GENERAL RULE. 102 A Verb-Predicate agrees in Number and Person with its Subject: as, Je suis le valet, et vous êtes I am the servant, and you are the le maître. Le tonnerre gronde, et les éclairs sillonnent les nuages. C'est moi qui l'ai fait. master. The thunder roars, and the lightnings furrow the clouds. I have done it. Ce sont eux qui l'ont dit (cp. § They have said it. 13). SPECIAL RULES OF AGREEMENT : 103 1. Agreement with a SIMPLE SUBJECT: as, (a) If the Neutral ce is the grammatical Subject, the Verb agrees with it and not with the logical Subject, unless it is in third pers. plur. : as, C'est nous qui le disons. Ce furent les Phéniciens qui, ture. It is we who say it. It is you who will be punished. Sont-ce là vos livres ?-Ce les Are these your books?—They are. sont. Observation.-Agreement by attraction occurs especially when Subject and Complement are convertible terms: as, L'effet du commerce sont les richesses; The result of commerce is wealth. i.e. Les richesses sont l'effet du commerce. (b) If the Impersonal Pron. il is the grammatical subject, the Verb is always in the Singular: as, Il court des bruits désavantageux There are damaging rumours consur son compte. cerning him. (c) If a Collective Noun or an Adverb of quantity is the subject, the Verb generally agrees with the Grammatical rather than with the real (logical) Number of its subject: as, Le peuple juif est dispersé par The Jewish people are dispersed all toute la terre. over the earth. Observation.-Agreement by Synesis occurs in French, but is much less common than in English: as, La plupart croient que le bonheur est dans le richesse, 104 2. Agreement with an ENLARGED OR COMPOSITE SUBJECT. (a) If a Collective Noun Singular, qualified by a Noun in the Genitive Plural, is the Subject, the Verb may be put either in the Singular or Plural, according as one or the other carries the idea of the real subject: as, La multitude des étoiles étonne notre imagination. The multitude of stars astonishes our imagination. Une multitude de passions divi- A great many passions divide sent les hommes. men. Comparing the above examples it is evident that what strikes our imagination is the vast number (myriads) of the stars, and that what divides men is their many passions. As a rule it will be found that the Collective Noun carries the meaning when it is preceded by the Definite Article or Determinative Pronoun. Observation. The same rule holds good with Indefinite Numerals or Pronouns, followed by a Genitive Plural; as, Le peu d'amis qu'il a prouve son mauvais caractère. Le peu d'amis qu'il a sont parvenus à le tirer d'affaire. The scarcity of his friends is in itself a proof of his bad character. His few friends have succeeded in getting him out of the scrape. (b) If two or more Noun-terms linked by et (expressed or implied) form the joint Subject, the Verb is put in the Plural; as, La force, la santé, la joie Strength, health, joy will vanish s'évanouiront comme un like a fine spring. beau printemps. If the component parts of the Subject are of different persons, the Verb must agree with the person that has the priority: the first before the second or third; and the second before the third; as a rule such a Composite Subject will be recapitulated by nous or vous: as, Votre frère et moi, (nous) échappâmes seuls par miracle. Your brother and I alone miraculously escaped. Vous et ce jeune homme, (vous) You and this young man fancy croyez tout savoir. you know everything. (c) If two or more terms linked by ou, or ni ni, form the Subject, the Verb may be either in the Singular or Plural, according as they convey the idea of an alternative (ie. one necessarily excluding the other), or of joint action: as, Ni l'un ni l'autre ne sera Neither will (only one can) be appointed ambassador to the Sublime Porte. 105 Ni l'or ni la grandeur ne nous rendent heureux. Le bien ou le mal se moisonne, selon qu'on sème ou le mal ou le bien. Le temps ou la mort sont nos remèdes. Neither gold nor greatness makes us happy (both are unable). Either good or evil is reaped, according as one sows good or evil. Time or death is our remedy. Observation 1.-If the Subjects are of different persons, the use of the Plural becomes imperative: as, Vous ou moi, (nous) le ferons. Either you or I shall do it. Observation 2.