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When the sentence is not interrogative, the pronoun which is the subject of the verb is always placed at the

head.

EXAMPLES.

Vous ne me le conseillez pas.
Je ne le lui dirais pas.
Nous les en avertirons.
Nous lui en parlerons.

Ils ne s'y soumettront pas.

You do not advise me so.

I would not tell it him.
We shall warn them of it.
We will speak to him about it.
They will not submit to it.

In an imperative sentence, when affirmative, le, la, les, are always placed first; as, donnez-le-moi, give it me. Moi is placed after y; as, menez-y-moi, take me thither; but nous must precede y; as, menez-nous-y, take us thither.

EXERCISE CLXXVI.

Do not say to a friend who asks something of you: Go

See page 202 *

and come again to-morrow, and I will give it you; when you

revenir

demain

*

lorsque

old

can give it him immediately.-It is certain that pouvoir lui sur-le-champ

art.

Géronte has refused his daughter to Valère; but because he

parce qu'

does not give her to him, (it does not follow) that he will give il ne s'ensuit pas

her to you.-I will give you some

2next week.--I have a

en art. prochain

letter for you. Your brother has sent it me to bring it lettref. pour

you. Give it me.

envoyée pour

§ II. OF POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.

Under this head, we shall place the POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES, as we have already done, page 35.

1. Possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun to which they are joined.

2. They are repeated before every noun of the same

sentence; as, MON père, MA mère, et MES frères sont venus, my father, mother, and brothers have come.

3. They are repeated also before the adjectives that do not qualify the same noun; as, MON grand et MON petit appartement, which is equivalent to mon grand APPARTEMENT et mon petit appartement. But I would say: MON grand et bel appartement, without repeating mon, were I speaking of an apartment both large and beautiful.

(See, pages 191 and 192, what is said upon the repetition of the article.)

EXERCISE CLXXVII.

Cyrus knew all the soldiers of his army, and could

soldat I armée f.

nom m.

ind-2 pouvoir ind-2 designate them by their names.-Four things (are required) désigner on demande of a woman that virtue (should dwell) in her heart; that à femme que S habite dans

modesty (should shine) on her forehead; that gentleness

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brille

front m.

(should flow) from her lips, and that work

lèvre f.

Sdouceur f. (should occupy) découle Stravail m. оссире her hands. Her father and mother are dead.-He (showed him) lui a montré both his fine and ugly dresses.-He showed him his beautiful beau vilain habits m.

*

and rich dresses.

4. The French make use of the article, and not of the possessive adjective, when the sense clearly points out who is the possessor; as,

J'AI mal à LA tête.

Pierre a reçu un coup de feu AU bras droit.

I have a pain in MY head.

Peter has received a shot in HIS right arm.

The reason of this custom is that there can be no

† Mes père et mère, ses père et mère, instead of mon père et ma mère, son père et sa mère, are phrases extremely incorrect, and though used by many people, are most certainly contrary to the principles of the French language, and are condemned by Vaugelas, Wailly, by the modern Grammarians, and finally by the French Academy. 2 See Rule I., page 183.

See Obs. 3d., page 36.

doubt as to whose head is aching, and whose arm has received the shot, consequently the article is deemed sufficient.

But, to avoid ambiguity, I must say,

Je vois que MON bras enfle.
Pierre a perdu son argent.

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I see my arm is swelling.
Peter has lost his money.

Because, were I to say, Je vois que LE bras enfle; Pierre a perdu L'argent, one would not know whether it is my arm or that of another that I see swelling; or, whether it is his own money or John's that Peter has lost.

5. The possessive adjective is also used in speaking of an habitual complaint known to the person spoken to ; as, My headache is returned. His gout torments him.

MA migraine m'a repris.
SA goutte le tourmente.

6. Reflected verbs generally

Je me suis blessé à LA main.
Je me lave LES mains.

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remove all ambiguity; as,

I have hurt my hand.
I wash my hands.

