USE OF PREPOSITIONS AFTER ADJECTIVES Most adjectives followed by de in French take with or of in English; most of those followed by à in French take to in English. There are a great many exceptions. The most common only are given here. APPENDIX C REMARKS ON PRONOUNS I. Le and la are not elided, except before y and en, when coming after the verb. Ex. Je l'ai vu. Donnez-le à votre ami. Je l'y ai mené. Tirez l'en (tirez-le de là). 2. a. Le, la, and les agree with the noun subject. b. Le is neutral and invariable (meaning it so) when it refers to an adjective or a noun used adjectively. Ex. Etes-vous française, madame? - Je le suis, I am. Êtes-vous reine? Je le suis, I am. Je ne le pense pas. I don't think so. Note the following uses of soi instead of lui, elle. Ex. On travaille pour soi. Chacun pour soi et Dieu pour tous. 2. After an impersonal verb or an infinitive. Ex. Il faut songer à soi-même. Ne penser qu'à soi, c'est de l'égoïsme. 3. After a noun (expressing a thing) in the singular. Ex. Le crime laisse après soi le remords. 4. To avoid ambiguity. Ex. Ce père a un fils qui ne pense ni à soi-même, ni à lui. Here soi refers to fils, lui to père. Note that moi, toi, me, te . . . are often joined to the verb as expletives. (Ethical dative. Ex. Prends-moi ce livre. Regardez moi ce tableau. Je vous l'ai grondé de belle manière. I scolded him (for you) in great style. APPENDIX D PRINCIPAL PARTS The whole conjugation of any regular verb, and of most irregular verbs, may be known from five forms of the verb, called "principal parts," as shown below for conduire, lead. These parts are the infinitive, the present participle, the past participle, the present indicative Ist singular, and the past definite Ist singular; from each is formed the mood or tense in the column beneath. |