C.

1. La médecine n'était pas bonne; elle était très-amère. 2. Nous ne sommes pas malheureux, nous ne sommes pas malades. 3. Vous seriez aimables, si (if) vous étiez appliquées. 4. Voici une jolie maison, elle est encore neuve. 5. L'église est vieille. 6. Les chevaux sont vieux. 7. Les châteaux sont très-beaux. 8. La fille du général est muette. 9. Ils ne sont pas obéissants. 10. La robe est-elle vieille ou (or) neuve? Elle n'est pas vieille; elle est neuve.

1. The medicine is not good; it is very bitter. 2. The girls are not unhappy: they are not ill. 3. The girl would be amiable if she was diligent. 4. Here is (voici) a great house; it is still new. 5. The churches are old. 6. The houses are very beautiful. 7. The daughters of the general are dumb. 8. The girls are not obedient. 9. The girls are very idle. 10. Are the dresses old or new? They are not old; they are new.

D. POSITION OF THE ADJECTIVE.

Most Adjectives in French are placed after their Substantives, as :

NOTE 1.-When an Adjective is placed before a noun,

used in a partitive sense, it takes

j'ai de bon vin,

j'ai de bonne bière,

j'ai de bonnes pommes,

only de, as:—

I have good wine.

I have good beer.
I have good apples.

that is, "I have a part or portion of good wine," &c.

But if the adjective is placed after the noun, then the article is used, as :

j'ai du vin rouge,

j'ai de la bière forte,
j'ai des pommes mûres,

I have red wine.
I have strong beer.
I have ripe apples.

NOTE 2.-Cher has a different meaning when placed before

FR. P.

D

or after its substantive. Such is also the case with grand, when placed before or after the substantive homme, as :—

2. Je n'aime pas la mau

1. J'aime le bon vin et la bonne bière. vaise bière. 3. J'ai un beau cheval. 4. Nous avons vu hier une belle montre d'or. 5. Les roses sont de jolies fleurs. 6. Le petit Charles est un méchant garçon. 7. La voisine est très-méchante. 8. J'ai de meilleur papier et de meilleure encre. 9. Nous avons vu

un vieux château et une vieille église. 10. Mon voisin a un habit bleu et un chapeau gris. 11. Ma mère a une robe noire. 12. Avezvous du papier bleu? Oui, Monsieur, j'ai du papier bleu et du papier rouge.

1. I do not like bad beer. 2. I have two beautiful horses. 3. I have seen yesterday two beautiful gold watches. 4. Do you see the beautiful flowers? 5. The merchant has beautiful countryhouses and beautiful gardens. 6. The little Emily is very wicked. 7. The father has wicked children. 8. Have you better paper and better ink? 9. I have seen an old church. 10. My uncle has a grey coat and a white hat. 11. The paper is white, and the ink is black. 12. Have you, Madam, black dresses? 13. Have you black ink? Yes, sir, I have black ink and red ink.

B.

1. J'ai des raisins doux. 2. Les jeunes gens sont à Londres. 3. La couleur verte est la couleur de la nature. 4. Le voisin a un habit bleu. 5. J'ai une table ronde; elle est très-belle, mais elle est chère. 6. Nous avons pour demain un thème difficile; hier nous eûmes un thème facile. 7. Monsieur Johnson est un homme actif; mais son (his) frère est un homme paresseux. 8. Avez-vous de bonne encre? 9. J'aime la langue française. 10. J'aime aussi (also) la musique italienne.

1. Have you sweet grapes? Yes, sir, I have sweet grapes. 2. The young girl is in London. 3. My neighbour has a green coat and a grey hat. 4. We have two round tables; they are very beautiful, but they are dear. 5. Emily is an idle girl. 6. The children are idle. 7. I like the Italian music. 8. I like also the French language. 9. Have you good paper and good ink?

C.

1. Avez-vous des noix mûres? Elles ne sont pas encore mûres. 2. Quand (when ?) seront-elles mûres ? Dans trois jours. 3. Aimezvous la musique allemande? J'aime la musique italienne. 4. Le marchand a-t-il de bon beurre? Son (his) beurre n'est pas frais.

5. À qui est le livre amusant? Il est à mon oncle. 6. À qui sont les gants noirs? Ils sont à M. Guillaume.

1. Have you ripe cherries? (cerise, f. p.). They are not yet ripe. 2. When will they be ripe? In two days. 3. Do you like the Italian music? I like the German music. 4. Has the merchant good beer? His (sa) beer is not good. 5. To whom belongs (est) this grey coat? It belongs to my father. 6. To whom do these white gloves belong? They belong to my grandfather.

E. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives have three forms, called the Positive, Comparative, and Superlative degrees, as :

Positive.

Superlative.

Comparative. haut, high. plus haut, higher. le plus haut, the highest. There are three Comparatives: the comparative of superiority, the comparative of equality, and the comparative of inferiority. There are two Superlatives: one called absolute and the other relative, and the superlative relative is divided into superlatives of superiority and inferiority.

