Je vous dérange ? * Do I disturb you ? ' Compare ne

vous dérangez pas ! ' don't disturb yourself ! '

23. est-ce drôle ? ' is it not odd ? ' In exclamatory expressions like this one the French often prefer the positive, while the English prefer the négative. Compare est-ce

Notes. 43

Page. Line.

assez hête ? * isn't it awfully stupid ? ' ; y en a-t-il ? ' aren't there heaps of them ? ' and many other phrases.

5. 1. ça avale du verre, *they eat glass.' Ça (contraction of cela), in familiar discourse, is often used in a plural sensé as hère, in speaking of animais and even of men. Note how the comedy is pushed to the very verge of absurdity.