Je le vis à Paris la semaine I saw him in Paris last week. dernière. la bataille dûra deux jours. the battle lasted two days. 3. The past indefinite is used when you speak of an action as having taken place, without specifying where and when, or of an action which has happened at a time not entirely past: this tense is very much used in the colloquial style. Il a beaucoup voyagé. He has travelled much. Je me suis levé ce matin I rose this morning later than plus tard que d'habitude. usual. 28. The auxiliary or emphatic verb "to do" has no correspondent in French; the only auxiliaries being "avoir and être." 29.-The simplest form of asking a question is by placing the nominative pronoun after the verb : Voyez-vous ? m'avez-vous appelé ? Do you see? did you call me ? the noun is 30. But when the nominative is a noun, placed first and a pronoun of the same gender and num ber is put after the verb: Votre fille est-elle mariée ? deux garçons sont-ils encore en pension. Is your daughter married? are your two boys still in a boarding school? 31. To mark surprise or doubt the interrogation is often made by "est-ce que ?" Est-ce que madame votre Is your mother gone? mère est partie? est-ce que nous ne vous shall we not see you this verrons pas ce soir? evening? 32.-When an affirmative answer is wanted, the term is n'est-ce pas que? : N'est-ce pas que vous êtes content de moi aujourd'hui ? Are you not pleased with me to-day? n'est-ce pas que vous me will you not do me this favour? ferez cette faveur? 33.-Passive verbs are very seldom used in French : they are translated in the following manner : I was told so. we were very well treated. she is very much loved by her mother. tea is sold now at the bakers'. he is to be pitied. On me l'a dit. on nous traita très bien. le thé se vend maintenant chez il est à plaindre. 34.-Great familarity alone “tu, toi, ton, ta” &c. can authorise the use of 35.-When "to have," or "to get" are followed by a past participle, they are expressed by "faire," and the past participle is turned into an infinitive: He has had a house built. `you will get punished. where do you get your shoes made? Il a fait bâtir une maison. 36. Could have, might have, ought to have " should be translated thus: If she could have come sooner, we were safe. he might have come also. they ought to have spoken of it. Si elle avait pu venir plus tôt il aurait pu venir aussi. 37. The verbs "avoir, peur, craindre, appréhender, prendre garde, empêcher," used affirmatively; the conjunctions "de crainte que, de peur que, à moins que "; and the adverb "than," used as a term of comparison, require "ne" after them. J'ai peur qu'il ne le fasse. J'empêcherai qu'elle n'y aille. I am afraid he will do it. à moins que vous ne le vouliez. il boit davantage qu'il ne mange. unless you wish it. he drinks more than he eats. il est beaucoup plus grand he is much taller than he was. qu'il n'était. 38-When two verbs govern the same object, if one of them requires a preposition, an objective pronoun must be used: Ils assiégèrent la forteresse, They besieged and took the s'en emparèrent en fortress in less than two months. et moins de deux mois. 39-The present tense of the verb " to wish," followed by another verb, is expressed by the conditional, and the verb which comes after is put in the imperfect or pluperfect of subjunctive: Je souhaiterais qu'il pût venir. Je souhaiterais que vous l'eussiez vu. I wish he could come. 40.-"Quand, lorsque, aussitôt que," require the following verb to be put in the future, whenever a future is implied: I will pay you when you like. as soon as you have done, come to me. Je vous paierai quand vous voudrez. aussitôt que vous aurez fini, venez me trouver. 41.-The verb "penser, to think," when used in the sense of "to remember," requires "à" after it: it takes "de" when it is used in the sense of "to have an opinion": Pensez à moi. que pensez-vous de cela? Think of me. what do you think of that? 42.-The verbs "oser, cesser, pouvoir, savoir," used negatively, drop more elegantly the second part of the negation: Je n'ose le faire. vous ne cessez de causer. Je ne puis le dire. il ne sait que faire. Je ne saurais le permettre. I do not dare to do it. he does not know what to do. 43.-If by "to return" you mean "to go back again," use "retourner" if you mean : to come back" use "revenir": if you mean "to come home again," use "rentrer": Il demeure à Liverpool, et il rentrons. He lives at Liverpool, and he I am afraid it will rain; let us return. 44.-"To keep" is expressed by three different verbs as shown in the following examples : 45.-"To know," meaning "mental knowledge, in formation" is translated by "savoir " meaning "to be acquainted with, to is expressed by "connaître " : Do you know your lesson ? but "to know," know by sight," Savez-vous votre leçon ? I did not know that your Je ne savais pas que votre père father was gone. I know your partner. do you know this country? 46.-"To sleep," meaning "to spend the night," is translated by "coucher": We slept at Calais, on our Nous couchâmes à Calais, à return from the continent. notre retour du continent. But "to sleep," meaning "to take some rest," should be expressed by "dormir": I always sleep very well. Je dors toujours très bien. 47-When a verb governs "de" (see government of verbs), express the personal pronoun referring to an inanimate object by "en," and do the same for some or any, when used alone in reference to something before mentioned: Je m'en débarrasserai, souvenez-vous-en. donnez-m'en. ne m'en apportez pas. I shall get rid of it. give me some. do not bring me any. But, when personal pronouns are used for real persons, "de" is kept with disjunctive. J'ai beaucoup à me plaindre I have much to complain of d'elle. ils se sont souvenus de moi. her. they have remembered me. 48. The same as before is observed, when a verb governs "à," except that "y" is used instead of "en," and "à" kept instead of "de." Je viens de recevoir une lettre j'y répondrai demain. Je connais ces Messieurs: je m'adresserai à eux. I have just received a letter: I know these gentlemen: I shall apply to them. 49.-"Will you have, would you have? I will have, I would have" are rendered thus in the colloquial style: Will you have some bread? would you have a little more I should like it. Voulez-vous du pain? J'en veux bien. voudriez-vous un peu plus de viande ? J'en voudrais bien. 50. The word "so," whether understood or not in English, must be expressed in French by "le": |
