Une demi-heure ; une heure et

demie.

Quatre demis=deux.

La moitié de la somme.

Half an hour; an hour and a half.

Four halves = two.

Half the sum.

b. The definite article is required before fractions followed by de+a noun when the noun is determined by the definite article, a possessive, or a demonstrative, and similarly for pronominal substitutes for such constructions:

ordinals by -ment, according to rule (cf. §409):

==

a. Substitutes for them, of very frequent use, are: d'abord='at first,' puis then,' 'after that,' ensuite = 'then,' 'next,' en premier lieu='in the first place,' en second lieu, etc. = 'in the second place,' etc.; or the Latin adverb forms primo, secundo, tertio, etc., abbreviated to 1°, 2°, 3°, etc., are used.

REMARKS ON THE USE OF NUMERALS.

427. Cardinals and Ordinals. 1. Premier = 'first' is the only ordinal used to denote the day of the month or the otherwise, cardinals are employed:

numerical title of a ruler;
Le premier (deux, dix) mai.
Le onze de ce mois.

Napoléon (Grégoire) premier.
Henri (Catherine) deux.

The first (second, tenth) of May.
The eleventh of this month.
Napoleon (Gregory) the First.
Henry (Catherine) the Second.

3. Other numerical titles, book, chapter, scene, page, etc., are expressed as in English, ordinals being used before nouns, and either cardinals or ordinals after nouns :

Tome troisième (trois).

La dixième scène du second acte.

Volume third (three).

The tenth scene of the second act.

a. The first of two ordinals joined by et or ou is not uncommonly

replaced by a cardinal:

La quatre ou cinquième page.

The fourth or fifth page.

The first two scenes.

b. Cardinals must precede ordinals:

Les deux premières scènes.

428. Dimension. The various methods of indicating

dimension may be seen from the following:

Obs.: 1. Dimension after an adjective is denoted by de, cf. (1), (5).

יו

"

2. Substitutes for the adjectival construction of (1) are seen in (2), (3), (4).

3. The verb 'to be' is être, as in (5), or avoir, as in (6), (7), (8).

4. Haut, large, long (but not 'épais,' 'profond') may be used as nouns, instead of hauteur, largeur, longueur, cf. (3), (7).

a. 'By,' of relative dimension = sur; 'by,' after a comparative=de: This table is ten feet long by three wide.

Cette table a dix pieds de longueur sur trois de largeur.

Plus (moins) grand de deux pouces.

Taller (shorter) by two inches.

429. Time of Day. The method of indicating the time of day may be seen from the following:

Quelle heure est-il ?

Il est une (deux) heure(s).
Il est trois heures et demie.
Trois heures (et) un quart.
Quatre heures moins un quart.
Trois heures trois quarts.
Trois heures dix (minutes).
Six heures moins cinq (minutes).
Cinq heures cinquante-cinq.
Il est midi et demi.

Il est minuit (et) un quart.
A huit heures du soir.
À quelle heure?

À trois heures précises.

Vers (les) trois heures.

What time (o'clock) is it?
It is one (two) o'clock.
It is half-past three.
A quarter past three.
A quarter to four.
A quarter to four.

Ten minutes past three.
Five minutes to six.
Five fifty-five.

It is half-past twelve (noon).

It is a quarter past twelve (night).
At eight o'clock in the evening.
At what o'clock ?

At three o'clock precisely.

Towards (at about) three o'clock.

Obs.: 1. It is (was, etc.)'il est (était, etc.).

2. Heure(s) is never omitted.

3. Et is essential only at the half hour.

4. Demi(e) agrees with heure (f.) or with midi (m.), minuit (m.).

5. Minutes is often omitted.

3. A quarter to,'' minutes to' is moins before the following hour. 7. Twelve o'clock is never douze heures.

430. Age. Idiomatic expressions denoting age are:

Quel âge avez-vous?

J'ai vingt ans.

Je suis âgé de vingt ans.

Une fille âgée de six ans.

Plus âgé de deux ans.

A girl six years old (of age).
Older by two years.

Obs.: 1. The construction with avoir is the more common.

2. An(s) may not be omitted in specifying age.

3. 'By'de, after a comparison.

THE PREPOSITION.

431. Simple Prepositions. The following list contains the commoner simple prepositions :

tional function, mostly ending in de or à, are numerous:

À côté de l'église.

Jusqu'à la semaine prochaine.

A travers la forêt.

Beside the church.

Until next week.

Through the forest.

a. Conjunctive personal pronouns governed by voici, voilà, precede : Me voici; les voilà.

En voici quelques-uns.

Here I am; there they are.
Here are some of them.

b. Durant is sometimes placed after its noun:

Durant sa vie (or sa vie durant).

During his life.

434. Repetition. The prepositions à, de, en, are regularly repeated before each governed substantive; the repetition of other prepositions is regular in contrasts, but is elsewhere optional, as in English :

Il aime à lire et à écrire.
Le père de Jean et de Marie.
En France ou en Italie.
Sur terre et sur mer.
Par la persuasion ou par la force.
But: Pour lui et (pour) son frère,

He likes to read and write.

The father of John and Mary.
In France or Italy.

By land and sea.

By persuasion or force. etc.

IDIOMATIC DISTINCTIONS.

435. Prepositions vary greatly as to idiomatic force in different languages. In the following sections are given some of the various French equivalents of the commoner English prepositions.