The verb to be is rendered by avoir, when placed before the fol lowing adjectives, which, in French, become so many substantives, having their import or meaning; those expressions, which frequently occur, being thus rendered idiomatical, with respect to the English language, commit them, therefore, to memory. grown old. Avoir tort. besoin. la bonté. de la reconnaissance. dix pieds de largeur (ou de de profondeur. de circonférence (ou de tour.) vingt ans, &c. Lvieilli. N.B. How old, is expressed by quel áge: as, how old are you? quel áge avez-vous? FAMILIAR PHRASES ON THE ABOVE IDIOMS. He told me that he was not hun- | Il m'a dit qu'il n'avait pas faim. rry, For my part, I am very hungry. Give me some drink, for I am thirsty. If you stay here, you will be cold. I now begin to be warm. You will be warmer in the parlour. I am ashamed to tell it to you. Quant à moi, j'ai grand' faim. Donnez-moi à boire, car j'ai soif. Si vous restez ici, vous aurez froid. Je commence à présent à avoir chaud. Vous aurez plus chaud dans le salon. J'ai honte de vous le dire. You are in the right to act thus. He has been very wrong in this business. When you are in need of money, apply to me. Be so good as to make me a pen. I shall be much obliged to you for it. He is not at all obliged to you. You are not reserved enough with her. I am very grateful for the service you have rendered me. This carpet is six yards long. The river is more than half a mile broad. Is the well thirty feet deep? How thick is the ice? It is already five inches thick, They say that this steeple is one hundred yards high. Do you believe he is six feet high? England is above four hundred leagues in circumference. How old are you, miss? I shall be eighteen next spring. I thought that he was twenty, at least. He looks very old since his misfortunes. Vous avez raison d'agir ainsi. Quand vous aurez besoin d'argent, adressez-vous à moi. Ayez la bonté de me tailler une plume. Je vous en aurai de grandes obliga tions. Il ne vous a aucune obligation. Ayez de la prudence, je vous en conjure. Vous n'avez pas assez de réserve avec elle. J'ai beaucoup de reconnaisance du service que vous m'avez rendu. Ce tapis a six verges de longueur (ou de long.) La rivière a plus d'un demi-mille de largeur (ou de large.) Le puits a-t-il trente pieds de profondeur? Combien la glace a-t-elle d'épaisseur? Elle a déjà cinq pouces d'épai sseur. On dit que ce clocher a cinquante toises de hauteur (ou de haut.) Croyez-vous qu'il ait six pieds de haut? L'Angleterre a plus de quatre cents lieues de circonférence (ou de tour.) Quel âge avez-vous, mademoiselle? J'aurai dix-huit ans au printemps prochain. Je croyais qu'il avait au moins vingt ans. Il a beaucoup vieilli depuis ses malheurs. Avoir, conjugated in the third person singular, through its moods and tenses, with the adverb of place, Y, there, exemplified. Note, that such verbs as are conjugated in the third person singulo are called IMPERSONALS. INDICATIVE MOOD. PRESENT. There is or there are, il y a PRESENT ANTERIOR, OR IMPERFECT. PRESENT ANTERIOR PERIODICAL, OR PRETERITE. PRESENT POSTERIOR, OR FUTURE. PAST, OR COMPOUND OF THE PRESENT. PAST ANTERIOR, OR COMPOUND OF THE IMPERFECT. There had been, il y avait eu. PAST ANTERIOR PERIODICAL, OR COMPOUND of the PRETERITE. There had been, il y eut eu. PAST POSTERIOR, OR COMPOUND OF THE FUTURE, PAST JUST ELAPSED There has just been, il vient d'y avoir. FUTURE INDEFINITE. There is or there are to be, il doit y avoir INSTANT FUTURE. There is or there are going to be, il va y avoir. |