148 II. AGREEMENT WITH THE OBJECT. (b) never agrees with its FOLLOWING Object: as, The Part. Perf. of a Verb conjugated with avoir(a) agrees in Gender and Number with its PRECEDING Direct Object: as, Quelles maisons a-t-il bâties ?— Quand les a-t-il bâties ?— Il a bâti les maisons du faubourg. Il y a longtemps qu'il a bâti ces maisons. In order to account for these seemingly arbitrary Rules, it must be borne in mind that the Part. Perf. of any Transitive Verb may be considered from two different points of view : (a) as expressing, in conjunction with its copula, an action done by the Subject, and so far the Part. Perf. will retain its full Verbal force and form; for if in the course of a sentence we use the Part. Perf. before the Object occurs, we necessarily have its Active meaning foremost in our mind; henceIl a bâti les maisons du faubourg; a bâti, being simply a compound form for— II bâtit, etc. (B) as expressing an action suffered by an Object, i.e. a permanent state or quality; now, if the Object that suffers the action occurs before the Part. Perf., it will of course impress our mind with the Passive force of the latter; hence Que de maisons il a bâties! i.e. que de maisons bâties par lui ! GENERAL RULES: I. THE PART. PERF. AGREEING WITH ITS SUBJECT. (a) The Part. Perf. of a Verb conjugated with être * (Reflexive Verbs excepted) is treated as an Adjective, and accordingly agrees in Gender and Ce jardin est bien cultivé. Vos amis sont-ils sortis ?— Vos sœurs sont-elles sorties ?— Number with its Subject: as, Observation.-According to § 107, a Subject may stand after its Verb:— Qu'est devenue votre amie ?-Elle est morte. (b) A Part. Perf. used without any Auxiliary Verb agrees, like an Adjective, in Gender and Number with the Noun it qualifies (which is its Subject): as, La glace est de l'eau cristallisée, i.e. qui est cristallisée. A peine écloses, les fleurs se fanent. * N.B.-A Verb is conjugated with être (1) in the Passive Voice throughout; (2) in the Compound Tenses of a few Intransitive Verbs of motion. For Reflective Verbs, see § 149. 149 Observation 1.-The same rule applies to the Part. Perf. used with all Verbs denoting manner of being: as, devenir, rester, sembler, paraître :- Les troupes assiégeantes devinrent assiégées. Elle paraissait affligée. Elles se sentent accablées. Observation 2.-The Part. Perf.-attendu, whereas; compris, inclusive; excepté, except; supposé, supposed; passé, past; vu, seeing; being considered as Particles when they precede the Noun they qualify, only agree when they stand after it (see also § 122): as, Ils ont tous péri, excepté cinq ou six personnes. Ils ont tous péri, cinq ou six personnes exceptées. Observation 3.-A Part. Perf. may be used absolutely : Le père mort, les fils vous retournent le champ. II. THE PART. PERF. AGREEING WITH ITS OBJECT. (a) The Part. Perf. of Transitive Verbs conjugated with avoir, and of all Reflexive Verbs, agrees in Gender and Number with its preceding Direct Object.* Agreement. Part. Perf. after its Object :- Voici le livre; l'avez-vous lu? Voici le livre que j'ai lu. Quelles lettres a-t-il reçues? No Agreement. Part. Perf. before its Object: Non, je n'ai pas lu le livre. Le filles qui ont lu les livres. Il a reçu les lettres de son ami. Il a reçu beaucoup de lettres. See also § 122 (a):-Pourrais-je jamais oublier la confiance et l'amitié que vous m'avez témoignées ? * An Object may precede the Verb in the following cases only: (a) as a Conjunctive Personal or a Reflexive Pronoun :-me, te, le, la; nous, vous, les; lui, leur; en, y; se. (B) as a Relative or Interrogative Pronoun :-que, lequel, laquelle, qui? etc. (b) The Part. Perf. agrees with its Direct Object only; it never agrees with an Indirect (Remoter) Object : Direct Object :-Agreement: Elles nous (vous, les) ont suivis. Elles se sont dévouées. Elles se sont montrées géné reuses. J'abandonne toutes les espérances que j'avais conçues. Indirect Object:-No Agreement: Elles nous (vous, lui, leur) ont Elles se sont procuré un billet. Il a élevé plus de monuments que d'autres n'en ont détruit. Observation 1. There are a few Verbs which may govern either a Direct or Indirect Object:-aider, applaudir, commander, fuir, manquer, servir, etc. :— Cet homme les a bien servis. Les Romains s'étaient faits à la discipline. Cette précaution leur a bien servi. Observation 2.-In sentences like the following, the Past Participle really agrees with combien, autant, and not with en : De tous les plaideurs qu'il a défendus, combien n'en a-t-il pas ruinés ! 150 SPECIAL RULES: The above Rules admit of no exception; the seeming anomalies only arise from peculiarly constructed sentences in which the real Object is not easily discernible : (a) A Past Participle followed by an Infinitive(a) agrees if the preceding Object is really the Object of the Past Participle, and not of the Infinitive: as, Je les ai vus frapper le fer. Les acteurs que j'ai entendus chanter. The actors I heard sing. Je les (i.e. les enfants) ai laissés manger. I have allowed them to eat. Les hommes n'ont jamais plus admiré les singes que quand ils les ont vus imiter les actions humaines. (B) does not agree with the preceding Object if this latter is the Object of the Infinitive or of the Infinitive and Part. Perf. combined: as, Je les ai vu frapper. (See § 140,ƒ.) Les airs que j'ai entendu chanter. manger. I have allowed them to be eaten (i.e. allowed some one to eat them). J'approuve les changements que vous avez jugé à propos de faire. Compare also Les lettres que j'ai commencées. Les questions que j'ai résolues. Les lettres que j'ai commencé à lire. Les questions que j'ai résolu de lui adresser. (b) The Part. Perf. of 'faire,' followed by an Infinitive, never agrees; because a Part. Perf. + Infinitive = a Verbal Phrase, on which Phrase, and not on the Part. Perf., the Object depends; thus, faire + entrer = to show in; and as in 'On les fait entrer,' les is not really the obj. of fait, but of fait entrer, there can be no agreement: as, Je les ai fait descendre. Les livres que j'ai fait relier. Louis XIV. a protégé les arts que François Ier avait fait naître. I have made (caused) what ?