EXERCISE. Were you not to have learnt Italian this half year?—What was I to do in such a case? Submit in silence, and wait patiently. She is much disappointed, for she was to have vivement contrariée received some letters this morning, which have not arrived, étre and she is now very uneasy on account of her friends.— This is what you were to do.-You must have been very unVoilà comfortable, alone, and with such a man, in a retired spot in the country. Compound of the Present,-j'ai dú, endroit Expresses supposition of what must have been, or may probably have been. Ex. Vous avez du bien souffrir; you must have suffered much. what must his astonishment have been! EXERCISE. Judge what (must have been our feelings) on such an avoir dú éprouver occasion!—If you met him this morning, he must have told 109-16 you that the affair had been satisfactorily arranged.arrangée d'une manière satisfaisante According to agreement, he must have paid the amount D'après this morning. You may imagine what must have been our les conditions, surprise. What! did you come outside? You must have Comment! been very cold. — They must have arrived this evening; avoir bien froid. I dare say we shall have a letter from them after to-morrow. Sans doute que —Why does she not pay you? She must have received money at the beginning of the month. The Conditional,—je devrais, Expresses obligation, necessity of doing a thing. Ex. Vous devriez aller la voir ; you should or ought to call on her. EXERCISE. He ought to begin French now.—Should I not (men en tion it) to him?-Should they not show their exercises to parler the master?—Ought children of your age go to bathe se baigner alone?—Your sister should not resist the will of her parents. 318 Will you tell me what I ought to do under such circumdans semblables stances?—They are very respectable people, I think Ce honnéte sembler, impers. we ought (to call upon) them.—You should not tell our aller rendre visite secrets. The Compound of the Conditional,—j'aurais dú, Is used in speaking of a thing which should have been, at a time now past. Ex. Vous auriez dú m'en prévenir ; you should have, (ought to have,) warned me of it. EXERCISE. If he behaved ill to you, you ought to have complained se comporter to his father.-You should not have stopped so long at s'arrêter Paris.-Ought he not to have taken lessons in Italian ?— de Should she not have written to her mother?-Ought not the man to have left the letter?-Show me how I domestique should have done it.—If you wished to finish this week, s'y prendre. you ought to have begun on Monday. POUVOIR Is used particularly as an auxiliary in two tenses alone, the conditional, and the compound of the conditional. The Conditional,―je pourrais, has a future sense. Ex. Vous pourriez aller le voir; you might call upon him. EXERCISE. He might show more attentions to his mother.-Might you not send your answer early in the morning?-We might easily (come to an understanding) if she liked. s'entendre vouloir. Might not John have brought an answer back?—Might I rapporter not tell him something about it, if I meet him?- She en might make rapid progress, if she chose.-The thing might might not be done *) with fine soldiers like these! brave (What The Compound of the Conditional,—j'aurais pu, refers to the past. Ex. Nous aurions pu lui en parler hier: we might have mentioned it to him yesterday. *Turn, what might not one do? EXERCISE. We might have (won) all his money, for he did not à lui gagner en understand the game at all.-Don't you think that we tendre du tout. might have come by a much shorter way?—You might have stopped (on the) road, but I suppose you were anxious tarder, 330 to come home. He might have gone to Italy if he had en pleased; a friend of his offered to take him free of expense. le vouloir : de mener à ses frais. OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. The proper use of the subjunctive mood, in French, is one of the greatest difficulties the learner has to encounter, especially if he has no knowledge of Latin construction. The manner in which conjugation is taught unavoidably helps to increase the difficulty. At each verb, he is led to consider may and might as corresponding with the subjunctive mood in French: that I may speak, que je parle; that I might speak, que je parlasse (p. 138); that I may punish, que je punisse; that I might punish, que je punisse (p. 146); that I may receive, que je reçoive; that I might receive, que je reçusse (p. 152); &c. &c. Yet, there is scarcely one case in ten where these modes of expression can be considered as equivalents, and used the one for the other, in translating from one language into the other. Ex. Mon père m'envoya de l'argent pour que je soldasse tous mes comptes avant mon départ de l'université. Il me semble que vous pourriez le faire: my father sent me money, in order that I might settle all my accounts before leaving the university. it seems to me that you might do it. Instances are also constantly occurring in which the French subjunctive mood cannot be rendered by may or might in English. Ex. Je ne veux pas qu'il vienne; Elle désire que vous lui écriviez ; Ne pourriez-vous y aller sans que je vous y conduise? Tenez-le bien de crainte qu'il ne tombe et ne se fasse mal; Je n'aime pas que l'on vienne me déranger; I will not have him come. cannot you go without my hold him firm, lest he should The only cases in which may and might may be considered as signs of the subjunctive mood are when they are governed by in order that, it is probable, it is likely, it is not unlikely that. Ex. Faisons nos devoirs maintenant, let us do our lessons now, in afin qu'il nous trouve préts order that he may find us ready quand il viendra: when he comes. These few remarks will suffice to establish this fact :that the two languages greatly differ in the use of the subjunctive mood. In rendering English into French, a literal translation cannot, therefore, be correct. The learner must then consider what are the cases in which the subjunctive mood is used in French. They are as follows: 1. After an adjective in the superlative degree. Ex. C'est l'homme le plus gros que j'aie jamais vu. Nous vous donnons le meilleur que nous ayons. he is the largest man I have ever seen. we give you the best we have. 2. After le premier, le dernier, le seul, l'unique, which may be considered as superlatives. Ex. La conscription lui enleva le conscription took from her the seul enfant qui lui restât; only son she had left. 3. After adjectives expressing joy, regret, pleasure, or pain, &c. Ex. Nous sommes enchantés qu'il soit revenu. Elle était contrariée que vous ne lui écrivissiez pas, comme vous l'aviez promis; we are delighted he has come back. she was disappointed at your not writing as you had promişed. |