LESSON VII

Interrogative pronouns who and whom. — Verbs requiring auxiliary avoir. — Verbs requiring auxiliary être. — Verbs requiring either avoir or être. — The definite article with names of countries and cities. — Irregular verbs aller, venir, devenir, revenir

24. The interrogative pronouns who, whom, are expressed by qui.

a. As subject of verb, and predicate nominative:

Qui a fait ce pain-ci? x Who made this bread?

Qui est cet homme-là ? Who is that man ?

1 Qui est-ce qui fait ce pain-ci ? is not so blunt as Qui fait ce pain-ci ? Qui est-ce que vous avez appelé? is not so blunt as Qui avez-vous appelé ? Likewise the same difference exists between Avec qui est-ce que vous jouez ? and Avec qui jouez-vous ?

Il8 GRAMMAR REVIEW

b. As object of verb:

Qui avez-vous appelé? 1 Whom did you call?

c. As object of preposition :

Avec qui jouez-vous? * With whom are you playing?

A qui est ce livre? To whom does this book belong?

(Whose book is this?)

25. Verbs requiring auxiliary avoir. — Avoir -f- the past participle forms the compound tenses of all transitive, and of most intransitive verbs.

Nous avons chanté. We sang. Elle a couru. She ran.

Ils ont fini. They finished. Vous avez vendu. You sold.

Il avait marché. He had walked. Elles ont parlé. They spoke.

26. Verbs requiring auxiliary être. — Être + the past participle forms :

a. Passive voice, and the compound tenses of reflexive verbs.2

Il est aimé. He is loved. Il s'est levé. He got up.

Je suis battu. / am beaten. Je me suis couché. / went to bed.

b. A number of intransitive verbs denoting motion or change of condition. The following are the most common of this class, and should be memorized by the student :

aller, to go rester, to remain, stay

arriver, to arrive revenir, to come back, return

descendre, to go {come ) down (stairs) sortir, to go out, come out

devenir, to become tomber, to fall

entrer, to enter, go (come) in venir, to come

monter, to go up (stairs) mourir, to die

partir, to set out, leave naître, to be born rentrer, to go (come) in again, return

1 See note on page 117.

2 Remember that reflexive verbs are conjugated thus : je me lave, tu te laves, il (elle) se lave, nous nous lavons, vous vous lavez, ils (elles) se lavent in the present indicative.

Son frère est allé à l'école. His brother went to school.

Le chien est tombé. The dog fell.

Le roi est mort. The king is dead {died).

Je suis venu. I came.

27. Verbs requiring either avoir or être. — There are a number of these verbs which are sometimes conjugated with avoir, and at other times with être. When avoir is used, an action is indicated ; when être is used, a state or condition resulting from an action is indicated. The most common of these verbs are the following :

descendre, tr., to take down sortir, tr., to take out

monter, tr., to take up rentrer, tr., to take in

J'ai rentré le linge. / took (brought) in the clothes.

Il a monté le charbon. He took (brought) up the coal.

Nous avons descendu le tableau. We look down the picture.