VERBS INFLECTIONS AND ORTHOGRAPHICAL

ALTERATIONS

The major inflections (“désinences verbales”) of ordinary verbs are: S (works) ING (working)
ED (worked)

1. Rules of pronunciation of verb inflections

CORRESPONDING
VOICELESS CONSONANTS VOICED CONSONANTS
(« CONSONNES SOURDES ») (« CONSONNES SONORES »)
t d
p b
f v
s z
k g
 (shoes)  (measure)
t (church)  (judge)
 (cloth), (mouth) ð (this), (that)
w
l
ŋ (king), (ring)
n
m
h

 The sound [t] is pronounced without the vibration of the vocal cords. It is said to be a
voiceless sound. With the vibration of the vocal cords my [t] would become a [d] (voiced
sound). We can oppose likewise [p] and [b], [k] et [g], [f] and [v], [s] and [z] [] and [], [t
] and [], etc.

 The consonant sounds [l[ [n] [m] [w] [ ŋ] are voiced but have no voiceless equivalent.
Likewise the voiceless consonant sound [h] has no voiced equivalent.
 All vowel sounds are voiced (their production always requires the vibration of the vocal
cords).

 While pronouncing ‘s’ and ‘ed’ inflections, the general rule requires that a voiceless sound
follows another voiceless sound and a voiced sound (voiced consonant or any vowel
sound) another voiced one. EG. Since the final sound of “stop” is voiceless ([p]), the ‘s’
inflection of “stops” is pronounced [s]. For the same reason the ‘s’ of “opens” is
pronounced [z] (voiced) instead of [s] (voiceless): the final sound of “open” ([n]) is voiced.

 The ‘ed’ inflection is pronounced [t] for verbs whose infinitive ends with a voiceless sound
(stopped, laughed, sniffed, asked) but it is pronounced [d] for verbs whose infinitive ends
with a voiced sound (voiced consonant or any vowel sound): opened, called, cried, agreed,
travelled, etc.
  For verbs whose infinitive ends with a [t] or a [d] sound, the ‘ed’ inflection is pronounced
[id]: wanted, added, rented, patted, waded etc.

 The final sound of the following adjectives also is [id], even though they don’t end with a [t] or
a [d]:

Beloved Naked
Blessed (bienheureux) Ragged (en haillons)
Cursed (maudit) Rugged (rugueux)
Dogged (obstiné) Sacred
Jagged (déchiqueté) Wicked
Learned (cultivé, érudit) Wretched (misérable)
NB: (These are different from the past participle of the verbs to bless, to curse, etc.)

2. Single or double consonant before ‘ing’ and ‘ed’ inflections?

 The rule
(a) Sit ⇒ Sitting (e) Develop ⇒ Developing ⇒ Developed
(b) Permit ⇒ Permitting ⇒ Permitted (f) Read ⇒ Reading
(c) Visit ⇒ Visiting ⇒ Visited (g) Recur ⇒ Recurring ⇒ Recurred
(d) Conceal ⇒ ⇒
Concealing Concealed (h) Consider ⇒ Considering ⇒ Considered

A single consonant letter at the end of the base is doubled before ‘ing’ and ‘ed’ inflections when
two conditions are met:
1.- This consonant is preceded by one, and only one, vowel.
2.- The final syllable is stressed

Condition 1 (only one vowel) is met in (a), (b), (c), etc., but not in (d) and (f).
Condition 2 (final syllable stressed) is met in (a), (b), (f) and (g), not in (c), (e) (h).
The two conditions (= doubling) are met in (a), (b) and (g).
Remember that condition 2 is always met with monosyllabic verbs: (a) and (f) for instance.

 The exceptions
Condition 1 is not met for “dial” and condition 2 is not met for “cancel”, “counsel”, “model”,
“signal”, “worship”, “handicap”, “kidnap”. In American English where the rule is generally
respected, the final consonant is not doubled for these verbs. But it generally is in British English.
“Canceled” “worshiping”, “dialed” “kidnaping” are usually American whereas “cancelled”,
“worshipping”, “dialled”, “kidnapping” are rather British. “Programme” (“programming”,
“programmed”, without however condition 2 being met) is used in both American and British
English, while “program” (“programing”, “programed”) is quite exclusively American.

