; for these verbs would often produce an absurd pun. It must also be observed that this way of speaking is used to prevent people from believing what is said; so that Est-ce que je dors (we often add the pronoun disjunctive, Est-ce que je dors, moi !) is equal to, I do not sleep; Do you think I am sleeping? Est-ce que c'est. like Est-ce que, expresses also astonishment: Est-ce que c'est aujourd'hui votre fête? It is not your birthday to-day, is it? Can it be your birthday to-day? N'est-ce pas, added to an affirmative proposition, implies a previous knowledge from the speaker, who merely wants to ascertain whether he is right or not: Il viendra, n'est-ce pas ? He will come, will he not? Il neige, n'est-ce pas ? It snows, does it not? N'est-ce pas que · is used when the speaker seems to make an appeal to the testimony of another person, as: On me dit que vous ne viendrez pas le 9; n'est-ce pas que vous viendrez? I am told that you will not come on the 9th; you will come, will you not? Que dites-vous de cette pièce? n'est-ce pas qu'elle est fausse? What do think of that coin? it is bad, is it not? you VARIOUS MEANINGS OF THE VERB-SIGNS, Do, did, will, shall, would, should, may, might, can, could, must, let, ought. 1. Do and did, as we have seen, when construed with a verb, are mere signs to express its present and past action more energetically. But when conjugated, they take, like other verbs, their appropriate signs. 2. Will and would denote the time to come, when placed before verbs. When used in the sense of willing, they imply order, command, determination, and are rendered by the correspondent tenses of vouloir. When shall and should follow the pronoun in the 24 and 3d persons, they imply command from the person who speaks, and are translated by inverting the sentence, and using also vouloir. I will, We will, Thou shalt, He shall, You shall, They shall, I would have you I will have you do so, Je veux que vous fassiez ainsi. 3. Would is translated by plaise (may it please), in exclamations like this: Would to God I could have seen her! Plaise à Dieu que je l'eusse vue!-It also precedes a verb which is to be translated by the imperfect in French, when it means I used to, I was in the habit of: I would sometimes play, je jouais quelquefois. Shall is translated by je veux que, when it implies command: You shall speak French, je veux que vous parliez français. If would implies determination, vouloir is the appropriate verb to be used. She actually said she would not take it. Elle a dit formellement qu'elle ne voulait pas le prendre. 4. Should generally denotes the necessity and duty of doing a thing. It implies and stands for must or ought; and is translated by the conditional tenses of devoir, or the imperfect, if the sentence begins in French by si. We should speak Italian, house on the right, Should you fail, apply to me, Nous devrions parler italien. Ils auraient dû bàtir la maison à droite. Si vous ne réussissiez pas, adressez-vous à moi. 5. Can and could denote power, faculty; may and might imply right, possibility, permission; and are generally taken in the sense of being able, and translated in French by pouvoir, avoir le pouvoir, permettre. They could not read it, Such things may or might happen, 6. The above signs, used in this Ils ne pourraient pas le lire. De telles choses peuvent or pourraient arriver. capacity, are rendered in French by the conditional of pouvoir, vouloir, and devoir. 7. Before a compound tense of the infinitive, they must be translated by the compound of the conditional. I might I could I would I should I ought to 8. We could perfectly translate the English idiom with the verb avoir or étre and a substantive. 9. When to be implies a future action, it is expressed by devoir; and when possibility, it is rendered by pouvoir. 10. In all other cases these idiomatic verbs are nothing but mere signs, which are expressed in French together with the verb to which they are prefixed by the person of any tense, simple or compound, in which they appear. 11. But when they are used in English by themselves by way of answer, they are for the Englishman energetic ellipses, whose meaning he very well comprehends; so that we have only to warn him never to translate them literally (which would have no sense at all), but either to use an affirmative or negative expression, or write at full length the verb understood by the English ellipsis, and add to that verb the pronouns le, en, and y, as the case may be. 12. Now that the learner is fully aware of the full meaning of these words, he does not want to be told that le is an accusative |