LESSONS IN FEENCH. 





MASONS IN FRENCH. XLV III. 



PAET II. 



Tins So ..ml Part of tho Lessons in French, which we commence 

 in in'- jii-i--i-nt k'Hson, tliil'iT, from tin- tirat in containing a more 

 .IP- ami n.iiiplrto exhibition of tho principles of the 

 language. The First i'urt, which wan intended to serve as aa 

 introduction, supplied tho learner with the means of speedily 

 a--. [Hiring a knowledge of tho most essential forms of speech, so 

 as to be able to read, writo, and converse in French on all 

 ordinary subjects. The present port carries him on to the 

 ni<'< ti'vs l thu language, and qualifies him for understanding 

 ami employ in?,' it in connection with any topic to which he may 

 turn his attention, provided, of course, he has a good dictionary 

 ;it. li.iinl. In a word, the First Part was practical, the Second 

 ia theoretical ; in the former, the student was taught mainly by 

 examples and exercises ; in the latter, ho is put in possession of 

 i lie principles npon which those examplea and exercises proceed. 

 At the Bamo time, it must not be supposed that there is any 

 lack of examples in this part. On the contrary, every rule is 

 copiously illustrated by passages from the most distinguished 

 French writer* ; and when we add that tho rules thus abun- 

 dantly exemplified comprise the various idiomatic usogae, as well 

 as tho regular syntax of the language, it will be evident that 

 nothing more than diligent study and careful practice is needed 

 to make the self -educating student a good French scholar. 



1. PARTS OF SPEECH. 



(1.) There are, in French, ten sorts of words or parts of 

 speech : 



Nouns or Substantives, Participles, 



Articles, Adverbs, 



Adjectives, Prepositions, 



Pronouns, Conjunctions, 



Verbs, Interjections. 



(2.) These arc divided into variable words and invariable 

 words. 



(3.) The variable words are those of which tho termination 

 admits of various changes ; by these changes various modifica- 

 tions of meaning are expressed. The variable words are of 

 six kinds : 



The Noun, The Pronoun, 



The Article, The Verb, 



The Adjective, The Participle. 



(4.) The invariable words are those of which the termination 

 never changes : 



The Adverb, The Conjunction, 



The Preposition, The Interjection. 



(5.) All variable parts of speech have two numbers : tho 

 ' /, which denotes but one, and tho plural, which denotes 

 more than one. 



(6.) All variable parts of speech, except the verb, have two 

 genders : the masculine and the feminine. 



2. CASES OF NOUNS. 



The cases * of nouns adopted by French grammarians are : 



(1.) The sujet : answering to the subject of the English, and 

 to tho nominative of the Latin. 



(2.) Tho regime direct : answering to the direct object of the 

 -li, and to the accusative of the Latin. 



(3.) The regime indirect : answering to tho indirect object of 

 the English, and to tho oblique cases of the Latin genitive, 

 dative, and ablative. 



3. THE NOUN OB SUBSTANTIVE. 



(1.) The noun or substantive is a word which serves to name 

 a person or a thing ; aa, Jean, John ; maison, house. 



* The word case is not taken here in the moaning it has in Latin 

 grammar for instance. French, being an analytic language, its nouns 

 are not inflected, and it shows the relations that words bear to each 

 other in a sentence by position and preposition* ; whilst Latin, being a 

 synthetic language, points out such relations by inflection* or ca*e-eiding. 

 Thus in the sentence : I.e mnilrc donne un livre A I'en/ant, we know that 

 mattre is subject, by its position before the verb; that liwe is direct 

 object, by its position after the verb; and that en/ant is indirect object, 

 by its being preceded by the preposition a. 

 74 N.E. 



(2.) There are two sorts of nonns : proper and comma*. 



(3.) A proper noun is applied to a particular person ot 

 thing; as, Napoleon, Napoleon; Paris, 1'arit. 



(4.) A common noun belongs to a whole class of objects ; as, 

 livre, l>i*>k ; homme, man. 



(5.) Some common nonns, although singular in number, pre- 

 sent to the mind the idea of several persons or things, forming 

 a collection : they are for this reason denominated collective 

 nonns ; as, troupe, troop ; peuple, people. 



