§ 335. Impersonal Verbs.

I. Impersonal Verbs are defective. They are only conjugated in the third person, singular, of the Verb Finite, and in the Infinitive and Participles il faut, it is-necessary, il neige, it snows.

II. Those Verbs which are mainly, or always, used impersonally, are said to be essentially' impersonal: as,

Tonner, (to) thunder; il tonne, it thunders, etc.

Falloir, (to) be necessary; il faut, it is necessary, etc.

III. Those which are merely ordinary verbs used impersonally are said to be accidentally' impersonal: as, Arriver, (to) happen; from arriver, (to) come.

§ 336. The Passive Voice.*

I. In French, as in English, there are no special Tenseforms for the Passive Voice. The tenses are formed by prefixing the various parts of the verb 'être' to the Past ParticiHe, there are no simple tenses; all the tenses are compound: as,

I am loved.

I shall have been loved.

Je suis aimé.

J'aurai été aimé.

II. Hence, to conjugate a Passive Verb, it is sufficient to know the Past Participle of the Verb to be conjugated, and all the forms of the verb 'être.'

II. Unlike the Compound Tenses' of the Active Voice, the Past Participle agrees in the Passive Voice with the Subject of the Verb as in Latin: compare

(Active.) Nous avons aimé, we have loved.
(Passive.) Nous sommes aimés, we are loved.

*The Passive is much less used in French than in English. Sometimes the ordinary active verb is preferred; sometimes a reflexive verb.

PARADIGMS.

§ 337. Observations on the Paradigms.

1. The English given in each tense is only one of many possible renderings. This is particularly true of the Subjunctive. (§ 332.).

2. The Indicative may be followed by a condition, the Conditional Mood must be. This, the name 'Conditional' implies.

3. The Indicative and Conditional forms may be employed in subordinate sentences; the Subjunctive forms are rarely employed otherwise; this the name Subjunctive' implies.

4. The English may, might, could, etc., in principal construction must not be rendered by the Subjunctive, but by such equivalent auxiliaries of mood as pouvoir, devoir, etc. (See § 332.) Even in subordinate construction they are rarely the renderings of French Subjunctive forms. (See § 332.)

5. The Present Perfect is often used as a Simple Past.

6. The Present Perfect is often called Past Indefinite.

Xo.

7. The Past Simple has different names in different languages, but its use is much the same.

8. The usual name of the Past Perfect is Pluperfect.

9. When nothing is said to the contrary, the derivative. verbs follow the simple.

See, however, Use of Moods in SYNTAX.

Fut. Imperfect. I shall be having. I shall be having.