218 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



LESSONS IN FRENCH. L VIII. 



42. EEMARKS ON THE INDEFINITE PKONOUNS (cont.). 



(7.) Personne also means anybody, in which case it does not 

 admit of ne being placed before the verb : 



Personne l'a-t-il vu ? 



Has anybody seen it 1 



(8.) Although the pronoun personne is masculine, yet the 

 adjective or past participle referring to it may be used in the 

 feminine when it relates distinctly to a feminine noun or pro- 



No one (no woman) was more beau- 

 tiful than Cleopatra. 



noun : 



Personne nMtait plus belle quo 

 Cleopatre. JULLIEN. 



NOTE. The word personne, used as a noun, and meaning a 



particular person, is of the feminine gender. 



(9.) Quelqu'un, somebody, some one, any one, anybody, used 

 absolutely, is invariable : 



To envy any one is con/ssing one's 

 self his inferior. 



Has any one ever had serious 

 doubts on tlie existence of God ? 



Envier quelqu'Un c'est s'avouer 

 son inferieur. 



MLLE. DE L'ESPINASSE. 



Quelqu'un a-t-il jamais doute" 

 serieusement de 1'existence de 



Dietl ? GIRAULT-DUVIVIER. 



(10.) Quelqu'un, used relatively, changes for gender and 

 nnmber. It has then the sense of some of, some one of a few : 



Do you know any one of those 



ladies, any of those gentlemen 1 

 Take a few of tliese pears. 



Connaissez-vous quelqu'une de 

 ces dames, quelques uns de ces 

 messieurs? GIRAULT-DUVIVIER. 



Prenez quelques-unes de ces 



poires. 



(11.) Quiconque, whoever, wlwsoever, though generally mascu- 

 line, may be used in reference to feminine nouns or pronouns. 

 It has no plural, and is only said of persons : 



Quiconque flatte ses maitres, 

 les trahit. MASSILLON. 



Quiconque est capable de 

 mentir, est indigne d'etre compt^ 

 au nombre des hommes. 



FKNELON. 



Quiconque est soupconneux, 

 invite la trahison. VOLTAIRE. 



Mesdemoiselles, quiconque de 

 vous sortira sera punie. 



Whoever flatters his masters be- 

 trays them. 



Whoever is capable of falsehood is 

 unworthy to be counted among the 

 number of men. 



Whoever is suspicious, invites 

 treachery. 



Young ladies, whoever of you goes 

 out shall be punished. 



(12.) L'un 1'autre, one another, each other. This pronoun 

 has for feminine 1'une 1'autre, and for plural les uns les autres, 

 les unes les autres : 



Vous vous flattiez 1'un 1'autre. You used to flatter one another. 



NOTE. The preposition used with this pronoun is placed be- 

 tween 1'un and 1'autre, and not as in English : 



Elles se nuisent 1'une a 1'autre. They do harm to each other. 



L'un 1'autre is used in the singular in reference to two per- 

 sons, and in the plural in reference to more than two. 



(13.) L'un . . . 1'autre, les uns ... les autres ; 1'une . . . 

 1'autre, les unes . . . les autres, t he one . . . the other; the 

 ones . . . the others ; some : 



Les uns nous suivaient par 

 curiosite, les autres par interet. 



Some followed us out of curiosity, 

 others out of interest. 



(14.) L'un et 1'autre, les uns et les autres, 1'une et 1'autre, les 

 unes et les autres (both). This expression may be used of 

 persons and of things in the singular in reference to two 

 persons or things, or in the plural, in the case of more than 

 two. The preposition should be placed before 1'un, and re- 

 peated before 1'autre : 



L'un et 1'autre sont honnetes. 

 Votre frere blame les uns et 



les autres. 



II parle mal des unes et des 

 autres. 



Je le ferai pour 1'un et pour 



1'autre. 



Both are honest. 



Your brother blames the ones and 

 the others. 



He speaks ill of the ones and of 

 the others. 



I will do it for both. 



NOTE. L'un et 1'autre, etc., may be used adjectively : 



La Condamine a parcouru 1'un 

 et 1'autre hemisphere.* 



BUFPON. 



