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The past participle of stationary or neuter verbs, is, on the contrary, always declinable, when construed with être.-EXAMPLES:

Elle est venue me parler.

Elle s'est allée baigner.

She came and spoke to me.

She went to bathe herself.

Les navires sont allés se briser à The vessels went and bilged on

la côte.

Cette femme est arrivée à cinq heures, et est repartie à sept.

the coast.

This woman arrived at five o'clock and set off again at seven.

I conclude this account of the declinability of the past participle, by observing,

1st. That fait is indeclinable, as well as some other past participles, when used in an abstract sense.-EXAMPLES:

La pluie qu'il a fait m'a empêché

de sortir,

Les troupes qu'il a fallu leur envoyer ont affaibli l'armée.

The rain which has fallen has pre-
vented me from going out.
The troops, which it has been ne-
cessary to send them, have en-
feebled the army.

La dépense qu'il y a eu dans cette The expense which there has been maison est effroyable.

in that house is horrible.

2d. That fait, of all the past participles which may be united either to the infinitive of active, or to that of stationary or neuter verbs, is the only one that always remains indeclinable.-EXAMPLES:

Les chemises que j'ai fait faire.

Voilà les livres que j'ai fait venir de France.

Je l'ai fait entrer avec beaucoup de difficulté.

The shirts that I caused to be made.

There are the books I ordered from France.

With a great deal of difficulty I made her come in.

But, if fait has the sense of fabriquer, créer, former, produire, &c. it is declinable.-EXAMPLES:

Les bottes qu'il m'a faites sont trop | The boots he made for me are too étroites.

tight.

3d. That when the past participle has after it an infinitive understood, it is then indeclinable.-EXAMPLES;

J'ai cité les plus beaux traits que | I have cited the noblest traits I

j'ai pu.

Elle a dit toutes les plaisanteries qu'elle a voulu.

J'ai fait toutes les démarches que j'ai dú.

could.

She said all the pleasantries she pleased.

I took all the steps I should or ought.

The infinitives citer, dire, and faire, are understood in the fore> going phrases.

LESSON THE TWENTY-FIRST.

ON THE PROPER CHOICE OF THE AUXILIARY.

Master. You have undoubtedly observed, in the course of this work, that the past participles of active verbs, having a direct complement, are combined with the auxiliary être, in order to give a passive sense to the phrase, as in the following line:

Tout mortel est chargé de sa propre douleur;

est chargé is used in a passive sense, because one may say, charger quelqu'un.

Also, that all our reflective verbs, contrary to the genius of the English, are conjugated with être in their past tenses; as,

Je suis père, et ce cœur qu'un tel arrêt déchire

S'en est dit cent fois plus que tu ne peux m'en dire.

There are some verbs, which, without being used passively or reflectively, take the auxiliary être; as,

Aller, arriver, décéder, déchoir, entrer, mourir, naître, partir, rester, sortir, tomber, venir, and its compounds, devenir, intervenir, parvenir, revenir, and survenir.

REMARKS ON ALLER, SORTIR, AND TOMBER.

ALLER.

We always make use of être, when aller is conjugated with its own participle: thus it is said, Il est allé, il était allé; but, should the word été be substituted for the word allé, then the auxiliary avoir must be substituted for the auxiliary être; so we must say, in the sense of aller, Il a été, instead of Il est été, which is a barbarism in French. There is nice distinction between Il est allé, and Il a été, for they are by no means synonymous; the former meaning that the person is gone and is not yet returned, while the latter means that he is returned from the place where he had been, or where he had lived. From this remark, it is evident that aller, conjugated with the verb être, cannot be used for the first nor the second person, but only for the third.

a very

VOL. II.

X

SORTIR.

This verb first takes the auxiliary avoir, to express that somebody who was out, returned: so we say of somebody that has returned, Il a sorti; but, should he not be returned yet, we would say, Il est sorti.

Sortir is also conjugated with avoir, when it is followed by a complement.-EXAMPLES:

Le palefrenier a-t-il sorti mes che vaux de l'écurie?

Has the hostler taken my horses out of the stable?

Remerciez-le de vous avoir sorti | Thank him for having extricated d'une affaire si fâcheuse. you from so unpleasant an affair.

TOMBER.

This verb never admits, for the conjugation of its past tenses, of any other auxiliary than élre: so we must say, je suis tombé, j'étais tombé; but never, j'ai tombé, j'avais tombé, which are mistakes, into which the French themselves are very liable to fall: even Voltaire, one of the most correct of our writers, has committed it in the following lines:

Où serais-je, grand Dieu! si ma crédulité

Eût tombé dans le piége à mes pas présenté.

Fút should have been used instead of eût.

