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Page 47
The force, in English, is "was . . . -ing."
E.g., l. 12: _je vivais s�par�e_ = "I was living apart."
l. 58: . . . _attendaient leur arr�t_ = "were awaiting their doom."
B. IF THE ACTION IS STATED WITH REFERENCE EITHER TO ITS BEGINNING, OR
TO ITS END, OR TO BOTH, the PASS� D�FINI is used.
Thus _a. Simple occurrence_, which is the introduction of a new action
now beginning to take place, takes the _pass� d�fini_.
E.g., l. 19: . . . _ajouta-t-il_, . . . = "he [then] added."
l. 26: . . . _qui sauva nos a�eux_ = "which [once before] saved our
forefathers."
l. 494.: _il trembla pour sa vie_ = "he began to tremble for his life."
_b. Continuous duration through a completed period of time_ which may
be expressed or implied, takes the _pass� d�fini_.
E.g., l. 4: . . . _fus de mes premiers ans la compagne assidue_ =
"wast the constant companion of my earliest years."
l. 272: . . . _qui ne furent jamais_ = "who never [in all time] had
existence."
l. 477: . . . _il fut des Juifs_ = "there was once [but is no more] a
race of Jews."
NOTE that the action may be stated as recurring a given or indefinite
number of times, and yet the verb will not be in the imperfect.
E.g., l. 249: _Mon pere mille fois m'a dit_ . . .
l. 531: _Et j'ai p�li deux fois_. . . .
If the imperfect were used here, the meaning would be "My father used
to tell me a thousand times," i.e., he told me 1000 X n times, and in
the second sentence, "I grew pale 2 X n times."
The student is recommended to account to himself carefully for the
different tenses used in contrast to one another in the following
passages:
ll. 4 and 6; 72 and 73; 1058 sqq. and 1073; 1074 to 1082.
PASS� IND�FINI.
With regard to the third tense, the PASS� IND�FINI, there is no
difficulty. It is used:
_A_. Precisely like the English compound of the past.
E.g., l. 30: _le ciel a-t-il conduit_ . . . = "has heaven brought
about. . ."
l. 158: _a . . . conduit vos pas_ = "has guided your footsteps."
_B_. As a colloquial form of the passe defini in all its uses.
E.g., l. 24: _j'ai su trouver_ = "I succeeded in finding."
l. 399: . . . _que j'ai laiss� plus calme_ = "whom I left . . ."
APPENDIX III.
_ACTIVE INFINITIVES WITH PASSIVE MEANING_.
_Faire_, _laisser_, and a very few verbs of physical perception, such
as _voir_, _entendre_, _sentir_, are idiomatically used before an
active infinitive which assumes a passive meaning. E.g., _J'ai fait
faire un habit_, "I have had a coat made."
These constructions are due to the dropping of the obvious subject of
the infinitive ("I made [the tailor] make a coat") which must be
supplied in order to account for the form.
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