Ce is often used instead of il, elle, ils, elles, in reference to a person or thing mentioned before. Ce is preferred when the verb être is followed by a substantive, accompanied by the article, or the adjective un; as, Lisez Homère et Virgile; CE SONT LES plus grands POETES de l'antiquité. C'est UN César. C'est UN Cicéron. He is a Cæsar. He is a Cicero. Lisez Démosthène et Cicéron; ILS | Read Homer and Virgil; they are the best poets of antiquity. But, when the verb être is followed by an adjective without a noun, or by a noun taken adjectively, il, elle, ils, elles, must be used; as, Read Demosthenes and Cicero; they are very eloquent. I have seen the Louvre; it is beautiful, and worthy of a great nation. EXERCISE CLXXX. It is we who have restored tranquillity.-It is you, brave rétablir soldiers, who fought gloriously. It was the Egyptians soldat combattre ind-4 ind-3 Egyptiens that first observed the course of the stars, regulated les premiers ind-3 cours m. astrem. régler the year, and invented arithmetic.-Read attentively Plato année f. Lire and Cicero; they are the two philosophers of antiquity, who philosophe have given us 2(the most sound and luminous) 1ideas upon art. sain lumineux idée f. morality. I have seen the city of Edinburgh; it is beautiful. morale f. ville f. Ce qui, as the subject, and ce que, as the object, are much used in the sense of what, that which, that thing which. Ce que je désire le plus, c'EST d'aller vous voir. When ce qui or ce que begin a sentence of two parts, ce must be repeated in the second part of the sentence, if it begins with the verb être; as, Ce qui m'attache à la vie, c'EST | What keeps me attached to life, is vous. you. What I wish most, is to come and see you. The repetition of ce is not indispensable when the verb être is followed by a substantive singular. Thus, we may say, Ce qui mérite le plus notre admi- | That which deserves our admiration ration, C'EST or EST la vertu. most, is virtue. Even in this case, however, it is better, in general, to repeat ce, which gives more energy to the expression. But when the verb être is followed by an adjective or a past participle without a noun, the demonstrative ce is not repeated; as, CE que vous dites EST vrai. What you say is true. EXERCISE CLXXXI. What I fear, is to displease you.-What pleases in the Ce que craindre de déplaire Ce qui dans ancients, is that they have painted nature with a noble simancien peindre plicity. What we 2justly 'admire in Racine, are those Ce qu'on avec justice dans characters always natural and always well sustained.-caractère m. dans la nature * soutenu That which sustains man in the midst of the greatest reverses, Ce qui soutenir ἀ milieu m. What I say is true. is hope. espérance f. Celui, celle, ceux, celles, are frequently used with the relatives qui, que, dont, auquel, à laquelle, in the sense of he who, she who, they who, whoever, whichever, etc.; as, Heureux celui qui craint le | Happy is he who fears the Seigneur ! Celle qui aime la vertu est She who loves virtue is happy. EXERCISE CLXXXII. sort in. * Happy is he who lives contented with his lot!-He who has vivre content See p. 222 never been acquainted with adversity, says Seneca, has seen * éprouvé the world but on one side. que d' art. n'a vu * côté m. She who did it was punished. ne -He who thinks (of nobody but himself), excuses others forget it, he who receives it, remember it. In the very familiar style, cela is sometimes contracted into ça; as, Donnez-moi ça.-(Acad.) § IV. OF RELATIVE PRONOUNS. 1. The relative pronouns who, which, and that, are expressed by qui, when they are the subject or nominative of a verb; as, L'homme qui parle. 1 2. Whom, which, and that, are they are in the accusative, or in or direct object of a verb; as, L'homme que je vois. The man who speaks. changed. expressed by que when other words, the regimen The man whom I see. The horses which I see. The house that or which I have. 3. Whom is expressed by qui, when it has no antecedent, and means what person; as, Whom do you call? Qui appelez-vous ? I know whom you mean. Remember that the e of que is cut off before a vowel; qui is never Observation.-Should qui or que be divided from its antecedent by a noun, and any uncertainty arise as to which of the two nouns it may relate, use lequel, laquelle, instead of qui; as, C'est un effet de la Providence, | It is an effect of Providence which LEQUEL attire l'admiration. draws forth admiration. Here lequel is preferable to qui, as a doubt might arise whether it was effect or Providence to which it related. EXERCISE CLXXXIII. Pythagoras was the first among the Greeks who took the Pythagore est d'entre ait pris name of philosopher.-2Synonymous 1terms are words which art. synonyme terme des mot ́signify the same thing.-(You must have) a man that loves signifier Il vous faut n' (nothing but) truth and you, and that (will speak) the truth vous dise que (in spite of) you.-Here is a lady whom you know. -Where malgré Voici connaître is the horse that he has bought ?-Whom shall we invite ? acheter RULE. The relative pronoun qui, is always of the gender, number, and person of its antecedent; as, Moi qui suis estimé. Nous qui sommes estimés. I who am esteemed. So Molière ought not to have said : The antecedent of qui is moi; qui is therefore of the first person, and consequently requires the verb of which it is the subject to adopt that person; we must say qui ME FERAIS prier, as we say: JE me ferais prier. From the same principle we would say: Vous parlez comme un homme QUI ENTEND la matière (you speak like a man who understands the subject), and not QUI ENTENDEZ la matière-because the relative qui does not represent the pronoun vous, but represents the substantive homme which immediately precedes qui. REMARK.-An adjective cannot serve as an antecedent to a relative pronoun; so, instead of saying: Nous étions DEUX qui étaient du même avis (we were two who were of the same opinion), we must say: Nous étions deux qui ÉTIONS du même avis, thus making nous, the subject of the preceding verb, the antecedent of the relative pronoun. Observe that we would say: Nous étions DEUX juges qui ÉTAIENT du même avis (we were two judges who were of the same opinion), and not qui ÉTIONS du même avis-because the substantive juges is the antecedent of the relative qui. RULE. The relative pronoun ought always to be placed near its antecedent; any other place occasions ambiguity. So Boileau is not to be imitated when he says: La déesse, en entrant, qui voit la nappe mise. He ought to have said: la DÉESSE QUI, en entrant, voit la nappe mise, in order to bring the relative qui near its antecedent déesse. EXERCISE CLXXXIV. You who are esteemed.-We who study.-I who believe the étudier croire soul immortal. The greatest men who were the ornament ind-4 ornement m. and glory of Greece, Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, even Lycurgus méme Lycurgue and Solon, went to learn wisdom in Egypt.—The 2moind-3 apprendre sagesse f. en * dern 1writers who attack the ancients, are écrivain attaquer ancien des their nurse. -I see only us two who are reasonable.-It is nourrice ne que subj-1raisonnable C I alone who am guilty. seul coupable children who beat battre RULE. The relative pronouns, whom, that, which, and also the conjunction that, are frequently understood in English, but que is always expressed in French; as, L'homme que nous avons vu. The man (whom or that) we saw. Note. The student will already have observed, that the English make much greater use of the ellipsis (or omission of some words) than the French, and that, in general, the words which are understood in English, are expressed in French. For previous instances of the ellipsis occurring in English, and not in French, see pages 9, 10, 21, 22, 36, 38, 57. |
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