EXERCISE. Were you not to have learnt Italian this half year?-What was I to do in such a case? Submit in silence, and wait patiently. She is much disappointed, for she was to have vivement contrariée received some letters this morning which have not arrived, être and she is now very uneasy on account of her friends.- This is what you were to do.-You must have been very Voilà uncomfortable, alone, and with such a man, in a retired spot in the country. Compound of the Present, j'ai dû, endroit Expresses supposition of what must have been, or may probably have been. Ex. Vous avez dû bien souffrir; Quel a dû être son étonnement! you must have suffered much. what must his astonishment have been! EXERCISE. Judge what (must have been our feelings) on such an avoir dû éprouver occasion!-If you met him this morning, he must have 109-16 told you that the affair had been satisfactorily arranged.arrangée d'une manière satisfaisante According to agreement, he must have paid the amount D'après les conditions, this morning. You may imagine what must have been our surprise. What! did you come outside? You must have Comment! been very cold.-They must have arrived this evening; avoir bien froid. I dare say we shall have a letter from them the day after toSans doute que morrow. Why does she not pay you? She must have received money at the beginning of the month. The Conditional,-je devrais, Expresses obligation, necessity of doing a thing. Ex. Vous devriez aller la voir; you should or ought to call on her. EXERCISE. He ought to begin French now.-Should I not (men en tion it) to him?—Should they not show their exercises to parler the master?-Ought children of your age to go to bathe se baigner alone?-Your sister should not resist the will of her parents. 318 -Will you tell me what I ought to do under such circumdans semblables stances?—They are very respectable people, I think honnête sembler, impers. them.-You should not tell our The Compound of the Conditional,-j'aurais dú, Is used in speaking of a thing which should have been, at a time now past. Ex. Vous auriez dû m'en prévenir ; youshould have (ought to have) warned me of it. EXERCISE. If he behaved ill to you, you ought to have complained se comporter to his father.You should not have stopped so long at s'arrêter Paris. Ought he not to have taken lessons in Italian ? de Should she not have written to her mother?-Ought not the man to have left the letter?-Show me how I domestique should have done it.-If you wished to finish this week, s'y prendre. you ought to have begun on Monday. POUVOIR Is used particularly as an auxiliary in two tenses alone, the conditional, and the compound of the conditional. The Conditional,—je pourrais, has a future sense. Ex. Vous pourriez aller le voir; you might call upon him. EXERCISE. He might show more attentions to his mother.-Might témoigner égards you not send your answer early in the morning?-We might easily (come to an understanding) if she liked.— Might not John have brought an answer back?-Might I rapporter not tell him something about it, if I meet him?-She en might make rapid progress, if she chose.-The thing might easily be arranged with a little management.-(What adresse. might not be done *), with fine soldiers like these! brave The Compound of the Conditional,-j'aurais pu, refers to the past. Ex. Nous aurions pu lui en parler we might have mentioned it hier; to him yesterday. *Turn, what might not one do? We could have EXERCISE. (won) all his money, for he did not lui gagner understand the game at all.-Don't you think that we entendre à du tout. might have come by a much shorter way?—You might en have stopped (on the) road, but I suppose you were anxious tarder, 330 to come home. He might have gone to Italy if he had pleased; a friend of his offered to take him free of expense. le vouloir ; à ses frais. de mener OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. The proper use of the subjunctive mood, in French, is one of the greatest difficulties the learner has to encounter, especially if he has no knowledge of Latin construction. The manner in which conjugation is taught unavoidably helps to increase the difficulty. At each verb, he is led to consider may and might as corresponding with the subjunctive mood in French: that I may speak, que je parle; that I might speak, que je parlasse (p. 138); that I may punish, que je punisse; that I might punish, que je punisse (p. 146); that I may receive, que je reçoive; that I might receive, que je reçusse (p. 152); &c. &c. Yet, there is scarcely one case in ten where these modes of expression can be considered as equivalents, and used the one for the other, in translating from one language into the other. Mon père m'envoya de l'argent pour que je soldasse tous mes comptes avant mon départ de l'université; Il me semble que vous pourriez le faire ; Ex. Instances are also constantly occurring in which the French subjunctive mood cannot be rendered by may or might in English. Ex. Je ne veux pas qu'il vienne ; Elle désire que vous lui écriviez ; Ne pourriez-vous y aller sans que je vous y conduise? Tenez-le bien de crainte qu'il ne tombe et ne se fasse mal; Je n'aime pas que l'on vienne me déranger, quand je suis occupé; I will not have him come. cannot you go without my taking hold him firm, lest he should fall and hurt himself. I do not like people to come to disturb me, when I am busy. The only cases in which may and might may be considered as signs of the subjunctive mood are when they are governed by in order that, it is probable, it is likely, it is not unlikely that. Ex. Faisons nos devoirs maintenant, afin qu'il nous trouve prêts quand il viendra; let us do our lessons now, in order that he may find us ready when he comes. These few remarks will suffice to establish this fact:that the two languages greatly differ in the use of the subjunctive mood. In rendering English into French, a literal translation cannot, therefore, be correct. The learner must then consider what are the cases in which the subjunctive mood is used in French. They are as follows: 1. After an adjective in the superlative degree. Ex. C'est l'homme le plus gros que j'aie jamais vu ; Nous vous donnons le meilleur que nous ayons; he is the largest man I have ever seen. we give you the best we have. 2. After le premier, le dernier, le seul, l'unique, which may be considered as superlatives. Ex. La conscription lui enleva le the conscription took from her seul enfant qui lui restât; the only son she had left. 3. After adjectives expressing joy, regret, pleasure, or pain, &c. Ex. Nous sommes enchantés qu'il soit revenu; Elle était contrariée que vous ne lui écrivissiez pas, comme vous l'aviez promis; we are delighted that he has come back. she was disappointed at your not writing, as you had promised. |