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. |