A grammar of the French language, with practical exercises

Ne tenir qu'à ;

Il ne tient qu'à moi, à vous,
à lui, à elle, &c.

Il ne tient pas à moi, à vous,
&c., que;
S'en tenir à;
Vouloir du bien à;
Vouloir du mal à ;
En vouloir à;

Je souhaiterais pouvoir;
Il y va, il y allait, de votre vie ;
Il y va, il y allait, de mon
honneur ;

Je ne laisse pas de le désirer ;

to rest with, to depend only on. Ex.

it is in my, your, his, her power, &c.

it is not my, your fault, &c. if*.

to stand to, to be satisfied with. to wish one well.

to wish one ill.

to have a spite against.
I wish I could.

your life is, was, at stake.
my honour is, was, concerned
in it.

I nevertheless, or for all that,
do wish it.

EXERCISES ON THE PRECEDING IDIOMS.

When I have wine, I drink some; but when I have none, I do without.-If you will be so kind as to write to my father to let him know my situation, I shall take it as a favour.I wish I could do you that service, I would do it with all my heart. I hope you will not take it ill if I write to your

uncle (at the) same time.--I shall stand to what you say.—

He has been a housekeeper these five-and-twenty years.-He depuis

might have succeeded much better than he has done, had he followed his uncle's advice and mine; but he never was satisfied, and was continually finding fault with what we were telling him. However little you send him at present, Quelque peu que

he will take it kindly of you.—It is in her power to live in

the country, and be very happy there.-It will rest with alone to make us happy.

you

* With the following verb in the subjunctive, and ne before it.

332

EXERCISES ON IDIOMATICAL EXPRESSIONS.

I assure you it shall not be my fault if you do not suc

ceed; for I wish you well.—Since it rests with you to make Puisque de vous faire Mr. P. your friend, why do you not do it?-When you see un ami de M. P.

him, you may assure him that, since it is in my power to do

it, I will not forget him.-You have a spite against my brother; because it was in his power two or three pret. ind.

times to oblige you, and he never would.—I wish I could ne l'a jamais fait.

de persuade you how sorry he was for it; but his honour was

concerned in not doing it; and, though you are very angry

with him, he would, nevertheless, (or for all that,)

rendre

you a service if it were in his power.-Had I thought he would have refused me that favour, I never would have asked it of him; I might very well have done without it. You ought to have thanked him for that attention, instead

of being angry with him; but when your sisters heard that you could not obtain his leave, they took it amiss, and have (ever since) had a spite against him.-When they told me of depuis lors

it, I would most willingly have represented to them how

bien

much they were in the wrong; but took good care not to do je me gardai bien de it; for I know it is in their power to do me a great deal of harm. Every body admires her humanity; for, though he had behaved in so ungrateful a manner towards her, she se comporter d'

would, nevertheless have done him a service if he had lived.

SUPPLEMENT.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.

1. The pronouns, its, their, used in reference to things are not rendered in French by son, sa, ses, as his and their, but by en, with the definite article before the thing possessed. Ex.

Paris est une grande ville, mais Paris is a large city, but its les rues en sont trop étroites;

streets are too narrow.

EXERCISE.

Windsor is a fine town; I admire its

walks, and

les

streets. This house is well situated, but its

architecture does not please me much.-His coach is beau

tiful, every body admires its paintings and ornaments.— armoiries, f.

The shops of London are very fine; foreigners especially see their richness and cleanliness with pleasure and astorichesses, f. sing. propreté, f.

nishment. The walks in your pleasure-grounds are well bosquets

allée, f.

kept; I like their regularity.

tenu,

2. Mine, thine, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs, used in conjunction with to be, in the sense of to belong, are rendered

by à moi, à toi, à lui, à elle,—à nous, à vous, à eux (m.),

à elles (f.)

Ex.

Ce livre est à moi;

this book is mine.

La maison est à sa mère;

the house is his mother's.

EXERCISE.

This hat is not mine; some one has left his in chapeau, m.

exchange. How could you sell a horse that was not yours? Avez vous pu

-He says that, if that house were his, he would sell it.—I

vendre

thought that the carriage was hers. She has taken as

croire

pris des

affectionate care of these children as if they were hers. soins aussi tendres

que

-I cannot lend you what is not mine.-You seem to disJe ne saurais

pose of every thing, as if the house was yours.—Is this

horse yours or your father's?-All these books are my brother's, but he allows me (to use them).-Take this

de m'en servir.

money, and (use it) as if it were yours.

servez-vous en

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS WITH PARTS OF THE BODY AND INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES.

When any part of the body, such as le bras, la main, les yeux, le dos, &c., or intellectual faculty, such as l'esprit, la mémoire, le cœur, &c., is the object of an active verb or a reflective verb, it is not customary to use a possessive pronoun, as in English, but the sentence is differently constructed altogether. Ex.

Elle se cassera le bras (p. 170);
Vous lui casserez le bras;

she will break her arm.
you will break her arm.

As if it were, she will break the arm to herself, you break the arm to her.

will

It must be observed, that when one does a thing to one's self, such as I wash my hands, she cleans her teeth, you have pinched your fingers, reflective verbs indirect (p. 176) are used in French, and these sentences are translated thus :Je me lave les mains; elle se nettoie les dents; vous vous êtes pincé les doigts.

EXERCISE.

(Let me) warm my hands. You will break his arm, Permettez que 318

if you do not mind. Who has cut your hair ?—I wish

prendre garde.

désirer que 318 you to cut my hair. He will box your ears, if you are not