B. PAST TENSE FORMS IN PRINCIPAL SENTENCE. Past tense forms in the principal sentence are followed in the subordinate sentence 1. By the Simple Past Subjunctive to express indefinite or incomplete past action : Je voulais que vous écrivissiez Je voulus que vous écrivissiez Quand j'eus voulu que vous écrivissiez. 2. By the Perfect Past Subjunctive to express finished past action : Je voulais que vous eussiez écrit avant mon départ Je voulus que vous eussiez écrit avant mon départ J'avais voulu que vous eussiez écrit avant mon départ Quand j'eus voulu que vous eussiez écrit avant mon départ 3. By the Simple Present Subjunctive to express indefinite or incomplete present action : Je ne fis rien qui vaille. C. (ROUSSEAU.) FUTURE TENSE FORMS IN PRINOIPAL SENTENCE. The Conditional in most of its uses is a Future, but a Future looked at from the past, and not from the present, like the ordinary Future tenses (§ 466). Therefore whereas The Future Indicative forms have the consecution of the Il faudra que vous écriviez; Il faudrait que vous écrivissiez. [vissiez. [écrit. Il aura fallu que vous ayez écrit; Il aurait fallu que vous eussiez Observations. Il aura fallu que vous écriviez; Il aurait fallu que vous écri It has been shown (B. 3 above) that (1) a Present tense may be followed by a Simple Past, and that (2) a Past tense may be followed by a Present. This is true of the Future and of the Conditional. It is sometimes to this and sometimes to a present force in the Conditional form, that we can ascribe such consecution asOn dirait à vous voir assemblés en tumulte Que Rome des Gaulois craigne encore une insulte. Je ne croirais jamais que l'on s'adresse à moi. (CRÉBILLON.) (ID.) (MASSILLON.) Qui croirait que le secret eût été gardé et qu'on n'ait jamais rien su de la délibération que quatre ans après. (BoSSUET.) CHAPTER IV.-THE ARTICLES. Articles are merely weak Determinative Adjective ProThis is true in both English and French. nouns. Ce, cette, ces, are stronger than le, la, les; le, la, les, are stronger than un, une. When it is desired to determine more strongly than can be done by ce, cette, ces, such adverbs as ci, là, are added (§ 289), or some other form of expression is employed. When, on the contrary, it is desired to determine less strongly than is done by un, une, no article at all is employed. The degree of definiteness which is required by established usage is not always the same in English and French. Still the two languages have much in common. Some of the cases in which they are alike, and all those in which they differ, are included in the following rules. § 495. Substantive employed in a General sense. 1. Before a Substantive employed in a general sense (that is, neither quite determinately nor quite indeterminately), the definite article is put in French, and omitted in English: L'homme est mortel Man is mortal. L'or est jaune La vie est courte Gold is yellow. Life is short. 2. Under this heading seems to come the use of the article in French, and its non-use in English, before names of countries, provinces, and islands. (See, however, § 497. 2.) § 496. Substantive employed in an Indeterminate sense. 1. Before a Substantive used in an Indeterminate sense, no article is put for the most part either in English or French (a) Where a preposition and a substantive together equal an adjective: un verre de vin un verre à vin a glass of wine. a wine glass (b) When a preposition and a substantive together equal an adverb: aller à pied aller à cheval mourir de honte to go on foot. to go on horseback. to die of shame. (c) Where one idea is expressed by two words: (d) In the Partitive Genitive, after words of quantity (except bien,* plupart) : beaucoup de pain trop de viande pas de bruit une quantité de pain un peu de pain much bread. too much meat. no noise. a quantity of bread. (e) In the Partitive Genitive, where the word of quantity is understood, and an adjective precedes the substantive: 2. The article is also omitted, but perhaps more for the sake of conciseness and rapidity in (a) Many proverbs: Contentement passe richesse. () Enumerations : Hommes, femmes, enfants, tout périt. (c) Vocatives: Courage, soldats! (d) Titles of books, etc.: Histoire de France Voyages en Afrique History of France. Travels in Africa. 3. Before words used in apposition, no article is put in French, but an, a, is usually employed in English : Son père, médecin à Londres, est mort. His father, a doctor in London, is dead. Son père était médecin à Londres. His father was a doctor in London. 4. The article is omitted in English, when Cardinals, and in French when Cardinals or Ordinals, are employed: Livre premier Georges quatre Page neuf Book the first or Book one George the Fourth. Page nine. 5. The article is omitted in French after quel, but usually an, a, is put in English: Quel affreux naufrage! What a frightful shipwreck ! 6. The article is omitted in such comparisons as: Plus on a, plus on veut avoir. (§ 498. 13.) The more one has, the more one wishes to have. § 497. Substantive employed in a Determinate sense. 1. Before a substantive employed in a determinate sense, the article (or some stronger determinative) is employed in both English and French : Le Président de la République. The President of the Republic. 2. In many cases mentioned above (§ 496)— (a) The substantive may be employed in a determinato sense and the definite article is restored: Un verre du vin que vous avez acheté hier. A glass of the wine which you bought yesterday.* Demandez des bons chevaux de notre écurie. Ask for some of the good horses from our stables. Son père, le fameux médecin, est mort. His father, the famous doctor, is dead. Le Paris d'autrefois n'existe plus. The Paris of olden times exists no longer. (b) Or conciseness and rapidity may be sacrificed to energy: Les hommes, les femmes, les enfants, tous périrent. 3. Sometimes a stronger Determinative Adjective is employed in one language than in the other: (a) When the sense is distributive (= each), rather than determinative, le is used in French, an or a in English :† Deux francs le kilogramme. Two francs a kilogramme. 4. Often le is thought sufficient in French where a Possessive Adjective Pronoun is used in English: *We say des petits-pains, des bonshommes, etc., for a different reason; they are compound words. Still we say, trois cents francs par mois, par jour, etc., three hundred francs a month. |