partakes of the properties both of a verb and an adjective; of a verb, as it signifies action and state, of an adjective, as it expresses the quality of a person, or thing. There are two participles, the participle present, and the participle past. OF THE PARTICIPLE PRESENT. The participle present always terminates in ant: as, aimant, finissant, recevant, rendant. 396. The participle present is undeclined, that is takes neither gender nor number, when it expresses an action, and may be turned by the present or the imperfect of the indicative mood, une montagne, or des montagnes dominant (i.e. qui dominent ou dominaient) sur des plaines immenses, a mountain or mountains commanding immense plains; un homme, des hommes, une femme, des femmes lisant, parlant, marchant, (qui lisent, qui parlaient, qui marchent) a man, men, a woman, women reading, speaking, walking. But when, like an adjective, it expresses simply a quality, it takes both the gender and number of its substantive; as, un homme obligeant, an obliging man; une femme obligeante, an obliging woman; des tableaux parlants, speaking portraits; la religion dominante, the established religion; à la nuit tombante, at night falling. It is known to partake of the nature of the adjective when it is put before the noun in English. What grammarians call gerund, is nothing but the participle present, to which the word en is prefixed; on se forme l'esprit en lisant de bons livres, we form our minds by reading good books. EXERCISE. That mountain being very high, and thus commanding a vast élevé ainsi dominer sur grand extent of country, was étendue pays ind-2 very well calculated for our observations. propre à * This woman is of a good disposition, obliging every one, whentout le monde quand caractère m. ever she (has it in her power). They go cringing before the great, le pouvoir ramper devant pl. that they may be insolent to their equals. The state of pure afin de * nature is the savage living in the desert, but living in his family, * inf-1 pl. avec égal knowing his children, loving them, (making use) of connaître user famille f. speech, and art. parole (making himself understood). An agreeable languor impercep se faire entendre 2 tibly (laying hold) of my senses, suspended blement s'emparer sens soul, and I fell (asleep). s'endormir ind-3 art. langueur f. 1. insensi- suspendre ind-3 replacing, ordering, disordering, impressing, erasing, approaching, remettre, ranger déranger imprimer effacer approcher removing, and making all things good and bad; and almost always éloigner rendre f. pl. (impossible to be known again). méconnaissable quasi 397. The participle present is frequently used in English as a substantive, which is not the case in French. EXAMPLE. his ruling passion is hunting, sa passion dominante est la chasse When preceded by a preposition, it is rendered in French by the infinitive. (No. 394) EXAMPLES. prevent him from doing mischief, empêchez-le de faire le mal. there is a pleasure in silencing great talkers, il y a plaisir à fermer la bouche aux grands parleurs. 398. The participle present frequently takes the place of the indicative in English; it must not then be rendered literally, but in the following manner. I met them riding post, EXAMPLE. je les ai rencontrés qui couraient la poste. 399. Sometimes also it is used substantively with a possessive pronoun; then, it must be rendered in French by the indicative or the subjunctive, according as the case requires. EXAMPLES. the fear of his coming (lest he la crainte qu'il ne vint nous tourshould come) harassed us, I doubt his being faithful, to me? mentait. je doute qu'il soit fidèle, etc. 400. In No. 394, it has been said that the infinitive is used after prepositions in French, and not the participle present. The only exception to this rule is en. EXAMPLES. nous en parlerons en marchant, we will talk about it as we walk. on apprend en enseignant, we learn by teaching others. 401. The participle present always forming a phrase incidental and subordinate to another, must necessarily relate to the subject of the principal phrase, when it is not preceded by another noun, as in this sentence: je ne puis vous accompagner à 1 cannot accompany you into the la campagne, ayant des affaires qui exigent ici ma présence, country, having some business that requires my presence here. The participle present ayant relates to the subject je, since the subordinate proposition, formed by ayant, could have no kind of relation to the principal proposition, if it could not be resolved into this, parce que j'ai des affaires qui, etc. But, in this sentence: combien voyons-nous de gens, qui, connaissant le prix du temps, le perdent mal-à-propos! how many people do we see, who, knowing the value of time, waste it improperly! Connaissant relates to the substantive gens, because this is the word which it modifies, and because the relative qui, placed between that substantive, as the regimen, and the participle present, obviates every kind of ambiguity. REMARKS. Two participles ought never to be used together without being united by a conjunction, as, etc, EXAMPLE. c'est un homme aimant et crai- he is a man loving and fearing gnant Dieu, God. 2. The relative en ought never to be put either before a participle present, or before a gerund. We cannot say, Je vous ai remis mon fils entre les mains, en voulant faire quelque chose de bon, because the sense would be ambiguous: for, the meaning is not: As I wish to do something good, or, as I wish to do well, I have put my son into your hands. But, I have put my son into your hands, as I wish to make something of him. We should say: Voulant en faire, etc. Likewise this sentence would be improper : Le prince tempère la rigueur du pouvoir, en en partageant les fonctions. On account of the repetition of the word en, used in two different senses, viz., as a preposition and a relative. Another turn must be then adopted, as, C'est en partageant les fonctions du pouvoir, qu'un prince en tempère la rigueur. OF THE PARTICIPLE PAST. The participle past has various terminations; as, aimé, fini, reçu, ouvert, dissous, etc. 402. The participle past is sometimes declined, sometimes not, thus, Avez-vous mangé toutes les fraises que vous avez cueillies ce matin? Avez-vous mangé, vous avez cueillies are two verbs in the same tense, and person, yet one participle mangé, is undeclined, the other, cueillies, is feminine plural. This difference, apparently contradictory, is grounded upon a principle which must be explained. OF THE PARTICIPLE WITH ETRE. 403. The participle past, when accompanied by the auxiliary verb étre, agrees with its subject in gender and number. EXAMPLES. mon frère est tombé, mes frères sont tombés, my brother is fallen. |