The verbs subvenir, apparaître, comparaître, approcher, are always conjugated with the auxiliary avoir.-EXAMPLES:

On a subvenu à tous les besoins | All the most urgent wants have les plus urgens.

Il croit que l'ombre de sa maîtresse lui a apparu en songe.

J'étais sûr qu'il n'eût point comparu devant les juges.

been relieved.

He believes that the ghost of his mistress has appeared to him in

a dream.

I was sure that he would not have
made his appearance before the
judges.

Vieillards, femmes, enfans, troupean faible et timide,
Dont n'a point approché cette guerre homicide.

The verbs accourir, disparaître, croître, décroître, contrevenir, are conjugated with either of these auxiliary verbs.—EXAMPLES:

J'ai accouru, ou je suis accouru I ran to the noise

au bruit.

La rivière a cru, ou est crue.

Les eaux ont bien décru, ou sont

bien décrues.

The river has increased.

The waters have much decreased,

Il prétendait n'avoir point contrevenu, ou n'être point contrevenu à la loi.

Je n'ai fait que tourner la tête, elle a disparu, ou elle est disparue.

He contended that he had not con.

travened the law.

I did but turn my head, and she disappeared.

Périr is generally ranked by all grammarians (Restaut excepted) among the verbs which adinit equally well of either auxiliary. The distinction which the latter makes appearing as delicate as it is judicious, I shall insert his remark on the use of this verb :

"It is probable that the auxiliary avoir suits better when the verb has a general and indeterminate sense; as, when we say, Les enfans du grand prêtre (high priest) ont péri misérablement; and that the auxiliary être is preferable, when the verb is attended by particular circumstances, as in the following phrases:

Les habitans de Jérusalem sont péris par le fer et par le feu.
L'armée de Pharaon est périe dans les eaux de la Mer Rouge."

The meaning of the following verbs is affected by changing their auxiliary.

Cesser is always conjugated with avoir, when it has a complement; it then means to leave off, to cease.-EXAMPLES:

Il a cessé ses plaintes.

Il a cessé de pleurer.

He has ceased his complaints.
He has left off weeping.

The same verb is conjugated with either of the auxiliaries, when it has no complement; it means to be over, to have ceased.—EXAMPLE: Sa fièvre a cessé, ou est cessée. | His fever is over.

Convenir, when it is conjugated with avoir, means être convenable, to suit; and, when it is conjugated with être, it means demeurer d'accord, to agree.-EXAMPLE:

Cette maison m'a convenu, et je | This house suited me, and I agreed suis convenu du prix. for the price.

Demeurer, when it is conjugated with avoir, means to reside, or tarry; to stay a long while.-EXAMPLES:

J'ai demeuré près de onze ans à
Philadelphie.

Sa plaie a demeuré long-temps à
se fermer.

I have resided near eleven years in Philadelphia.

It was a long time before his wound was healed.

But, when this verb means to remain, it requires étre.-EXAMPLE:

Il est demeuré deux mille hommes Two thousand men remained in

dans la place.

the place.

Racine therefore commits a fault, when he says,

Ma langue embarrassée

Dans ma bouche vingt fois a demeuré glacée.

Est should have been used instead of a.

Monter and descendre admit of either auxiliary; but étre should be preferred.-EXAMPLES:

Notre Seigneur est monté au ciel.
Il a, ou il est, monté à cheval.
Il était enseigne; il a monté à la
lieutenance.

Le blé a ou est monté jusqu'à vingt francs le setier.

Il est descendu de sa chambre. La justice a descendu dans ce lieu.

Our Lord ascended into heaven. He went on horseback.

He was an ensign: he has been

promoted to a lieutenancy. Corn has risen to twenty francs the twelve bushels.

He came down from his room. The officers of justice went into that place.

But, should these verbs have a direct complement, only the auxiliary avoir should be used.-Examples:

Il a monté un superbe cheval.

Il a descendu les degrés avec précipitation.

He mounted a superb horse.

He came down stairs with precipitation.

Passer, when followed by any complement, is conjugated with avoir.-EXAMPLES:

Il a passé le long de la Tamise.
Il a passé par tous les grades.

Elle a passé comme une chandelle qui s'éteint.

On these lines of Boileau,

He has passed along the Thames. He has passed through all the degrees.

She went off like a candle that burns cut.

-Si leur sang tout pur, ainsi que leur noblesse,
Est passé jusqu'à vous de Lucrèce en Lucrèce.

D'Olivet observes, that a passé would be better; but, should that verb close the phrase, the auxiliary étre should be used.-EXAMPLES:

L'année est passée.

Mes beaux jours sont passés.

The year is elapsed.
My happy days are past.

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