(6.) Collective nonns are general or partitive : general, whan 

 they represent an entire collection ; as, 1'araee des Francais, 

 the army of the French : partitive, when they represent a partial 

 collection ; as, un troupe de soldats Francais, a troop of French 

 soldiers. 



(7.) A common nonn composed of several words, as, chef- 

 d'oeuvre, masterpiece, avant-coureur, forerunner, is called a 

 compound noun. 



4. GENDER o NOUNS. 



(1.) There are, in the French language, only two genders: 

 the masculine and the feminine. 



(2.) The masculine gender belongs to men, and .nim^lq of 

 the male kind ; as Charles, Charles ; lion, lion. 



(3.) The feminine gender belongs to women, and animals of 

 the female kind ; as, Sophie, Sophia ; lionne, lioness. 



(4.) The masculine and feminine genders have been given, 

 in French, to the names of inanimate objects : thus, papier, 

 paper, is masculine, and plume, pen, is feminine. Most nouns 

 which are masculine and neuter in Latin are masculine in 

 French ; most nouns which are feminine in Latin are feminine 

 in French. 



5. RULES FOR DETERMINING GENDER BT THE MEANING. 



Masculine Nouns. 



(1.) Male beings ; as, homme, 

 man; lion, lion. 



(2.) Objects to which male 

 qualities are attributed : ange, 

 angel ; gdnic, genius (a spirit) ; 

 soleil, sun. 



(3.) The names of the seasons : 

 le printemps, the spring, Ac. ; and 

 of the months : juuvier, January ; 

 fiivrier, February, Ac. 



(4.) The days of the week : 

 luudi, Monday; mardi, Tuesday, 

 Ac. 



(5.) The names of the cardinal 

 points anil (lie wiu<ls : us, 1'cst, the 

 .East; 1'ouest, lite West, Ac. [See 

 exceptions opposite.] 



(6.) The names used in the 

 French decimal system ; as, cen- 

 time (hundredth part of a franc) ; 

 kilogramme (1000 grammes, about 

 two pounds) ; metre, Ac. 



(7.) Metals : le fer, iron ; 1'acier, 

 steel, Ac. 



(8.) Colours: le vert, gr*n; le 

 jauue, yellow. 



(9.) The names of empires and 

 kingdoms when ending with a con- 

 sonant : le Dauemark, Denmark ; 

 le Bresil, Brazil. 



(10.) Mountains : le Jura, Mount 

 Jura ; le Puy-de-D6me,t 0* PV de 

 Dome; le St. Bernard, Mount St. 

 .Bernard. 



(11.) The names of riven when 

 ending with a consonant : le Rhiu, 

 the Rhine ; le Xi\, the Nilt, 



Feminine Nauru. 



(1.) Female beings; as, femme, 

 woman ; lionne, lionets. 



(2.) Objects to which female 

 qualities are attributed : fee, /airy ; 

 lune, moon. 



(3.) Virtues; la charitl, charily; 

 except courage, courage; mlrite, 

 merit, which are masc. 



(4.) Vices: la nu'chnuceU?, 

 wickedness ; except 1'orgueil, prid, 

 masc. 



(5. ) Festivals : la Saint- Jean, 

 i.e. la fete de saint Jean, St. 

 John's-day ; la Chondeleur, Candle- 

 mas; except Noel, Chrutmis, 

 masc. 



Bise, a poetical term for North 

 wind. Tramontane, a term applitd 

 on the Mediterranean to the Aorta 

 vtnds. Brise, b. <<; mousson, 

 monsoon. 



(G.) Tho names of countries 

 when ending in mute: la France ; 

 1'Espagne, 1'Amerique, Ac. 



Exceptions : Beugale, Hanovre, 

 Mexique, Pelopones*. 



(7.) Chains of mountains in the 

 plural: les Alpea, the Alp*; le* 

 Pyrenees, tht JV**** ; les Vosges, 

 las Cevennes, Ac. 



(8.) The names of rivers when 

 ending with mute : la Seine, tin 

 Seine ; la Loire, the Loir*. 



Exceptions : Le Rhone, (* 

 Rhoiu; le Danube, le Tibre, le 

 Cocy te, masc. 



t The word Puy, from the Celtic pinch, mountain, is applied to a 

 number of places in France ; Puy-en-Velay, PUT -notr*- Dame, Ac. 



