THE PAST DEFINITE forms 1 tense. THE IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE, by adding se to its second person singular, as :— Most French verbs are subject to the above rules in the formation of their tenses. which deviate from them. The irregular verbs are those 233. IRREGULAR VERBS. There are two classes of irregular verbs-1st, those which are irregular in the formation of their primitive tenses, but which form regularly their derivative tenses according to the above rules, as: – sentir, craindre. If these two verbs were conjugated like blanchir and rendre, their present participle ought to be sentissant and craindant. As it is sentant and craignant, they are both irregular in the formation of the primitive tenses. But they are regular in the formation of their derivative; for instance, change ant into ais, and you have the imperfect sentais, craignais. 2nd. Those which are irregular both in the primitive and the derivative tenses, as :-savoir, of which the present participle, if regular, should be savant and not sachant, and the future indicative savrai and not saurai, &c. The second class is very difficult to learn, and requires all your attention. The first, being very much like the regular verbs, is much more easy. 234.-We are going to write the list of all irregular verbs. You must bear in mind in learning them that, when you see the five primitive tenses only written down, the verb belongs to the first class. As to the verbs of the second class, we will give all their irregularities. You will also notice that some K times one or more primitive tenses are wanting; then the verb is called defective, and it is not used in those primitive tenses, nor in their derivative, unless we give the latter. 235. We may call also irregular those which, for the sake of pronunciation, do not exactly agree with the spelling of the model of their conjugation, as: appeler, mener, payer, arguer, &c. You will, therefore, find below the list of all the irregularities of French verbs. REMARKS ON THE SPELLING OF SOME VERBS. 236.-Verbs ending in the present infinitive in ger, add an e mute to the radical when the termination begins with a or o, as:-changer, to change, nous changeons, je changeais. The e mute is used here to make g sound, as it does in the present infinitive : Affliger, allonger, arranger, bouger, changer, charger, corriger, décourager, dédommager, dégager, diriger, égorger, encourager, engager, ériger, exiger, fustiger, gager, héberger, interroger, juger, loger, manger, négliger, outrager, partager, ravager, soulager, venger, &c. 237.-Verbs ending in cer in the present infinitive have a cedilla under the c when the termination begins with a or o, as:-forcer, to force; nous forçons, we force, nous forçâmes, we forced : Agacer, amorcer, annoncer, avancer, balancer, commencer, dénoncer, dépecer, dépiécer, écorcer, effacer, enlacer, ensemencer, épicer, évincer, forcer, froncer, glacer, lancer, menacer, nuancer, percer, placer, saucer, semoncer, tancer, &c. 238. The c of apercevoir,concevoir, décevoir, percevoir and recevoir has a cedilla when it comes before u, as Je I received, J'ai reçu, I have received. reçus, 239.-Verbs ending in the present participle in yant change they of the radical into i when the termination begins with e mute, as: Payer, to pay, payant; ployer, to bend, ployant; essuyer, to wipe, essuyant; fuir, to run away, fuyant; voir, to see, voyant; croire, to believe, croyant. Aboyer, appuyer, balayer, bégayer, charroyer, choyer, convoyer, côtoyer, déblayer, délayer, déployer, effrayer, égayer, employer, ennuyer, enrayer, essayer, essuyer, étayer, flamboyer, foudroyer, fourvoyer, frayer, larmoyer, louvoyer, monnayer, nettoyer, noyer, octroyer, ondoyer, ployer, rayer, relayer, remblayer, rudoyer, soudoyer, tutoyer, verdoyer, &c. 240.-Verbs ending in the present infinitive in uer must have a diæresis on the i of the terminations ions, iez in the imperfect indicative and present subjunctive, as :-allouions: Allouer, arguer, clouer, contribuer, distribuer, douer, échouer, engouer, jouer, louer, nouer, rouer, secouer, trouer, vouer, &c. 241.-Arguer must form three syllables, ar-gu-er. That is why there is a diæresis over the e of the termination whenever that e is mute. J'arguë, tu argues, il arguë, ils arguënt. J'arguërai, eras, ëra, ërons, ërez, ëront; J'arguërais, ërais, ërait, ërions, ëriez, ëraient. Arguë, que j'arguë, que tu argues, qu'il arguë, qu'ils arguënt. 242.-Verbs which have an e mute or an e close (é) in the last syllable of the radical change that e mute or e close into a broad e before a consonant followed by any of the terminations e, es, ent, erai, eras, era, erons, erez, eront, erais, erait, erions, eriez, eraient. Except verbs in éger, which preserve the e close all through,-j'abrége, il abrégera, 243.-There are several ways of making the e broad. The following take a grave accent. Achever, amener, banqueter, breveter, céder, céler, décolleter, décréter, déposséder, égrener, élever, empiéter, enlever, fréter, fureter, haleter, hébéter, inquiéter, interpréter, léser, mener, parqueter, peser, promener, recéler, refléter, répéter, révéler, semer, sevrer, trompeter, végéter, voleter, &c.:-J'achève, nous achèverions. 2. By doubling the or t in the following verbs ending in the present participle in elant, or etant. Amonceler, appeler, atteler, chanceler, ensorceler, épeler, étinceler, ficeler, grommeler, javeler, morceler, niveler, renouveler, ressemeler, ruisseler, tonneler, cacheter, caqueter, décacheter, déjeter, jeter, mugueter, rejeter, souffleter, vergeter, as :— J'appelle Nous appelons Vous appelez Je jetterai Tu jetteras Nous jetterons Vous jetterez Ils jetteront. 3. By doubling the n in the verbs of the second and fourth conjugations ending in enant in the present participle, as :-Tenant, ils tiennent; prenant, que je prenne, que tu prennes, qu'il prenne, que nous prenions, que Vous preniez, qu'ils prennent; (observe, however, that verbs in enant of the first conjugation change e mute into è, as:Menant, je mène.) The only verbs which double n are the compounds of tenir, tenant : S'Abstenir, appartenir, contenir, détenir, entretenir, maintenir, obtenir, retenir, soutenir, tenir, The compounds of venir, venant: Avenir, circonvenir, contrevenir, convenir, devenir, disconvenir, intervenir, parvenir, prévenir, provenir, redevenir, se ressouvenir, revenir, se souvenir, subvenir, survenir, venir, The compounds of prendre, prenant : Apprendre, comprendre, déprendre, désapprendre, entreprendre, prendre, rapprendre, reprendre, suspendre. 244.-Verbs having a circumflex accent on the last e of the radical preserve it through all the verb, as, rêver, to dream, je rêve, tu rêves, &c., Thus-Arrêter, bêcher, bêler, dépêcher, fêter, gêner, mêler, pêcher, prêcher, quêter, rêver, &c. 245.-Annexer and vexer have never an accent over the e, as:-je vexe, tu annexeras. |