Peculiarity in the Government of Prepositions. Dans, sur, sous, contre, avec, pour, dedans, &c., may govern nouns and personal pronouns absolute that refer to persons; as, dans l'homme, in man; dans moi, in me; sur lui, on him; sur les trois heures, about three o'clock; contre nous, against us; contre l'ennemi, against the enemy; avec eux, with them; avec peine, with difficulty; pour elle, for her; pour des prunes, for no purpose; dedans soi, within oneself. But they are not used before pronouns referring to things, as in English. So, in it, on it, under them, with it, for them, within it, are not to be rendered by dans le, sur le or la, sous les, avec le or la, pour les, dedans le or la, sans le or la, but by the double prepositions, and omission of the pronoun. So, dedans may mean within it or them; dessus, dessous, avec, upon, under, with it, or them. Examples. Cherchez bien; s'il n'est pas sur la table, peut-être qu'il sera dessous, look well; if it is not on the table, perhaps it is under it. Voici la boîte; mettez cela there is the box; put that in dedans, Il portait un chapeau noir; L'eau est fort bien, mais il OBS. Sans, having no other equivalent, and always requiring a régime, (as sans le, la, les cannot be said, and as sans lui, sans elle are seldom used in reference to things,) without it, without them must be paraphrased. Je suis grand amateur de I am very fond of coffee, and Many expressions, especially those implying motion, so often in English formed by the combination of a verb with a preposition, are generally expressed in French by one verb. Je suis ici depuis huit jours, Depuis combien de temps êtes-vous là? Mais depuis bien longtemps, Depuis combien de temps était-il là? Il n'était là que depuis une heure, je pense, Depuis combien de temps apprenez-vous le français ? Depuis quinze mois, Depuis combien de temps apprenait-elle l'Italien avant de faire son voyage d'Italie? Après, Après vous, monsieur, Eh bien! après ? to shoot up. to drive on, walk on, move on, bring forward. to sink down. to fall away, die away. to glide along. to flow on, or away. to coast along. to move along (alongside of)... to get ahead of, or beyond... to go, travel, through, over, &c. ), imply that these verbs may take P near. near me, thee, him. near my house. near the river. near falling. nearly, about. not near, far from. up to that extent, so far. very near. within a pound or two. between, among. amongst, between friends. between you and me. OBS. Entre forms many verbs; as, entrelacer, to interweave; entremêler, to mix up; entr'ouvrir, to half-open; entre-bailler, to open partly, &c. Selon que Selon que vous serez puissant ou misérable, les jugements de cour vous rendront blanc ou noir, Selon qu'il dira, Au travers, Au travers de, Passez au travers, Il a passé au travers de mon enclos, Excepté, except. except that. according, according to. according to Plutarch. according to him. that depends. the value of the coat is according to the cloth. as, according to whether. according as you are powerful or needy, the sentence of the court will commit you or acquit you. by what he says. through. go through. through the wall. he went through my field, orchard, premises. except. Excepté moi, lui, elle, nous, Fermez toutes les fenêtres, excepté celle de ma cham bre, except me, him, her, us. shut all the windows, except the one in my room.` OBS.Ne pas confondre avec l'adjectif excepté, que l'on met après le mot qu'il qualifie. Fermez toutes les fenêtres, celle de ma chambre exceptée (hormis celle de ma chambre). Hors (synon. with hormis, ex- excepting. |