Les côtes, the ribs. La peau, the skin. Les os, the bones. Ouvrez la bouche. Cet enfant a le teint frais. Allez vous laver les mains. Le sang, the blood. La voix, the voice. Le gosier, the windpipe. Open your mouth. Look up, lift up your head. I have the toothache. That child has a fresh complexion. Go and wash your hands. Les saisons, le temps, etc. The seasons, the weather, etc. Le printemps, spring. L'été, summer. L'automne, autumn. Beau temps, fine weather. La gelée, the frost. La glace, the ice. La gelée blanche, hoar-frost. Le verglas, sleet. Le dégel, the thaw. Nous voici en hiver, il fait froid. We are in winter, it is cold. Approchez-vous du feu. Il tombe de la grêle. La neige commence à fondre. Ce n'est qu'une averse. Maintenant il fait chaud. Come near to the fire. I think it is going to rain. The snow begins to melt. It is but a shower. Now it is warm. ACCIDENCE. ACCIDENCE (from the Latin accidere, to happen,) is that part of grammar which treats of the circumstances or changes by inflection incidental to single words. 33. There are ten classes of words, called parts of speech, six of which, namely, the article, the substantive or noun, the adjective, the pronoun, the verb, and the participle, are variable, that is, are liable to change of termination according to circumstances. The remaining four, namely, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection, are invariable, that is, never change their terminations. VARIABLE PARTS OF SPEECH. 34. An article is a word prefixed to a substantive to determine the extent of its signification. The article by some French grammarians is called adjectif déterminatif. In the French language the article is chiefly used to denote to the ear either singleness or plurality in the following noun, with which it agrees in gender and number; as, Le laurier et la rose. The laurel and the rose. *For apostrophe, see paragraph 11. 35. There are three articles: the definite, the indefinite, and the partitive. 36. Definite Article. The definite article is so called because it has a particular and definite signification. The is the English definite article, and it is rendered in French by le before a noun masculine beginning with a consonant or h aspirated la before a noun feminine beginning with a consonant or h aspirated (11.) before a noun of either gender beginning with a vowel or h mute les before any noun in the singular number. in the plural. Examples. Le mérite, the merit. L'esprit, the mind. La vertu, the virtue. NOTE. The l' is to be pronounced with the noun, as if forming with it one entire word: l'esprit, l'honneur; and not le esprit, le honneur. Les plantes, the plants. Les oiseaux, the birds. Les héros, the heroes. Les hommes, the men. Read, translate, and parse*: Le garçon, la fille. Les oncles, les neveux. Les saisons, le printemps, l'été, l'automne, l'hiver. Le soleil, la lune, les étoiles. L'année, le mois, le jour, l'heure, la promenade, les histoires, les harpes. The servant, domestique m.t or f. Exercise. the friend, the servants, the friends, the ami m. domestiques amis child, the children, the brothers, the brother, the father, the fathers, enfant enfants frères frère père pères the herb, the herbs, the friendship, the honours, the hope, *The English of the Examples for reading, translation and parsing, given throughout the Accidence, will be found at the page 416, under the head Recapitulated exercises. See the explanation of the signs and abbreviations used in the Exer cises, facing page 1. For words beginning with h aspirated see page 11. The Definite article joined with DE, of or from; and A, to, is thus declined: du is a contraction of, and is used instead of de le. 37. The English possessive or genitive case expressed by 's, as the child's book, having no literal equivalent in French, is rendered in an inverted manner: the book of the child, le livre de l'enfant. 38. Indefinite Article. The Indefinite article is so called because it has an indefinite signification. In English the indefinite article is a or an, and it is rendered by un before a noun masculine, and une before a noun feminine. Example. Un acte d'humanité est toujours An act of humanity is always une action honorable. an honourable action. The French indefinite article is thus declined: 'Some,' or 'any,' signifying a portion of anything, or a few, may be called the partitive article. It is rendered by du, de la, de l', or des (of the); but some or any is frequently understood in English, whereas du, de la, de l', or des must be expressed in French before every substantive taken in a partitive sense; as, Donnez-moi du pain. Avez-vous des cerises, des Give me some bread. Take some salad. Drink some water. Have you any cherries, strawberries, or raspberries? NOTE. The partitive article, in French, is merely the definite article with the preposition de; and it denotes separation or partition of a part (une partie or une certaine quantité,) from a whole; some, or an equivalent word, being understood before the article; as donnez-moi du pain; i. e. donnez-moi (une partie or une certaine quantité) du pain. 40. When a substantive taken in a partitive sense is preceded by an adjective, the preposition de is used without the article; as, temps de la vie. De la pointe (or du point) du jour, au coucher du soleil. La sagesse est la santé de l'âme. La vigueur de l'esprit et du corps. Agréable à la vue, à l'ouïe, au goût, et au toucher. L'activité est la mère de la prospérité. L'instruction est un trésor. Le fruit du travail est le plus doux des plaisirs. Voilà une pomme et une poire. Voici du thé, du chocolat, de la crème, du pain, du beurre, et des œufs pour déjeuner. Voilà du sucre et du lait. Une année, un mois, une semaine, un jour, une heure, une minute, une seconde, même un instant, est une partie du temps aussi bien qu'un siècle. The harp Exercise. homme hm. of the child. The history of (the) man. The harpef.hasp. enfant histoire hm. The glory of the hero. gloire f. love of (the) study. étude amour The sight of the vue f. héros hasp. |