 Verbs ending with c

Their ‘ed’ and ‘ing’ forms are always preceded with ck, be their final syllable stressed or not:
Panic ⇒ panicking Traffic ⇒ trafficking

 Some verbs ending with s …

Some verbs those base ends with ‘s’ have their ‘ing’ and ‘ed’ forms spelt with one or two ‘s’
To bias ⇒ biased / biased / biasing / biassing To bus ⇒ bused / bussed / busing / bussing
To focus ⇒ focused / focussed / focusing / focussing
FIND THE ‘ED’ AND ‘ING’ FORMS OF THE FOLLOWING VERBS

INFINITIVE ING PAST PARTICIPLE INFINITIVE ING FORM PAST

FORM PARTICIPLE
Hit Admit
Profit Develop
Submit Kidnap
Suffer Rebel
Refer Function
Order Edit
Differ Worship
Confer Swim
Stain Transmit
Remember Stab
Transfer Deter
Commission Recur
Rape Hasten
dispel Travel
Signal Sin
Recruit Cancel
Blur Recover
Open focus
Convert excel
exert Grip
handicap Record
disdain Traffic
murmur panic
murder label
 THE ENGLISH NOUN

1. NUMBER: SINGULAR AND PLURAL OF ENGLISH NOUNS

a) The regular plural: ‘s’ added to the base

a bee ⇒ bees a cat ⇒ cats a chair ⇒ chairs
knob ⇒ knobs a pot ⇒ pots a dog ⇒ dogs

 The ‘s’ inflection is pronounced [s] after non sibilant voiceless consonants ([t], [p], [f], [k], [•]
[›]. EG. cats, pots.

 The ‘s’ inflection is pronounced [z] after non sibilant voiced sounds: voiced consonants ([d],
[b], [v], [w], [g], [l], [m], [n], [ð]) and vowel sounds. EG. dogs, knobs, bees, chairs clothes

b) Irregular plural of nouns ending in sibilant or hushing sounds (“sifflantes” et

“chuintantes”)
 After a sibilant or hushing sound the ‘s’ inflection of the plural becomes ‘es’ and is
pronounced [iz]: box ⇒ boxes ash ⇒ ashes match ⇒ matches.

 When in a singular noun the hissing or hushing sound ends in ‘e’, the plural is morphologically
regular (there is no additional ‘e’) and only phonetically irregular (only the pronunciation
changes to become [iz]): bridge ⇒ bridges judge ⇒ judges horse ⇒ horses).

NB: Because they wrongly think that “clothes” is the plural of “cloth” (the two words don’t mean
the same!) some people pronounce “clothes” [kluðiz] whereas the correct pronunciation of the
word is [kluðz] (and that of “cloth” is [kl]).

c) Irregular plural with major orthographical alterations

calf ⇒ calves child ⇒ children phenomenon ⇒ phenomena

half ⇒ halves ox ⇒ oxen criterion ⇒ criteria
loaf ⇒ loaves foot ⇒ feet datum ⇒ data
thief ⇒ thieves tooth ⇒ teeth medium ⇒ media (French: “les médias”)
self ⇒ selves woman ⇒ women crisis ⇒ crises
shelf ⇒ shelves mouse ⇒ mice analysis ⇒ analyses
(But: belief beliefs) goose ⇒ geese thesis ⇒ theses
⇒

d) Nouns whose plural is similar to the singular (invariable nouns)

A sheep ⇒ many sheep a swine ⇒ many swine a craft ⇒ many craft
A means ⇒ many means a series ⇒ many series a species ⇒ many species

e) Singular invariable nouns (no plural nouns)

 -ics nouns (subjects, sciences, etc.)

Mathematics Linguistics Ethics Phonetics Gymnastics, etc.

