CHAPTER IV.

THE VERB.

First Section.-Divisions of the Verb.

The Verb is, next to the Noun, the most important part of speech. The verb expresses existence or action.

190. The only verb, properly so called, is "to be," ÊTRE (p. 70.); it is denominated verb substantive, because it subsists by itself, and contains no idea of attribution.

191. All other v., such as PORTER, to carry; FINIR, to finish; RECEVOIR, to receive; VENDRE, to sell; which result from the combination of the v. ÊTRE, and of an attribute (or predicate), are called verbs attributive or adjective; indeed, je porte, je finis, je reçois, je vends, imply je suis, and the different predicates, portant, finissant, recevant, vendant.†

Attributive VeRBS may be divided into two great classes :

:

192. 1. Those expressing EXISTENCE combined with action, and nothing more, as vivre, to live; fleurir, to blossom. Such are called INTRANSITIVE. They express action in an absolute manner, and without relation to any object, and the action they indicate has not power to pass over to an object, unless it is in an indirect manuer, (i. e. with the assistance of a prep.) Ex.-1. Je reste, I remain. 2. Il court, he runs. 3. Elle parle de son frère, she speaks of her brother. 4. Nous leur parlerons, we shall speak to them. In the 4th ex., the prep. (à) is understood. (149.)

193. 2. Those expressing EXISTENCE combined with action, which action directly affects the object, (i. e. without the assistance of a prep.), such as porter, to carry; finir, to finish, &c., are called TRANSITIVE‡ or ACTIVE verbs. Ex.-1. Je PORTE une lettre, I carry a letter. 2. Je FINIS mon thème, I finish my exercise. (145.)

194. OBSERVATION. Les verbes transitifs employés sans complément direct deviennent accidentellement intransitifs:

L'esprit est le don de CONCEVOIR et de COMBINER avec finesse, et de RENDRE d'une manière piquante.

Et certains verbes, intransitifs de leur nature, deviennent accidentellement transitifs, lorsqu'ils sont employés avec un complément direct: On n'ose PARLER aux princes LE LANGAGE de la charité.—(P.)

I. VOICES, OR FORMS.

French verbs have generally three forms-ACTIVE, PASSIVE, and

REFLECTIVE.

195. 1. The active (or transitive) expresses that the agent or subject does the action to another" I punish him," je le punis.

196. 2. The passive shows that the subject suffers or sustains the action from another. -"He is esteemed by everybody," il est estimé de tout le monde. Intransitive v. have no passive, for as the action is confined to the agent, and as therefore no object is acted on, there is clearly no need of a form to express the object as a subject suffering.

197. 3. Verbs expressing an action, which, starting from the agent or subject, is thrown back or reflected on the agent or agents, have received the name of reflective v. They are also denominated PRONOMINAL, because in their tenses they are conjugated with two pron. of the same pers. Ex.-Je me coupe, I cut myself. (p. 117.)

198. In addition to substantive, intransitive, transitive, passive, and pronominal or reflective verbs, there are also IMPERSONAL § verbs, which are only used in the 3rd pers. sing.; such as-il pleut, it rains; il arrive, it happens; il faut, it is necessary.

That form, very frequent in English, is never used in French.

Transitive, from transire (to pass over), the action being considered as passing over from the agent to the suffering object.-See T. K. Arnold's Greek Gram.

Quelques grammairiens les appellent improprement unipersonnels. Les véritables verbes unipersonnels sont ceux qui ne s'emploient qu'à la troisième personne, mais aux deux nombres, et qui ont un sujet grammatical; tels sont: échoir et sevir (être convenable).-P.

II.-MOODS.

The terminations of verbs vary according to their moods, tenses, numbers, and persons. 199. A verb has five moods, or modes.

200. (a) That which represents the force of the v., unlimited by number or person, is called the INFINITIVE, thus: porter, to carry.

201. (b) That which indicates, points out, or declares existence or action, is called the INDICATIVE: J'existe, I exist; nous parlons, we speak ; je partirai demain, I shall start to-morrow.

202. (c) The CONDITIONAL affirms with a condition: J'abandonnerais tout si je savais ne pas réussir, I would give up everything if I thought I could not succeed.

203. (d) The SUBJUNCTIVE expresses existence or action in a subordinate manner, and as depending upon another action expressed by a v., to which it is subjoined by a conj. The Subjunctive implies doubt or uncertainty :

1. Il importe que j'y sois.

2. Je désire que vous réussissiez.

1. It is of consequence that I should be there. 2. I wish you may succeed.

204. (e) The IMPERATIVE commands, entreats, exhorts :

1. Va, vole, cours, et nous venge.-(CORNEILLE.) 2. Sauvez-moi. 3. Travaillez sans

cesse.

