PECULIAR USE OF AVOIR*. The peculiar use of AVOIR, in speaking of age, cold, heat, warmth, hunger, thirst, has already been noticed at p. 134-1 and 324: but, as this use embraces a great number of phrases constantly occurring in every day's conversation, it appears useful to introduce an exercise here for the especial purpose of illustrating it. Ex. J'ai quinze ans ; à la poitrine; Elle a mal à la tête, aux dents, her head aches, her teeth ache, Avez-vous chaud aux pieds? her chest aches. are your feet warm? EXERCISE. Are you not hungry?—I am very thirsty.-That child is cold.-Put on a great coat, or you will be cold.-Her hands and feet are very warm.-Does your head ache?— How warm you are !-Do you know what is her age? She will be twelve next Monday.-I thought you were twenty. No, I shall not be twenty before the twentieth of March.— 46-10 I could not eat, I was not hungry.—Are your feet warm? -He complains that his back is cold.-How long has he se plaindre de 257 had (a bad) leg?—She has bad eyes.-Will he not be cold mal à if he travels outside?-My head is cold, there must be y falloir que à l'extérieur. a draught in this room.—I was only nineteen when I visited courant d'air aller Rome. What was his age when he was appointed to the nommé command of the army of Italy? Bonaparte was about six The peculiarities of être are referred to the Supplement at page 124, but they will be found at page 326 of the Grammar. and twenty then.-How long have you had this headache? 257 My head has been aching (for these two days).-Will you `1 voilà deux jours que allow me to ask for a glass of table beer? I am very thirsty. petite bière? Nothing could quench the thirst I felt.-Here, put on these étancher avoir. thick gloves, your hands will (not) be cold then.-The poor ne-plus man must be very hungry, after eight hours doit hard work. d'un travail dur. -Let her drink water if she is thirsty, beer is not good boire for her. convenir à OF FRENCH AUXILIARY VERBS. Grammarians have all been agreed to admit only two auxiliary verbs, être and avoir (to be and to have), which are used, in the conjugation of verbs, to form those tenses serving to express, in a more defined and precise way, the time at which an action has taken place. But independently of these two verbs (être and avoir), there are four, which, from their frequent connexion with other verbs, also deserve the name of auxiliaries. These verbs are venir, aller, devoir, and pouvoir. The difference is, however, that être and avoir are always joined to a participle past; whereas these are joined with an infinitive. The way in which they are used in French is also so peculiar, that, for that reason alone, they deserve special notice, although some remarks have already been introduced on some of them at pp. 154, 198. VENIR DE, to have just. It is used, in that sense, in the present tense, and in the imperfect. Ex. Je viens de rentrer ; Nous venons de le voir; I have just returned home. we have just seen him. Son père venait de mourir lors- her father had not long died when she got married. the play had just finished, (was just over,) when the fire caught on the stage. EXERCISE. You have just heard him, what have you to say?-Have répondre ? to town?—No wine, Londres? few glasses with your quelques brother. I had not long since entered the army, when war broke out between France and England.-We had just éclater gone out, when you called.-You are too late, she is êtes venu. arriver sortir, just gone. My daughters had not long begun music, and partir. were making some progress, when the death of their father, and the loss of our fortune, compelled me to interrupt their studies. What is the time? The clock has just struck heure? three. trois heures. ALLER Is used in the present and the imperfect; in both cases to express that an action is or was going to take place. Ex. wait a little, I will show you my flowers. Attendez, je vais vous montrer mes fleurs; Je vais vous l'expliquer; un peu de patience, s'il vous plaît ; I am going to, or will*, explain it to you; have a little patience, if you please. * In English, these two forms may indifferently be used, but not so in French; je montrerai, j'expliquerai, may not be used in reference to an action which is going to take place immediately. Nous allions nous mettre à table, quand elle est arrivée; J'allais me tromper de porte, mais un de vos voisins m'indiqua votre maison; we were going to sit down, (we were about to sit down to table,) when she came in. I was on the point of knocking at the wrong door, but one of your neighbours showed me your house. EXERCISE. Take care, she will get in a passion.-They say she is se fâcher. about marrying a foreign officer.-Give it me, and I will sign instantly. The play will begin presently, we have no à l'instant, spectacle time to lose. He got out of his depth and was near being perdre terre drowned, when we noyer, se wish to see him, make haste, for he will go out directly.— were going to give orders. est arrivée to begin the combat.-She de commencer was on the point of telling him all our secrets, but I stopped her in time. The service is about to begin, let us go in. -I was about to explain it to you, when you interrupted interrompre, 109-16 as they were about au moment où 6 to retire for the night; but they nevertheless received us se retirer DEVOIR Is used in the present, the imperfect, the preterite, the conditional, and the conditional compound. The sense in which it is used is not the same in each of these tenses. The Present, je dois, Implies probability or supposition that a thing is, or obligation that it should be, and is also a sort of future. Ex. Vous devez avoir bon appétit, après une promenade aussi longue; Elle doit être bien heureuse de se retrouver auprès de sa famille; Je dois dîner chez lui aujourd'hui; Vous ne devez pas me répondre ainsi ; you must be hungry (I sup pose you are hungry) after so long a walk. she must be so happy (I should think she is happy) to be again united to her family. I am to dine with him to-day. you are not to answer me in this way. EXERCISE. Come, sit down and rest yourself, for I am sure you être sûr que must be tired.-Must I write to my father to ask his pour leave?-We are all of us to go and spend a week in the country. Are we to submit to such treatment?-How much se soumettre un tel comme that man must regret his imprudence, and his extravagance? folies? -It appears to me that young people are not to judge the sembler motives of their elders. de ceux qui sont d'un âge avancé. The Imperfect,-je devais, Implies that a thing was expected, but did not happen. Ex. Nous devions faire le voyage ensemble, mais des circonstances imprévues nous en ont empêchés ; we were to have gone together, but unexpected circumstances prevented us. |