I am used to go to bed be- J'ai coutume de me coucher

XII.

What! you are a-bed still? Quoi! vous êtes encore au

You awake me too early; it Vous m'éveillez de trop

I did not sleep a wink all Je n'ai pas fermé l'œil de

No matter; I shall get up N'importe; je me leverai dans l'instant.

presently. I am going to bid the ser- Je m'en vais dire au domes

vant to make a fire. Bring me some water, I must wash my face, my mouth, and my hands.

Where are my shoes?
They are at the door.
Are they clean?
Give me my silk stockings.
Somebody knocks at the
door; go and see who it is.
I am not yet ready to go

out.

Take care to keep a good
fire in the parlour.
Tell Mr. A. I am coming

down immediately.

Sir, I am overjoyed to see
you in good health.
I am sorry to have made
you wait so long.
Not at all, you jest.

Let us go and take a turn.

tique de faire du feu. Apportez moi de l'eau, il faut que je me lave le visage, la bouche, et les mains.

Où sont mes souliers ?
Ils sont à la porte.
Sont-ils nettoyés ?
Donnez-moi mes bas de soie.
On frappe à la porte; allez

voir qui c'est.

Je ne suis pas encore prêt à sortir.

Ayez soin de faire bon feu dans la salle.

Allez dire à M. A. que je vais descendre dans l'instant.

Monsieur, je suis ravi de

vous voir en bonne santé. Je suis faché de vous avoir

fait attendre si longtemps. Point du tout, vous Vous moquez.

Allons faire un tour de promenade.

PART II.

CHAPTER I.

A short Analysis of the Parts of Speech.

THERE are in the French language ten sorts of words, or parts of Speech, namely; the ARTICLE, the SUBSTANTIVE or NOUN, the ADJECTIVE or ADNOUN, the PRONOUN, the VERB, the ADVERB, the PARTICIPLE, the PREPOSITION, the CONJUNCTION, and the INTERJECTION.

1. The article is a word prefixed to substantives to point them out, and to show how far the signification extends; as, the study of history is useful and agreeable; l'étude de l'histoire est utile et agréable: the nature of man is unknown to man; la nature de l'homme est inconnue à l'homme: A bad man is ungrateful towards God and towards men; un méchant homme est ingrat envers Dieu & envers les hommes: A prince is not always so happy as people believe: un prince n'est pas toujours aussi heureux que le peuple croit.

Grammarians admit of two sorts of articles.

The definite (the) le, m. la, f. for the singular; les, plural, for both genders.

The indefinite (a or an) un m. une, f. for the singular, des, instead of quelques, plusieurs, for the plural.

The definite article, 1st, restrains the signification of a general appellation; l'étude de l'histoire est utile et agréable. La nature de l'homme est inconnue à l'homme.

2dly. It indicates the gender and number of substantives; and for that reason is used in French before a noun taken in its widest sense; as l'étude orne l'esprit ; study adorns the mind; la nature a beaucoup d'observateurs, mais elle a peu de confidents; nature has many observers, but she has few confidents. Les princes ne sont pas toujours aussi heureux que le peuple croit ; princes are not always so happy as people believe; les exemples instruisent plus que les préceptes; examples instruct more than precepts.

Substantives in French having no final to distinguish sufficiently the plural from the singular, it has been necessary to prefix a particle, in order to denote the number of the things spoken of and the article, which, as we have shown, limits the general signification of nouns, was also formed to point out their gender and number.

The indefinite article is used in a vague sense, and restrains the signification of a general appellation to one or several objects in an indefinite or partitive sense; as, un prince n'est pas toujours aussi heureux que le peuple croit. Nous voyons quelquefois des princes très malheureux: we sometimes see princes very unhappy. Un homme de génie est sujet, comme un autre homme, à commettre des erreurs & des fautes; a man of genius

is subject, like another man, to commit (some) errors and faults.

II. A SUBSTANTIVE or noun, is a word which expresses the name of any thing that exists, or which we conceive as existing; as, the Earth,—a house,—man,— Peter,-virtue,-prudence. La Terre, une maison,— l'homme,-Pierre,-vertu,-prudence.

To Substantives belong gender, number, and case. The gender is either masculine or feminine, as, le père, la mère; le jardin, la maison. There is no neuter in the French Tongue.

The number is either singular or plural.

The singular signifies one thing; as, le père, la mère. The plural more than one; as, les pères, les mères. The case signifies the different states, or the different circumstances of a noun.

A noun in a proposition is to be considered either as subject or object, that is to say, as governing or governed. The governing case, called also the nominative, expresses the subject of the verb, and is placed in French, as in English, before the verb.

III. An ADJECTIVE is a word added to a Substantive to express its quality; as a diligent scholar, un écolier diligent. In French, the adjective is declinable, and agrees in gender and number with the substantive to which it is joined or refers; as, un petit homme, une petite femme, a little man, a little woman.

The feminine of the adjective is formed, by adding an e (called mute or feminine) to the masculine gender; as, un petit homme, une petite femme; but if the primitive masculine ends with an e mute, then there is no alteration, and the feminine is iike the masculine; as un champ fertile, une terre fertile. See page 70.

IV. The PRONOUN supplies the place of a noun, and removes the confusion arising from a frequent repetition as j'ai vu mon frère, il était très malade; instead of mon frère était très malade: I saw my brother, he was very sick; instead of my brother was very sick.

Pronouns are of six kinds, viz. personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, and improper or indefinite.

The personal pronoun is used instead of the name of

a person; as, je, tu, il, m. elle, f. for the singulor; nous, vous, ils, m. elles, f. for the plural.

The possessive pronouns mark possession; they are of two sorts, conjunctive and absolute.

The conjunctive pronouns are used only with substantives; as, mon, ma, mes; ton, ta, tes; son, sa, ses ; notre, nos; votre, vos; leur, leurs.

The absolute pronouns are used by themselves, their substantives being understood, as, le mien, la mienne, les miens, les miennes; le tien, la tienne, les tiens, les tiennes; le sien, la sienne, les siennes, les siennes ; le nôtre, la nôtre; les nôtres ; le vôtre, la vôtre, les vôtres; le leur, la leur, les leurs.

The demonstrative pronouns are used to particularize persons or things, as if pointed at by the finger.

The relative pronouns refer to persons or things spoken of in a former part of a sentence.

The interrogative pronouns are used in asking questions.

The indefinite pronouns are used in a vague sense; as, tout, quelque, chaque, &c.

V. A VERB is a word which signifies to be or to do ; as, Thomas est studieux, Thomas is studious; Thomas étudie, Thomas studies.

The proper definition of the verb is, that it is a word which signifies affirmation; for its proper office is to affirm some attribute of the subject (or nominative) of the propositions. But if we join its principal accidence it may be thus defined: a word which signifies affirmation with the designation of the person, number, and time: which definition agrees properly with the verb substantive to be (étre.) But, since men have frequently united certain attributes to the affirmation, for the sake of brevity, the verb (active or neuter) may be again defined thus, a word signifying the affirmation of some attribute, with the designation of person, number, and time.

Verbs are divided, first into regular and irregular, personal and impersonal.

When a verb follows the rule of its conjugation, it is called regular; but if it deviates from it, it is called irregular.

Personal verbs, are those which are conjugated with the personal pronouns, je, tu, il, elle, &c.

Impersonal pronouns are those which are conjugated only in the third person singular with the pronoun il, it.