Disjunctive pronouns used with the reflective word même, self. Moi-même, myself. Toi-même, thyself. Lui-même, himself. Elle-même, herself. Soi-même, one's self. Nous-mêmes, ourselves. Vous-mêmes, yourselves (vous- Eux-mêmes, themselves. 95. The disjunctive pronouns are used: 1st, After c'est expressed or understood, and generally when alone or separated from the verb. In comparisons, after que, than; or after ou, or; comme, as; ni, nor; as, Ni lui ni toi, Who speaks? I. You read better than he. It is you or I. Do as they. Neither he nor thou. 2nd, For the sake of emphasis; as, Moi, je suis Espagnol, Toi, tu es Français, Lui faire une chose pareille! I am a Spaniard. Thou art a Frenchman. 3rd, After a preposition; as, de moi, of or from me ; de toi, de lui, d'elle, de nous, de vous, d'eux, d'elles, à moi, etc. 4th, When there is more than one subject to the verb; as, Lui et moi nous partons, He and I depart. 96. Table showing the order in which the Personal pronouns are to be placed when there are two or three governed by the same verb. Le leur, la leur, les leur, le leur y, la leur y, les leur y, leur en, leur y en. N.B.-See the Syntax for further rules on the personal pronouns. General Examples of the Pronouns. Je les connais, Je le vois, J'en conclus, Je ne le bois pas, Je ne les conduis pas, Je ne leur écris pas, Je ne le sais pas, Je ne lui dis pas, Je ne le leur raconterai pas, Ne lui en donnez pas, Je m'y applique, Je ne te le redemande pas, I know them. I see him. I conclude from it. I do not drink it. I do not conduct them. I do not wish any more of it. Does it rain? I laugh (of) at it. I do not write to them. I do not know it. I do not tell him. I do it not. I shall not relate it to them. I do not ask it (to) thee again. * In the imperative used affirmatively (92.) the pronoun in the accusative comes first, except y-moi, y-toi, y-le; as, Menez-y-le, Give it me. Keep them for us. Send me thither. Take a walk thither. Take him thither. It is better, however, for the sake of euphony, to say, Envoyez-moi là, promène-toi dans ce lieu, etc. Read, translate, and parse : C'est moi qui ai toute la Fiez-vous à lui. Je lui en Elle est aimée parce qu'elle est Je travaille avec application. peine. C'est à toi que je parle. parlerai. Je le vois venir. bonne; je veux la récompenser. Ces jeunes élèves me plaisent, ils sont bien élevés. I give him a book, he writes to you, she speaks to him, we donne (90.) écrit yield to them, we show them the way. parle chemin m. vais We aim (at it). I (am going) thither. I speak of it. y visons y of him. I have (some of them). We come (from that place) parle en You speak parlez POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS. 97. These pronouns denote possession. There are two sorts of possessive pronouns, the conjunctive and the disjunctive or relative. The conjunctive possessive pronouns, (or pronouns adjective,) are so called from their being immediately joined to nouns. They are the following: 98. NOTE. The personal pronoun leur, to them (88.), must not be confounded with the possessive leur, their. The former is connected with a verb, and never takes an s; the latter always precedes a noun, and takes an when the noun is in the plural; as, Je le leur ai dit, Leurs amis les protégeront, I have told it to them. Their friends will protect them. 99. The following are called disjunctive or relative possessive pronouns, and are used when the nouns to which they refer are understood: The article le, la, les, which precedes these pronouns, when accompanied by de or à, becomes du, de la, des, and au, à la, aux; as, Du mien, de la mienne, des miens, des miennes, of mine, etc. Au mien, à la mienne, aux miens, aux miennes, to mine, etc. 100. Possessive pronouns, in French, agree in gender and number with the object possessed, and not with the possessor as in English; as, Son âge, his, her, or its age. Sa femme, his wife. Son frère, his or her brother. 101. To avoid the hiatus caused by the meeting of two vowels, mon, ton, son are used instead of ma, ta, sa, before a noun (or an adjective) feminine beginning with a vowel or an h mute; as, Mon âme, my soul. Ton épouse, thy wife. Ton humeur, thy temper. Son amitié, his or her friendship. Ton aimable sœur, thy amiable sister. 102. Conjunctive possessive pronouns are repeated before every noun to which they relate; as, Mon père, ma mère, et mes frères sont à Paris, 103. NOTE. In addressing a person and inquiring about his relations, it is generally the custom in France to use as a mark of respect one of the qualifications Monsieur, messieurs; madame, mesdames; mademoiselle, mesdemoiselles, before the possessive adjective; as, Monsieur votre père est-il chez lui? -Oui, monsieur, il y est. Madame votre mère est-elle à la campagne?-Non, monsieur, elle est de retour. Comment se portent mesdemoiselles vos sœurs?-Parfaitement bien, je vous remercie. Is your father at home?—Yes, sir, Is your mother in the country?— How are your sisters?-Quite well, In speaking of our own relatives the above forms are not used; thus we must be careful not to say Monsieur mon père, madame ma mère, etc. 104. NOTE. In speaking familiarly to our own relatives, observe that, in French, the possessive pronouns are generally used before the names of relationship. In English, these pronouns are frequently understood; as, Viens ici, mon frère ! Come hither, brother! Ma sœur, Sister, whither shall we go? où irons-nous? Read, translate, and parse: Mon chapeau, ma bourse, mes gants, ton mouchoir, ta cravate, tes souliers, son portefeuille, sa montre, ses bijoux. Son domestique, son mari, sa sœur, son adresse. Voilà sa |