heard it said that a gentleman3 ought to have at least two servants. As he could afford it, he immediately took two, who were very happy in a place in which they were paid for doing nothing. One day the master cries at the door of his room, "Are you there, Anthony?" "Yes, sir; here I am.” "What are you doing?" "Nothing, sir." "And you, Henry; are you there?" "Yes, sir." "What are you doing?" "Sir, I am helping Anthony." "When you have done", come and give me my boots." A servant was ordered by his master to take to a friend of his two nice figs, with a letter. The servant ate one of the figs on the way3; but the friend, being informed by the letter that he ought to receive two figs, claimed the other. "I ate it," replied the bearer. "How did you do it, rascal'?" demanded the friend. The servant took the remaining fig and swallowed it. "See"," said he; "that's the way I did." 1 2 3 4 fut chargé; de porter; en chemin ; en sorte que; 5 instruit; 'il devait y en avoir deux; 7 maraud; 8 l'avala; tenez. 9 SYNTAX OF THE PRONOUN. The syntax of the pronoun has partly been given. A pronoun used as the subject of a verb generally precedes it. EXCEPTIONS. - 1st. In interrogative sentences; as, vais-je ? aimons-nous ? etc. 2d. In affirmative or negative sentences beginning with au moins, à peine, encore, peut-être, en vain, aussi, du moins, combien, que de fois, à plus forte raison, etc.; as: At least, he lent it to me. Au moins, me l'a-t-il prêté. I had scarcely left when she came. A peine étais-je parti qu'elle vint. Perhaps we shall leave New York. Peut-être quitterons-nous New York. With still greater reason, I will A plus forte raison, n'irai-je not go. pas. This rule is not imperative, and the construction may be, for instance: Peut-être sortirons-nous. Perhaps we shall go out. Peut-être que nous sortirons. 3d. In some sentences beginning with a subjunctive, or conditional without being preceded by a conjunction; as: 4th. As also in the following and similar sentences: Soldiers! cried he, forty centuries look down upon you! Yes, said she, I will relieve him. You misunderstood me, I said; such was not my intention. Soldats! dit-il, quarante siècles vous contemplent! Oui, dit-elle, je le soulagerai. Vous m'avez mal compris, disje; telle n'était pas mon intention. REPETITION OF THE PRONOUNS. 1. A personal pronoun used as the subject is repeated before every verb. 1st. When the verbs are of different tenses; as: I say, and will always say. as: Je dis, et je dirai toujours, etc. 2d. If we pass from a negative to an affirmative proposition; voulez aller à la chasse. You have not a gun, and you Vous n'avez pas de fusil, et vous will go a-hunting. You are not thirsty, and you wish Vous n'avez pas soif, et vous to drink. voulez boire. In the other cases, the pronoun may be repeated or not, as taste may direct. 2. Pronouns in the objective case must always be repeated before every verb, except in compound tenses when the auxiliary is understood; as: I can speak, read, and write it. We esteem and love them. Je puis le parler, le lire, et l'écrire. Nous les estimons et les aimons. We have esteemed and loved them. Nous les avons estimés et aimés. Le, la, les. When the pronoun le refers to a noun, it agrees with that noun in gender and number; as: Is that your house? Are those your brothers? Yes, they are. Are you her aunt? I am not. Est-ce là votre maison ? Oui, ce les sont. Etes-vous sa tante ? Je ne la suis pas. But le meaning cela is invariable when it represents an adjective, or a noun taken adjectively; i. e., when it means "so." Are you good friends? Yes, we are. (80.) Are you a French lady? I am. (so, it.) Etes-vous bons amis P Oui, nous le sommes. What do you call twelve men of Qu'appelez-vous douze hommes good will? We are all so. de bonne volonté ? Nous le sommes tous. Tel, telle, tels, telles-such. Tel is an adjective or a pronoun; as: Such a man, such a woman. Mr. such a one, Mrs. such a one. Un tel homme, une telle femme. Monsieur un tel, Madame une telle. Chaque, chacun. The adjective chaque, every, each, always requires a noun after it; as: Every country has its habits. Each volume costs three francs. Chaque pays a ses habitudes. Chaque volume coûte trois francs. The pronoun chacun, every one, each one, must not be confounded with chaque. Those volumes cost three francs Ces volumes coûtent trois francs each. Give them ten francs each. chacun. Donnez-leur dix francs chacun. Chacun takes son, sa, ses when it follows the object of the verb; as: They have given their opinion, each Ils ont donné leur avis, chacun one according to his views. selon ses vues. They sang their songs, each one in Ils chantèrent leurs chansons, his turn. chacun à son tour. It requires leur, leurs when it is placed between the verb and its objective case; as: Each language has its difficulties. Les langues ont chacune leurs difficultés. Those children have each of them Ces enfants ont chacun leur Qui que ce soit, qui que ce fût, whoever, any one. Whoever has done that is a clever man. He has forbidden me to mention it to any one. Qui que ce soit qui ait fait cela, c'est un habile homme. Il m'a défendu d'en parler à qui que ce fût. Quoi que ce soit, quoi que ce fût, whatever. Whatever he does, he is distrusted. We have done nothing whatever. Quoi que ce soit qu'il fasse, on se défie de lui. Nous n'avons fait quoi que ce fût. Quiconque, whoever; quelconque, any, whatsoever. Whoever will not be here, shall be Quiconque ne sera pas ici, sera punished. puni. Any good reason being given, I'll Une bonne raison quelconque Le prochain, our neighbors, fellow-creatures. |