' II 



87 



116. Tint PAST DEFINITE. 



(1.) Tlio past definite indicates on action performed at a 



t : 



J'allal & Lomlrei, oil j Via 

 >') finis me* affaires 



i.f, ut revlns aui- 



M mi tul 6criVlt liii'r an solr UU 



moisi-11.' nun i. -Hi-. 

 Mori 



(_'.) The pant definite can only be used, as wo bare seen 

 above, when tho time at which an action took place in entirely 

 elapsed. We cannot, therefore, use it in connection with tho 

 >-</(( i/, llti.-i iiKirning, this week, thit month, tltis year, etc. 

 [See 117, Past Indefinite.] We may use it in speaking of 

 yesterday, last week, lout year, etc. : 



1 vint to London, when I ram 



>-d my i/iini'iini* 

 in '...i< city, anil returned /.;/,,, 



italy. 



Mr. tuch-a-onf wrote latt evening 

 tix vei'ies to Xi$s mic/i-a-one. 



Je vous euvoie, mon chere frere, 

 une lettre qne j'ecrivls hicr pour 

 Madame de Laval. 



I end you, my dear brother, a 

 letter which I wrote yesterday for 

 Madame de Laval. 



(3.) Tho imperfect may be rendered in English by the par- 

 ticiple present of the leading verb and the past tense of the 

 auxiliary to be ; or by placing "used to" before the present of 

 the infinitive. Tho preterite definite can never be so rendered. 



(4.) The imperfect might be called tho descriptive past tense 

 of the French. 



(5.) The past definite might be called the narrative tense. It 

 expresses that which took place at some time fully past. We 

 will endeavour to illustrate this difference between these two 

 tenses. A traveller has entered a wood and discovered a re- 

 tired cottage ; he wishes to describe what he saw there, and 

 makes use of the imperfect or descriptive tense ; he says : 



Un vieillard se promenait sous 

 les arbres ; il tenait uii livre a la 

 main ; de temps eu temps, il 

 levait les yeux vers le ciel, ou les 

 couvrait de la main, et semblalt i 

 s'abimer dans une prof oude reverie. ' 

 Devant la porte de la cabaue etait 

 iisgise uue femme qui bercalt uu 

 enfant sur ses geuouz ; elle etait 

 pile ; ses cheveux flottaient uu 

 xre da vent; des larines COUlalent 

 le long de ses joues, &c. 



An old man VMS walking under 

 the trees he was holding a book in 

 his hand from time to time he 

 raised his eyes ioicards heaven, or 

 concealed them with his hand, and 

 seemed to sink into a profound re- 

 verie. Before the door of the hut 

 was sitting a female, wlio was rocking 

 a child ui her knees she was pale ; 

 her hair was waving at the mercy of 

 the wind; tears were flowing down 

 lier chetks. 



The traveller has here drawn a picture of what presented 

 itself to his eyes as he approached the cottage. Not content 

 with representing merely the then present situation of things, 

 he wishes also to narrate what took place. He has described 

 the theatre on which the occurrence took place which he is 

 going to relate ; he now proceeds to the narrative, and uses the 

 past definite or narrative tense : 



Je m'approchai du vieillard; 

 lorsqu'il m'apercut, il s'avanca 

 vera moi, me salua et me pria 

 de ne pas troubler cette paisible 

 retraite du mallirur. II retOUTHa 

 a la cabaue, prit 1'eufant des bras 

 ilo In femine, et rentra ; elle le 

 SUivit, etc. 



I approached the ol<l man ; when 

 he perceived me he came towards me, 

 greeted me, and besought me not to 

 disturb this peaceful retreat of f/io 

 un/orfuafc. He returned t<> the, 

 cottage, took the child from the wo- 

 man's arms, and went in; she fol- 

 lowed him. 



Another example might be taken from La Fontaine's well- 

 known fable : 



LE CORBEAU ET LE RENARD. 



Maitre eorboau sur un arbre per- 



ch<, 

 Tenait en son bee un frontage ; 



r.'nard, par 1'odeur olk'chd, 

 Lui tint a peu pros ce langage. 



THE RAVEK AND THE FOX. 



Master ivifen perched vpon a tree, 

 was holding in his leak a cheese; 

 master fox, attracted by the smell, 

 addressed him nearly in the follow- 

 ing vords. 



Here the poet uses the imperfect of tenir in describing the 

 situation in which the fox found the raven, but in relating tho 

 action of the fox, La Fontaine uses tho narrative tense of tho 

 same verb. 



