A FRENCH GRAMMAR BY THE REV. ALPHONSE DUFOUR, S.J., PROFESSOR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY. FOLLOWED BY A MANUAL OF PRONUNCIATION, TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH WORK OF THE REV. R. P. MANSION, S. J. BOSTON, U.S.A. PREFACE. THE object of this book is to provide the student with a brief exposition of the principles of French grammar. We present to the public neither a new system nor, strictly speaking, a new grammar, but the result of an experience of many years in teaching the French language. The first part, Etymology, is given in English, in order to afford the pupil time to acquire a vocabulary large enough to render future study of the language useful and attractive. While studying this part, he is supposed to read some French selections; and for this purpose we have compiled a French Reader, beginning with the easiest compositions and proceeding by degrees to the most difficult. The student is supposed not only to read and translate these, but also, as far as possible, to commit them to memory. This will enable him to pass with advantage to the second part, Syntax. This part is given in French, in order to compel the pupil to make use of his acquired vocabulary, and help him to converse in French. In presenting rules and principles, we have tried to be as complete as possible, and the letters we have received from various professors testify more positively than we dared anticipate to the success of our endeavor. Moreover, many of our friends have had the kindness to examine and criticise our work, and have given it their approbation. The book is small, because we know by experience that a voluminous book frightens the pupil and rarely presents the rules in a clear manner. have followed the method prescribed by the "Ratio Studiorum," according to which the text-book is intended to assist the teacher, but not to take his place. This grammar, therefore, supposes a teacher; it is not a self-teaching book. We In the second part, we have followed the logical order, i.e. the order of the Parts of the Speech; but in the first part we have pursued a more practical method. We begin with the verbs, because they are the soul of conversation, and because, as experience teaches, verbs are the terms most frequently used in every language. We omit the exercises usually given in grammars, because we have found them rather an obstacle than an assistance to the student. We do not wish to enter into any discussion on the subject, but our experience has proved to us that a purely grammatical text-book is better than a mixed text-book. In using the Reader, the following method is undoubtedly the best. The pupil should be told the meaning of each word in the selection. He should then translate the piece into his mother tongue, in order to make sure that he has caught the meaning of the words and of the whole selection. Having mastered the words as they stand, in such and such a combination, he should compose short sentences made up of these words. As an example, let us take the first piece of our Reader: "Un ange au radieux visage, Penché sur le bord d'un berceau, This selection ought to be explained, then translated word for word, without regard to the elegance of the English. "An angel with radiant visage (countenance), inclined (leaning) over the edge (brim, brink, etc.) of a cradle, seemed (was seeming) to contemplate his image as if in the water of a brook (rivulet)." The pupil should then translate it into correct, idiomatic, and, if possible, elegant English. Let him afterward compose some sentences containing the words of the selection, as, "I seem to contemplate an angel in the water of a rivulet. I was leaning over the brink of a rivulet, and I seemed to behold the image of an angel." -- Thus the industry of the student will be excited, and in a very few weeks he will be master of the five or six hundred words needed for conversation; in other words, he will know French. well enough to speak with intelligence and facility. |