LESSONS IN FRENCH,

(Continued.)

Besides these nouns, which are the most conspicuous among those which are used in either gender, there are some more which we will indicate only by the change in their signification, according to gender.

Masculine.

Aide, aide de-camp. Aide, a cook assistant, if a man; but it is feminine if a woman.

Barde, a poet, among

the ancient Celts.

Burgogne, Burgundy

wine. Cartouche, a sort of or nament in painting, sculpture, &c, Champagne, wine,

Coche, a public coach, a barge to convey passengers.

Feminine,

Aide, assistance, Aides, tones,

Barde, a thin slice of
pork.
Burgogne, a province of

France.
Cartouche, a cartridge.

Champagne, a province of France, Coche, a notch, a sow.

Proper names, which present to the mind the idea of a single individual or thing, have, generally, no plural; as, Washington, Napoleon, &c., London, Paris, &c.; but we may use in the plural, proper names of persons, when we apply them to all persons who resemble those who had them: thus such men as Washington, Napoleon. La we say, properly, Nature produces but few nature ne produit que rarement des Washingtons, des Napoléons. In such cases proper names become common.

Formation of the Plural in Nouns.-There are nouns whose plural is similar to the singular; they are those which end in the singular with $,, ; so we say, L'avis, les avis; le choix, les choix; le nez, les nez. The advice, the advices; the choice, the choices; the nose, the noses.

Nouns ending in au, eau, eu, œu, ieu, ou, form their plural by the addition of an x; as, Le joyau, les joyaux; L'eau, les eaux; le jeu, les jeux; le veu, les vœux; l'essieu, les essieux; le chou, les choux. The jewel, the jewels; the water, the waters; the play,

bearer.

Crépe, a crape.
Echo, an echo.

Enseigne, an ensign, a standard-bearer.

Espace, extent between two points or space, speaking of time. Foret, a drill, a piercer. Guarde, a keeper, a warden. Guide, a guide.

Livre, a book.

Manche, a handle.

Manoeuvre, a labourer.

Memoire, a bill. Mode, the mood of a verb. Office, service, business, prayers.

Page, a page at court.

ard, a woman's morning head-dress. Crepe, a pancake. Echo, a nymph of that

Page, a page in a book, Of Number in Substantives.-Number, in nouns is the property which they have of denoting either one or several persons or things.

In the first case they are said to be in the singular: as, A man, a table, &c., un homme, une table, &c.

In the second, they are said to be in the plural: as, Men, tables, les hommes, les bles.

the axle-trees; the cabbage, the cabbages. The nouns, the nail, clou, hole, trou, male cat, matou, cent, sou, take an s in the plural.

The nouns ending in al, ail, change their termination into aux in the plural; as, Animal, animaux; travail, travaux; bail, Animal, animals; work, works;

baux.

lease, leases.

But there are some of these terminations which only take an s in the plural; as, ball, bal, pale, pal, callosity, cal, treat, régal, place, local, carnival, carnaval, take an s in the plural; as, bals, pals, cals, &c.; and attire, attirail, capuchin, camail, detail, détail, fan, éventail, scarecrow, épouvantail, rudder, gouvernail, mall, mail, gate, portail, seraglio, sérail, make in the plural, attirails, camails, &c.; trave, travail, a machine to attach horses when shod, makes travails in the plural; sheepfold, bercail, has no plural; cattle, bétail, also has none; it is in the plural expressed by bestiaux, which has no singular. But, as I have already said, it is necessary to resort to a good dictionary.

Forefather, aïeul, heaven, ciel, eye, œil, make their plurals thus, aïeux, cieux, yeux; but we say, des ciels de lit, testers of a bed; des aïeuls, grandfather and grandmother; ciels d'un tableau, the sky of a picture; ovals, cils de bœuf.

All nouns which are not included in any of the preceding classifications, form their plural by the addition of an s; as, roads, chemins, tables, tables, merchants, mar

Of the Nouns which have no singular. Several nouns have no singular; as, Ancestors, ancêtres; archives, archives; coat of arms, armoiries; espousals, accordailles; bushes, broussailles; scissors, ciseaux; manners, mœurs; tears, pleurs; matins, matines; vespers, vêpres; darkness, ténèbres; rubbish, décombres.

Of Nouns of virtues and vices, and of those which represent ideas and sentiments in their abstract meaning.-The nouns alluded to in the title of this chapter, have no plural in their abstract meaning; but when they are used to designate the effects, acts, or results which arise from the existence of any virtue, vice, idea, or sentiment, they follow the general rule; therefore, in the following sentences, Kindness is a disposition which cannot be too highly appreciated, La bonté est une qualité qui ne saurait être trop appréciée; Beauty disappears, wit remains, La beauté passe, l'esprit reste; Man spends his life in looking for happiness, L'homme passe sa vie à chercher le bonheur; Charity is agreeable to God and useful to man, Le charité est agréable à Dieu et utile à l'homme; the nouns bonté, beauté, bonheur, and charité, being used in their abstract meaning, as representing virtues or qualities, but not the consequences of those qualities, have no plural; but in the following, Your family overwhelmed me with acts of kindness, Votre famille m'a comblê de bontés; There are beauties for all times and countries, Il y a des beautés de tous les temps et de tous les pays; With how many trifling instances of good luck is not the worldly man favoured? De combien de petits bonheurs l'homme du monde n'est-il pas entouré? This woman is a good Christian; she is very charitable; Cette femme est bonne Chrétienne; elle fait beaucoup de charités, the nouns bontés, beautés, bonheurs, and charités, no longer express mere qualities or abstract ideas; they represent several acts of kindness, different kinds of beauty, instances of good luck and charity, and, therefore, conveying an idea of individualities, they take the sign of the plural.

