190. NOTE. The impersonal verb falloir is often used with en and the pronouns il se, as il s'en faut; or it may have for subject an adverb of quantity; as peu s'en faut. The different manners of using this verb may be considered as idioms having no literal equivalent in English, as will be seen in the following sentences: Il s'en faut bien qu'il soit instruit, Peu s'en est fallu qu'il n'ait succombé, Il ne s'en est presque rien fallu qu'il n'ait été tué, Je ne suis pas content de vous, tant s'en faut, He is far from being learned. He was as near as possible being killed. I am not satisfied with you, far from it. 191. Comparison between the English verb must and falloir. The English verb must, as I must, thou must, he must, etc., is expressed by the impersonal verb falloir in two ways; as, I must go, Il faut que je parte, or il me faut partir, Thou must speak, Il faut que tu parles, or il te faut parler. We must write, Il faut que nous écrivions, or il nous faut écrire. You must study, Il faut que vous étudiiez, or il vous faut étudier, 192. Il me faut, il te faut, il lui faut, il nous faut, il vous faut, il leur faut, etc., with a substantive, imply need or want; as, FORMATION OF THE TENSES. 194. The tenses of verbs are divided into primitive and derivative. The primitive tenses are those which, by change of termination, serve to form all others; they are the present of the infinitive, the participle present, the present of the indicative, and the past definite. The participle past may also be called a primitive tense. It does not however form other tenses by change of termination, but by means of the auxiliary verbs avoir and étre. The derivative tenses are those which are formed from the primitive. General rules for forming the Tenses. 195. From the Infinitive present are formed: 1st, The Future of the Indicative*, by adding ai, as, a, ons, ez, ontt; as, aimer,-j'aimerai, tu aimeras, il aimera, nous aimerons, vous aimerez, ils aimeront; agir,—j'agirai, tu agiras, il agira, nous agirons, vous agirez, ils agiront. 2nd, The Conditional*, by the addition of ais, ais, ait, * Except verbs of Class IV. of the second conjugation, and verbs of the third conjugation; see pages 124 and 127. †The e of the infinitive of verbs of the fourth conjugation is omitted; as, rendre,-je rendrai, je rendrais. ions, iez, aient*; as, aimer,-j'aimerais, tu aimerais, il aimerait, nous aimerions, vous aimeriez, ils aimeraient; agir, j'agirais, tu agirais, il agirait, nous agirions, vous agiries, ils agiraient. 196. From the Participle present are formed: 1st, The three persons plural of the Present of the Indicativet, by changing the termination ant into ons, ez, ent; as, aimant,-nous aimons, vous aimez, ils aiment; agissant, nous agissons, vous agissez, ils agissent. 2nd, The Imperfect of the Indicative, by changing ant into ais, ais, ait, ions, iez, and aient; as, aimant, -j'aimais, tu aimais, il aimait, nous aimions, vous aimiez, ils aimaient; agissant,—j'agissais, tu agissais, il agissait, nous agissions, vous agissiez, ils agissaient. 3rd, The Present of the Subjunctivet, by changing ant into e, es, e, ions, iez, and ent; as, aimant,-que j'aime, que tu aimes, qu'il aime, que nous aimions, que vous aimiez, qu'ils aiment; agissant,-que j'agisse, que tu agisses, qu'il agisse, que nous agissions, que vous agissiez, qu'ils agissent. 197. With the Participle past are formed all the compound tenses, by means of the auxiliary verbs avoir and étre. 198. From the Present of the Indicative is formed: The Imperative, by omitting the pronouns used as subjects to the verb, such as tu, nous and vous. The imperative has no first person singular. The third persons are like those of the present Subjunctive. 199. When the second person singular of the present of the indicative ends in es, the s is suppressed in the imperative; as, tu aimes, thou lovest;-imperative, aime, love thou: but when the imperative is followed by the pronoun en or y, the s is retained for the sake of euphony; as, offres-en à ton ami, offer some to thy friend; apportes-y tes livres, bring thy books thither. 200. NOTE. The euphonic s is not used before the preposition en; as, *The e of the infinitive of verbs of the fourth conjugation is omitted; as, rendre,-je rendrai, je rendrais. † Except verbs of Class IV. of the second conjugation, and verbs of the third conjugation; see pages 124 and 127. apporte en même temps une carte de France, bring at the same time a map of France. 201. From the second person singular of the Past definite of the indicative is formed: The Imperfect of the Subjunctive, by adding se, ses, sions, siez, and sent, except the third person singular, which changes the final s into t, and has a circumflex accent on the preceding vowel (át, ít, út, înt); as, tu aimas, que j'aimasse, que tu aimasses, qu'il aimát, que nous aimassions, que vous aimassiez, qu'ils aimassent; tu agis,—que j'agisse, que tu agisses, qu'il agít, que nous agissions, que vous agissiez, qu'ils agissent. NOTE. The verbs which deviate from the above rules, or from any of the following terminations, are given hereafter in the List of irregular and defective verbs. 202. SYNOPTIC TABLE OF THE TERMINATIONS OF FRENCH VERBS, To serve for reference in the formation of the Tenses of all Verbs, according to the preceding rules (194. et seq.). First pers. Second. or aming.) PLURAL. First pers. Second. (Je, Ï.) (tu, thou.) (il,he; elle,she.) (nous,we.) (vous, you.) (ils or elles,they.) Third. |