III. Personal pronouns used as subjects, are placed after the verb, although no interrogation is meant :

1st, When the verb is in the subjunctive mood without any conjunction being expressed. In such a case, the final e of the first person is marked with an acute accent, for the sake of euphony; as,

Puissé-je de mes yeux, etc. (CORN.) | May I with my eyes, etc.
Dussé-je, après dix ans, etc. (RAC.) | Should I, after ten years, etc.

2d, When the verb is preceded by any of these words, aussi, peut-être, encore, en vain, du moins, au moins, à peine; as,

Peut-être avez-vous raison.
En vain prétendons-nous.

We might also say:

Perhaps you are right.

It is in vain that we pretend. Peut-être vous avez raison;—en vain nous prétendons, but then the expression possesses neither the same grace, nor the same energy.

3d. In narrations, as in English :

Où allez-vous? lui dis-je.

Je le veux bien, lui répondit-il.

Where are you going? said I to him.
I am very willing, replied he to him.

Note.Observe that in the foregoing examples a hyphen is put after the verb when followed by the pronoun its subject.

aussi coûter + +

This

lace is beautiful, (but then) it is dear. The rose is

dentelle f.

-f.

of

emblème m.

art.

the queen of flowers; therefore it is the emblem

aussi

beauty.-Perhaps I shall go.-You were hardly gone when

ind-2 à peine partir que What would you have? said he to me. ind-1

art.

Peut-être

your brother arrived. ind-3

art.

† See the 3d. Rem., page 82.

See the 2d. Rem., page 212.

Life, replied I.
répondre

*

IV. Personal pronouns, when subjects or nominatives. must be repeated :—

1st, When we pass from negation to affirmation; as, JE ne plie pas et JE romps (I do not bend and I break). But we can say: JE plie et JE ne romps pas, or je plie et ne romps pas, the first verb being in the affirmative.

2d, When the verbs are connected by any conjunction, except et (and), ou (or), ni (nor), mais (but).

Except in those two cases, the personal pronouns subjects are either repeated or not, according as the harmony, energy, and especially the perspicuity of the phrase may require.

EXERCISE CLXVI.

You gain nothing, and you spend (a great deal.) — I gagner dépenser beaucoup (am not ignorant) that one cannot be happy without virtue, n'ignore pas

on ne saurait

art.

and I (am firmly resolved) always to practise it.-We detest

me propose bien

de

2

1

the wicked, because we fear them.-He is learned although méchant parce que craindre

quoique he is very young.-I wish to see you happy, because I subj-1 bien

désirer *

am attached to you. You will be truly esteemed, if you are

attaché

*

wise and modest.

modeste

vraiment

OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS AS OBJECTS.

A personal pronoun, when the regiment or object of the verb, is either direct or indirect. A pronoun is the direct object of the verb, when it is governed by the verb without any preposition, either expressed or understood; as, Je la vois, I see her. But, when a pronoun is the indirect object, it is always preceded by à (to), or

REGIMEN. The word or member of a sentence governed by a verb; as Evil communication corrupts good manners, where good manners may be said to be the regimen, or part of the sentence governed by the verb corrupts.(Walker's Dict.)

de (of), either expressed or understood; as, Je lui parle, I speak to him; J'en parle, I speak of him.

I. When personal pronouns are in the accusative, or in other words, the direct objects of the verb, they are expressed in French thus:

and are placed before the verb in simple tenses, and before the auxiliary in compound tenses, whether the sentence be affirmative, negative, or interrogative; as,

Il me flatte.

Vous ne la surprendrez pas.

Ils nous ont trompés.

Ne les connaissez-vous pas ?

He flatters me.

You will not surprise her.
They have deceived us.
Do you not know them?

REMARK. When me, te, se, le, la, come before a vowel, or h mute, the elision of the e takes place, as explained in the chapter of the apostrophe, page 3.

N.B. The pronouns le, la, les, are also called relative pronouns, because they relate to a substantive already expressed.

EXERCISE CLXVII.

You suspect me (without reason.)-He has rewarded me soupçonner mal à propos récompenser generously. God is a father to those who love him, and a généreusement de ceux protector to those who fear him.-(As soon as) my sister

le

craindre

+ de (shall have) arrived, I will go and see her.

le

Dès que

Vice often

art.

We shall go and

*

deceives us under the mask of virtue.

see you after dinner.-Do you not see them? après dîner

II. When personal pronouns are the indirect objects of the verb, and governed by the preposition à (to), understood,

† Most English words ending in or become French by changing or into eur. See Observations, page 30.

they are expressed by me, te, lui, m. and f.; nous, vous, leur, m. and f., and placed before the verb, in the same manner as when they are the direct objects; as,

Elle me parle.

Il lui donne.

Je leur écrirai.

She speaks to me.
He gives him (i.e. to him).
I will write to them.

III. When the preposition à is to be expressed before the pronouns, they are then rendered by moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles, and placed after the verb. This happens only in the following cases :

1st, With the verbs aller, to go; courir and accourir, to run to; marcher, to walk; penser and songer, to think; venir, to come; viser, to aim at; être (in the sense of to belong); avoir, to have, used with the words affaire, égard, rapport, recours; as,

Votre frère vint à nous.

Ce livre est à moi.
J'aurai recours à eux.

Your brother came to us.
This book belongs to me.
I will have recourse to them.

2d, When a verb has two or more indirect regimens, and likewise with all reflected verbs; as,

to them, to the praise which betrays them.-They came to us

louange f.

trahir

when we (were not thinking) of them.-That horse was ne pensions pas

ind-2

formerly mine, but I sold it to your cousin.-If you don't autrefois à moi

ind-4 l'

behave better, you will have to do with me.-He speaks se conduire affaire à

to you and to him.-We trust to them.

se fier

IV. When a personal pronoun, used as a direct or in

direct object, accompanies a verb in the imperative mood, in the first person plural, or in the second person singular or plural, it is put in French, as in English, immediately after the verb, and moi, toi, are used instead of me, te. But, if a negation attends the imperative, the pronoun follows the general rule, and is placed before the verb, and again me, te, are used.

REMARKS.-1. When there are two imperatives joined by the conjunction et or ou, and without a negative, it is considered more elegant to place the second pronoun before the verb; as,

Polissez-le sans cesse, et le Polish and repolish it conti

repolissez.-(Boileau).

nually.

2. When an imperative has two pronouns for regimens, one direct and the other indirect, the direct regimen is expressed first; as,

Negatively, we would say, Ne me le donnez pas; ne le lui prêtez pas.

3. When moi, toi, are placed after the imperative, and followed by the pronoun en, they are changed into m', t'; as,

Donnez-m'en, Give me some. | Retourne-t'en, Go back.

Note.-Observe again how a hyphen is introduced in the foregoing examples. The rule is thus laid down by Beauzée and Féraud. When the first and second persons of the imperative have for complement (or regimen) one of these words: moi, toi, nous, vous, le, la, lui, les, leur, en, y, they are joined together by a hyphen, and a second hyphen is introduced when there are two of those words as complement of the imperative. Examples :-Donnez-moi, dépêchons-nous, accordez-la-leur, rendons-la-lui.

But we write faites-moi lui parler, and not faites-moi-lui parler, because lui is the regimen of parler, and not of faites; venez me parler, because me is not governed by venez, but by the infinitive parler.