Such verbs are : abuser de, misuse. S'apercevoir de, perceive. s'approcher de, approach. avoir besoin de, need. avoir peur de, fear. avoir pitié de, pity. convenir de, admit. se défier de, mixtrust. se démettre de, resign. se méfier de, mistrust. se passer de, do without. se souvenir de, recollect. 2. Similarly, some verbs with à have the force of an English 3. In some instances, on the contrary, a French transitive has the force of an English verb + a preposition. 4. De and à frequently have, as compared with English, a special idiomatic force with certain verbs: Cela dépend de vous. Pensez à votre devoir. Such verbs are : s'affliger de, grieve at. approcher (s') de, draw near to. That depends on you. blâmer de, blame for. consoler de, console for. déjeuner de, breakfast on. dépendre de, depend on. se désoler de, grieve over. dîner de, dine on. féliciter de, congratulate on. gémir de, lament over. louer de, praise for. se mêler de, meddle with se nourrir de, live on. se réjouir de, rejoice at. remercier de, thank for. rire de, laugh at. triompher de, triumph over. vivre de, live on. etc. acheter qqch. à qqu., buy something from ôter qqch. à qqu., take away for. (or for) some one. arracher qqch. à qqu., snatch from. cacher qqch. à qqu., hide from. conférer qqch. à qqu., confer on. demander qqch. à qqu., ask for (of). dérober qqch. à qqu., steal from. emprunter qqch. à qqu., borrow from. infliger qqch. à qqu., inflict on. inspirer qqch. à qqu., inspire with. mêler qqch. à qqch., mingle with. pardonner qqch. à qqu., pardon for. payer qqch. à qqu., pay for. penser à qqch. or à qqu., think of. prendre, qqch. à qqu., take from. pourvoir à qqch., provide for. procurer qqch. à qqu., procure for. prodiguer qqch. à qqu., lavish on. reprocher qqch. à qqu., reproach with. souhaiter qqch. à qqu., wish. voler qqch. à qqu., steal from. 297. Position. Objects and prepositional complements regularly follow the verb, the direct object (if any) being first; but if of unequal length, the longer usually last. For position of personal pronouns, see the Pronoun. 298. Composite Complement. The various parts of a complement must be of the same grammatical value, i.e., all nouns, all verbs, etc.: Il apprend à lire et à chanter. Il apprend la lecture et le chant. He learns to read and sing. He learns reading and singing. 299. Manifold Verb. Two or more verbs can govern the same complement only if alike in government: 300. General Rule. Nouns in French are either masculine or feminine. As an aid to memory, general rules for determining gender are given in the following sections. 301. Gender by Derivation. 1. Nouns derived from Latin masculines are regularly masculine: Mur (L. murum); livre (L. librum); Wall; book; order; poet. ordre (L. ordinem); poète (L. poeta). a. Exceptions are not uncommon; Latin masculine abstracts in -or (accusative -orem) have become feminine, except masculine honneur, déshonneur, labeur, amour : candeur, f. (L. candorem), candour. *couleur, f. (L. colorem), colour. douleur, f. (L. dolorem), pain. erreur, f. (L. errorem), error. etc. * Masculine in such phrases as 'couleur de feu,' 'couleur de rose,' etc., e.g., ruban est d'un beau couleur de rcse.' 'ce a. More than a hundred neuter plurals in -a have become feminine singular in French, just as if derived from nouns in -a of the Latin first declension : arme (L. arma), arm. date (L. data), date. dette (L. debita), debt. étude (L. studia), study. feuille (L. folia), leaf. lèvre (L. labra), lip. œuvre (L. opera), work. pomme (L. poma), apple. etc. 302. Gender by Endings. 1. Masculine are most nouns Le sac (pied, joug, sol, nez, temps). The sack (foot, yoke, soil, nose, time). Further, nouns in -son, -ion and most abstracts in -eur (cf. § 301, a): chaux, lime. etc. (3) In -acle, -age, -asme, -ège, -ème, -isme, -tère: Le spectacle (voyage, sarcasme, The spectacle (journey, sarcasm, collège, diadème, magnétisme, college, diadem, magnetism, mystery). mystère). a. The following feminines in -age should be noted: cage, cage. image, image. nage, swimming. plage, beach. 2. Feminine are most nouns ending as follows :— (1) In -e preceded by a vowel or double consonant: Une année (vie, vue, raie, soie, roue, pluie, famille, flamme, couronne, tristesse, botte). (2) In -ace, -ade, -ance, -ude, -ure: La préface (salade, constance, présence, défense, lumière, histoire, habitude, culture). 303. Gender by Meaning. A year (life, sight, streak, silk, wheel, rain, family, flame, crown, sadness, boot). -ence, -ense, -ière, -oire, The preface (salad, constancy, presence, defence, light, history, habit, culture). 1. Names of male beings are usually masculine, and names of female beings feminine: Un homme; une femme. Un bœuf; une vache. A man; a woman. An ox; a cow. |