Remark.-If the above names of virtues, vices, &c., do not take the plural, it is because we consider, as a whole, what the mind cannot divide into several distinct individuals; and besides, those names which

Of Compound Nouns.-Of the formation of their plural.-The compound nouns that have not yet been introduced into the language as making a single word, that is to say, the distinct parts of which are still united by a hyphen, are written in the plural in the most irregular manner, and grammarians are far from agreeing about the rules which ought to regulate them; but there is a general indication which finds its application in most cases, and may be taken as a sure guide. I mean the nature and particular sense of the words of which they are composed, and which show easily those that require either of the two numbers.

Such is the general principle; the application of which will be rendered easy by the assistance of the following rules:

Of Nouns formed of a Noun and an Adjective.-When a compound noun is formed of a substantive and an adjective, both take the plural; as, A false-key, une fausse-clé. Some false-keys, des fausses clés. A freemason, un franc maçon. Freemasons, des francs-maçons.

Exceptions. A blank (papers signed in blank), un blanc-seing, des blancseing. A terra plain (places full of earth), un terreplein, des terre pleins. A light horsman, un chevau léger, des chevau légers. grandmother, une grand' mère, des grand' mères. A solemn mass, une grand' messe, des grand' messes.

A

In the two first examples, the sense does not allow the use of the plural for the words blanc and terre; in the third, a fantastic usage refuses to the noun the mark of the plural; in fine, in the two last, the adjective remains unchanged, on account of euphony in pronounciation.

When, in compound nouns, there is a word which is never used by itself, this word is considered as an adjective, and takes the plural: as in, Wary angle, pie-grièche, des pies-grièches. Were- wolf, loup garou, des loups - garous. Gum-gutta, Gommegutte, des gommes-guttes, &c.

In these examples, the words grièche garou, and gutte, are never used by themselves, and have no sense, unless they are joined to the above nouns.

Of Nouns formed of two Nouns.-When a compound noun is formed of two substan

It is evident that these locutions may be turned in this way; the towns which are chief towns, the dogs which are like wolves, the flowers which turn into cabbages, &c.

Exceptions. Fig - pecker (birds whose beaks peck figs), un bec-figues, des bec figues; painter's maul-stick (sticks to lean the hand upon), un appui-main, des appuis-main; a hospital for the sick in Paris (places to worship God, or under the patronage of God), un hôtel dieu, des hôtels dieu; a toothless man (a man who has a breach in his teeth), un brêche-dents, des brêchedents.

Of Nouns formed of two Nouns separated by a Preposition.-When a noun is composed of two substantives united by a preposition, the first takes the mark of the plural; as A rainbow (bows which are in the skies), un arc-en-ciel, des arcs-enciel. A master-piece (works which are chief ones as to their merits), un chef d'oeuvre, des chefs d'œuvre.

Exceptions.-Nonsense (discourses without sense, where one passes from the cock to the ass), un coq-à l'âne, des coq-à l'âne. Temporary residence (places where one puts only his foot on the ground) pied à terre, des pied á terre. Face to face (interviews during which a person is alone with another), tête à-tête, des tête-à-tête.

In these sentences the meaning of the words cock, foot, head, does not allow them to be placed in the plural.

Of Nouns formed of a Verb, a Preposition, or an Adverb, and a Noun.-When a substantive, in a compound noun, is joined to a verb, a preposition, or an adverb, the substantive alone takes the plural, if there is plurality in the meaning; so we write with an s the following words: A counter blow (blows in the counterpart), un contrecoup, des contre-coups; herald (runners who run ahead), avant coureur, des avant coureurs. The latter end of Autumn (seasons which are behind time), arrière saison, les arrière saisons.

Finally we write with an s, in the singular as well as in the plural, the following nouns, because there is always plurality in their signification: One or several towels (one or several towels to wipe the hands), un ou des essuye-mains; one or several snuffers-bearers (one or several instruments to hold the snuffers), un ou des porte-mouchettes; one or several toothpicks (one or several sticks to clean one's teeth), un ou des cure-dents; one or several key-bearers (one or several men who carry the keys), un ou des porte-clés.

Of Nouns formed of two indeclinable words.-When a compound noun is formed only of words which never vary, as verbs, prepositions, adverbs, none of these words take the mark of the plural; as, Servantfees, pour-boire, des pour-boire; a man who never laughs, un pince-sans-rire, des pincesans-rire; a skeleton-key, un passe-partout, des passe-partout.

