Images de page
PDF
ePub

[ocr errors]

8.

Do you like my pen-holder? No, it is too small. — Do you see my dictionary? I have it. To whom are you writing this letter? To my mother. - Does she answer your letters? Yes, always. — Has your niece the paper and envelopes? Yes, and she has also the inkstand and pen. Have you my pencil? No, I have your sister's. — Have you my brother's copy-book? I have not your brother's; I have Robert's. - Are your sister's pens good? No, I do not like them. Whose large book is this? It is Paul's. - Do you see that child? I do. - Do you know him? He is (c'est) my friend's son. -I do not like that letter paper; it is very bad. - Does your sister lend or give her book to my cousin (f.)? I do not know. - Is it not damp to-day? It is damp and cold. Are you cold? My young

sister is cold.

9.

-

Is this pencil your sister's? No, it is my cousin's (f.). — Is George's book dirty? No, George is a good boy; his books are clean, but his cousin's are very dirty. To whom do you give chocolate? I give some to my friends. Whose knife is this? It is my niece's. - Are your brothers happy? They are very happy. Is not your aunt's daughter angry with your sister? I do not know. - Poor child! you have no bread. No, sir, I have not any. - Has your little daughter paper, pen, and ink? She has some paper and a pen, but she has no inkstand. — Have you not too much wine? No, not at all. - Do you like wine? Yes, I like good wine. - Have you not too many penholders? I have only one. - Do you not like these eggs? I like them very much; they are very good. - How are your parents? I thank you, they are pretty well. Are you not very warm? I am too warm. - Are you thirsty? Very. (J'ai bien soif).

FEMININE OF ADJECTIVES.

The feminine of adjectives is formed by adding a mute o to the masculine:

grand, grande; petit, petite; fort, forte, strong.

Those ending in e mute in the masculine remain unchanged in the feminine: aimable, honnête, sage.

Adjectives ending in el, eil, on, ien, as, et, etc., double the final consonant and add e:

cruel, cruelle; pareil, pareille, equal.

bon, bonne; ancien, ancienne, old, ancient.

gras, grasse, fat; muet, muette, dumb.

Those ending in f change f into ve:

neuf, neuve; vif, vive, quick.

Those ending in x change x into se:

heureux, heureuse; jaloux, jalouse, jealous.

The feminine of some adjectives is irregularly formed; as:

blanc, blanche, white.

doux, douce, sweet.

franc, franche, frank.

faux, fausse, false.

public, publique, public.

turc, turque, Turkish, etc.

Some words ending in eur change it to euse; and teur to trice;

a few words in eur form their feminine in resse:

trompeur, trompeuse, deceiver.

inspecteur, inspectrice, inspector.
pécheur, pécheresse, sinner.

REMARKS.-1. Let the student notice that the characteristic sign of the feminine is e, and that the feminine plural is always formed by adding s to the feminine singular.

2. Certain nouns are subject to feminine forms (e), according to the sex they denote-ami, friend (m.), amie, friend (f.).

3. The résumé given on p. 41 contains not only the general rules, but also the principal exceptions.

[blocks in formation]

* This termination is dropped before adding the feminine forms.

A few adjectives in al take s for the masculine plural.

The masculine plural of adjectives is the same as the masc. plur. of nouns.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

Inferiority. 2. Pas autant, pas tant. S not as much,... 3. Moins, less,......

Superiority. Plus, more, (or English comparative in er).

He is as much loved as his brother.
She is as tall as her sister.

Que, than.

Il est autant aimé que son frère. Elle est aussi grande que sa sœur. sont pas autant aimés qu'estimés.

They are not as much loved as Ils ne esteemed. They (f.) are less handsome than Elles sont moins belles que leurs their friends, (f).

amies.

My cousins are taller (more tall) Mes cousins sont plus grands que

[blocks in formation]

N. B.-Use que as second part when the sentence does not involve two quantities, and que de when two quantities are actually compared.

I have as many horses as your J'ai autant de chevaux que votre father.

There is but one quantity-horses.

père.

They have more courage than you. Ils ont plus de courage que vous. There is but one quantity or amount--courage.

We have more friends than enemies. Nous avons plus d'amis que

d'ennemis,

The number of friends is compared to the number of enemies.

They have fewer books than pencils. Ils ont moins de livres que de

crayons.

The number of books is compared to the number of pencils.

You have not as much courage as Vous n'avez pas autant de courambition. age que d'ambition. The amount of courage is compared to the amount of ambition.

After the que of a comparison, the personal pronouns nominative are not used in French. The following are used instead:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Place le plus, la plus, les plus before the adjective; as,

I am the tallest of all.

She is the prettiest of the three.

Je suis le plus grand de tous.
C'est la plus jolie des trois.

good, bon; better, meilleur (mieux, adv.); the best, le meilleur (le mieux, adv.).

bad, mauvais; worse, pire (pis, adv.); the worst, le pire (le pis, adv.). little, petit; less, moindre (moins, adv.); the least, le moindre (le moins).

very, très, fort, bien; rather, assez.

time.

The more I know him, the more Plus je le connais, plus je l'es-
I esteem him.
The less you speak, the more you Moins vous parlez, plus vous
listen.

écoutez.

More than, plus de (before a number); plus de dix, de cent, etc. Less than, moins de; moins de quinze, etc.

« PrécédentContinuer »