Excerpt from A Practical French Grammar: With Exercises and Illustrative Sentences From French Authors This volume is the outcome of the author's experience as a teacher Of French during many years in one Of the departments Of Yale College. The design had in view in it has been to furnish for such classes, and for preparatory schools (where training in French is coming to be more and more demanded), a grammar which 'should combine the advantages of practice and theory in a higher degree than others now existing. To this end, the most important facts Of the language have been grouped and arranged in a series of Lessons, in an order suggested by practical con venience, each Lesson being accompanied by sufficient Exercises. These Lessons constitute the First or Practical Hart of the grammar, which it is expected that every learner Of the language will work through. Its general plan, while not unlike the method followed in many gram mars, is so far accordant especially with that of the widely used and valued conversation-grammar of Otto, that it may fairly be said to be founded upon the latter - though no more than that, since both text and Exercises are eu tirely new, and deviations from the Older plan not only numerous, but Of much importance. As one example among many, a more systematic course is followed in the important item of the learner's introduction to the verbs all the principal forms are learned and practised, one after another, before any complete paradigm is set forth; and the commonest and most useful Of the irregular verbs are worked in by degrees, before they are taken up as a body. It is believed that the method here adopted Of presenting and teaching the irregular verbs has decided practical advan tages over any other, and lightens, as much as it is possible to lighten, this heaviest burden in French grammar. In the Exercises, care has been taken not to embarrass the learner with long lists Of words Of which little use is to be made, but rather to make him practise over and over a more limited and slowly increasing vocabulary. If, in the case Of any class, the Lessons are found too long, the intelligent teacher will easily divide the Exercises, returning to take up what was omitted, in the course Of that review and reiteration by which alone the desired degree Of mastery of the material can be Obtained. Where an early introduction to reading is especially aimed at, the Exercises may be reduced to a minimum, and (so much like English are French words and construction) a Reader or a text can be taken up as soon as the auxiliaries, the regular conjugations, and a few'of the commonest irregular verbs are learned. This summary process will be greatly aided by the French Vocabulary, in which are to be found, besides many of the Oftenest used words Of the language, nearly all the form-words - the auxiliaries, the articles and pronouns, and the prepositions and conjunctions - with full references to the explanations and illustrations of their use that are given in the volume. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.