Book Description

Excerpt from The French Verb: Its Conjugation and Idiomatic Use 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 Academy, 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 the Military 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 re exive, 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 secret of successful instruction lies in the arrangement and the method of presentation of the subject. In this book the arrangement is one for practical results, and the following distinguishing points may be noted. 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."