 Some games, diseases, etc.

Draughts (jeu de dame) billiards (le billard) measles (rougeole) crossroads (carrefour)
Barracks (caserne) works (usine) gallows (le gibet), etc.

 Names of countries
“The United States is …”, “The Philippines has…”, “The Netherlands was…”, etc.

 Plural invariable nouns (no singular nouns)

- Summation plurals: trousers shorts scissors
spectacles scales jeans, etc.

Cattle (“the cattle are …”) poultry vermin

 Other plural-only nouns ending in “s”

Goods Contents (table of contents = table des matières) morals stairs
Damages (in the legal sense of money: to claim damages) accommodations funds
Archives bowels clothes customs premises (lieu, local) wages

 The case of the “collective” nouns

Some nouns referring to collective notions (family, government, police, etc.) are used either as
singular or as plural nouns, depending on the intended meaning. We generally use the plural
when referring to the members of the group.
For instance when I say “The police are talking to some eye-witnesses”, “The police have
sealed off the area”, “There should be more police patrolling the streets of Saint-Louis”, I refer to
the policemen or policewomen (several entities). But when I say: “The federal police is
complaining that…”, I refer to the police as an institution (one entity).
Likewise I can say either “The family has accepted to pay the ransom” or “The family have
accepted to pay the ransom”, “The family is/are terribly shocked by the news”, “The
Senegalese government is/are determined to take up the challenge”.

 “Noncount” nouns (also called “uncount nouns” or “uncounts”) (=“noms indénombrables”)

Many notions which except the plural in a tongue may not accept it in another. For instance,
while many of their French equivalents accept the plural, the following English notions don’t
accept the plural (they can’t be counted in English):
Luggage baggage information advice furniture knowledge business
Anger behaviour courage leisure chess shopping fun
Research photography fruit fish progress homework traffic

NB: We can say however “3 fishes” when we refer to particular individuals (“yesterday I caught
3 fish” or “3 fishes”), “fruits” when we use the term figuratively (“the fruits of my work”) or
when I refer to the species (“mango and banana are tropical fruits”).

2. GENDER IN ENGLISH

a) Dual (non differentiated) gender (“genre indéterminé”)

“Dual gender” refers to the cases where the male and the female bear the same name or title
EG. a male/female teacher, cook, doctor, person, friend, cousin, Italian, inhabitant, singer, Jew
(sometimes the female Jew is called “Jewess”)

b) Differentiated gender
 Morphologically marked gender
The name of the female seems to derive morphologically from that of the male:
Hero ⇒ heroine god ⇒ goddess waiter ⇒ waitress
Prince ⇒ princess host ⇒ hostess tiger ⇒ tigress
Lion ⇒ lioness actor ⇒ actress poet ⇒ poetess
In some cases, it is the name of the male which seems to derive from that of the female: the male is
marked:
Widow (female) ⇒ widower (male) bride (female) ⇒ bridegroom (male) cat (female) ⇒ tomcat
(male).

 Morphologically unmarked gender

The name of the male is morphologically different from that of the female

Boy ⇒ girl father ⇒ mother bachelor ⇒ spinster king ⇒ queen

Monk ⇒ nun nephew ⇒ niece dog ⇒ bitch ram ⇒ ewe
gander ⇒ goose bull ⇒ cow stallion ⇒ mare cock ⇒ hen

NB: Remember that “bitch” is often used very pejoratively in informal or colloquial English
(= “une putain”).

c) Gender of names of countries and cities

 As geographical units, they usually have the neutral gender: “it…”, “its…”
France is quite large. Its area is much larger than…

 As political and economic units, they often have the feminine gender
- Senegal has developed her production…

 The female gender is also sometimes given to names of vehicles and ships
- The Titanic sank not long after she was built.

3. MAKING COMPOUND NOUNS (“noms composés”)

 Some compounds are made by adding a deverbal noun to the subject
A headache a toothache rainfall earthquake
Landslide beestings nightfall heartbeat
Sunrise sunset, etc.