III. TENSES, OR TIMES.

205. Time is past, present, and future, and as actions must take place, and states exist, in one or other of these, there are three principal forms of the v. to express the different ideas of time, which are again subdivided to mark time more precisely: Je portai, I carried, past; je porte, I carry, is present; and je porterai, I shall carry, is future.

206. Tenses in E. are chiefly formed by combining words, whereas in F. they are principally formed by inflection. Thus, the words "might carry" are expressed by one word, PORTASSE.

207. The simple tenses are expressed by one word; the simple tenses of porter are: (a) For the Infinitive: 1. the pres., PORTER, to carry; 2. the present part., PORTANT, carrying; 3. the past part., PORTÉ, carried. (b) For the Indicative: 1. the pres., je PORTE, I carry; 2. the imperfect, je PORTAIS, I was carrying, &c.; 3. the past definite, je PORTAI, I carried; 4. the future absolute, je PORTERAI, I shall or will carry. (c) For the Conditional: the pres., je PORTERAIS, I should or would carry. (d) For the Subjunctive: 1. the pres. and future, que je PORTE, that I carry, may, shall, or will carry; 2. the imperfect, que je PORTASSE, that I carried, might, or would carry. (e) For the Imperative: One tense,† PORTE, &c., carry.

208. The compound tenses are so termed because they are formed with AVOIR, to have, or with ÊTRE, to be, which are then called AUXILIARY verbs; thus, the compound tenses of porter are: (a) For the Inf.: 1. the past of the Inf., AVOIR PORTÉ, to have carried; 2. the compound of the pres. part., AYANT PORTÉ, having carried. (b) For the Ind.: 1. the past indef., J'AI PORTÉ, I have carried; 2. the pluperfect, j'AVAIS PORTÉ, I had carried; 3. the past anterior, j'EUS PORTÉ, I had carried; 4. the fut. anterior, j'AURAI PORTÉ, I shall or will have carried. (c) For the Condit.: the past, J'AURAIS or 'EUSSE PORTÉ, I should or would have carried. (d) For the Subjunct: 1. the past, que j'AIE FORTÉ, that I may, &c., have carried; 2. the pluperf., que j'EUSSE PORTÉ, that I might, &c., have carried.

L'Impératif n'a qu'un temps, qui marque tantôt un présent, par rapport à l'action de commander: Cieux, écoutez ma voix"-et tantôt un temps futur, par rapport à la chose commandée: "Venez me voir demain."

209. In their compound tenses, all TRANSITIVE v., a great number of intransitive v. (292.), and all v. essentially impersonal (297.) take AVOIR, but all pronominal v. (277.), several intransitive v. (293.), and verbs accidentally impersonal (297.), require ÊTRE.

210. Besides the above tenses, there are others called IDIOMATIC TENSES, which are formed with the assistance of ALLER, VENIR, and DEVOIR. (320.)

IV.-NUMBER.

211. Verbs have two numbers, SINGULAR and PLURAL, because they have sometimes to express that one person or thing exists or acts, and sometimes that two or more exist or act.

212. Verbs undergo certain changes to correspond with the persons of nouns and pronouns. In the sing., the FIRST person stands for the speaker himself; the SECOND, for the person spoken to; and the THIRD, for the person spoken of. In the plur., the FIRST pers. stands for the speaker himself, and some others; the SECOND, for the person or persons spoken to; and the THIRD, for the persons spoken of. (141.)

VI. CONJUGATION.

213. To conjugate a verb, is to write, or to go verbally, through its different changes of mood, tense, number, and person.

214. All French verbs are divided into FOUR great classes called coNJUGATIONS. The characteristic termination of the present of the Infinitive indicates to what conjugation a verb belongs.

2d

The 1st ends in ER, as, port-ER, to carry; présent-ER, to present, &c.
IR, as, fin-IR, to finish; chér-IR, to cherish, &c.
OIR, as, recev-OIR, to receive; dev-OIR, to owe, &c.
RE, as, vend-RE, to sell; répond-RE, to answer, &c.

3d

4th

215. French verbs are formed of two distinct parts: the first, called the root, is unchangeable; the second, called the termination, is changeable.

216. The root implies the original or primary meaning of the v. For instance, in porter, présenter, finir, chérir, &c., the roots are port, carriage, carrying; présent, present, offer; fin, end, finish; and chér (cher), dear.

217. The termination, which in the following tables is printed in italics, implies the difference of person, number, and time. For instance, "je port-e" means, I carry ; nous port-ons," we carry; "il port-era," he will carry. (See No. 207.)

218. In our (the English) language the changes in the form of the verb are few, while, in French, they are numerous."-(COBBETT.) In learning the following models, the student should carefully notice the different terminations, both as to spelling and pronunciation. From what these terminations represent, as much importance is to be attached to them as in E. to shall, will, may, should, would, &c,

Verbs are either regular, irregular, or defective.

