Do, did, will, would, should, can, could, may, and might, are sometimes, with respect to the French language, simply signs of tenses, at others they are real verbs. There can be no difficulty about do and did; these are mere expletives, denoting interrogation, negation, or merely emphasis, when they are joined to a verb. I do love, I do not love, I did not love, J'aime. J'aimois, or, j'aimai. Aimais-je, or, aimai-je ? Je n'aimais pas, or, je n'aimai pas. In all these cases they are not expressed in French. But when they are followed by a noun, or a pronoun, then they are real verbs, and mean, faire. Do me that favour, Faites-moi ce plaisir. Il le fit. In short, by any thing else, except the verb with which they are necessarily connected, as, He did more than could have Il fit plus qu'on n'eût pu espébeen expected, rer. Should is only a sign of the conditional, when it expresses a thing which may happen upon some condition. I should like a country life, if my affairs would permit me to indulge my inclination, J'aimerais la vie champêtre, si mes affaires me permettaient de suivre mon goût. But when it implies duty or obligation, it is a verb, and must be expressed by the verb devoir, as, 8. Fear, lest it should be said that you feed upon chimeras, and that you take the shadow for the reality. 9. The new philosophers will have colour to be a sensation of the soul. 10. I will have you to be as honest and disinterested as you seem to be. (8.) It, on ne ; feed upon, se repaître de. (9.) Will have, vouloir ; colour to be, (that colour be.) We should never swerve from the Nous ne devrions jamais nous path of virtue, écarter du sentier de la vertu. Can, could, may, and might, are not so difficult as they appear at first sight; because, in almost every instance, there is no impropriety in rendering them by the verb pouvoir. In general the first two imply a power, a possibility, a capability, &c. and the others, a permission, probability, &c. Do, did, shall, will, &c. in English, are sometimes used elliptically in the answers to interrogative sentences. The French answer with the repetition of the verb, accompanied with a pronoun expressive of the idea of the interrogative sentence, as, Will you do your exercise to day?-Yes, I will. Ferez-vous votre thême au jourd'hui ?-Oui, je le ferai. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TENSES OF THE INDICATIVE. RULE. When the first verb is in the imperfect, the preterit, or the pluperfect, and the second denotes a temporary action, this second verb is put in the imper. fect, if we mean to express a present. EXAMPLE. Je croyais, j'ai cru, j'avais cru I thought, I have thought, I had que vous étudiez les mathéma- thought that you were study ing mathematics. tiques, -In the luperfect, if we mean to express a past. EXAMPLE. Il m'assura qu'il n'avait jamais He assured me that he had tant ri, never laughed so much. -And in the present of the conditional, if we mean to express a future absolute. EXAMPLE. On m'a dit que votre frère vien- I was told your brother would drait à Londres l'hiver pro- come to town next winter. chain, But, although the first verb may be in some of these tenses, yet the second is put in the present, when this second verb expresses a thing which is true at all times. EXAMPLE. Je vous disais, je vous ai dit, je vous avais dit, que la santé fait la félicité du corps, et le savoir celle de l'âme, REMARK. I told you, I have told you, I had told you, that health constitutes the happiness of the body, and knowledge that of the soul. In phrases where the imperfect is preceded by que, it denotes, sometimes a past, sometimes a present, with respect to the preceding verb. It denotes a past, when the verb which is joined to it by the conjunction que is in the present, or future. EXAMPLE. Vous savez, or vous saurez que le peuple Romain était aussi avide qu'ambitieux, You know, or you must know that the Romans were a people as covetous as they were ambitious. But it denotes a present, when the verb, which precedes it, is in the imperfect, one of the peterits, or the pluperfect. EXAMPLE. On disait, on a dit, on avait dit que Phocion était le plus grand et le plus honnête homme de son temps, Dès qu'on eut appris à Athènes qu' Alcibiade était à Lacédémone, on se repentit de la précipitation avec laquelle on l'avait, condamné. It was said, it has been said, it had been said, that Phocion was the greatest and most upright man of his age. As soon as it was known at Athens that Alcibiades was at Lacedemon, the Athenians repented of the precipi tation with which they had condemned him. Nevertheless, the imperfect denotes the past, in this last instance, when it signifies an action which was past before that which is expressed by the first verb. EXAMPLE. En lisant l'histoire des temps héroïques, vous devez avoir remarqué que ces hom'nes dont on a fait des demi-dieux, étaient des chefs féroces et barbares, dignes à peine du nom d'homme.i In reading the history of heroic times, you must have remarked that those men who have been made demi-gods, were ferocious and barbarous chiefs, scarcely deserving the name of men. