THE

PRINCIPLES

OF

FRENCH GRAMMAR.

INTRODUCTION.

1. GRAMMAR is the art of speaking and writing a language correctly.

To speak and write we use words.

Words consist of one or more syllables, and syllables of one or more letters.

2. There are twenty-five letters in the French alphabet, viz.:

The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and Y; the rest are consonants.

OF ACCENTS AND OTHER MARKS.

4. Accents are certain marks put over vowels to point out their sounds; and, in a few cases, to distinguish the meaning of words which are spelt alike.

5. There are three accents in French-the acute, the grave, and the circumflex.

6. The acute accent (') is placed only over the vowel e; as in bonté, kindness; café, coffee.

7. The grave accent (`) is placed over a, e, and as, frère, brother; où, where.

u;

This accent is used in the following words to distinguish the meaning of one from that of the other:

8. The circumflex accent (^) is common to all the vowels, and gives them a long sound; as, maître, master; apôtre, apostle.

This accent is used as a distinctive mark in the following words:

9. The Apostrophe (') marks the elision or suppression of one of the vowels A, E, before a word beginning with a vowel or h mute; as in l'orage, the storm; instead of le orage, which is not so agreeable to the ear; l'habitude, the habit, for la habitude.

10. A, E, when followed by a vowel or h mute, are suppressed in the monosyllables le, la, je, me, te, se, de, ne, que, ce.