Although these five rules contain what is of general application in the language to compound nouns, it will always be well, when a doubt arises in the mind, to refer to a good dictionary, as the only sure guide in so complicated a matter.

Of the Functions of the Noun in Language.-After having described the substantive in its different phases, it remains now to show how to use it as a part of speech, what place it occupies, and what its functions are in the construction of sentences.

The substantive has three functions of speech; it is either subject, or object, or used in the shape of an apostrophe. It is a subject when it represents that which is spoken of, or performs the action of the verb; when we say, The horse runs, le cheval court; the horse does not fly, le cheval ne vole pas, the noun horse is the subject, because, in the first sentence, we say, that it runs, and in the second, that it does not fly.

Un

just and firm modify the subject man, and the rest modifies a man just and firm.

The substantive is used in the apostrophe, when it designates the thing or person to

whom we speak; as, Kings, be attentive, Rois, soyez attentifs; earth, sea, and you, heavens, be sensible to our claims, Terre, mer, et vous, cieux, soyez sensibles à nos plaintes.

The substantives, kings, earth, sea, heavens, are used in the form of an apostrophe. The substantive is an object, when it is under the control of another word; in this case, it restrains the signification of that word. The substantive may be governed by another substantive, an adjective, a verb, or a preposition: The law of God, la loi de Dieu; useful to man, utile à l'homme; to love one's neighbour, aimer son prochain; at one's father's, chez son père.

The word which governs is called governing; the word which is governed is called regimen or object.

In French, a substantive cannot be the object of another substantive without the aid of a preposition, which is generally of, de, but sometimes, to, d, for, pour, and others; as, The difficulty of the enterprise; la difficulté de l'entreprise; the attention to one's business, l'attention à ses affaires; the taste for pleasure, le goût pour le plaisir. Of two substantives, one governing, the other governed, the one governing generally comes first. The beauty of feelings, la beauté des sentiments; the violence of passions, la violence des passions.

We have used the word generally, because sometimes the privilege of inversion changes that order.

Sometimes substantives change their nature into that of an adjective; in this phrase of Bossuet, All was God, except God himself, tout était Dieu, excepté Dieu luimême, God, in the first part, is an adjective, and a noun in the second.

(To be continued.)

SAN FRANCISCO IN A RAIN STORM.

AFTER a long and a monotonous spell of dry weather, dating from May last, during which the country has been parched, and the thirsty earth almost opened its baked lips and cried for moisture, the grateful rain has at last come, and all nature is the fresher and happier for the dispensation. San Francisco, particularly, has changed in its appearance. Instead of the diurnal dry winds, bearing before them clouds of penetrating dust, and now and then a flying beaver, the streets are wet and splashy with the continuous down-pour. The air is moist and warm. The rain sparkles in the

beards of the great-coated and booted multitude, who stump along, picking their way among the sidewalk puddles, or over the muddy street crossings, which until now have known no moisture through the summer but that of the sprinkling carts. The dampness imparts an additional freshness to the bloom in many a lady's cheek, at least to those who venture abroad. Men huddle together in the door-ways of saloons and cigar shops, and discuss the questions of the day. Umbrellas go dancing in sombre procession, augmenting in appear ance the restless throng, even as the boughs of trees did Macduff's army with the moving wood from Dunsinane. Dogs patter along with a wet and dismal aspect, as though unaccustomed to such innovations upon their usual fine weather. Draymen and cab and buss drivers roll moodily past, enveloped in oil-cloth, and with a half sulky look, indicative of a dislike of rain, although it fills their vehicles with people. Horses steam, as the evaporation goes on from their dampened hides, and over the pavements their iron-shod hoofs slip and clash as they splash through the wet. Storekeepers (all but the umbrella, clothing, and boot and hat sellers) look dubiously out of their doors and windows, and gloomily up at the leaden-hued clouds, which still threaten more wet. At night the scene in the principal thoroughfares is a little more lively. Then, the brilliant gas lights are reflected in thousands of pools and puddles, into which the rain falls steadily, causing a continual ripple on their muddy surfaces. The street lamps shed their cheering rays upon the scene the glasses dripping and running little aqueous streams, through which the light bravely struggles. A wet Chinaman clatters hurriedly past in his wooden shoes, bending half double, and his pinched-up face painfully expressive of extreme discomfort. Umbrellas jostle and hasten along; omnibusses rumble and splash. Night advances, the city gradually relapses into its nocturnal quiet, save the homeward plodding of belated wayfarers, the prowling of vigilant policemen, or the quick step of the never-weary reporters hurrying to their several offices with the latest news. A little longer even these are gone, and the streets are left to the dull pattering of the night rains, until daylight brings with it the advent of the milkman, market waggons, hot coffee stands, and the hurrying news paper carrier, who seem to monopolise the otherwise silent streets, until the diurnal hum of business again announces that day has returned.