56

Les Mexicains, effrayés de la détonation des armes à feu, crurent que les Espagnols étaient des divinités armées du tonnerre.

Obs. 2. The same rule holds good with quotations from letters, speeches, documents, etc. :—

Je reçus sa lettre : il me priait de lui donner de mes nouvelles.

Obs. 3. As compared with English, the Imparfait answers the following different forms :

He used (was wont) to say,

He kept on saying; he would say ;
He was saying.

Il disait.

$ 70. The Past Indefinite (Present Perfect) expresses, its composition—Present of Auxiliary Verb + Past Participle, implies, a fact now past (Synoptic Table, II., b);

it is used

(a) like the English Present Perfect, to denote a fact accomplished in a period not yet elapsed at the time of speaking; as,

au

Il a fait bien chaud jourd'hui (cette semaine, etc.) Il y a longtemps que je ne l'ai

vu.

I have not seen him for a long time.

(b) contrary to English usage, to denote a fact, the result of which, rather than the action itself, is present to the mind; in familiar conversation and correspondence it is almost exclusively used to express past events; as,

au

Je travaillais au jardin; premier coup de marteau j'ai couru si vite que je suis tombé en chemin.

De quoi est-il mort ?-Il est mort d'une fluxion de poitrine.

Obs.

I was working in the garden;
at the first knock at the door
Iran so quickly that I fell
down on the way.
What did he die of?-He died
of an inflammation of the
lungs.

For the English Present Perfect rendered by the French Present after il y a, etc., see § 64.

The following extract from Volney will illustrate the contrast between Imparfait, Prétérit and Indéfini better than any detached sentences could do :

LES RUINES DE PALMYRE.

Le soleil venait de se coucher; un bandeau rougeâtre marquait encore sa trace à l'horizon lointain des monts de la Syrie ; la pleine lune, à l'orient, s'élevait sur un fond bleuâtre; le ciel était pur, l'air calme et serein; l'éclat mourant du jour tempérait l'horreur des ténèbres...l'ombre croissait, et déjà mes regards ne distinguaient plus que les fantômes blanchâtres des colonnes et des murs... Ces lieux solitaires, cette soirée paisible, cette scène majestueuse imprimèrent à mon esprit un recueillement religieux. L'aspect d'une grande cité déserte, la mémoire des temps passés, là comparaison de l'état présent, tout éleva mon coeur à de hautes pensées. Je m'assis sur le tronc d'une colonne, je m'abandonnai à une rêverie profonde. Et l'histoire des temps passés se retraça vivement à ma pensée, je me rappelai ces siècles anciens où vingt peuples anciens existaient dans ces contrées; je me peignis l'Assyrie sur les rives du Tigre.. Cette Syrie, me disais-je,* aujourd'hui presque dépeuplée, comptait alors cent villes puissantes Ah, que sont devenus cès âges d'abondance et de vie? Que sont devenues tant de brillantes créations de la main de l'homme ? Les temples se sont écroulés, les palais sont renversés...

...

$71. The Plusqueparfait and Passé Antérieur correspond to the English Pluperfect, and both express action past in a time itself past, but with the same distinction between the two as already established between Imparfait and Pretérit ($ 65-66), from which they are severally derived, i.e.:

The Plusqueparfait denotes facts usually done or already in progress, whilst the Passé Antérieur denotes single facts just accomplished, at a period itself past; as,

Quand j'avais dîné, j'allais me

promener.

Quand j'eus dîné, j'allai me promener.

Every time when I had dined

I used to go for a walk. When I had dined I went for a walk.

* Me dis-je (Preterite) would be quite correct here; with this difference however, that it would imply that the thought struck him then, whilst the Imparfait denotes that it gradually arose along with the ideas mentioned before.

S'il avait travaillé* il serait

riche maintenant.

Dès qu'il eut fini† il partit.

If he had worked, he would be rich now.

As soon as he had finished, he set off.

*A fact not accomplished (§ 66, Obs.). + Accomplished fact (§ 66, Obs.).

