When an operation is performed upon a person, the part acted upon is the direct, and the person the indirect, object of the verb. Vous leur avez ouvert les yeux. You opened their eyes. When a person performs an act upon a part of himself, the prɔnomi. nal form of the verb is used. Il s'est fait mal à la main. He hurts his hand. The article is not used before nouns placed in apposition with, or explanatory of, preceding nouns. Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse. Telemachus, the son of Ulysses. The article is not used before nouns that qualify, or describe preced⚫ ing nouns. Un maître de danse. Un homme à cheveux blancs. A dancing-master. A man with white hair The article is, however, used before a descriptive noun, and before a noun that expresses the use or destination of an object, when the sense is definite. L'homme aux cheveux blancs. La boîte aux lettres. Le pot au lait. The man with the white hair. The letter-box. The milk-pot. The article is not used after the preposition en, nor after the conjune tion ni, before a noun that is taken in an indefinite or partitive sense. The article is used before proper names of countries, provinces, seas, rivers, and mountains. La France est un beau pays. France is a beautiful country. The article is not used before the name of a country, when it is pre ceded by the preposition en, in, to. Il est en France. Il va en Angleterre. He is in France. He goes to England. The article is not used before the name of a country of the feminine gender when it is preceded by the preposition de, in the sense of from He comes from Germany. Il vient d'Allemagne. But: Д vient du Mexique. He comes from Mexico. The article is not used in connection with the preposition de, when the name of a country forms part of a title, or serves to qualify a preceding noun, as: Le roi de Prusse. Du fromage d'Angleterre. The king of Prussia. English cheese. In other cases the article is used with the preposition de, as: Le climat de la France. The climate of France. The article is used before proper names of persons, when they are preceded by a title or an adjective. Le Président Jackson. Le petit Henri. President Jackson. Little Henry. The article is not used before the names of the months and of the days of the week. [See Ninth Lesson (bis).] Vocabulary 48. L'Europe, f., Europe. L'été, summer; en été, in sum mer. L'hiver, winter; en hiver, in winter. Le climat, the climate. Un signe, a sign; en signe de, as a sign of. Le sort, the lot. L'automne, autumn; en automne, Un cheveu, a hair; les cheveux, Un œil, an eye; les yeux, the S'approcher (de), to come near. The Article before Common Nouns, I and 2. 1. Mon père est allé à Boston le mois dernier. 2. Il reviendra la semaine prochaine. 3. Dieu a créé le ciel et la terre en six jours. 4. L'automne est une saison plus agréable que l'hiver. 5. On admire le courage, mais la prudence est tout aussi nécessaire au succès. 6. Avez-vous du satin blanc comme celui-ci ? 7. Nous n'avons pas de satin comme celui-là. 8. Nous en avons du blanc et du noir, mais d'une qualité différente. 9. Bien des gens passent leur temps dans l'oisiveté. 10. La plupart des hommes se plaignent de la fortune. 11. Nous payons la viande vingt sous la livre. 12. Cette soie blanche coûte trois dollars le mètre. 13. J'ai perdu le quart de mes plantes par la gelée. 14. Il m'a offert la main en signe d'amitié. 15. Elle a les cheveux blonds. 16. J'ai froid aux pieds. 17. Vous m'avez ouvert les yeux. 18. Je me suis fait mal au bras. 19. Un vieillard à cheveux blancs, qui tenait un livre à la main, s'est approché de nous. 20. Ce monsieur aux cheveux blancs est le grand-père de la petite Henriette. The Article before Proper Names, 3. 21. La France est plus grande que l'Angleterre. 22. Le climat de la France est préférable à celui de l'Angleterre. 23. Le roi de Prusse fut proclamé empereur d'Allemagne. 24. Mon frère est en France, et j'irai en Angleterre au printemps. 25. Le Président Grant était en ville hier. 26. Je n'étudie pas beaucoup en été. 27. Nous reviendrons à la ville en automne. 28. Il fait bien froid ici en hiver. Theme 48. The Article before Common Nouns, I and 2. 1. We shall go to the country next month. 2. Last week I received a letter from my brother. 3. Spring is a beautiful season. 4. I like autumn better. 5. Prudence is as necessary to a (the) general* as courage. 6. Have you green velvet like this? 7. We have no velvet of that quality. 8. We have beautiful velvet, green, black and blue. 9. Many young people spend their time in (à) loitering in the streets. 10. Most men are dissatisfied with their lot. 11. This white cloth (étoffe) costs fifty cents a meter. 12. We pay for (le)* coffee forty cents a pound. 13. He has lost one-half of his books. 14. Give me your hand, and let us be friends. 15. My cousin Alice has blue eyes and brown hair. 16. You have hurt my foot? 17. I have a pain in my arm. The Article before Proper Names, 3. 18. I do not like the climate of England. 19. Germany is now united and very powerful. 20. The emperor of Germany is the oldest monarch of Europe. 21. I was in Germany when the war began between Germany and France. 22. Do you speak French? 23. I will study it next winter. 24. I will begin in autumn. 25. We intend to go to Europe in the spring. FORTY-NINTH LESSON. THE ADJECTIVE.-AGREEMENT. 1. An adjective qualifying two nouns in the singular, is put in the plural; if the nouns are of different genders the adjective is put in the masculine plural. L'homme et la femme sont âgés. The man and the woman are old. An adjective following two nouns connected by ou, agrees with the last. Un homme ou une femme âgée. * General sense. An old man or an old woman. + Parlez vous français? After the verb parler the article is usually omitted before français, French, anglais, English, and other national names denoting languages The adjectives demi, half, and nu, bare, are invariable when they precede the noun, and agree with the noun when they follow it; demi in gender only; une demi-heure, half an hour; deux heures et demie, two hours and a half; nu-pieds, or les pieds nus, barefooted. The adjective feu, late, deceased, placed immediately before the noun, agrees with it; when separated from it by the article or a possessive adjective, it is invariable; la feue reine, the late queen; feu la reine, the deceased queen. 2. ADJECTIVES USED AS NOUNS. An adjective may be used as a noun to designate an individual, a class, or an abstract quality. Adjectives, as a rule, are placed after the noun, but the following Adjectives derived from proper names, those that denote color, form or shape, those that express physical or mental qualities, and past participles used as adjectives, always follow the noun. La langue française. Une table ronde. Du drap noir. Un homme aveugle. Des plats cassés. The French language. A round table. Black cloth. A blind man. |