Prendre patience. | Prenons patience, nos maux vont finir. Prendre parti dans To take the side of. To take a seat. Prendre terre. Rendre grâces. To obey. Let us have patience, our ills will soon be at an Il a pris parti dans l'armée des rebelles. Le cœur doit toujours prendre parti pour la jus tice. The heart should always take the side of justice. ment. As soon as he was created a peer, he took his seat Nous fumes long-temps sans pouvoir prendre terre. You do not return her love for love. Il est temps qu'il rende compte de l'argent. Rendons grâces à l'Etre Suprême. Let us return thanks to the Supreme Being. We ought to render honour, or homage, to merit. On ne rend pas toujours justice aux grands talens. Un bon citoyen rend obéissance aux lois de son A good citizen obeys the laws of his country. him. Il aime à rendre service à tout le monde. He kept a tavern, now he keeps a school. Il a tenu bon quinze jours, à son poste. Tenir boutique. ance. Tenir conseil. To stand it out. To supply the place To keep a table. To keep open house. Tenir tête. To resist, to fight or struggle. Dans quel quartier de la ville tenez-vous boutique? I will make you an allowance for that. Les jours que le roi tient conseil. The days on which the king holds council. Il m'a tenu lieu de père. He has supplied the place of a father to me. Il tient table tous les deux jours, ou de deux jours. He keeps a table every other day. Elle tient table ouverte tous les trois jours, ou de trois jours en trois jours. She keeps open house every third day. C'est un gaillard qui tient tête à tout le monde. He is a fellow who resists every body, or fights with every body. This list of examples might have been extended further; but, as these are thought sufficient for the regulation of the pupil, in the formation of similar sentences, we shall conclude here, with remarking, that, except in such examples, the article, in the purest style, seldom is omitted. 1 LESSON THE THIRD. OF THE NOUN. RULE I. When two nouns in English are joined merely by a preposition or a preposition and article, either of these are generally rendered by de, with the article indicative or definite, or by the preposition and article contracted, according to circumstances of gender and number.-EXAMPLES: L'étude de la géométrie est fort | utile. L'église est bâtie sur le sommet de la colline. La grandeur des vues, et la profondeur des idées, annoncent l'homme de génie. The study of geometry is very useful. The church is built on the top of the hill. Greatness of views, and depth of ideas, bespeak the man of ge nius. Observe, that when, in English, two nouns are united by s, with an apostrophe (thus 's,) in French, the first noun is to be placed last, and the preposition de, with the article, or their contraction between the two nouns.-EXAMPLES: J'ai vu les chevaux du roi, et les appartemens de la reine. Le premier soin d'un honnête | homme est d'éviter les reproches de sa conscience, et son second, la censure du monde. La sœur de la femme de chambre de la favorite de la reine, vient de se marier. I saw the king's horses, and the queen's apartments. An honest man's first concern is to avoid the reproaches of his conscience, and his second, the world's censure. The queen's favorite's chamber. maid's sister is just married. But, if the first noun, in English, be preceded by a demonstrative article or possessive pronoun, or by a proper name, the preposition de must stand alone without the article.-EXAMPLES: Le langage de cet homme est in- | This man's language is unbecomdécent. ing. Avez-vous vu la bibliothèque de Did you see my father's library? mon père. J'ai trouvé l'éventail et les gants | I have found Julia's fan and gloves. de Julie. Avez-vous reçu le billet de made- Did you receive miss K.'s note? moiselle K.? RULE II.-When nouns of measure, such as inch, foot, fathom, ell, yard, are followed in English, by adjectives of dimension, such as long, wide, &c. or their abstract nouns, length, width, &c. then the abstract nouns of dimension are used, in French, with the preposition de preceding them, which must also be placed before the numerical article, or adjective of number, specifying the number of times that the noun of measure is understood.-EXAMPLES: J'ai sauté un fossé de vingt pieds | I jumped over a ditch twenty feet de largeur. wide, or in width. C'est une rivière de quinze brasses It is a river fifteen fathoms deep. de profondeur. Il ne faut des planches de vingt- | sept pouces de longueur et de quatre d'épaisseur. Voilà un clocher de trois cents pieds de hauteur. I want boards twenty-seven inches in length, and four inches in thickness. There is a steeple three hundred feet high, Observe, 1st, that when two dimensions, belonging to the same object are mentioned, the preposition sur will elegantly fill the place of the conjunction et and the preposition de; thus, we may properly say, Les murs d'Alger ont seize pieds | The walls of Algiers are sixteen d'épaisseur sur trente de hau- feet thick, and thirty feet high. teur. 2d, If, as in the examples following, the verb to be be used, the preposition de should be omitted before the numerical article, or adjective of number, and être rendered by avoir.-EXAMPLES: Notre jardin a cent cinquante pieds de longueur et quarante huit de largeur; ou Notre jardin a 150 pieds de longueur sur 48 de largeur. L'église de St. Paul a 500 pieds de longueur en dedans, 100 de largeur à l'entrée; mais 249 d'un portique à l'autre. Our garden is one hundred and fifty feet long and forty-eight feet wide. St. Paul's church is 500 feet long within, 100 feet in front; but 249 from one lateral portico to the other. M. Though it be more elegant, in French, to use the abstract nouns of dimension than the adjectives, yet the latter may also be used, as you will see, in the following EXAMPLES: J'ai acheté un tapis long de six I have bought a carpet six yards long, and two wide. A wall of twelve feet thick has been built. RULE III.—When the title, rank, or degree of kindred of a person in a high or respectable station is mentioned, polite custom often requires, that such expressions as monseigneur, monsieur, madame, or mademoiselle, should be pronounced before the name of the individual entitled to that distinction.-EXAMPLES: When we speak to or of our own relations, then, as tenderness should prevail over formality, such expressions as those above are omitted. M. We have now to touch on a very nice point in the French language, relating to the law of accord, or of concordance; and, as its observance, together with its exceptions, constitute some of the principal difficulties of the French language, I advise you to give particular attention to the following rules. RULE IV. The noun imposes its inflections on all its correspondents on the article, which determines it; on the adjective and participle, which qualify it; on the pronoun, which recalls it to the mind; and on the verb, which announces as existing the object which the noun denominates.-EXAMPLES: Le plaisir, qui ne laisse après soi | That pleasure, which leaves beque des remords, est défendu aux hommes, parcequ'il est criminel. Les consolations les plus touchan tes sont celles qui nous sont offertes par la religion. Ames douces et paisibles, qui ne voulez que des jours sereins et des sentimens agréables, ne désirez pas les hautes places. hind it nothing but remorse, is forbidden to man, because it is criminal. The most endearing consolations are offered to us by religion. Gentle and peaceful souls, who wish only for calm days and agreeable feelings, do not desire high stations. You see that, in the first of the above sentences, the noun plaisir makes the words in italics assume the inflections they are liable to; the articles and adjectives, its gender, which is masculine, and its number, which is singular; and the verb, the third person singular, because that noun is the thing spoken of. In the second example, the noun consolations being plural feminine, the article and adjectives become so, while the verb is in the third person plural. 3 |