L'un et 1'autre consul suivaient 

 ses e"tendards. CORNEILLE. 



1 1'une et 1'autre e"poque, ii 



pent un tres grand nombre de 

 citoyens. BARTHELEMY. 



(15.) Rien, nothing, is masculine singular, requires ne before 

 the verb, and may be used as subject and as object. Rien 

 means also anything, in which case it does not admit of ne 

 before the verb : 



La Condamine travelled over bath 

 hemispheres. 



Both consuls followed his stan- 

 dards. 



At both epoclis a large number of 

 citizens perished. 



Rien n'est plus utile. 

 II n'a rien entendu. 

 Est-il rien de plus beau que la 

 vertu ? 



Je doute que rien lui rdussisse. 



Nothing is more useful. 



He has heard nothing. 



Is there anything more beautiful 

 than virtue ? 



I doubt whether he will be success- 

 ful in anything. 



(16.) Tel, telle, feminine, such, many a person, many, is an 

 indefinite pronoun in the following and in similar sentences : 



Tel donne a pleines mains, qui 

 n' oblige personne. CORNEILLE. 



Tel brille au second rang, qui 

 s'e'clipse au premier. 



VOLTAIRE. 

 Tel est pris qui croyait prendre. 



LA FONTAINE. 



Telle, sans aucun attrait pour 

 la retraite, se consacre au Sei- 

 gneur par pure fiert6. 



MASSILLON. 



Tels que Ton croit d'inutiles 

 amis, dans le besoin rendent de 

 bons services. BOURSAULT. 



Many a one may give bountifully 

 without obliging any one. 



Many a person may shine in the 

 second rank, who is eclipsed in the 

 first. 



.Many are caught while attempting 

 to catch others. 



Many [a nun] for u'hom retreat 

 has no attractions, consecrates her- 

 self to the Lord through mere pride. 



Many /riends u-hom we think use- 

 less render us, in our need, valuable 

 services. 



(17.) Tel, in connection with Monsieur, Madame, etc., as 

 Monsieur un tel, Madame une telle, Mr., Mrs. such-a-one, is 

 used substantively. Tel may be used adjectively in the sense 

 of such : 



un tel homme, 

 de tels actes, 



such a man. 

 such deeds. 



(18.) Tout, every one, everything. This word, employed abso- 

 lutely, is invariable : 



A. la seule vertu, sois aur qne 



tout prospere. 



F. DE NEUFCHATEATT. 

 Tout n'est pas Caumartin, 

 Bignon, ni d'Aguesseau. 



BOILEAU. 



Son grand gdnie embrassait 

 tout. BOSSUET. 



Be assured that it is with virtue 

 alone that everything prospers. 



Every one is not Caumartin, 

 Bignon, or d'Aguesseau. 



His great genius embraced every- 

 thing. 



NOTE. In the acceptation of every one, tout is getting 

 obsolete. 



43. VERBS. 



(1.) The verb is that part of speech which expresses an 

 action done or suffered by the subject ; or simply indicates the 

 condition of the subject. 



(2.) The subject of a verb is the person, animal, or thing 

 doing the action, or being in the condition expressed by the 

 verb. It replies to the question qui est-ce qui ? who ? for 

 persons ; and qu'est-ce qui ? which ? what ? for things. 



(3.) Verbs admit two kinds of objects, the direct object and 

 the indirect object. 



(4.) The direct object is that which suffers the action ex- 

 pressed by a verb. It answers to the question qui ? whom ? for 

 persons ; and quoi ? what ? for things. 



(5.) The indirect object is that which completes the significa- 

 tion of the verb by means of an intermediate word, such as 

 the prepositions a, de, pour, avec, dans, etc. It answers to the 

 questions a qui ? to whom ? de qui ? of or from whom ? pour 

 qui ? from whom ? avec qui ? etc., for persons ; and a quoi ? to 

 what ? de quoi ? of or from, what ? etc., for things. 



(6.) Verbs are regular, irregular, or defective. [ 45 (3).] 



* The noun is in the singular, because the word hemisphere is 

 understood after the word 1'un. This rule is observed by the best 

 French authors. 