*

1. The Comparative of superiority is formed by prefixing to the Positive plus, more, and the Superlative relative by prefixing to the Positive le plus, fem. la plus, the most, as :

The Superlative absolute is formed by prefixing to the Positive très, very, beaucoup, much, fort, very, extrêmement, extremely, as, très-haut, très-beau, fort attentif.

2. The Comparison of inferiority is formed by prefixing to the Positive moins, less, and the Superlative relative of inferiority by prefixing to the Positive le moins, la moins, the least, as:—

* The superlative absolute expresses the quality in the highest or lowest degree, but without mentioning any object with which it is compared, whilst the superlative relative implies a comparison, as: Paris est une très-grande ville; c'est la plus grande ville de France; Paris is a very large town; it is the largest town in France.

3. The Comparative of equality is formed by prefixing to the Positive aussi, as: aussi cruel, aussi beau. Observe that all the Comparatives are followed by que, than, as, plus haut que, moins haut aussi haut que.

que,

4. The following Adjectives form their Comparative of superiority irregularly:

N.B. MAUVAIS and PETIT have also a regular comparative

of superiority, and a superlative relative, as :

But PLUS BON, and LE PLUS BON are not French.

The Comparatives of inferiority and equality as well as the superlative absolute of these three adjectives are formed in a regular manner, as:

Comparative of inferiority: moins bon, moins mauvais, moins potit.

Comparative of equality: aussi bon, aussi mauvais, aussi

potit.

Superlative absolute: très-bon, fort mauvais, très-petit. The comparison of these three Adjectives must not be confounded with that of the following Adverbs:-

Comparatives of inferiority and equality: moins bien, moins mal; aussi bien, aussi mal, aussi peu. absolute très-bien, très-mal, très-peu.

EXERCISE XIV.

que, than. que, as, after "aussi."

A.

Superlatives

1. Le jardin de mon père est plus grand que le jardin du général. 2. Je suis plus fort que Charles; mais je suis moins fort que

Guillaume. 3. Qui (who) est le plus fort? Mon frère est le plus fort. 4. La rose est plus belle que la violette; elle est la plus belle fleur. 5. Louise est attentive; Marie est plus attentive; et Caroline est la fille la plus attentive. 6. La lune est plus petite que la terre, et la terre est plus petite que le soleil. 7. Avez-vous une bonne plume? Oui, elle est meilleure que l'autre ; c'est (it is) la meilleure plume. 8. Le chocolat est aussi bon que le café. 9. Il est aussi savant que vous. 10. Les pommes sont meilleures que les poires. 11. Mes poires sont les meilleures. 12. La France est plus petite que la Russie; mais elle est plus grande que l'Italie.

1. The house of my uncle is greater than the house of the general. 2. The gardens of my uncle are greater than the gardens of the neighbour. 3. William is stronger than Charles; but he is less strong than Peter. 4. Who is the most attentive? My brother is the most attentive. 5. My brother is stronger than you. 6. Louisa and Mary are the most attentive girls. 7. The sun is greater than the earth, and the earth is greater than the moon. 8. Have you a good coat? Yes, it is better than the other; it is my best coat. 9. The beer is as good as the wine. 10. She is as learned as you. 11. The girl is less learned than you. England is smaller than France, but it is greater than Belgium.

12.

NOTE.-The metals in French have the Definite Article,

1. L'Europe est plus petite que l'Asie. 2. L'Allemagne est plus fertile que la Hollande. 3. Le sage est plus heureux que le fou. 4. L'or est le métal le plus pesant. 5. Ma robe est moins belle que la robe de ma sœur. 6. L'enfant est moins agréable. 7. Le cheval est moins haut que le chameau. 8. Les chats sont moins fidèles que les chiens. 9. La tante est plus laborieuse que la fille. 10. La ville de Dresde est moins peuplée que la ville de Berlin. 11. Londres et Paris sont les villes les plus grandes et les plus peuplées de l'Europe. 12. Mademoiselle Marie, êtes-vous heureuse? Oui, je suis très-heureuse, plus heureuse que ma sœur Julie. 13. Le voisin est-il malheureux? Il est moins malheureux que son (his) frère.

1. England is more fertile than Germany. 2. The wise (men) are more happy than the fools. 3. The daughter is as happy as her (sa) mother. 4. The dresses are less beautiful than the dresses of the sisters. 5. The camel is higher than the horse. 6. The dogs are more faithful than the cats. 7. The aunts are less laborious than the daughters. 8. The son is not so laborious as the father. 9. The city of London is more populous than the city of Paris. 10. London is the greatest and most populous city in (say of) Europe. 11. Is he happy? Yes, he is very happy, more happy than his (son) brother. 12. Is the girl unhappy? She is less unhappy than her (sa) sister.