Sa dignité, sa noblesse frappa tout le monde. L'heure, le lieu, le bras se choisit aujourd'hui. Une excuse, un mot le désarme. His dignity, his nobility struck everybody. The hour, the place, the arm are chosen to-day. An excuse, a word disarms him. d. When the subjects are recapitulated by a word in the singular, e.g., tout, rien, etc., the verb is singular agreeing with it : Remords, crainte, périls, rien ne Remorse, fear, dangers, nothing deterred me. m'a retenue. e. With an intervening clause, e.g., ainsi que, plus que, etc., the subject is usually only apparently composite : La vertu, plus que le savoir, élève Virtue, more than knowledge, elel'homme. vates man. f. Even with et the sense is occasionally singular, or distributive, or alternative, and a singular verb is required: Le bien et le mal est en ta main. L'été est revenu et le soleil. Tombe Argos et ses murs. 234. Relative Subject. Good and ill are in thy hand. Both may be said. Summer has returned and the sun. Let Argos and its walls fall. The verb agrees with the rela tive pronoun subject, which is itself of the number and person of the antecedent (see also Relative Pronoun): C'est nous qui l'avons fait. It is we who have done it. Dieux (vous) qui m'exaucez ! (Ye) Gods who hear me ! POSITION OF SUBJECT. 235. General Rule. The subject usually precedes the verb. Exceptions to this rule are noted in the following sections. 236. Interrogative Word Order. Direct interrogation is expressed as follows: 1. A personal pronoun subject (also ce or on) follows the verb, and is joined to it by a hyphen : Parlez-vous français ? Est-ce lui? Do you speak French? Is it he? a. The letter -t- is inserted after a third singular with final vowei before a pronoun with initial vowel : Parla-t-elle ? Parle-t-on ? Did she speak? Do they speak? b. A final e of the first singular takes acute accent, but with the 2. A noun subject precedes the verb, and is repeated after it by a pleonastic pronoun; so also, possessive, demonstrative and indefinite pronouns : Cet homme parle-t-il anglais? Cela est-il vrai ? Les miens ne sont-ils pas bons? 3. Questions are also asked À quelle heure partira son ami? Lequel des deux est parti? Combien coûte cela? Combien cela coûte-t-il?) Does that man speak English? Are mine not good? by interrogative words (adjec What poet wrote that? At what o'clock will his friend go? How much does that cost? a. The word order of either of the last two examples is commonly permissible for noun subject under this rule. b. The word order of the last example is obligatory when the verb has a direct object (not reflexive), or a prepositional complement, or when ambiguity might arise; this arrangement is preferable with pourquoi?, or when a compound tense is used: Où le roi tient-il sa cour? Pourquoi mon ami part-il? Quand ce roi a-t-il été décapité? Where does the king hold his court? Of what is the king speaking? What price did the king pay? Whom does John love? Why does my friend go? When was this king beheaded? 4. By prefixing est-ce que? a statement becomes a ques tion without change in its word order: Est-ce que vous partez? Quand est-ce que vous partez? Are you going away? When are you going away? a. The use of est-ce que? is permissible with all forms of the verb, but is obligatory with a monosyllabic first singular (except ai-je ?, suis-je ? dis-je ?, dois-je?, fais-je ?, puis-je ?, sais-je ?, vais-je ?, vois-je ?), and is preferable to avoid forms like donné-je ? : Est-ce que je sers, moi? Est-ce que je parle de lui? Do I serve? Do I speak of him? 5. Interrogation is also expressed by mere inflection of the voice, without change in word order: Vous partez déjà ? You are going already? 237. Rhetorical Inversions. Owing to rhetorical considerations the noun subject not uncommonly follows the verb, or the sentence assumes interrogative form, though not interrogative, as follows: 1. In interjected remarks explanatory of direct quotation, as in English: Fais comme tu voudras, dit-il. 2. In optative clauses when the rare omission of si, 'if': Vive le roi! Périsse le tyran! Voulait-il de l'argent, son père lui en donnait toujours. Ne fût-ce que pour cela. Do as you please, said he. What do you wish? asked the mother. que is omitted, and also after (Long) live the king! Perish the If he wished money, his father al- 3. Very commonly after certain adverbs and adverbial locutions: *Peut-être que does not cause inversion: 'Peut-être qu'il le fera,' 'Perhaps he will do so.' 4. Sometimes in exclamatory sentences: Avons-nous crié ! Didn't we shout! 5. When a predicate adjective heads the phrase: Telle fut la fin de Carthage. Quelque riche que soit cet homme. Such was the end of Carthage. NOTE.-All the above inversions, except the last given, may take place whatever be the nature of the subject, but the following rules do not usually hold good for personal pronoun subject. 6. Very commonly in a relative clause, especially when a second relative clause qualifies its subject: Il fera ce que peut faire un He will do what a man can who respects himself. Tell me what your friend did. Tell me where your friend is. NOTE. The relative is unstressed (proclitic), and naturally stands next the verb which governs it. 7. Commonly after c'est que, and in the second member of a comparative sentence: C'est en vous qu'espèrent tous. J'en ai plus que n'en a mon ami. It is in you that all hope. I have more of it than my friend has. 8. Commonly when an adverb, other than those mentioned in (3) above, e.g., ainsi, bientôt, ici, là, etc., or an adverbial phrase heads the sentence: Ainsi va le monde. Bientôt viendra le printemps. A la tête de l'armée fut porté l'étendard sacré. So goes the world. Spring will soon come. At the head of the army was carried the sacred standard. 9. Quite exceptionally, when the verb comes first: Viendra un autre. (Along) will come another. NOTE.-No inversion of noun subject usually occurs if the verb has a direct object or a prepositional complement. 238. Indirect Interrogation. It has no special rules of word order apart from those of the clause in which it occurs: Dis-moi ce qu'il a dit. Tell me what he said. THE PASSIVE VOICE. 239. Formation. The passive voice of a transitive verb is formed from the auxiliary être + the past participle, which agrees with the subject of the verb in gender and number: PRES. INFIN. Être loué(e) or loué(e)s, to be praised. PERF. INFIN. PERF. PART. Avoir été loué(e) or loué(e)s, to have been praised. PRESENT INDICATIVE. Ayant été loué(e) or loué(e)s, having been praised. I am (I am being) praised, etc. je suis tu es loué(e). tu as été loué(e). il (elle) a été Obs.: 1. The past participle été is always invariable. 2. The past participle after vous agrees with the sense: 'Madame, vous serez méprisée de tous,' 'Madam, you will be despised by all.' 240. The Agent. The person by whom the action is done is usually denoted by par, when a specific intention or definite volition is implied, and by de when the action is habitual, usual, or indefinite : Elle fut saisie par le voleur. l'ennemi. She was seized by the thief. The general was closely followed by La reine était suivie de ses dames. The queen was followed by her ladies. 241. Remarks. 1. Only transitive verbs regularly have the passive voice, but the intransitives obéir, désobéir, pardonner, may also be made passive: Vous êtes pardonnés tous. You are all pardoned. She is always obeyed. 2. The passive is much less used than in English, especially if the agent be not specified, or if the corresponding French |