The use of the possessive adjective would here be an error; custom, however, authorises a few familiar expressions in which the possessive seems to be redundant; as, Je me suis tenu toute la journée SUR MES JAMBES;-il se tient ferme SUR SES PIEDS.

7. The French use the article, not the possessive adjective, before a noun forming the regimen, when a personal pronoun, which is the indirect regimen, sufficiently supplies the place of the possessive; as,

Vous LUI avez cassé LE bras.
Vous ME blessez LA main.

Of all

You have broken his arm.
You hurt my hand.

EXERCISE CLXXVIII.

2living 1creatures, man is the only one who (has not) art. vivant f.

seul

*

n'ait pas

his face turned towards the earth; he walks with his eyes

- f. tourné

vers

directed towards

dirigé

of his origin.

son

marcher *

m.

heaven, as if to indicate the superiority art. ciel m. comme pour indiquer

My gout does not allow me a moment's repose laisser

repos

-You will

cut your finger.-A (cannon ball)
doigt m. boulet de canon m.

se couper

carried off emporter ind-3

lui

his arm. Our carriage passed over his voiture f. lui ind-3 sur

body, and bruised his right shoulder. corps m. lui meurtrir ind-3 droit épaule f.

8. When its and their relate to inanimate things, they are expressed by son, sa, ses, leur, or leurs:

1st, When the possessor, substantive or pronoun, is expressed, as the subject, in the same member of a sentence; as,

Londres a ses beautés.

I London has its beauties.

2d, When preceded by any preposition whatever; as, J'admire la largeur DE ses rues. I admire the width of its streets.

3d, When joined to a noun qualified by an adjective, unless the noun form the regimen; as,

Ses bâtiments réguliers plaisent au Its regular buildings please at first premier coup d'œil. sight.

4th, When joined to the subject of the verb, the latter is, or may be, followed in French by the preposition de;

as,

Son commerce produit D'im- | Its trade produces immense re

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On all other occasions, its and their are expressed by en, before the verb, and by the article before the noun. So, still speaking of London, I would say:

La situation en est très com- Its situation is very convenient for
mode pour le commerce.
trade.

EXERCISE CLXXIX.

A new custom was a phenomenon in Egypt: (for which coutume f. ind-2 prodige m. en

aussit reason) there never was a people that preserved so long conserver subj-3

y avoir ind-3 de

its usages, its laws, and even its ceremonies.-The pyramids

m.

pyramide f.

† See Rule III., page 230

of Egypt astonish,

both by the enormity of their bulk, également et

masse

and by the justness of their proportions.-The Thames is a

justesse f.

magnificent river: its channel is so wide and so deep below

lit m. large

superbe au-dessous de London-bridge, that several thousand vessels lie at their ease millier de

(in it). y ‡

être †

REMARKS.-1. A friend of mine; a book of yours, are turned in this manner in French, un de mes amis; un de vos livres. As if it were, one of my friends, one of your books; and so on with all other phrases of the same kind.

2. In speaking to a person of his relations, we generally put monsieur, madame, mademoiselle, messieurs, mesdames, mesdemoiselles, before the possessive adjectives;

as,

J'ai rencontré monsieur votre
père.

Comment se porte madame

votre mère ?

I met your father.

How does your mother do?

But this is a mere form of politeness, and has nothing to do with the rules of grammar.

§ III. OF DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS.

Ce before être, requires this verb to be in the singular, except when it is followed by the third person plural. So we say, C'EST moi, C'EST lui, C'EST nous, C'EST vous. But we must say, Ce SONT, C'ÉTAIENT, ce FURENT, ce SERONT eux, elles, les parents, qui, etc.—(Gram. des Gram.; Gram. de Le Tellier, etc.)

Such is the rule of the best grammarians; with the third person plural, however, some respectable authors use the verb être, sometimes in the plural, and sometimes in the singular.

+ See Rule IV., page 241.

See N.B., page 44.

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