The French Verb, Its Conjugation and Idiomatic Use (Classic Reprint)

The object of this work is to show the complete conjugations of all French verbs and to illustrate their idiomatic use. The idea of the author is that when a student learns to conjugate a verb, he should also learn how to use it. It is as necessary to know what preposition, if any, follows a verb before an infinitive as it is to know the gender of a noun. It is also necessary to know how to form a sentence with the verb. The arrangement of the book is based on the system used at the United States Military A cademy, where the object is to impart a thorough working knowledge of the French language in the most practical way and in the shortest time possible. The verb is to a language what the steel frame is to a building. Hence at theM ilitary Academy the Verb Book is a companion to the Grammar and the Reader. As soon as the cadet acquires a knowledge of the rules of pronunciation and has begun the study of the grammar, he is set to learning each day to conjugate in full at least one verb. He is taken step by step through the auxiliary verbs, the regular verbs (models), the verbs having orthographical peculiarities, the reflexive, the impersonal, the irregular verbs, and the defective verbs. When he has gone through the Verb Book, he starts over again at the beginning. So throughout the course of nine months he has to be prepared each day to write a verb in full on the blackboard. The results attained have proved the wisdom of the plan. The secretof successful instruction lies in the arrangement and the method of presentation of the subject. In this book the arrangement is one for practical resultsj and the following distinguishing points may be noted: 1. Conjugation at the beginning of the constantly used verbs avoir, I tre, faire, and aller. 2. Information with each verb conjugated in the text as to the use of prepositions (if any) before infinitives. 3. Exam (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don’t occur in the book.)