117. THE PAST INDEFINITE. 



(1 .) The past indefinite expresses an action entirely completed, 

 but performed at a time of which some part is not yet elapsed, 

 as to-day, this month, this year, etc. : 



La roi m'a nomm6 aujourd'bui 

 arcb0rique <l- 



i. LOB. 



Ce inatlu j'al trouvc 1 

 glUaaut, quu j'al pcUM quo il je 

 venal* 4 toiubor *ur lo bnu druit, 

 jo lentil tout it fuit d/ewpar*. 

 .-. AicniN in. St. 1'n.uuE. 



Je t'ai defendu t (2.) below) 



cent fom do . .m'-cliuui 



violon ; ooponduut, je t'ai en- 



tendu ce matin Co mat in .- 



Ne you* ouvicut-il pus quo voua 

 me lu mites [ 116 (2 )J hier en 



i'ALAPKAT. 



The king appointed m to-<U 

 arehitthop of Can,i,ray. 



Thit morning / found the ttrett 



to l lr ,.f r y, tliat / thought I'M COM f 



happened to fall o my right arm, / 

 hould then bt eompUMy htlpleu. 



" I hw/orit&Uft th* hundred 

 timu to scrape thy \rretchft 

 nevertheless, I heard thtt this morn- 

 iii'j." "This morning t Do you 

 not recollect that you brat* it to 

 piece* yesterday f " 



(2.) The past indefinite is also used with regard to a time 

 entirely past, but not specified : 



Lea fruits de la torre ont ete 

 la premiere uourriture <le hom- 



I110B. GliiAULT DUVIVIEB. 



Les Frauvaib ont gagne la 

 batoillo de Murengo. 



The fruits of the earth were tin 

 jii.st al.nu.ntt of mankind. 



The French gained the bottle of 



Mamngo 



(3.) When the time is specified and entirely elapsed, the past 

 indefinite is by many of the best French writers used indiffer- 

 ently with the past definite : 



Past Definite. 



Huit jours apres sou depart, il 

 m'ecrivlt ime lettre. 



BEHSAKDIN DE ST. PIERRE. 

 A week after his departure, he 

 wrote me a letter. 



Je fU8 biou fachp bier, ma chere 

 cousine, de vous avoir quittee avec 

 taut de precipitation. 



FKNELON. 



J was very sorry yesterday, my dear 

 cousin, for liaving left you in so much 

 haste. 



Past Indefinite. 



Je vous al ecrlt, il y a quinze 

 jours. THE SAME. 



I wrote to you a fortniglit ago. 



Hier en travaillant a mon qua. 

 tricme dialogue, j'al eprouve uu 

 vrai pluisir. HIKABEAU. 



Yesterday, while working at my 

 fourth dialogue, I experienced real 

 pleasure. 



(4.) When the first verb of a sentence is put in the past in- 

 definite, every other verb of that sentence, and of the sentences 

 referring to it, should be in the same tense. 



118. THE PLUPERFECT. 



(1.) The pluperfect marks a past event which was completed 

 before another event, also past, took place, both events being 

 independent from one another : 



J'avais dejeune, quand vous 

 vintes me demauder. 



GlEAULT DUVIVIER. 



I had breakfasted, when you can 

 to inquire for me. 



(2.) The pluperfect, having as its auxiliary the imperfect of 

 the verbs avoir or 6tre, partakes of the signification of that 

 tense. It is, therefore, used to denote a customary action, 

 which used to take place after another customary action, in 

 which case the latter is expressed by the imperfect: 



Des que j 'avals lu quelques 

 pages, je me promenais. 



As soon, as I had read a /eic jv>3, 

 I used to take a walk. 



119. THE PAST ANTERIOE. 



The past anterior expresses an event which took place tmnwt- 

 diately before another event which is also past : the latter 

 event being the result of, or, as to its beginning, dependent upon, 

 the former : 



Quand j'eus reconnu mon er- 



ivnr. j<> fUS houtoux des nmuvuis 

 procetltis que j'avuis ons pour lui. 



GIRAULT DUVIVIER. 

 TV's que j'eus lu quelques pages, 

 jo sortis. 



U'/in I had perteired my error, I 

 was axhamed of my bad co<idst 

 toicaiili him. 



As soon as I had read a few pagts, 

 J u-rnt. 



NOTE. The plnporfoot may be used with the imperfect, or 

 the past definite, or t M % past indefinite ; whilst the past anterior 

 can be need only with the past definite. 



