MANUAL OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE;

FORMING

THE MOST COMPLETE, SIMPLE, AND PRACTICAL

GUIDE

ΤΟ Α

THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE:

IN WHICH

THE GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE LANGUAGE ARE CLEARLY LAID DOWN, AND
COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED BY

SUITABLE EXERCISES AND A COMPENDIOUS VOCABULARY

OF SUBSTANTIVES, ADJECTIVES, VERBS, AND PARTICLES.

BY PROFESSOR DE LOLME.

LONDON:

JOHN CASSELL, LUDGATE HILL;

AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1853.

303.6.12.

PREFACE.

THE Grammar now offered to the public differs entirely in its plan from any that have preceded it. As my chief object in writing a new Grammar was to enable the learner really to acquire the means of speaking French, I have studiously avoided introducing into the present work anything unfitted to accelerate his progress in so doing, and have taken care to correct the faults and supply the deficiencies that exist in most French Grammars now used in England.

My long experience in teaching, pointed out to me all that was necessary for the attainment of the object I had in view; and my great success in enabling pupils, even in schools, to speak French as if they had been educated in France, has confirmed my hopes in this respect.

It is evident there must be something wrong in the books and methods used in England for teaching French, since the English student, even after many years of hard work, is seldom able to speak French with any degree of fluency or correctness. But, after all, this ought not to astonish us, for the first book given to the pupil is a Grammar, of which the exercises either consist of a series of unmeaning or broken sentences, or of subjects hardly ever used in conversation, such as episodes of the Trojan war, unconnected sayings of great men, and bits of high-sounding sentences, which are often unintelligible to the minds of the young, and which, it would seem, have only been employed to make a display of erudition.

Again, the French Grammars used at present in England never tell the pupil where he can refer to Rules that have preceded, as if a Rule could be indelibly impressed on the mind after it has been only once read: the exercises are, in consequence, mere puzzles, and appear to have been written for no other purpose than that of causing the pupil to make from thirty to forty mistakes in a single page. These grammars are also full of various other faults and deficiencies, which I will mention when speaking of the manner in which I have prevented their existence in the present work, and while noticing the principal improvements I have introduced.

Firstly, the exercises contained in this grammar are composed of such sentences only as the student may actually want in common conversation. Secondly,

every rule is numbered; and every time a rule occurs in the exercises, its number is placed under the word or sentence to which it applies, so that the pupil may immediately refer to it, and thus write correctly what he has to turn into French. The number 2, for instance, tells the pupil that the definite article is required, although it is not used in English; number 39 reminds him that the adjective is declinable; number 50 informs him when the adjective is to be placed after the noun; and number 90 indicates that a pronoun used as an object must be placed before the verb. By this means the pupil can immediately refer to any rule that may have escaped his memory. Thirdly, as the gender of nouns has always proved an insuperable difficulty to the English student, I have given a few new, complete, and easy rules, with the exceptions to them, which, though contained in three pages, include all words in common use. Fourthly, unlike those grammarians, whose works contain no Syntax, and in which the rules given are crowded together in the Accidence,—and equally unlike those whose works are divided into two parts, the first of which is filled with nothing but dry words, so that the pupil has to wade through three or four hundred pages of matter before he can write a single sentence correctly, I have followed a middle course, and have introduced into the first part of my Grammar all the rules of primary importance (before learning which the pupil cannot advance a step), and have placed in the Syntax all the rules of secondary importance, as well as those which occur but rarely. Fifthly, I have given complete lists of all pronouns, prepositions, adverbs, and conjunctions; as I have always remarked that the greatest difficulty experienced by the pupil, while endeavouring to speak French, is owing to his not being . acquainted with such words, which, although they are the very soul of the language, and of such frequent occurrence, are wanting to a great extent in most French Grammars, though at the same time they give the names of all the parts of the body, of tools, of trades, &c., not one out of ten of which will, most likely, ever be used. I have also accompanied these words with numerous examples, in order to show their proper use, and have treated this most important branch of grammar, in which the real idioms of the language are contained, at greater length than any other grammarian. Sixthly, the examples by which all the rules are accompanied in this Grammar have been selected from sentences on the most ordinary topics of conversation, and form a very useful collection of phrases, which should be committed to memory by the pupil. Seventhly, the reflected verbs, as they form one of the greatest difficulties of the French language, have also been treated at great length, and long lists have been given of the most important of this class of verbs. Eighthly, the use of the subjunctive, as it offers so many difficulties to the English student, has been fully and carefully explained in as comprehensive a manner as possible. Ninthly, rules are given for the government of verbs and adjectives by prepositions, in all cases in which the prepositions are not the same in both languages, and the pupil will also find full and lucid explanations given as to the various ways of rendering those prepositions which precede the infinitive. Tenthly, many

rules are given here which, though they are of constant occurrence, are not to be found in other Grammars; and great attention has been paid to the rules on negations and interrogations and the conjugations of verbs, the various methods of using which have been exemplified, not by a single word, but by whole sentences, as will be seen by looking at the verbs aller, devoir, vouloir, faire, falloir: pouvoir, etc.; and, lastly, at the end of the Grammar, there is a vocabulary composed of such substantives, adjectives, and verbs, as are most needed in conversation, and in which words are translated by their real equivalents, waistcoat being no longer rendered there by veste; chest of drawers by armoire ;` passionate by coléreux; toyman by bijoutier, and hundreds of other words by terms quite as erroneous as the above. To enable the pupil to speak correctly, numerous sentences have been inserted in this vocabulary, wherever the idiom or construction differs, thus rendering it a collection of the most useful and easy idioms.

Although I have given far more explanations and definitions than are found in any vocabulary in existence (that kind of works containing only one word to explain the corresponding French word, which makes them of very little use), the words introduced here have only the chief meanings given in English, and the examples are on sentences used every day, and indispensable to enable the pupil to speak correctly. Any one desiring further explanations, may consult the Dictionary published by Mr. CASSELL, in which every word of difficult construction is accompanied by many examples, and the definitions in which are according to the present style of the language. By the use of that work, every difficulty may be removed, and a complete knowledge of French acquired.

It will greatly assist the student in his labours, to write compositions on the various meanings of every word introduced in the Vocabulary, and to have them corrected by a master. It would also be well for the master to give dictations on the same words, in longer sentences than the examples; and as this is a collection of what is most frequently used and most useful, it will impart to him a truly perfect knowledge of the spoken language, and supply him with all the materials necessary for speaking that language.

J. L. DE LOLME, Professor of Languages.

55, Acacia Road, St. John's Wood.