CHAPTER I.

OF THE ARTICLES.

THE Article, from the Latin Articulus, is a small word, which, without signifying any thing by itself, is prefixed to Substantives, to point them out, and to show how far their signification extends: as-Le jardin, the garden; la maison, the house; les rois, the kings.

Though fully aware that there is but one Article in French, le, the, from which the feminine la, and the plural les, are formed, by a change of termination, as well as the compound, du, des, au, aux, by a contraction of the prepositions de and à, with le, les; yet, in order to be better understood by the Junior Classes, we shall divide the Article into Indefinite, Definite, and Partitive.

The Indefinite is un, une, a or an, and is so called from being used in a vague and individual sense, to point out one single thing of the kind, in other respects indeterminate: as-Apportez-moi un couteau et une orange; Bring me a knife and an orange.

The Definite is le, la, les, the, and is thus named, because it ascertains what particular thing or things are meant: as— -Donnez-moi le livre qui est sur la table; Give me the book which is upon the table.

The Partitive is du, de la, de l', des, some or any, and derives its name from being used before a Noun, to denote a certain number or portion of a thing: as-Give me some bread, Donnez-moi du pain; Have you any water? Avez-vous de l'eau?

ARTICLE 1.

OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE.

GENERAL RULE.-The Indefinite Article, un or une, a or an, is used and repeated in French before every Substantive, taken in an individual or numerical sense, although in English a or an may be placed before the first Substantive only, and understood before those which succeed, if several follow: as-A father, mother, and child; Un père, une mère, et un enfant.

If the Indefinite Article be preceded by the Prepositions, of or from, to or at; of or from are expressed by d', with an apostrophe, before un or une; and to or at by à, as in the following examples:

Observe.

In the first three exercises the Gender and Number of Nouns will be found marked, but in the succeeding ones this assistance will be discontinued, as

the pupil will be considered conversant with the necessary rules: m. at the end of a word will therefore denote a Noun masculine; f. a Noun feminine; v. a Noun beginning with a vowel; h. a Noun which commences with an h mute; pl. a Noun plural.

The Adjectives which precede their Substantives in English, but which should come after them in French, as well as the construction of those sentences, which might be found too difficult for beginners, are also marked in the following exercises with figures before the French words, the regular order of which must be observed. This assistance will be continued until the pupil be considered sufficiently acquainted with the rules on that subject.

Throughout the exercises, the words which are not to be expressed in French are marked with an asterisk (*) after them; and those which are spelt the same in French as in English with this mark under the English word.

When several English words are included within a parenthesis (), they must be translated by the French words only, which are placed under them.

Note. Whenever a word has been employed more than once in the same exercise, its equivalent in French is not repeated, in order that the pupil may the better recollect it, and in general the French of all words easy to remember will be found gradually omitted, as the pupil advances in the exercises.

EXERCISE.

-A maid

-A woman.-A waiter.-A chamber-maid.-
garçon m. femme de chambre f. fille f.

A man.-
homme m. femme f.

of honour.-The sight of an
d'honneur
vue f.

agreeable landscape.-
'agréable paysage m.

-The look

of an regard m.

amiable child.- -The door
'aimable 'enfant m.
porte f.

of a house.-I have written to a friend.—
maison f.
écrit
ami m.
-She has a good pear.-

He has not spoken to a lady to-day.dame f. aujourd'hui

parlé

bonne poire f.

You have a fine apricot.-They had a garden, a park, and a river.

bel abricot m.

I shall have a horse.

cheval m.

not have a new phäeton.

jardin m. parcm. et rivière f.

-Will you have a carriage?

nouveau phaëton m.

We shall

voiture f.

-I should have had a blue coat.

"bleu 'habit m.

Would you have had a watch?-Had she not a pair

ARTICLE II.

OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE.

THE Definite Article may be divided into Simple and Compound. The Simple is, le, la, les, the; and the Compound, du, des, of or from the; au, aux, to the: it is formed by a contraction of the Prepositions de and à, with the simple article le, les.

Observe.-Le is used before a Substantive masculine singular, beginning with a consonant or h aspirated; ', before a noun, either masculine or feminine singular, beginning with a vowel or h mute; les, before a Noun plural of both genders, either beginning with a vowel, consonant, or h mute.

Du and au are used instead of de le, or à le, before a Substantive masculine singular, beginning with a consonant or h aspirated; and des and aux, instead of de les or à les, before plural Nouns, either masculine or feminine, whether they begin with a vowel, consonant, or h mute.