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TENSES OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE AND THOSE OF THE INDICATIVE. RULE I. When the verb of the principal proposition is in the present, or future, that of the subordi nate proposition is put in the present of the subjunctive, to express a present, or future; but in the preterit, to express a past. We say, + EXERCISE. 1. I thought you were not ignorant that, to teach others the principles of an art or science, it is necessary to have experience and skill. 2. I have been told that your sweetest occupation was to form your taste, your heart, and your understanding. 3. Darius, in his flight, being* reduced to the necessity of drinking water muddy and infected by dead bodies, affirmed that he never had drunk with so much pleasure. 4. Care has been taken to inculcate in me, from infancy, that I should succeed in the world, only in proportion as I should join to the desire of pleasing, a great deal of gentleness and civility. 5. Ovid has said, that study softens the manners and corrects every thing that is found in us rude and barbarous. 6. You know that those pretended heroes, whom Pagan antiquity has made gods, were only barbarous and ferocious kings, who overran the earth, not so much to conquer as to ravage it, and who left every where traces of their fury and of their vices. 7. It has been said of Pericles, that his eloquence was like a thunderbolt, which nothing could resist. 8. As soon as Aristides had said, that the proposal of Themistocles was unjust, the whole people exclaimed, that they must not think of it any longer. 9. Had you read the history of the early ages, you would know that Egypt was the most enlightened country in the universe, and the original spot* whence knowledge spread into Greece and the neighbouring countries. (1.) Were ignorant, ignorer; teach, instruire dans; it is necessary, avoir be soin; skill, habileté. (2.) I have, &c. (by the active voice) on. (3.) Flight, déroute; muddy, bourbeux; affirmed, assurer. (4) Care has, &c. (active voice) on avoir; in me, me; in proportion, autant eivility, honnêteté. (5.) Corrects, effacer ; is found, se trouver de. (6.) Overran, parcourir ; not so much, moins. (8.) Exclaimed, s'écrier; they must, falloir, ind-2; of it, y; any longer plus. (9.) Ages, temps; the original spot * whence, celui d'où ; neighbouring, cireon voisin; countries, lieu. Il faut que celui qui parle se mette à la portée de celui qui l'écoute, Il voudra que votre frère soit de la partie, But we must say, Pour s'être élevé à ce point de grandeur, il faut que Rome ait eu une suite non interrompue de grands hommes, He that speaks should accom modate himself to the under standing of him that listens. He will wish your brother to be one of the party. To have risen to that pitch of grandeur, Rome must have had an uninterrupted succession of great men. EXCEPTION. Though the first verb be in the present, or future, yet the second may be put in the imperfect, or pluperfect of the subjunctive, when some conditional expression is introduced into the sentence. Il n'est point d'homme, quelque mérite qu'il ait, qui ne fût trèsmortifié, s'il savait tout ce qu'on pense de lui, Où trouvera-t-on un homme qui ne fit la même faute, s'il était exposé aux mêmes teniations ? There is no man, whatever merit he may have, that would not feel very much mortified, were he to know all that is thought of him. Where will you find the man who would not have committed the same error, had he been exposed to the same temptations? Je doute que votre frère eût ré- I doubt whether your brother ussi sans votre assistance, would have succeeded, had it not been for your assist ance. EXERCISE. 1. He who wishes to teach an art, must know it thoroughly, he must give ncne but clear, precise, and well-digested notions of it he must instil them, one by one, into the minds of his pupils, and, above all, he must not overburden their memory with useless, or unimportant rules. 2. He must yield to the force of truth, when they shall have suffered it to appear in its real light. 3. There is no work, however perfect people may suppose it, that would not be liable to criticism, if it were examined with severity and in every point of view. (1.) It must (that he who, &c. know it); he must (not repeated), que; instil, faire entrer; by, à; overburden, surcharger; unimportant, insignificant. (2.) (It must, ind-7, that he); yield, se rendre; suffered, permettre; it to ap pear, (that it appear); real light, vrai jour. (3.) Would be liable, preter, subj-2; with severity, à la rigueur; in, sous; point of view, face. |