-If the second term of the Subject is linked to the first by comme, as; de même que, just as; ainsi que, aussi bien que, as well as; the Verb agrees either with the first, or with both, according as the first or both carry the main idea of the Subject; as, L'éléphant, comme le castor, aime la société The elephant likes to consort with his equals, de ses semblables. so (as) does the beaver. Bacchus, ainsi qu'Hercule, étaient reconnus pour demi-dieux. Both Bacchus and Hercules were recognised as demi-gods. (d) If the terms of a Composite Subject are Synonymous, if they form a kind of gradation, or if they are recapitulated by tout, rien, chacun, aucun, nul, etc., the Verb agrees with the Nearer Subject only: as, Remords, crainte, périls, rien Remorse, fear, perils, nothing has been able to stop me. ne m'a retenue. For the agreement of the Adjective used as Predicative Complement, see Synt. of Adj. § 22; for the Pres. Part., see § 146; for the Past Part., see §§ 147-150. If the Predicate-Complement is a Noun, the agreement in Gender and Number with the subject can be effected only in so far as the form of the Noun and the meaning of the whole sentence will allow as, : La veuve fut déclarée régente du royaume. La rime est une esclave qui ne doit qu'obéir. but- Mlle. de Schurmann était peintre, musicienne, graveur, sculpteur, philosophe, géomètre, théologienne même; see § 95. Il a été la victime de la bonne foi. La sagesse est un trésor. Les lois, les mœurs antiques sont l'appui de l'État. Vous (Mr. Harpagon) êtes toute raison. [Cp. Lat. Captivi militum præda fuerunt.-Liv. 21, 15.] 106 B.-INVERSION OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE. RÉSUMÉ. I. Inversion in INTERROGATIVE Sentences. (a) The Subject a Conjunctive Pers. Pronoun :— 1. Simple (absolute) Interrogation; 2. Relative Interrogation. (b) The Subject a Noun : 1. Simple (absolute) Interrogation; 2. Relative Interrogation with an intransit. Verb. Observation.-With reflexive Verb. 3. Relative Interrogation with a transit. Verb. II. Inversion in AFFIRMATIVE Sentences. (a) The Interrogative construction; (b) Simple Inversion of Verb and Subject-whether Noun or Pers. Pronoun; after (1) Predicative Complement; (2) Impersonal Pronoun; (3) Certain Adverbs; (4) Relat. Pronouns and Subordinate Conjunctions. I. INVERSION IN INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. (For the periphrastic construction with est-ce que, see § 57.) (a) THE SUBJECT a conjunctIVE PERSONAL PRONOUN or CE: The Subject is placed after the Verb in (1) SIMPLE Interrogation: ie. without Interrogative Pron. or Adverb: as, Viendrez-vous aujourd'hui ? Est-il arrivé ce matin ? Est-ce lui qui a fait cela? (2) RELATIVE Interrogation: ie. with an Interrogative (1) SIMPLE Interrogation: in this case the Subject is placed first, and repeated in the form of a Pers. Pron. of the same number and gender: as, Votre ami viendra-t-il? La France n'est-elle pas très fertile ? Les couleurs lui conviennent-ils ? Sa sœur se porte-elle bien ? (2) RELATIVE Interrogation with Verbs used without Object. or Complement; in this case two constructions are possible :i.e. either by Inversion or by the Repetition of the Noun-Subject in the form of a Pronoun: as, 107 Quand viendra votre ami? or Quand votre ami viendra-t-il ? A quelle heure le train partira-t-il ? Observation 1.-Only if the Object is a Reflexive Pron. are both constructions admissible: (3) Relative Interrogation with Verbs having an Object (other than a Reflexive Pron.) or Complement; in this case only one construction is possible-viz. Repetition of the Noun in the form of a Pers. Pron.: as, Quand votre ami finira-t-il son thème ? II. INVERSION IN AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES. (a) THE INTERROGATIVE CONSTRUCTION (see § 106); i.e. (1) placing the Conjunctive-Pers.-Pronoun-Subject after the Verb; or (2) placing the Noun-Subject before the Verb, and repeating it after the Verb in the form of a corresponding Pers. Pronoun, as a rule (but not always), is used in Sentences introduced by one of the following Adverbial Conjunctions: Cet homme ne travaille pas, aussi sa famille est-elle pauvre. Observation 1.-This inversion is optional: A peine nous sortions des murs de Trezène (Racine). Observation 2.-In Conditional and Concessive Clauses the Conjunction may be rendered by inversion : Un homme vous flatte-t-il (= si un h. vous flatte), ne vous y fiez pas. |