The masculine gender belongs to men, and to animals of the male kind. The feminine belongs to women, and animals of the female kind. But as the French language does not admit of the neuter gender, all inanimate objects, such as table, tree, pen, are either of the masculine or of the feminine gender. There are two numbers; the singular and the plural. The singular number relates to one person or thing only; as un homme, a man; une table, a table, &c. The plural relates to more than one person or thing. Ex. des hommes, men; des tables, tables. There are substantives that are never used in the plural, others that are never used in the singular. Substantives that are never used in the plural. 1st. The names of metals. Ex. de l'or, gold; de l'argent, silver; du cuivre, brass; du plomb, lead, &c. 2ndly. The names of virtues and vices. Ex. l'avarice, avarice; la charité, charity; la foi, faith; la haine, hatred; l'orgueil, pride; la prodigalité, prodigality, &c. 3rdly. The names by which the five senses are denoted. Ex. la vue, the sight; le goût, the taste; l'adorat, the smell; le toucher, feeling; l'ouïe, hearing. 4thly. Proper names, except when they are used metaphorically. 5thly. To the foregoing may be added the following, which are not reducible to any general rules: 1. In general the plural number of substantives is formed by adding an s to the singular. le père, the father; Ex. les pères, the fathers. la mère, the mother ; les mères, the mothers, &c. 2. All substantives of which the singular ends in s, x, or z, remain the same in the plural. Ex. les fils, the sons. des noix, walnuts. les nez, the noses. au, eau, eu, œu, ieu, or ou, instead of s. Ex. des chapeaux, hats. des lieux, places. des choux, cabbages. 4. The following differ from the above substantives, and form their plural by adding an s: un matou, a great cat; un trou, a hole; un clou, a nail ; des matous, great cats. des trous, holes. des clous, nails. 5. Substantives ending in al and ail have their plural in 6. Except the following, which form their plural in s. un bal, a ball. un évantail, a fan. un portail, a gateway. un gouvernail, a helm. un épouvantail, a bugbear. 7. Substantives of more than one syllable ending in nt generally form their plural by changing the t into s; as, des enfans, children. un enfant, a child; le commandement, the command; des commandemens, commands *. 8. But those of one syllable form the plural by adding s; as, une dent, a tooth; un pont, a bridge; only preserve the t, and des dents, teeth. des ponts, bridges. 9. The following do not conform to any established rule: un aïeul, a grandfather; du bétail, cattle; le ciel, heaven; un œil, an eye; des aïeur, grandfathers. des bestiaux, cattle. des yeux, eyes. des ciels de lit, testers of beds. Except { des cils de bœuf, small round windows. Compound words, in French, require some attention from the learner, in the formation of their plural; for example : 10. When a noun is composed of a substantive and an adjective united by a hyphen, both words take the sign of the plural; as, un gentil-homme, a nobleman; des gentils-hommes, noblemen. 11. When the two substantives are connected by a preposition between hyphens, the first substantive only in French takes the sign of the plural; as, 12. Some, composed of a noun substantive and a preposition or a verb, remain the same as in the singular; as, un avant-toit, eaves; un casse-noisettes, cracker; un garde-fou, a rail; des avant-toit, eaves. a nut- des casse-noisettes, nut-crack ers. des garde-fou, rails, &c. * The French Academy have lately decided that the t should not be dropped, and most modern writers leave it also in the plural: moments. 13. Monseigneur, my lord Monsieur, Mr. or Master Madame, Mrs. or Madam Mademoiselle, Miss make in the plural Messeigneurs, my lords. MANNER OF RENDERING IN FRENCH SOME ENGLISH COMPOUND WORDS. 14. Sometimes two substantives are used together in English, the former of which serves to express the material of which the latter is made, or the place whence it comes; such as a silver fork, i. e. a fork made of silver; Burgundy wine, i. e. wine from Burgundy. When translating this kind of compound substantives, that which is put first in English must be placed last in French, and they must be connected by the preposition de. Ex. a brick house; a straw hat; sea fish ; une maison de brique. du poisson de mer. 15. But if the former word, in English, expresses the use to which the latter is destined, the preposition à, instead of de, must be put between them. some gunpowder; Ex. de la poudre à canon. OF CASES. It has been asserted by some, that what are called cases, in the language of grammar, do not exist in French, nor in English, because the relation in which the nouns substantive stand, in a sentence, is not marked by their termination, as in Latin and in Greek. Thus, for instance, in each case is marked, in the Latin, by the alteration in the termination of Dominus; whereas lord and seigneur remain the same. But it may be observed that, on the other hand, different prepositions, of, to, from: de, à, are used before the nouns in French and English, which answer the same purpose. It may, therefore, be said that cases exist in these languages. Besides, as young gentlemen are familiarised with the technical words nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, and ablative, any other expressions would puzzle them; and they may easily be explained by the master to those who do not understand them. In the meantime, as a considerable difference exists between the formation of the French and the English genitive, the student must attend to the following 16. RULE ON THE FORMATION OF THE FRENCH GENITIVE. When the English genitive is formed by adding an s and an apostrophe (') to the first of two substantives, the French genitive must be formed by connecting the two substantives by means of the preposition de, taking care that the substantive which is placed first in English shall be last in French. Ex. That man's voice, Your father's love, la voix de cet homme. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION ON THE SUBSTANTIVE. Define the substantive. What is the difference between a substantive common and a substantive proper? What are substantives collective? How many genders are there in French? How many numbers? How is the plural of French substantives generally formed? How do those ending in s, x, or ≈ form their plural? Those ending in al and ail? Those ending in nt? Mention those which do not conform to any rule. How is the plural of compound substantives formed? |