when some or any is or may be prefixed to them [§ 13 (10), § 78 (1)].
Du pain Bread, or some bread.
De la viande Meat, or some meat.
De l'argent Money or some money.
2. The French numeral adjective un, m., 'une, f., answers to the English indefinite article a or an [§ 13 (4) (11)].
Un homme A man.
Une femme A woman.
3. The e' of the preposition de is elided before un and une [§ 146], and replaced by an apostrophe.
D'un livre, m. Of or from a book.
D'une maison, f. Of or from a house.
4. When the nominative or subject of an interrogative sentence is a noun, it should be placed before the verb; and immediately after the verb in simple tenses, and after the auxiliary in compound tenses, a pronoun must be placed agreeing with the nominative in gender, number, and person [§ 76 (4) (5)].
Le médecin a-t-il de l'argent? Has the physician money?
Le boucher a-t-il de la viande? Has the butcher meat?
Le libraire a-t-il du papier? Has the bookseller paper?
La dame a-t-elle de la soie? Has the lady silk?
Résumé of Examples.
Avez-vous du pain? Have you bread?
Vous avez du pain, du beurre, et du fromage. You have bread, butter, and cheese.
Votre frère a-t-il une livre de beurre? Has your brother a pound of butter?
Avez-vous le livre du libraire? Have you the bookseller's book?
Non, j'ai le livre de la dame. No, I have the lady's book.
La sœur du médecin a-t-elle du papier et de l'encre? Has the physician's sister paper and ink?
5. It will be seen, by some of the above examples, that the article must be repeated before every noun used in a partitive sense.
Vocabulary.
Acajou, m., mahogany.
Acier, m., steel.
Aujourd'hui, to-day.
Encre, f., ink.
Epicier, m., grocer.
Fils, m., son.
Fourchette, f., fork.
Fromage, m., cheese.
Gant, m., glove.
Beurre, m., butter.
Bière, f., beer.
Bœuf, m., beef.
Libraire, m., bookseller.
Livre, m., book.
Livre, f., pound.
Morceau, m., piece.
Papier, m., paper.
Café, m., coffee.
Cuiller, f., spoon.
Dé, m., thimble.
Plume, f., pen.
Sucre, m., sugar.
Vin, m., wine.
Votre, your.
Thé, m., tea.
Exercise 5.
1. Avez-vous de la viande? 2. Oui, Monsieur, j'ai une livre de viande. 3. Votre fils a-t-il un morceau de pain? 4. Oui, Madame, il a un morceau de pain. 5. Le libraire a-t-il un livre? 6. Il a de l'encre et du papier. 7. Votre sœur a-t-elle une montre d'or? 8. Elle a une montre d'or et un dé d'argent. 9. Le boulanger a-t-il du vin ou de la bière? 10. Le boulanger a du thé et du café. 11. Votre frère a-t-il du fromage? 12. Il a du fromage et du beurre. 13. La dame a-t-elle une cuiller d'argent? 14. La dame a une cuiller et une fourchette d'argent. 15. Le boucher a-t-il de la viande aujourd'hui? Oui, Monsieur, il a un morceau de bœuf. 17. Le charpentier a-t-il une table? 18. Oui, Monsieur, il a une table d'acajou. 19. Avez-vous le livre du médecin? 20. Non, Madame, mais j'ai le livre de votre sœur. 21. Qui a du café et du sucre? 22. L'épicier a du café et du sucre. 23. La sœur du libraire a-t-elle un gant? 24. Non, Monsieur, mais elle a un livre. 25. A-t-elle une plume d'acier? 26. Non, Monsieur, elle a une plume d'or. 27. Vous avez le porte-crayon du médecin.
{sc|Exercise 6.}}
1. Have you any tea? 2. Yes, Madam, I have a pound of tea. 3. Who has bread? 4. The baker has bread, butter, and cheese. 5. Has the tailor cloth? 6. The tailor has a piece of cloth. 7. Has the physician gold? 8. Yes, Sir the physician has gold and silver. 9. Has the lady a silver watch? 10. Yes, Miss, the lady has a silver watch and a gold pen. 11. Has your sister silk? 12. Yes, Sir, she has silk and cotton. 13. Have you a knife? 14. Yes, Sir, I have a steel knife and a silver fork. 15. Have you meat to-day, Sir? 16. Yes, Sir, I have a piece of beef. 17. Has your carpenter a mahogany table? 18. Yes, Sir, he has a mahogany table. 19. Has your sister a glove? 20. Yes, Sir, my sister has a silk glove. 21. Has the bookseller's son a gold pencil-case? 22. Yes, Sir, he has a gold pencil-case and a steel pen. 23. Who has your sister's watch? 24. Your brother has the gold watch and the silk hat. 25. We have gold, silver, and steel. (See Rule 5.)
