The adjectives demi, half, and nu, bare, are invariable when they precede the noun, and agree with the noun when they follow it; demi in gender only; une demi-heure, half an hour; deux heures et demie, two hours and a half; nu-pieds, or les pieds nus, barefooted. The adjective feu, late, deceased, placed immediately before the noun, agrees with it; when separated from it by the article or a possessive adjective, it is invariable; la feue reine, the late queen; feu la reine, the deceased queen. 2. ADJECTIVES USED AS NOUNS. An adjective may be used as a noun to designate an individual, a class, or an abstract quality. Adjectives, as a rule, are placed after the noun, but the following Adjectives derived from proper names, those that denote color, form or shape, those that express physical or mental qualities, and past participles used as adjectives, always follow the noun. La langue française. Une table ronde. Du drap noir. Un homme aveugle. Des plats cassés. The French language. A round table. Black cloth. A blind man. SYNTAX OF THE ADJECTIVE. 223 Some adjectives have a different meaning, according as they precede or follow the noun. The following are a few of them : Un brave homme, a worthy man. 4. Un homme brave, a brave man. GOVERNMENT. Adjectives may be followed by a preposition and a noun, or a verb in the infinitive. Adjectives that express our feelings, and those generally that are followed in English by of, from, with, require the preposition de before the noun or infinitive. Je suis content de ce travail. I am satisfied with this work. Adjectives that express advantage, qualities, require the preposition à. C'est utile à savoir. C'est une chose difficile à faire. likeness, fitness, or the opposite That is useful to know. Adjectives joined in construction with the impersonal verb il est, require, however, de before the infinitive. Il est utile de savoir cela. It is useful to know that. NUMERAL ADJECTIVES. . 5. The numeral adjective un is used for the English indefinite article a or an; but the indefinite article is used, in English, in cases in which its equivalent is not used in French. The numeral un is not used before nouns placed in apposition with or explanatory of, preceding nouns. Athalie, tragédie de Racine. Il est français. Son père était notaire. Athaly, a tragedy of Racine. He is a Frenchman. His father was a notary. The cardinal numbers are used for the ordinal after the n sovereigns, and also to state the day of the month, and the ch page of a book, except for the first. 1. Le père et la mère de ces enfants sont morts. 2. Le pe sœur sortent ensemble. 3. Hier ils sont venus demander du pa étaient nu-pieds. 4. Vous me donnez une demi-livre de café, et en ai demandé une livre et demie. 5. La malade n'a pas quitt aujourd'hui. 6. L'avare meurt de faim au milieu de l'abondan La langue française et la langue anglaise sont utiles à celui voyager en Europe. 8. J'ai étudié l'allemand, mais je ne le pa 9. J'aime mieux une table ronde qu'une table carrée. 10. Coup s'il vous plaît, un mètre et demi de ce drap noir. 11. Je su tent de mon sort; l'êtes-vous du vôtre? 12. Nous sommes fa France, était le père du peuple. 18. Vous trouverez cela dans vot histoire, livre premier, chapitre deux, page soixante. Theme 49.14. 1. That gentleman and lady are our neighbors. 2. The children the poor often go barefooted in the midst of winter. 3. Lend me ha a sheet of letter paper. 4. I have studied this lesson for (pendant) hour and a half. 5. The patient is (va) better; he has gone out. The rich and the poor are alike before God. 7. The French langua is more difficult than the German. 8. I like French better than Ge man. 9. Here is a round table and a square table, which one do y wish? 10. That general is a great man, and his son is a tall man. Our teacher is a worthy man. 12. The brave man does his duty, an fears none but (que) God. 13. My shoemaker is a Frenchman. 14. Th German is a baker. 15. I am glad to see you. 16. You are very ki to have thought of me. 17. These words are difficult to pronounc 18. It is difficult to satisfy everybody. 19. It is impossible to do it. FIFTIETH LESSON. THE PRONOUN. (See Lesson Eleventh to Lesson Nineteenth. We here add only what is necessa to complete the subject.) A pronoun stands in the place of a noun. But the pronouns c ceci, cela, en, y, and the invariable pronoun le, may stand in the pla of a sentence. Je sais ce qui le désole. Tout le monde en parle. I know what grieves him. me désole. grieves me. We have seen (Lesson Eleventh) that the objective pers nouns are placed after the verb when the verb is in the i mode and used affirmatively. The pronouns moi and toi used for me and te, except before en. Donnez-moi du papier. Donnez-m'en. Give me some paper. Give me some. When the objective pronouns stand after the verb, le, la cede moi, toi, lui, nous, vous, leur. Donnez-le-moi. Give it to me. 1 Envoyez-le-lui. Send it to him. The personal pronouns are generally repeated with each v The pronoun subject may, however, be omitted before t and succeeding verbs, when the verbs are connected by et, are all in the same tense, and all used either affirmatively tively. We may say: Il étudie et fait des progrès; or Il il fait des progrès. He studies and makes progress. The relative pronouns qui, que, dont, are placed immedia their antecedent. Le monsieur qui doit nous accompagner, est venu. The gentleman, who is pany us, has come. The relative pronoun dont must be followed by the subje next verb. Je vais trouver l'agent dont vous I am going to the agent m'avez donné l'adresse. dress you gave me. The pronoun whose, standing after a preposition and before is rendered by duquel, delaquelle, etc. Le monsieur dans la maison du- The gentleman in whose quel nous demeurons. live. |