(11) A past participle preceded by two nouns united by de agrees with that. noun to which it relates. If instead of the first noun there is le peu de, the same rule applies : THE GREAT NUMBER of faults which I have observed proceeds from your inattention, A great many FAULTS have slipped into your letter, The LITTLE affection which you have shown me proves that you are no longer a friend of mine, The few DAYS which I have spent in your house have soon passed away, LE GRAND NOMBRE de fautes QUE Une multitude de FAUTES SE sont Le peu de JOURS QUE j'ai PASSÉS On the Passive Form. (1) The passive form is not so much used in French as in English; when a passive sentence can be turned into an active one, with the indefinite on for subject, it should generally be done :— ON m'a grondé ce matin. I was scolded this morning, (2) If the expression is not indefinite, the noun representing the agent is put as subject instead of the indefinite on :— He has been punished by his father, SON PÈRE l'a puni. (3) The passive voice is also elegantly rendered in French by the pronominal form in speaking of INANIMATE objects :This sells (is sold) very well, Ceci SE VEND très bien. Passive and Reflective Verbs compared. : All reflective verbs express an act, all passive verbs express a state thus elle s'assied marks the act of sitting down, whilst elle est assise merely expresses that she is seated, without any reference to the time when she sat down, or how long she has been on a seat. Il se couche, he goes to bed, il est couché, he is in bed; il se lève, he is rising, il est levé, he is up; il s'enrhume, he is catching cold, il est enrhumé, he has a cold; il se fâche, he is getting angry, il est fâché, he is angry, etc. *The simplest way to ascertain whether le peu is the principal word is to suppress it. If it can be suppressed without altering the whole meaning, then the noun following le peu is the principal word; if it cannot, then it is le peu itself. Intransitive Verbs: what Auxiliary is to be used with them. Some intransitive verbs, in their compound tenses, are always conjugated with être, some always with avoir, others sometimes with avoir, sometimes with être. As a rule, the tenses used with avoir express an ACTION, the tenses used with être express a STATE. Thus, although aller, sortir, partir, venir, revenir, express an ACTION, it is merely a STATE that is rendered by their compound tenses. When we say : il est allé, elle est partie, nous sommes arrivés, the act of going, leaving, arriving, being over, only a state is now to be expressed. (1) The following are always conjugated with être in their compound tenses : (2) The following take avoir or être according as they express an ACTION or a STATE : revenir, (3) The following are sometimes conjugated with avoir, sometimes with être, but in a different sense :— (4) Intransitive verbs not found in the above lists are con jugated with avoir. Chapter VI. RULES AND OBSERVATIONS ON SOME IDIOMATICAL VERBS. On "Savoir." (1) SAVOIR is one of four verbs which may be used negatively without pas or point. If, however, not to know means not to have learned, pas or point must be used : I know not what to say, (2) SAVOIR must be used means to know how: : He CAN read and write, Je NE sais que dire. II NE sait PAS sa leçon. instead of pouvoir when can He KNOWS HOW to read and write, CAN you dance? Do you KNOW HOW to dance? Il SAIT lire et écrire. SAVEZ-VOUS danser? We may say: il peut écrire, but the sense is he is able to write (in spite of his sore fingers or hands). We say also: pouvez-vous danser? but it means: are you able to dance (in spite of your sore foot)? (3) The conditional je ne saurais, tu ne saurais, etc., may be used for the present of pouvoir, je ne puis, tu ne peux, etc., especially to express a moral impossibility: I cannot make up my mind to it, Stay, if you wish, resumed Mme. de Miran; no, said he, I am much obliged to you, I CANNOT, I have some business. JE NE SAURAIS m'y résoudre. Distinction between "Savoir" and "Connaître." SAVOIR means to know (by the mind), to be aware of, to be sensible of, to know how to. Therefore it never has persons K for its object, and can be followed by a conjunction or a verb : Do you know your lesson? How many languages does he know? I do not know why, when, whether, how, etc., I know that she will come, He knows how to read and write, SAVEZ-VOUS votre leçon? Je SAIS qu'elle viendra. CONNAÎTRE means to be acquainted with, to know (through the senses). Therefore it may have persons or things for object, but can never be followed by a conjunction or a verb : I know that gentleman, this lady, his house, Littré's Dictionary, Milton's Paradise Lost, etc. Je CONNAIS ce monsieur, cette dame, sa maison, le dictionnaire de Littré, le Paradis Perdu de Milton, &c. On "Pouvoir": May and Might. (1) May and might are translated by the verb pouvoir, with the following verb in the infinitive :— That may be true, An accident might happen, Cela PEUT être vrai. Un accident POURRAIT arriver. (2) May and might can be omitted in translation if they are preceded by a verb or conjunction governing the subjunctive, but even then the use of pouvoir is more forcible :— I wish he might come, je voudrais qu'il PÛT venir. je voudrais qu'il vînt. On "Vouloir": will, would, etc. (1) When the verb vouloir and the verb depending upon it have the same person or persons for subjects, the second verb is put in the infinitive, as: mon frère veut s'en aller. When both verbs have different subjects, the second is put in the subjunctive, as: ma mère veut que vous restiez. (2) When will and would can be changed into to wish or to be willing, they are translated separately by the verb vouloir, and the next verb is put in the infinitive :— I asked him to come, but he would not, Will you come to the country with me? Je lui ai demandé de venir, mais VOULEZ-VOUS venir à la campagne In other words, when would expresses the past, translate it by vouloir in a past tense, as in the first of the above examples. But when would expresses the conditional (that is, refers to a future time under some condition expressed or understood) it is not translated at all, and the next verb is put in the conditional, as— He WOULD go to the country IF it Il IRAIT à la campagne s'il faisait were fine weather, beau temps. (3) Will you must be translated by voulez-vous when the person addressed is asked to do a thing, and the answer I will, I am quite willing, I am quite agreeable, I have no objection, is rendered by je le veux bien :— Will you go to the country with your brother? I am quite willing. VOULEZ-VOUS aller à la campagne avec votre frère? JE LE VEUX BIEN. (4) The present of vouloir generally means to will, to command: The law commands it, Do what I command you, La loi le VEUT. Faites ce que je VEUX. But, if the word bien is added to it, it softens the expression and gives it the sense of a consent : I consent that you should come with me, If it is agreeable to you, we shall go at once, (5) Je voudrais or je voudrais I should like to see that, (6) Vouloir, followed by an intend : He intends to do nothing, Je VEUX BIEN que vous veniez avec moi. Si VOUS LE VOULEZ BIEN, nous partirons tout de suite. bien expresses a mere wish :— JE VOUDRAIS BIEN voir cela. IL VOUDRAIT aller au spectacle, mais sa mère ne le VEUT pas. infinitive, means sometimes to Il ne VEUT rien faire. (7) Vouloir de means to accept :— She will not have me, Elle ne VEUT pas DE moi. On "Devoir": should, to have to, etc. (1) The proper meaning of devoir is to owe, to be owing:— He owes me money, Il me DOIT de l'argent. He owes more than he possesses, Il DOIT plus qu'il ne possède. |