Sixième Essai. Mort d'Epaminondas:-Barthélemy Combat of Almeida :-Sir William Napier Huitième Essai. Voyage of H.M.S. Herald:-B, Seamann Combat sur mer :-Extrait de la revue Maritime End of book fourth. BOOK SECOND. SPECIAL DIRECTIONS FOR TRANSLATING ENGLISH INTO FRENCH, WHICH WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THE STUDENT TO REFER TO IN ANY STAGE OF HIS STUDIES. 1.-A Substantive, or any part of speech used substantively, taken in a general, determinate, or partitive sense, requires before it the article "le, la, les," or, " du, de la, des," according to the case; and this article must be repeated before each substantive : Le fer et l'acier sont plus utiles que l'or et l'argent. la vie de l'homme est courte. nous avons eu pour dîner de la soupe, du poisson, de la viande et des poires. Iron and steel are more useful than gold and silver. the life of man is short. Except only names of persons, towns, or when an apos trophe is made : Jean et Jacques. Paris et Londres. Soldats, suivez-moi. John and James. Paris and London. Soldiers, follow me. 2.-The English possessive case must have its natural construction in French : My father's house. Edward's book. B la maison de mon père. le livre d' Edouard. 3. When two nouns come together one of which limits the other, the noun which is placed first in English is always placed second in French, and connected with the first by "de, à," or a definite article, agreeably to the sense in which it is used: Une montre d'or. un pâté aux pigeons. A gold watch. 4.—"A, an, per," is translated by the definite article before nouns of weight, measure, or quantity, and by 66 par" before nouns of time or distance: 20 centimes l'once. un franc le mètre. deux francs la douzaine. cinq francs par jour. 50 centimes par lieue. 2d. an ounce. 2 francs a dozen. 5-There are only two genders in French: the masculine and the feminine : 6. In translating the English word "country," never use indiscriminately "pays," or "campagne." these two illustrations as models: L'Italie est un beau pays. Italy is a fine country. Take J'aime mieux la campagne I like the country better than que la ville. the town. 7. The word "time," denoting any period, is expressed by' temps": Il est temps d'aller se It is time to go to bed. coucher. But when it is expresses the repetition of an action, it is translated by "fois": Je vous pardonne cette fois; mais, si vous le faites une 1 forgive you this time; but, if you do it another time, autre fois, je ne vous par- I will not forgive you. donnerai pas. 8.-The word "mouth" is translated by "bouche " in speaking of men, horses, mules, asses, and camels; by "gueule" in speaking of other animals; and by "embouchure," in speaking of rivers : Cet enfant a une très jolie bouche. Qu'est-ce que ce chien a dans la gueule ? La Seine a son embouchure dans l'océan Atlantique, au Hâvre-de-grâce. This child has a very pretty mouth. What has this dog got in his mouth.? The Seine has its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean, at le Havrede-grâce. 9.-The words "year, day, morning, evening," are translated by "an, jour, matin, soir," when a period of time is meant: Cela est arrivé, il y a au moins cinquante ans. Quel jour viendrez-vous nous voir ? Passez chez moi demain matin. Je la verrai ce soir. But, if a duration of journée, matinée, soirée." Je vous souhaite une bonne année. Venez passer la journée avec nous. Vous le trouverez chez lui dans le courant de la matinée, ou de la soirée. Callupon me to-morrow morning. I shall see her to-night. time is meant, use "année, I wish you a happy new year. Come and spend the day with us. You will find him at home in the course of the morning, or of the evening. 10. When the whole time of the night is meant, translate night by "nuit" when the first part of it only is meant, the word "soir is used: so we say:" bon 66 |
