41. IV. Adjectives may be used as Substantives by prefixing an Article. In speaking of Persons, the Adjective may be used substantively both in the Singular and Plural, as: le sage, un imprudent, les bons, &c. In speaking of Things, in the Singular only, as : Le beau et le vrai sont inséparables. 42. V. Adjectives of Quality are occasionally used as Adverbs, in which case they remain invariable, as: Alas, said I, he has paid dear, very dear for his whistle. Such are: Bas (low) in parler bas, as :-Ne parlez pas si bas. Vite (fast) in marcher vite, as :-Marchez plus vite. Clair (distinctly) in voir clair, as :-Il n'y voit pas clair. And many others. Demi (half) placed before the Noun is invariable, placed after, it agrees, as : Une demi-heure. Dans une heure et demie. Nu (bare) is invariable when it precedes the Substantive, without itself being preceded by an Article; in this case, it is joined to the Noun by a Hyphen, as : Ces filles marchent nu-pieds, these girls walk bare-footed. In every other case it agrees, as:-La vérité toute nue, the bare truth. La nue propriété, the bare ownership. In clair-semé (thin-sown), court-vêtu (short-coated), and nouveau-né (new-born), the first part of the Adjective remains invariable under any circumstances, the second agrees, as :-Des filles nouveau-nées. 43. 44. 45. VI. Adjectives referring to the phrase quelque chose (something) are to be put in the Masculine, and the Preposition de inserted after " quelque chose," as:J'ai quelque chose de bon pour toi, mon garçon. I have something good for you, my boy. VII. Adjectives referring to the word gens (people) are Masculine when they follow that word; Feminine when they precede, as :— Les vieilles gens sont souvent soupçonneux, Old people are often suspicious. This rule admits of no exception as far as concerns the Adjectives that follow the word gens, but The Indefinite Adjective tout, when placed immediately before the word gens is Masculine, as : Tous les gens de bien le croient, all good people think so. Should the Adjective have a different form for the Feminine, tout would become Feminine also, as:-Toutes les bonnes gens. Further, the Adjective or Participle placed at the head of a Sentence, of which gens is the Nominative, is always to be put in the Masculine, as: Instruits par l'expérience, les vieilles gens sont soupçonneux. Compound Nouns formed with the word gens, as gens de lettres (literary men), gens d'affaires (business men), always govern the Masculine, whether the Adjective precedes or follows them. VIII. It is no longer considered desirable to insert the Preposition de before an Adjective or Participle qualifying a Noun preceded by a Numeral; but the Preposition should always be inserted when the Noun is understood or its place supplied by the Pronominal Adverb en, as :— Il y eut cent hommes tués et deux cents de blessés. There were a hundred men killed and two hundred wounded. V.-Degrees of Comparison. 46. I. French Adjectives and Adverbs form the Comparative by placing one of the Adverbs plus, moins, aussi before the Positive. Comparatives formed by means of The Adverb plus are called Comparatives of Superiority. moins 47. 48. When the Sentence is negative si may be used instead of aussi in Comparatives of Equality. II. Three Adjectives, together with their corresponding Adverbs, have irregular Comparatives, viz.: ADJECTIVES. Bon, good; Comp., meilleur. Petit, small, little; Comp., ADVERBS. Bien, well; Comp., mieux. Mal, badly; Comp., pis or plus mal. Peu, little; Comp., moins. Notice that mauvais, mal, and petit have also regularly formed Comparatives. Rem.--As the English Comparatives better, worse, and less are both Adjectives and Adverbs, you may find some difficulty at first in distinguishing between meilleur and mieux, pire and pis, &c.; but a little practice will soon make the matter easy. III. The Superlative is invariably formed by prefix. ing the Definite Article to the Comparative, as : Le plus grand, le plus aimable, le meilleur, le mieux. 49. IV. When the Superlative is used as an Adjective, the Article agrees in Gender and Number; but it remains invariable when the Superlative is used as an Adverb, as : Ces demoiselles sont les plus aimables de toute la ville (Adjective). There is one case where the application of this rule may present some difficulty, it is the following: 50. If the comparison bears not on different objects of the same class, but on the different qualities or states of the same object, the Comparative is used adverbially and the Article is invariable, as :— C'est à Nantes que la Loire est le plus large. Of course we should say: La Loire est la plus grande rivière de la France. 51. V. The Article is to be repeated before every Superlative, even when the different Adjectives quality the same Noun, as: Bacon was the wisest, brightest, and meanest of mankind. Bacon fut le plus sage, le plus brillant et le plus vil des hommes. 52. 53. VI. The Superlative is used in French, and not the Comparative as in English, in speaking of two persons or things. It has already been explained that no traces of the Dual Number are to be found in French. VII. In English the two parts of the comparison are connected by the Conjunction than in the case of 54. 55. Comparatives of superiority or inferiority, and by the Il est plus grand que moi, He is taller than I. Il est aussi grand que moi, He is as tall as I. (1) More, not followed by than, is to be translated by davantage, unless preceded by a Preposition, as :-J'en ai davantage, but: rien de plus. (2) More, is sometimes followed by than and a Numeral, when there is no real comparison, as : She is more than twelve years old, Elle a plus de douze ans. In that case translate than by de. (3) The Preposition by, after a Comparative, is also translated by de, as : He is taller than I by a head, Il est plus grand que moi d'une tête. Or, more generally : Il a une tête de plus que moi, (4) By far should be rendered by beaucoup before the Comparative, and by de beaucoup after, as : Il est beaucoup plus grand que moi, or, il est plus grand que moi de beaucoup. VIII. When the Verb is omitted in the second part of the comparison, use the Independent or Emphatic form of the Personal Pronouns, viz, -moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles, soi, as : : She is older than I, Elle est plus âgée que moi. IX. If the Verb is expressed, use the Enclitic or Weak form of the Personal Pronouns, viz. :-je, tu, il, |