Il n'a ni père ni mère. Sans amis ni argent. Tant hommes que femmes. Jamais père n'a tant aimé. He has neither father nor mother. Without friends or money. As well men as women. Never did a father love so much. 331. Unclassified Examples. The following examples show idiomatic distinctions in the use of the article which cannot conveniently be brought under general rules: Vous êtes le bienvenu. Avoir le temps. Sur (vers) les trois heures. L'année dernière (prochaine). Tous (les) deux; tous (les) trois. Tous les mois. Le ministre de la guerre. Le meilleur des amis. Il cria à l'assassin. Je l'ai dit au hasard. Prendre le deuil de quelqu'un. Je vous souhaite la bonne année. You are welcome. Ask (give) alms. To have time. To go to school (church). Command respect. Fire broke out. Make war. Cast (weigh) anchor. To set fire to. Towards three o'clock. Good-bye! Last (next) year. Mid-June. (The) half (of) the year. The minister of war. I said it at random. Go into mourning for somebody. I wish you a happy new year. Il est plus grand que vous de la tête. Un homme à la barbe noire. La belle question! À la (sc. mode) française. À la (sc. mode de) Henri IV. Cent (mille) ans. Les amis, où allez-vous? He is taller than you by a head. A man with a black beard. In the style of Henry IV. A hundred (a thousand) years. (My) friends, where are you going? THE ARTICLE WITH PROPER NOUNS. 332. Names of Persons. 1. Names of persons usually take no article, as in English: Corneille; George Fox. a. The definite article is a constituent part of some surnames: Les romans de Lesage. Les fables de La Fontaine. Corneille; George Fox. The novels of Lesage. The fables of La Fontaine. 2. The definite article is used according to Italian analogy in the French form of a few famous Italian surnames; so also, in a very few names which are not Italian : Le Corrège; le poème du Tasse. Correggio; the poem of Tasso. Poussin; Camoens. 3. The article is used when the name has a distinctive adjunct, when it is plural, or when used as a common noun: 4. Familiarly, often in a depreciatory sense, the definite article is not uncommon, especially with names of females: Sans attendre la Barbette. Le Duval me l'a dit. Without waiting for Barbara. Duval told me so. 1. Names of continents, 333. Names of Countries. countries, provinces, large islands, regularly take the definite article, always so when standing as subject or object of a verb: L'Asie est un grand continent. La Normandie; l'Angleterre. a. A few countries named after Naples; Parme; Bade. Asia is a large continent. We love Canada. cities have no article: Naples; Parma; Baden. NOTE.-Considerable variety prevails regarding the use of the article with names of islands: some require the article, whilst it is omitted with others, e.g., ' La Corse,' Corsica; La Sicile,' Sicily; 'Cuba,' Cuba; "Terre-Neuve,' Newfoundland. L'île de, preceding the name, and l'île in apposition, are common forms; e.g., 'L'île de Cuba,' 'L'île Saint Domingue,' St. Domingo; 'Les fles Bahama,' the Bahama Islands. 2. Before names of continents, European countries singular, and feminine countries singular outside of Europe, en denotes 'where,' 'where to,' and the article is omitted; so also, after de denoting 'point of departure from' and after de in most adjectival phrases: Il est en (va en) Europe. Il voyage en France (Portugal). Le fer de Suède; les vins de France. He is in (is going to) Europe. a. Exceptions are very rare, e.g., 'au Maine,' 'Le duc du Maine,' etc. NOTE.-In an adjectival phrase, de denoting titular distinction, origin, description, or mere apposition usually omits the article, e.g., 'le pays de France,' 'Le Royaume Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande.' 3. But the definite article is not omitted, in answer to 'where?' 'where to?', or after de as above, when the name is plural, or has a distinctive adjunct, or denotes a masculine country outside of Europe: Il est aux Indes. Aux Pays-Bas. He is in India. He goes to the United States. In Southern France. Dans l'Amérique du Nord. La reine de la Grande-Bretagne. Le Dominion du Canada. La Puissance du Canada. Chassé de la Chine. Le consul du Pérou. Le fer du Canada. In North America. The Queen of Great Britain. The Dominion of Canada. Expelled from China. The consul of Peru. Obs.: When the definite article is used, 'where,' ' where to,'=à (general) or dans (specific). a. In a few names like 'Asie Mineure,' 'basse Bretagne,' the adjective is no longer felt to be distinctive : En Asie mineure. In Asia Minor. 4. Omission of the article in the predicate, in enumerations, titles, etc., sometimes occurs (cf. §330, 5): La Gaule est devenue France. Espagne, Italie, Belgique, tout eût pris feu. 334. Names of Cities. Gaul became France. Spain, Italy, Belgium, all would have caught fire. Names of cities and towns usu ally have no article, unless used with a distinctive adjunct: Londres, Paris, Québec. A Toronto (Montréal). But: La Rome de ce siècle. La Nouvelle-Orléans. London, Paris, Quebec. To or in Toronto (Montreal). a. The definite article is an essential part of several names of cities: Le Caire; le Havre; la Havane. Cairo; Havre; Havana. 335. Names of Mountains and Rivers. Names of mountains always, and names of rivers regularly, have the definite article: Les Alpes; le Nil; le mont Blanc. a. For rivers, the usage after en, in § 333, 2: De l'eau de Seine. Un abordage a eu lieu en Seine. The Alps; the Nile; Mt. Blanc. Seine water. A collision occurred on the Seine. THE ADJECTIVE. THE FEMININE OF ADJECTIVES. 336. General Rule. The feminine of an adjective is regularly formed by adding -e to the masculine singular, but adjectives ending in -e remain unchanged: a. Similarly, nouns of like termination (but see § 306, 2): b. Adjectives in -gu are regular, but require the diæresis to indicate that u is sounded, e.g., aigu, sharp, aiguë. c. The circumflex in dû (f. due) distinguishes it from du= 'of the,' and disappears in the fem. (§ 214); observe also mû (f. mue, § 219). d. Besides adjectives in -e, a very few others are invariable for the feminine, e.g., capot, in être capot=‘have come to grief,' grognon, grumbling, rococo, rococo, sterling, sterling, and rarer ones. NOTE.-Here also properly belongs grand in grand'mère, etc. In O. F. grand was masculine or feminine, but grammarians at a later date gave it the apostrophe to denote the supposed elision of e. 337. Special Rules. 1. Irregularities consist chiefly of changes in the stem on adding the feminine sign -e; thus, when -e is added : (1) Final f=v, x=s, c=ch in some, and qu in others, g=gu: *blanc, white, blanche. longue. heureux, happy, heureuse. *So also: Franc, frank, franche; sec, dry, sèche. +So also: Ammoniac (-que), ammoniac; caduc (-que), decrepit; franc (-que) Frankish; turc (-que), Turkish. |