SECTION V.—THE NEGATIVES, etc.
1. To render a sentence negative, ne is placed before the verb, and pas after it.
Je n'ai pas le cheval. I have not the horse.
Vous n'avez pas la maison. You have not the house.
2. When the verb is in a compound tense [§ 45 (8)], the first negative ne is placed before the auxiliary, and the second between the auxiliary and the participle.
Je n'ai pas eu le cheval. I have not had the horse.
Vous n'avez pas eu la maison. You have not had the house.
3. It will be seen in the above examples that the e of ne is elided, and replaced by an apostrophe, when the verb begins with a vowel. [§ 146].
4. When the words ni, neither; rien, nothing; jamais, never; personne, no one, nobody, occur, the word ne only is used, and those words take the place of pas [§ 41 (3)].
Je n'ai ni le livre ni le papier. I have neither the book nor the paper.
Avez-vous quelque chose? Have you anything?
Nous n'avons rien. We have nothing, or not anything.
Personne n'a le livre. No one has the book.
Vous n'avez jamais le couteau. You never have the knife.
5. A noun used in a partitive sense (Sect. IV. 1), and being the object of a verb, conjugated negatively, should not be preceded by the article, but by the preposition de only [§ 78 (7)].
Nous n'avons pas d'argent. We have no money.
Vous n'avez pas de viande. You have no meat.
6. Quelqu'un, some one, any one [§ 41 (7)]; quelque chose, something, anything, should only be used in an affirmative or interrogative sentence, or in a sentence which is negative and interrogative at the same time.
Avons-nous quelqu'un? Have we any one?
Avez-vous quelque chose? Have you anything?
N'avons-nous pas quelque chose? Have we not something?
7. In a negative sentence, ne—personne, signifies nobody, not anybody; and ne—rien, nothing, not anything.
Je n'ai personne. I have no one, not any one.
Vous n'avez rien. You have nothing, or not anything.
8. Avoir, to have, in the Present of the Indicative.
Negatively.
Singular.
Je n'ai pas, I have not.
Tu n'as pas, Thous hast not.
Il n'a pas, He has not.
Elle n'a pas, She has not.
Plural.
Nous n'avons pas, We have not.
Vous n'avez pas, You have not.
Ils n'ont pas, They, m., have not.
Elles n'ont pas, They, f., have not.
Negatively and Interrogatively.
Singular.
N'ai-je pas? Have I not?
N'as-tu pas? Hast thou not?
N'a-t-il pas? Has he not?
N'a-t-elle pas? Has she not?
Plural.
N'avons-nous pas? Have we not?
N'avez-vous pas? Have you not?
N'ont-ils pas? Have they, m., not?
N'ont-elles pas? Have they, f., not?
Résumé of Examples.
Le tailleur a-t-il le bouton? Has the tailor the button?
Le tailleur n'a pas le bouton. The tailor has not the button.
Il n'a pas eu le drap. He has not had the cloth.
Il n'a eu ni le drap ni le cuir. He has neither the cloth not the leather.
Ai-je de la viande? Have I meat?
Vous n'avez pas de viande. (R. 5.) You have no meat.
Avons-nous quelque chose? Have we anything?
Nous n'avons rien. We have nothing, or not anything.
Nous n'avons jamais de café. (R. 5.) We never have coffee.
Vocabulary.
Ami, m., friend.
Angleterre, f., England.
Aussi, also.
Autre, other.
Chapelier, m., hatter.
Chien, m., dog.
Coton, m., cotton.
Cousin, m., cousin.
Deux, two.
Drap, m., cloth.
Du tout, adv., at all.
France, f., France.
Histoire, f., history.
Libraire, m., bookseller.
Marchand, m., merchant.
Mon, m., my.
Ni, conj., neither, nor.
Personne, m., nobody.
Quelque chose, m., something, anything.
Quelqu'un, m., some one, any one.
Soie, f., silk.
Velours, m., velvet.'
Voisin, m., neighbour.
Exercise 7.
1. Le chapelier a-t-il de la soie? 2. Le chapelier n'a pas de soie, mais il a du velours. 3. A-t-il du velours de coton?