Obs.

In accordance with this distinction, the Passé Antérieur is used almost exclusively with Conjunctions of Time:—

quand, lorsque, when ; après que, after; à peine... que, hardly .when; dès que, aussitôt que, as soon as; ne... pas plus tot ... que, no sooner... than:

Elle n'eut pas plus tôt appris cette nouvelle qu'elle se mit à pleurer.

§ 72. The Future Present and Future Perfect are used as in English to express actions expected to happen or to be accomplished at some future time; with this difference between the two languages that after the Conjunctions of

time

when quand, lorsque; as soon as dès que, aussitôt que; as long as tant que, aussi longtemps que; English usage admits of the Present (Simple or Perfect) being employed instead of the Future (Simple or Perfect), whilst in French the latter only may be used; as,

Quand il viendra faites-le

monter.

When he comes show him up

sown.

Comp. Lat. Ut sementem feceris, ita metes.

Thus also in many idiomatic phrases :—

Advienne que pourra.
Comme il vous plaira.
Rira bien qui rira le dernier.
Ecrive qui voudra.

Obs. 1. After si the Future used when si means whether, but

when:

Come what may.
As you like it.

Let him laugh who wins.
Let him write who likes.

(or Conditional) is generally only
hardly ever when it means if or

Obs. 3. Here may be classed the Immediate Future (Syn. Table, III., b and c) viewed from the Present or Past :

La marée va monter.

La marée allait monter.

The tide is about to rise.

The tide was about to rise.

Obs. 4. An action to be done, whether viewed from the Present or Past is rendered by the Present or Past of devoir :

Je dois aller ; je devais aller.

I am to go; I was to gʊ.

THE CONDITIONAL.

Résumé.

The Conditional used in

I. Principal Clauses

(a) dependent on a contingency, (b) for the sake of deference.

II. Dependent Clauses-as a Future Imperfect.

Obs. The Conditional in Concessive Clauses.

The Conditional (Present and Past) has two main functions; it is used

$73. I. In Principal Clauses

(a) to express an Action, the accomplishment of which depends on a condition either expressed in a subordinate clause or understood (the Verb in the Conditional does not, itself, as the term would seem to imply, express the condition, see § 74) :—

Je me serais plus compagnie.*

Je n'irais certainement pas.†

I should reward him if he
worked.

I should have rewarded him
if he had worked.
I should be pleased
I should have been

with your

company.

pleased
I'should certainly not go.

* The Condition expressed by an Adverbial phrase votre compagnie.

=

si j'étais dans

+ The Condition understood:-si j'étais à votre place. (b) to express a Wish, Assertion, Supposition, or Doubt, etc., with deference or reserve; as,

Je voudrais bien vous parler en particulier.

Je parierais qu'il est innocent.

I should like to talk to you privately.

?

I should wager anything that
he is innocent.
What, you presume
Can it be true that he has been
elected?

I am afraid I cannot tell you.

Obs. 1. Here may be classed the use of the Conditional to state indirectly a fact for the accuracy of which the writer does not want to be responsible ::

Selon le journal du soir un incendie se serait déclaré hier au Havre; vingt maisons auraient été consumées.

Obs. 2. The Pluperfect Subjunctive is frequently used instead of the

Conditional Past ;

Quiconque l'eût dit, eût (aurait) passé pour un visionnaire,

$74. II. In Dependent Clauses as a Future Imperfect,* ¿.e., to express a Future contingency viewed from the Past

*This use of the Conditional is the natural outcome of the formation of that tense, which is in strict analogy with the formation of the Future: for just as the Future is formed by

the Infinitive + Present of Auxiliary Verb :

aimer -ai, -as, -a; -(av)ons, -(av)ez, -ont.

so the Conditional by

the Infinitive + Imperfect of Auxiliary Verb :

aimer -(av)ais, -(av)ais, -(av)ait; -(av)ions; -(av)iez; -(av)aient. See Second Year, § 45, 5. Compare also Max Müller's Lectures on

Language II., Sixth Lecture.