La, de la, à la, must always be used before a Noun feminine singular, beginning with a consonant or h aspirated; and l', de l', à l', before nouns either masculine or feminine, beginning with a vowel or h mute.

EXAMPLES OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE, WITH DIFFERENT SUBSTANTIVES.

1. With a Noun Masculine, beginning with a consonant.

SINGULAR.

Le couteau; The knives,

PLURAL.

The knife,
Les couteaux.
Of or from the knife, Du couteau; Of or from the knives, Des couteaux.
To the knife, Au couteau; To the knives,

Aux couteaux.

2. With a Noun Masculine, beginning with a vowel.

SINGULAR.

The love,
L'amour ;
Of or from the love, De l'amour;
To the love,
A l'amour;

PLURAL.

Les amours.

The loves,
Of or from the loves, Des amours.
To the loves,
Aux amours.

3. With a Noun Masculine, beginning with an h mute.

PLURAL.

Les hommes.
Des hommes.
Aux hommes.

The man,

SINGULAR.

Of or from the man, De l'homme; Of or from the men,
A l'homme; To the men,

To the man,

4. With a Noun Feminine, beginning with a consonant.

SINGULAR.

The lady,

La dame;

The ladies,

Of or from the lady, De la dame;
To the lady,
A la dame;

PLURAL.

Les dames.

Of or from the ladies, Des dames.
To the ladies,
Aux dames.

5. With a Noun Feminine, beginning with a vowel.

But if a Substantive be preceded by the Adjective tout, as the contracted Articles du, des, au, aux, can never be used before it in such a case, then the Prepositions de and a must be placed before tout, with le, les immediately before the Substantive in the sense of of or from the, or to the, in English: as

Of or from coming before proper names of persons or places, or before a Pronoun or an Adverb, are expressed by de, or d' if the word begins with a vowel or an h mute; and to by à in all cases: as-From Paris to London, De Paris à Londres; That belongs to William or to Peter, Cela appartient à Guillaume ou à Pierre.

GENERAL RULE.-The Definite Article is mostly used and repeated in French before every Substantive taken in a general or particular sense, and agrees with it in gender and number, whether it be used in English or not: as-Les dames sont aimables, Ladies are amiable; La vertu est méprisée, Virtue is despised; Le vice est odieux, Vice is odious; Le monsieur, la dame, et le garçon sont partis, The gentleman, lady, and boy are gone.

EXERCISE.

shame. The pratling of girls.

mother, and children.-The love
mère f.
enfans pl. amour v. gloire f.

-The malice of the

of glory.-The

babil m.

filles pl.

boys.garçons pl.

The four

seasons

of the year.

année v.

malice f. I have spoken to parlé -Honour

quatre saisons pl.

(Mr. D.'s sister.)-Were you not speaking to the child?la sœur de M. D***. Ne parliez-vous pas

enfant v. Honneur h.

was always his principal object.-Have you given my letter to the toujours principal 'objet v.

I shall go to the village this evening. Will you come with me to the soir m. Voulez venir avec moi

J'irai market?-We went together to the country.

marchém.

allâmes ensemble

and the love

amour v.

of glory are natural to all men.

-The fear of death

campagne f.

mort f. -Cut the Coupez

naturels

string in two.- -Take this to the women.

-I come from France and Italy.—He will return from Spain

Italie v.

reviendra

Je viens in two months.-That belongs to John or to Peter. appartient Jean ou à Pierre

en

mois pl.

Espagne v.

-From Paris to

Amsterdam. (He is the laughing-stock of) every body.-She told

THE Partitive Article is du for the masculine, de la for the feminine, de l' before a vowel or h mute, des, pl. some or any.

GENERAL RULE. This article is used in French before a Substantive taken in a partitive sense, to express an indeterminate number or portion of a thing; it answers to the English words, some or any, expressed or understood: as-Donnez-moi du pain, de la viande, et des fruits, Give me some bread, meat, and fruit.

But when a Substantive taken in a partitive sense is preceded by an Adjective or a Participle: as-Give me some good wine; Show me some nicer silk; the Preposition de must then be used, instead of du, de la, de l', des, before the Adjective: as-Give me some good wine, Donnezmoi de bon vin; Show me some nicer silk, Montrez-moi de plus jolie soie ; and not-Du bon vin; de la plus jolie soie.

It must be particularly observed that it is only when a Substantive is taken in a partitive sense, that de is used instead of du, de la, de l', des, before the Adjective preceding it; for should it be taken in a ge