Vous pouvez être sûr que l'oiseau | You may be sure that the bird is n'y est plus ou n'est plus dedans; no longer in it-(the cage). and not, dans elle. Voyez-vous cette maison? Il demeure vis-à-vis; and not, vis-à vis d'elle. Do you see that house? He lives over against it. After the prepositions sans,..avec, or après, the above pronouns, acted upon by them, may be always properly used for animals or things.-EXAMPLES: Elle en raffole, elle ne saurait faire | She doats upon him, she cannot un pas sans lui. go a single step without him(a lap-dog). On m'a dit qu'il ne sortait jamais Ce torrent est si rapide qu'il en- ¦ I have been told that he never went out without his pistols. It is true, he never goes out without them. This torrent is so rapid, that it carries with it every thing it meets; it leaves nothing behind but sand and pebbles. Pleasures often leave nothing after them but regret. In many other cases, which custom alone can point out, the above pronouns may be used for things with other prepositions. 1st. With the preposition à, in speaking of an enemy's army, wo say, nous marchâmes à elle, we marched up to it." This is even the most proper way of expressing that idea. 2d. With de; as, ces choses sont bonnes d'elles-mêmes, these things are good in themselves. 3d. With pour; as, j'aime la vérité au point que jo sacrifierais tout pour elle; I love truth to the degree that I would sacrifice every thing for it. 4th. With en; as, ces raisons sont solides en elles-mêmes; thesc reasons are solid in themselves. Lui and leur, without a preposition, may apply to animals or things, as in the following phrases, and the like.-EXAMPLES: Ce cheval a faim, donnez-lui à This horse is hungry," give him something to eat. manger. Cette plante et ces orangers ont besoin d'eau: il faut leur en donner. That plant and these orange-trees want water: it ought to be given to them. A man, very partial to a house which he has embellished, may say, J'y ai fait de grandes dépenses; | I have been at much expense mais elle m'en dédommage (with it), but it has well indem bien; car je lui dois ma santé et mon bien-être : je ne vivrais pas sans elle. nified me; for to it I owe my health and my comfort: 1 could not live without it. We may also say, with great propriety. Ce chien et ces oiseaux font tout | mon plaisir: je n'aime qu'eux ; eux seuls font tout mon amusement; je ne songe qu'à eux. This dog and these birds are all my pleasure; I love nothing but them; they alone are all my amusement; I think of nothing but them. The English compound pronouns, himself, herself, itself, themselves, are rendered, in French, when they serve to make a verb reflected, by se, as it has been shown in the conjugation of s'habiller, to dress one's self.-But, when they do not render the verb reflected, they are expressed by lui or lui-même; elle, or elle-même; eux or eux-mêmes; elles or elles-mêmes, according to gender and number.— EXAMPLES: Il parle toujours de lui, ou de lui- | He always speaks of himself, and même, et jamais des autres. never of others. Il m'a dit qu'il avait parlé à elle-He told me that he had spoken même, à eux-mêmes, à elles- to herself, to themselves. mêmes. One's self, himself, and herself, in the singular, used in a vague and indeterminate sense, or after the indeterminate words, one, people, a man, everybody, nobody, whoever, &c. and itself, applying to things, are rendered, in French, by soi.-EXAMPLES: On doit travailler non-seulement | A man should not only work for pour soi, mais aussi pour la société. himself, but also for society. Every one for himself, says the None can answer for himself. That is good in itself. In speaking of persons, même is very commonly, and sometimes indispensably, added to svi, as in the following EXAMPLES: Il ne faut pas se louer soi-même. Il faut se rendre compte à soimême. Avoir un ami, c'est avoir un autre soi-même. We must not praise ourselves. We should be accountable to ourselves. To have a friend, is to have another self. LESSON THE THIRTEENTH. OF SOME DIFFICULTIES IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. FIRST DIFFICULTY. The word le is used, in French, to represent,-1st. A part of a phrase, or even a whole one. 2d. An adjective, or a substantive taken adjectively. 3d. A substantive, or an adjective, taken substantively. In the two first instances, le is an adverb, and of course can suffer no alteration. In the third, as it represents a substantive or a noun, it is subject to the laws of concordance, which require that it should assume the gender and number thereof. 1st, Le, representing part of a phrase, or a whole propositionEXAMPLES: Yes, I can. Pouvez-vous aller à la Nouvelle-Can you go to New-Orleans? Orléans? Oui, je le puis.-(Le is used instead of y aller, which is understood). Si le public a eu quelque indulgence pour moi, je le dois à votre protection.-(Je le dois, is clearly equivalent to je dois que le public ait eu quelque indulgence pour moi). If the public has shown me some indulgence, I owe it to your protection. Si Rome a souvent même estimé mes exploits, VOL II. T 2d. Le, representing an adjective, or a substantive taken adjectively. --EXAMPLES: (80). Madame, êtes vous malade? Oui, | Madam, are you sick? Yes, I am je le suis. Mesdemoiselles, êtes-vous musi-Young ladies, are you musicians? cienues? Oui, nous le sommes. Messieurs, êtes-vous héritiers du défunt? Oui, nous le sommes. Yes, we are (so). Gentlemen, are you heirs of the deceased? Yes, we are (so). N. B. In the above phrases, the abverb, le, is the correspondent of the adverb so, which is understood in English. 3d. Le, la, or les, representing a noun, or an adjective taken substantively, according to circumstances of gender and number.-Ex AMPLES: Monsieur, êtes-vous le médecin? | Sir, are you the physician? Yes, êtes-vous les musiciennes ? Oui, nous les sommes. Messieurs, êtes vous les héritiers du defunt? Non, nous ne les sommes pas. I am. Young ladies, are you the musicians? Yes, we are. Gentlemen, are you the heirs of the deceased? No, we are not. N. B. In the first example, le, instead of being used for an adverb, is used to avoid the repetition of the noun médecin: it is the same in the other examples, with regard to la or les. SECOND DIFFICULTY, The words chacun and leur present great and numerous difficulties; but we shall enter into no critical investigation of the opinions of different grammarians upon this subject, because, we cannot see what advantage could be derived to the scholar, to compensate for the tedium that must attend such discussion. We shall therefore pass on; and only give a few phrases, wherein chacun is put in its proper place, in order that they may serve as a model for forming others.— EXAMPLES: Instead of the above phrases, the following incorrect ones are frequently used in conversation, and even in writing: Ces deux charrettes ont perdu chacune leur essieu (ou leurs essieux). Ces femmes sont très-attachées chacune à leur mari (ou à leurs Prenons chacun notre chapeau (ou nos chapeaux). Ils s'en allèrent, chacun chez eux. We may remark, with a judicious grammarian, that, though we can never use leur, leurs, after chacun, it does not follow one always can use son, sa, ses; as we can by no means say, "Ils ont apporté chacun son offrande." This is the rule: We cannot use son, sa, ses, unless that which precedes chacun offers a complete and finished sense. It is therefore necessary, that what precedes chacun be a complete phrase; because, we do not begin with a new phrase till the preceding one is completed: therefore we cannot say, Because Ces deux charrettes ont perdu chacune son essieu. Ces deux charrettes ont perdu Ces femmes sont très-attachées- are not complete phrases. Every verb which terminates them, is in want of a complement. But, on the contrary, we may say, Ils ont tous apporté des offrandes | They have all brought offerings au temple, chacun selon ses moyens. Ils ont tous jugé différemment, to the temple, each according to his means. They have all judged differently, each according to his interests. They were all reviewed by the inspector, each in his turn. |