Nature Displayed in Her Mode of Teaching Language to Man

INSTANT FUTURE.

Is there or are there going to be? va-t-il y avoir ?

PAST, OR COMPOUND OF THE PRESENT.
Should there have been? y aurait-il eu?

INTERROGATIVELY AND NEGATIVELY.

INDICATIVE.

PRESENT.

Is or are there not? n'y a-t-il pas ?

PRESENT ANTERIOR, OR IMPERFECT.
Was or were there not? n'y avait-il pas ?

PRESENT ANTERIOR PERIODICAL, OR PRETERITÉ.
Was or were there not? n'y eut-il pas ?

PRESENT POSTERIOR, OR FUTURE.
Shall or will there not be? n'y aura-t-il pas ?

PAST, OR COMPOUND OF THE PRESENT.
Has there or have there not been? n'y a-t-il

pas eu?

PAST ANTERIOR, or compound of the imperfect. Had there not been? n'y avait-il pas eu?

PAST ANTERIOR PERIODICAL, OR COMPOUND Of the

PRETERITE.

Had there not been? n'y eut-il pas eu?

PAST POSTERIOR, OR COMPOUND of thE FUTURE. Shall there not have been? n'y aura-t-il pas eu ?

PAST JUST ELAPSED.

Has there or have there not just been? ne vient-il pas d'y avoir ?

FUTURE INDEFINITE.

Is there or are there not to be? ne doit-il pas y avoir ?

INSTANT FUTURE.

Is there or are there not going to be? ne va-t-il pas y avoir?

CONDITIONAL.

PRESENT.

Should there not be? n'y aurait-il pas?

PAST, OR COMPOUND OF THE PRESENT.

Should there not have been? n'y aurait-il pas eu?

REMARK.

Such other verbs as are conjugated in the third person singular are called impersonals; but this denomination, which was intended to characterize those verbs, is improperly applied,-for the word impersonal means what is without person, which is not the case with respect to those verbs, which admit of the pronoun il, and this word re. presents a subject understood, which must exist; for verbs have been introduced to speak of the existence of subjects, together with an attribute. When we say, for instance, il pleut, it rains, it represents such a subject as heaven, sky, atmosphere, weather, &c.; and the expression it rains implies that the heavens or skies issue or pour rain. Had the Romans, when they used the word pluit, been asked, what rains? they would have readily replied, cælum. The term impersonal can only be given to the infinitive mood, which is indeed without person. Wailly and Beauzée are, therefore, very correct in denominating the infinitive the impersonal mood.

FAMILIAR PHRASES

ON IL Y A, THERE IS, THERE ARE, SOME, MANY, &c.

Is there a stage from Philadelphia
to Charleston?
There are now about twenty-five

millions of souls in France.
There are but nine in Spain.
There is a gentleman 'below who
wishes to speak to you.
There was a great fire yesterday.
Was there any body killed?
No: but there have been above
twenty people hurt.

There will be a grand display of

fire-works next week.

There will be no bonfire on ac

count of this news.

I thought there would have been
more people.

Some people have seen him.
Some authors pretend that Homer
was born at Smyrna.

Y a-t-il une voiture publique de

Philadelphie à Charleston?
Il y a maintenant environ vingt-

cinq millions d'ames en France.
Il n'y en a que neuf en Espagne.
Il y a un monsieur en bas (ou là
bas) qui désire vous parler.
Il y eut hier un grand incendie.
Ya-t-il eu quelqu'un de tué?
Non: mais il y a eu plus de vingt

personnes de blessées.
Il y aura un grand feu d'artifice
la semaine prochaine.
Il n'y aura pas de feu de joie
pour cette nouvelle.
Je croyais qu'il y aurait eu plus
de monde.

Il y a des gens qui l'ont vu.
Il y a des auteurs qui prétendent
qu'Homère naquit à Smyrne.

Many physicians are of this opi-Il y a bien des médecins qui sont