SECOND PART.

Chapter I-SYNTAX OF THE ARTICLE.1

The Article before Nouns used in a General Sense. When persons or things are spoken of in general, put le, la, les before the noun :

Dogs are more useful than cats,

LES chiens sont plus utiles que
LES chats.

EXCEPTIONS. The article is omitted (1) before nouns in an enumeration, and (2) in adverbial locutions :

Farewell, calf, cow, pig, fowls! Friendless; penniless; wisely; prudently,

Adieu, veau, vache, cochon, couvée! Sans ami; sans argent; avec sagesse; avec prudence.

The Article before Names of Countries, Mountains, etc.

(1) The article le, la, les is used before names of continents, countries, provinces, rivers, lakes, and mountains :—

L'Asie, LE Portugal, LA Flandre, LA Tamise, Le lac Lomond,
LE Mont Blanc.

(2) But it is suppressed before names of countries governed by verbs implying residence or motion, or preceded by the preposition en, or used adjectively :—

He lives in Belgium,
On his return from Italy,
In England, in Germany,
Spanish wool, French wine,

Il DEMEURE EN Belgique.

A son RETOUR d'Italie.

EN Angleterre, EN Allemagne.
De la laine D'ESPAGNE, du vin DE
FRANCE.

Before studying any chapter or subdivision of chapter in the "Second Course," learners ought to revise the corresponding chapter or subdivision of chapter in the "First."

The Article before Nouns of Weight, Measure, or

Number.

A or an, signifying per, is translated by le, la, les before nouns of weight, measure, or number; but by par before

time :

Five francs A kilo,
One franc A metre,
Ten centimes a dozen,

Three francs A day,

Cinq francs LE kilo.

Un franc LE mètre.

Dix centimes LA douzaine.
Trois francs PAR jour.

Omission of the Article.

(1) The article used in English to denote qualities, or a person's nationality, business, title, etc., is omitted in

(3) It is also omitted in proverbs, and is not used, as in English, to mark the rank of a sovereign in a dynasty :

Poverty is no vice,

Charles THE Tenth,

Pauvreté n'est pas vice.
Charles Dix.

The Partitive Article.

SOME OF ANY, expressed or understood before a noun, must be translated by DU, DE LA, DE L', or DES :

I have had some bread and cheese, J'ai mangé DU pain et DU fromage. EXCEPTIONS.—(1) Dɛ only is used when the noun is preceded by an adjective, as :—

Some good bread,

DE bon pain.

But if the adjective and the noun form one expression, as beaux-arts, belles-lettres, bon mot (pun), grand homme, grandpère, jeunes gens, etc., DU, DE LA, DE L', or DES must be used, as: some fops, DES petits-maîtres.

(2) DE only is used when the verb is negative, as :— Il n'a pas DE cœur.

He has no courage,

If, however, the noun be followed and modified by an adjective or a subordinate sentence, the article should be used :— I have not such mean feelings, Je n'ai point DES sentiments si bas.

Never give advice which it may be Ne donnez jamais DES conseils dangerous to follow, qu'il soit dangereux de suivre. OBSERVE also that, whether some or any be expressed or understood in English after of or from, it must be understood in French after de, as :

The article le is invariable when it forms with plus, mieux, moins, a superlative absolute, that is, expressing the good or bad quality of a person or thing in its highest degree, without reference to any other person or thing; as—

She is happiest when with her children,

It is what she likes best,

But the article is variable between persons or things, in understood; as

Of all women she is the happiest,

The most useful arts are not the most esteemed,

C'est auprès de ses enfants qu'elle
est LE plus heureuse.
C'est ce qu'elle aime LE mieux.
when there is a comparison
which case a noun is always

De toutes les femmes c'est LA plus heureuse (femme).

Les arts LES plus utiles ne sont pas (les arts) LES plus considérés.

* Let us suppose we have to translate these two sentences:

1st, He came with (some) flowers in his hands.

2nd, He came loaded with (some, or a number of) flowers.

In the first sentence, some, according to the general rule, will be translated by DES: il est venu avec DES fleurs dans les mains.

In the second sentence, as with is to be translated by de according to R. (1). p. 107, some, being now preceded by de, cannot be translated at all: il est venu charye DE fleurs.

102

SYNTAX OF NOUNS OR SUBSTANTIVES.

Chapter II.

SYNTAX OF NOUNS OR SUBSTANTIVES.1

Compound Nouns.

(1) The preposition de is always put between the name of a thing and the name of the substance of which it is made;

as

a marble table,
a paper bag,

une table DE marbre.
un sac DE papier.

(2) De is also put between two nouns, when the second is a noun of place, or expresses the contents of the object represented by the first noun :

(3) The qualifying noun is united to the principal noun by the preposition à to denote the use, purpose, or fitness of the thing mentioned, and also the means by which an object is put in motion, as—

Plural of French Compound Substantives.*

French compound substantives must be analysed in order to see whether the sign of the plural must or must not be used, observing that substantives and adjectives used in compound nouns alone take the mark of the plural, as—

Garde-fou, plural des garde-fous; that is, rampe pour garder les fous, rails to protect fools, hand-rails; fous, being a noun, will take an s, but garde, being part of the verb garder, will be invariable.

Rules on the gender of nouns, the formation of the plural, transposition of nouns, and nouns of quantity and measure, will be found pp. 17-23.

* For practice on this and the following three rules (COLLECTIVE NOUNS), translate §§ 5 and 6 in the Author's French Exercises for Advanced Pupils.