—— Their coming down. I have caused (ordered) what? The binding of books. Louis XIV. patronised the arts which Francis I. had introduced. (c) A Part. Perf. followed by a Substantive Clause remains unchanged, because this Clause is its real Object: as, La lettre que j'ai présumé que vous recevriez est enfin arrivée. I have surmised what?—That you would receive a letter, i.e. the Subst. Clause is Obj. of 'présumer.' It follows that a Part. Perf. preceded and followed by que, never agrees. Observation 1 to (d) and (e).—An Infinitive or a Substantive Clause (understood) may be the implied object of a Verb (especially of dû, vu, voulu, pu, su), in which case no agreement of the Part. Perf. can take place: Nous ne vous avons pas rendu tous les bons offices que nous aurions voulu,* mais seulement ceux que nous avons pu (* rendre understood). Observation 2.-Thus also a Part. Perf. preceded by the Neutral Relative Pronoun le, referring to the Verb, Adjective, or to a whole Clause, remains unchanged: as, = qu'elle ne se battrait). L'armée se battit mieux que le czar ne l'avait espéré (le (d) The Part. Perf. of Impersonal Verbs remains unchanged, because they are really Intransitive, and their NounComplement is logically their Subject and not their Object: as, La grande sécheresse qu'il a fait.* Que de travaux il a fallu pour endiguer ce fleuve ! The great drought that has prevailed. What work it has required to embank this river! * Faire is here used idiomatically, as an equivalent of y avoir. 151 (e) The Part. Perf. of a Verb, the Complement of which answers the questions how long? how much? etc., and is virtually an Adverbial Phrase, remains unchanged: as, The three years I have spent in Les trois années que j'ai vécu à Paris. Les efforts que ce travail lui a coûté. Paris. The efforts that this work has cost him. Observation.-According to § 104 (a), the agreement with a Noun qualified by le peu de depends on the meaning: THE ADVERBIAL RELATION EXPRESSED BY AN ADVERB. The classification and chief use of Adverbs having been treated in the Accidence (§§ 82-85), it remains to deal with the peculiarities in the use of Negations and of Affirmative Adverbs. RÉSUMÉ. INTRODUCTORY: (a) DISJUNCTIVE or (b) CONJUNCTIVE: (1) Strictly Adverbial; (2) Substantival or Adjectival. The Negation expressed in French, but not in English : (a) after Verbs, etc. denoting (1) Fear, etc., (2) Prevention, (3) Doubt. (b) with Verbs depending on Comparatives. When Pas and Point must be omitted; when Pas and Point may be omitted. "To strengthen the expression of our judgments, we are wont to join an illustration or comparison to them (thus we say 'as poor as Job,'' as strong as a lion,' etc.), or an expression of value (as, 'not worth a farthing'). So did the Latins: they would say a thing was not worth an as, a feather, a speck in a bean, hilum. Hence ne-hilum, and nihil. 'Nil igitur mors est, ad nos neque pertinet hilum' (LUCR. iii. 483). "There are six similar adverbial phrases to express a negative in French : "1. Pas, Lat. passus: 'ne faire un pas.' "2. Point, Lat. punctum: 'je ne vois point.' "3. Mie, Lat. mica (which signifies a speck or grain): 'vous ne l'aurez mie.' "4. Goutte, Lat. gutta: also used negatively in Latin, as in Plautus: 'Quoi neque parata gutta certi consilii.' "This phrase, which formerly was in general use (so' ne craindre goutte,' 'n'aimer goutte,' etc.), has been restricted since the seventeenth century to the two verbs voir and entendre: 'n'y voir goutte,' ' n'y entendre goutte.' "5. Personne, Lat. persona, with ne, takes the sense of 'no one.' "6. Rien, Lat. rem, was a Substantive in Old French, with its original signification of 'thing'; so 'la riens que j'ai vu est fort belle,' and 'une très-belle riens.' Joined with a negative, it signifies 'no-thing,' just as ne. personne signifies 'no one.' 'Je ne fais rien,' 'I am doing nothing.' This usage of rien is very proper, and it only abandoned its natural sense of 'thing' to take that of nothing' (as in the phrase, On m'a donné cela pour rien'), after having been long used with ne to form a negative expression. This history of the word rien explains that passage in Molière in which it is both negative and affirmative (Ecole des Femmes, ii. 2): 'Dans le siècle où nous sommes On ne donne rien pour rien.' "Finally, we may observe generally that these adverbial phrases, pas, mie, goutte, point, etc., were used in a substantival sense, i.e. they were always used in comparison, and had a proper value of their own: 'Je ne marche pas,' 'I do not move a step; Je ne vois point,' I do not see a bit;' 'Je ne mange mie,' I do not eat a bit;' 'Je ne bois goutte," 'I do not drink a drop,' etc. etc."-Brachet. |