cette protection f. build their nests with patronage capable of making it flourish.- Birds (had distinguished themselves) by une 3virtue. une + Note. It is only when les is an article, that the contraction of de les into des takes place. The same rule applies to de le, and to a le, à les. 2address. une adresse f. men who § II. PLACE OF ADJECTIVES. Some Adjectives are placed before the noun, and some after it; others are either put before or after, according as taste or ear may require. However, it may be laid down as a rule that the French more generally place the Adjective after the noun. ADJECTIVES WHICH ARE PLACED BEFORE THE NOUN. 1. Adjectives of one syllable, as beau, bon, grand, gros, etc., generally precede their substantive. We say, un BEAU jardin, un BON ouvrage, un GRAND chapeau, un SAINT personnage, etc. 2. Plural Adjectives generally unite harmoniously with substantives beginning with a vowel; as, BRILLANTS atours. It is the same with the Adjectives which, although singular, terminate with an x which is pronounced like an s; as, HEUREUX artifice, etc. (See Remark 5th, page 218.) is a fine river. rivière f. make EXERCISE CLII. Have you seen the beautiful lake of Geneva ?-The Loire lac m. Genève m. You arrive at a good moment. great use The Turks Turc eat the little ones. What a holy man saint * father Bernard is !— * que art. He is an old soldier.-My dear friend, you are mistaken.— C' vieux cher se méprendre He is in Il dans de continual alarms. ADJECTIVES WHICH ARE PLACED AFTER THE NOUN. The Adjectives which are placed after the substantive are: 1st, Adjectives which express names of nations; as, Le gouvernement ANGLAIS, the English government; La révolution FRANÇAISE, the French revolution. m. REMARK.-When the name of a nation is an adjective, it does not require a capital letter in French, but it takes one if it be a substantive. So we write: La nation française, anglaise, espagnole, italienne, allemande. And, with a capital, un Anglais (an Englishman), un Espagnol (a Spaniard), etc.—(ACAD.) EXERCISE CLIII. English bravery; Spanish gravity; bravoure f. manners; f. † beauty; German music; Dutch Prussian f.t hollandais mœurs f. pl. prussien troops; Swedish soldiers; Chinese ceremonies.-The French troupe f. suédois soldat chinois monarchy began under Pharamond, in the year 420.—That monarchie f. ind-3, en ľ an young German requests you to inscribe your name in his prier ‡ d'inscrire f. sur album. Italian policy; Roman politique f. 2dly, Adjectives denoting colour are placed after the noun; as, un habit NOIR, a black coat; une robe BLANCHE, a white dress; un ruban BLEU, a blue ribbon. In poetry and in a figurative sense, Noir may be placed before the substantive; as, un NOIR attentat, a black crime. † See pages 30 and 31. See Part. Observ. page 32. Some compound words; as, rouge-gorge, a Robin-redbreast; du blancmanger, blancmange, can scarcely be considered as exceptions to this rule. Note. The student should impress himself well with the two foregoing rules, which are perhaps the most important on the position of the adjective, being directly the reverse of the English construction, and any deviation from either of these two rules would appear ludicrous, and at once stamp the speaker or writer as an unskilled French scholar. EXERCISE CLIV. blue eyes.-The Spanish soldiers wear She has art. a red cockade. (Here is) a beautiful statue of white marble.— cocarde f. Voici f. blanc marbre m. The marigold is a yellow flower.-Saddle my black horse.-I souci m. jaune Seller shall put on my brown coat, and my American boots.américain botte f. mettre * brun Almost all the trees of Florida, particularly the arbre m. art. Floride f. en particulier cedar and the green oak, are covered with a white moss. cèdre m. vert chêne m. ď mousse f. 3rdly, Adjectives formed from the present participle of verbs, are, generally, placed after the substantive ; as, Un ouvrage divertissant. But, Adjectives formed from the past participle are always placed after the substantive; as, 1 Un homme instruit. An entertaining work. † See Note to Rule VII., page 191. A well-informed man. EXERCISE CLV. (That is) an amusing book. The smiling images of Voilà riant · f. Theocritus, Virgil, and Gessner, excite in the soul a gentle Théocrite t porter doux striking examples of English generosity. des frappant + feeling. There are sensibilitéf. f. See Observations, pages 30 and 31. Grateful people (are like) those fruitful lands art. reconnaissant personne f. ressemblent à fertile 1f. which give more than they receive. rendre He has made des astonishing progress. An affected simplicity is a refined étonnant progrès m. pl. affecté f. 2délicat imposture. 1. f. ne 4thly, Adjectives are placed after the substantive, when expressing some physical or natural quality, such as chaud, hot; froid, cold; humide, damp; and when expressing form, as une table carrée, a square table. 5thly, Adjectives of several syllables seldom go well before substantives of one syllable; so, instead of saying les champêtres airs, rural airs; les imaginaires lois, imaginary laws, say les airs champêtres, les lois imaginaires. 6thly, When two or more adjectives qualify the same noun, they are almost always placed after that noun. So, instead of adopting the English construction, ces deux rivales et guerrières nations, those two rival and warlike nations, say ces deux nations guerrières et rivales. EXERCISE CLVI. Will you give me some warm water ?-Bring me some cold chaud milk. Put it on the round table.-Never sleep in a damp lait m. rond coucher 2Arts 1(are divided) into liberal Arts and mechanical art. on divise en m. mécanique Arts. The king of Spain is styled the Catholic king.-She appeler catholique room. Elle has an harmonious voice.-She is a good and charitable woman. voix f. C'9 -He is an amiable and virtuous man. C' vertueux ↑ See Observations, pages 30 and 31. FINALLY, the placing of a great many Adjectives, before or after the substantive, holds so much to the genius of the French language, that from their being placed before or after, often depends the meaning of the substantive; and usage dictates so imperiously the law, that by infringing it we would not be understood. LIST OF ADJECTIVES which impart a different meaning to the noun, according as they are placed before, or after it. Un homme bon, a good man. } man. Un homme brave, a brave man. Une commune voix, a unani- } door. Une clef fausse, a wrong key. Un grand homme, a great } Un homme grand, a tall man. Un bon homme, most frequently means a simple man. Un brave homme, an honest man. Le grand air, noble manners. woman. Le haut ton, an arrogant manner. Un honnête homme, an honest man. Des honnêtes gens, respect- ance. Une méchante épigramme, a bad epigram. Du mort bois, wood of little value. Morte eau, ebb tides. De nouveaux livres, other |
Obtenir la version papier de ce livre
0 Avis Les avis ne sont pas validés, mais Google recherche et supprime les faux contenus lorsqu'ils sont identifiés Rédiger un commentaire |