219. A verb is regular when it coincides in all its terminations with the model of the conjugation to which it belongs.

220. A verb is irregular when it deviates from the rules by which regular verbs are conjugated. (P. 138.)

221. A verb is defective when it wants some mood, tense, or person.

Second Section.-The Four Regular Conjugations. 222. Model of the First Conjugation. Port-er, to carry. (a.)-INFINITIVE MOOD. (200.)

(c.)-CONDITIONAL MOOD. (202.)

223. The 2d pers. sing. of the Imperative takes s after e, when followed by y or en. (143.): 1. Donnes-en à ton frère. 2. Apportes-y tous tes soins.-But when en is a prep. (404.), s is not added :—Accepte en échange ce bijou.

TRADUCTION ET LECTURE XXIII.

INFINITIF.-1. Errer est humain. 2. Savez-vous parler français ? 3. Nous allons commencer les verbes français. 4. Après avoir corrigé votre thème, je vous dirai la différence entre pays et campagne. 5. En me remerciant, il avait les larmes aux yeux. INDICATIF.-Présent.-1. Je parle deux langues. 2. Tu penses, donc tu existes. 3. Elle chante agréablement. 4. Nous étudions les chefs-d'œuvre des anciens. 5. Vous dessinez très-bien. 6. Ils content des histoires.

Imparfait, (ou temps descriptif.)—1. J'admirais ce beau paysage. 2. Nous demeurions alors à Lyon. 3. Ils habitaient la campagne. 4. Virginie préparait le déjeuner.

Passé defini.-1. Les voyageurs arrivèrent au milieu de la nuit. 2. Je ramassai les débris de mon patrimoine et je quittai Marseille. 3. Nous abordâmes à plusieurs îles, où nous échangeâmes nos marchandises.

Futur.-1. Je frapperai la porte si elle est fermée. 2. Nous passerons quinze jours à Tours. 3. Si vous allez Londres vous dépenserez beaucoup d'argent.

CONDITIONNEL.-Présent.-1. Je voyagerais si j'avais le temps. 2. Si nous cherchions, nous le trouverions.

Conjugate like PORT-ER: aim-er, to love; blâm-er, to blame; chang-er, to change; commenc-er, to begin; cultiv-er, to cultivate; déjeun-er, to breakfast; din-er, to dine; dépens-er, to spend (money); donn-er, to give; enseign-er, to teach; étudi-er, to study; expédi-er, to send, to ship; frapp-er, to strike; gard-er, to keep; mang-er, to eat; march-er, to walk; parl-er, to speak; partag-er, to share; pass-er, to pass, to spend (time); présent-er, to present, to introduce; raccommod-er, to mend; racont-er, to relate; refus-er, to refuse; rencontrer, to meet; soup-er, to sup; travaill-er, to work; travers-er, to cross; vers-er, to pour, to shed; vid-er, to empty; voyag-er, to travel, &c.

Exercise XXX.-Sur les Verbes de la Première Conjugaison. (218.) INDICATIF.-Présent.-1. I begin (commenc-er) my exercise. 2. Thou lovest thy country (patrie, f.). 3. He blames your conduct (conduite). 4. Robert changes his gold into (en) silver. 5. The maid carries our letters to the post-office (poste, f.). 6. We cultivate a barren soil (terre ingrate, f.). 7. You breakfast early (de bonne heure). 8. They dine together (ensemble). 9. The husbandmen (laboureur) cultivate a barren soil.

Imparfait ou passé simultané.-1. Whilst (Pendant que) I was-studying geography and history, he taught (imp.) Latin and Greek. 2. Whilst he spoke thus (ainsi), his friend shed tears (larmes). 3. We loved them because (parce que) they were generous. 4. You used-to-give too-much (trop d') money to your brother. 5. They taught Latin and Greek. 6. My sisters studied all the lessons (leçon, f.) which (que) their masters used-to-give them. Passé defini.-I spent the night (nuit, f.) with the travellers, to whom I related my history. 2. That traveller crossed that province* (f.) in (en) 1829. 3. We shipped goods (des marchandises) to New York* in 1837. 4. You met my brother in America in 1838. 5. They kept the secret* (m.). 6. The travellers shared the treasure (trésor, m.). Futur.-1. I shall cultivate this barren soil. 2. He will eat that bread. 3. She will speak French. 4. We shall walk very fast. 5. You will breakfast together. 6. They will introduce their sons to the minister. 7. The merchants (négociant) will ship their goods in autumn. 8. My sisters will spend the day (journée, f.) here.

CONDITIONNEL.-Présent.-1. I would mend my watch myself (moi-même). 2. If I struck him (le frappais), he would strike me. 3. We should refuse his letter. 4. You would travel if you had time (aviez le temps). 4. They would empty their purses for their friends. 5. My aunts would shed tears if I went (allais) to New York.