5. Adjectives ending in ƒ change that letter into ve. Ex.: neuf, neuve 'new'; bref, brève 'brief.'

g

6. Final takes ue for the feminine. Ex.: long, longue 'long.'

7. Malin malign' and bénin benign' have maligne and bénigne.

९

8. Tiers 'third' has tierce and frais fresh,' fraîche.

9. Final changes into se. Ex.: Envieux, envieuse 'envious'; jaloux, jalouse 'jealous.' But doux 'sweet' has douce and vieux 'old' or vieil has vieille; faux 'false' has fausse; roux' reddish' has rousse.

EXCEPTION. The feminine of grand in certain locutions is now written with an apostrophe. Ex.: Grand' mère 'grandmother.' This is not an elision, but a remnant of the old French form, and usage has committed an error by inserting the apostrophe.

B. Plural Forms of Adjectives.

GENERAL RULE. The plural of adjectives is formed by the addition of an s to the singular. Adjectives ending in s or x do not change. Tout (masc.) 'all' has tous in the plural, but the feminine plural toutes is regular.

REMARK.1. Adjectives ending in eau take a in the plural. Ex.: beau, beaux handsome,' 'fine,' nouveau, nov

veaux new.'

e

2. Adjectives in al change that ending into aux. Ex.: égal, égaux equal.'

Fatal fatal' has fatals; but a certain number of adjectives in al like glacial glacial,' colossal 'colossal,' frugal frugal,' matinal pertaining to the early morning,' nasal nasal,' etc., are not used in the masculine plural.

REMARKS. Notice the following peculiarities about the agreement of adjectives:

a) Nu naked, bare,' is invariable as a compound with a noun. It is then placed before the noun which is used without an article. Il marche nu-pieds et tête nue, ' He walks barefooted and with a bare head.' regular.

b) Demi half,' is treated like nu. 'half an hour'; but une heure et demie

In other cases nu is

Ex.: Une demi-heure

an hour and a half.' e) Ci-joint, ci-inclus here enclosed,' are invariable at the beginning of a sentence and when the following substantive is used without the article; in other cases they are regular. Ex.: Ci-joint la lettre de ma sœur, 'Enclosed find my sister's letter.' Vous trouverez ci-inclus copie du contrat, * You will find enclosed a copy of the contract.' But, Vous trouverez ci-incluse la copie que je vous avais promise, Enclosed you will find the copy which I had promised you.'

୧

d) Feu late, deceased' is invariable when it does not immediately precede its noun. Ex.: La feue reine, or feu la reine the late queen.'

C. Comparison of Adjectives.

POSITIVE, COMPARATIVE, AND SUPERLATIVE.

Qualifying adjectives may be in the positive degree, that is in the simple form; or in the comparative degree marking equality, superiority, or inferiority; or in the superlative degree which marks a quality in the highest or the lowest degree.

९

The comparative is indicated in French by the adverbs aussi as,' plus more,' moins 'less.' Ex.: Il est AUSSI grand QUE moi, PLUS instruit QUE Louis et MOINS âgé QUE nous, 'He is as tall as I, better informed than Louis, and not so old as we.'

NOTE. 1. The second term of a comparison begins with QUE than,' 'as.'

९

2. The only comparative not requiring a corresponding word in the first term is comme as,' implying equality in the way, the manner. Ex.: Il est grand et beau comme son frère, 'He is tall and handsome like his brother.' Il est heureux comme moi, 'He is happy in the same way that I am.' The superlative is formed by the adverbial expressions, le plus 'the most or the best'; le moins the least or the worst.' Ex.: Il est LE PLUS instruit et LE MOINS vain des hommes, 'He is the most learned and the least vain of men.' TRÈS, BIEN, or FORT very,' placed before an adjective, marks that the quality exists in a very high degree.

EXCEPTIONS. Bon 'good' has in the comparative meilleur better,' superlative le meilleur 'best'; mauvais 'bad' has in the comparative pire' worse,' superlative le pire 'worst'; petit 'little,' comparative moindre ' less,' superlative le moindre least.' Plus mauvais and le plus mauvais, plus petit and le plus petit are also correct.

D. Determinative Adjectives.

There are five classes of determinative or limiting adjectives: numerals, possessives, demonstratives, interrogatives and indefinites.

1. Numeral Adjectives.

Cardinal numeral adjectives express quantity; ordinals mark the order.

N. B. Other ordinals are formed by adding ième to the cardinals; if there is a final e mute it disappears.

INFLECTION. Un has the feminine une; vingt and cent take s in the plural when multiplied by another number and not followed by a number. Ex.: deux cents personnes, but deux cent vingt personnes; quatre-vingts livres, but quatrevingt-deux livres.

The French use cardinal numbers for the day of the month and after names of sovereigns; premier 'first' is the only general exception. Ex.: Le deux mars the second of March'; le premier janvier the first of January'; François premier Francis the First'; Henri deux Henry the Second'; Charles deux Charles the Second.' Exceptionally, Charles-Quint, Charles V., Emperor of Germany,' and Sixte-Quint, Pope Sixtus V.'

REMARK.1. Whenever the possessive adjective refers to the subject of the clause and can be suppressed without ambiguity it is replaced by the article or by a personal pronoun as indirect object. Ex.: J'ai mal à la tête my head aches'; je me suis fait mal au pied I have hurt my foot'; il s'est cassé le bras he has broken his arm.'

2. En is used instead of the possessive son, leur, etc., when the possessed object belongs to an inanimate object expressed in a preceding clause. (Not in the same clause.) Ex.: J'aime ce livre, quoique j'en voie les imperfections, 'I like that book although I see its defects.' But J'aime mon ami, quoique je voie ses imperfections, I love my friend although I see his imperfections'; and also j'aime la campagne avec tous ses inconvénients, 'I like the country with all its disadvantages.'

1 These words are true adjectives in French and must be so considered and treated; they agree with the noun following them.

2 The forms mon, ton, son are used in the feminine before a vowel, or an

6

ardeur my ardor,' but ma patrie 'my fatherland'