 Some compounds are made by adding a subject to the verb

A hangman a watchdog a playboy

 Some compounds are made by adding the subject to an “ing” verbal noun
A firing squad, a washing machine, etc.

 Some compounds are made by adding a deverbal noun to the object

A birth-control a haircut a handshake a self-control, etc.

 Some compounds are made by adding an “ing” verbal noun to the object
Air-conditioning brainwashing sightseeing
 Some compounds are made by adding an adverbial noun to an “ing” verbal noun
A hiding-place a waiting room a walking machine
A sewing machine a frying pan a cooking pot

 Some compounds are made by adding a noun to an adjective

A blackboard a madman a blackbird (un merle)
grey matter a hothouse
 PERSONAL PRONOUNS
The main English personal pronouns are:
a) Subjects: I, you, he she, it we, they. (In classical and biblical English: thou [ðau].)
b) Complements: me, you, him, her, it, us, them. (In classical and biblical English: thee [ði:]
c) Reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves,
themselves. In classical and biblical English: thyself [ðai 4self]
d) Reciprocal pronouns: each other, one another, one, etc.

 Contrary to French, in English the personal pronoun is generally not repeated

- Eux ils ne savent pas, mais toi, tu le sais = mais toi si. (They don’t know, but you do!)
- Toi et ton médecin vous avez …(You and your doctor have…)
- Lui et moi nous sommes de vieux copains. (He and I are old buddies.)

1. The personal pronoun: subject or complement? Beware!

- She is older than I (instead of “She is older than me”. She as a subject requires the use
of another subject for the second term of the comparison: I. Two subjects: She ⇒ I).
- I thought her to be older than me (Two complements: her ⇒ me).
- It is I who bought the flowers (I = subject).
- Nobody but he has campaigned for the abolition of death penalty (he = subject:
“personne d’autre que lui n’a fait campagne…”).
- This is more profitable for you and me (you and me = complements.)

 But in informal English, people sometimes use the complement where the subject is
“normally” required. It is common now to hear people say “She is older than me”, “It is me
who bought the flowers”, “You and me are brothers”, etc. It is inappropriate to use personal
pronouns in this way in a piece of academic work.

 Remember however that there are social contexts where when you say “She is older than I”,
“It is I who bought the flowers”, etc., your interlocutors may judge that you are pedant, that
you are trying to impress them (cf. the use of the French “imparfait du subjonctif”!)

2. Reflexive pronouns
 We use reflexive pronouns to express the idea that the subject is at the same time the object of
the action: the sender is the receiver:

- You can do it yourself. (Vous pouvez le faire vous-même.)

- She granted herself a three-day leave. (Elle s’est offert un congé de trois jours.)
- He shot himself in the head. (Il se tira une balle dans la tête.)
- They delighted seeing themselves on the tv.

 In some cases the reflexive pronouns are not actually reflexive but serve to emphasize the
subject:

- I myself will supervise the work. (Je superviserai personnellement le travail.)

- Of course, we were obliged to do it ourselves. (… de le faire nous-mêmes.)
- His uncle and himself criticized the deal. (… et lui-même…)
3. Reciprocal pronouns: “each other”, “one another”

 Originally “each other” was used for two subjects and “one another” for more than two:
- Tyson and Tapha Guèye have been challenging each other.
- The schoolboys threw their satchels and started chasing one another.

 In today’s English, the two expressions are generally interchangeable:

- They were very critical towards each other / one another.
- For seven months this man and his wife avoided talking about each other / one another.
- Wade and Djibo have been accusing each other / one another of high treason.

 The reciprocal pronouns accept the genitive case

- They finally accepted each other’s proposals (… acceptèrent l’un les propositions de
l’autre / les uns les propositions des autres).
- We used each other’s cars (chacun prit le véhicule de l’autre).
- You can meet at one another’s rooms (… les uns dans les chambres des autres).

 “One” can be used as a personal pronoun (“impersonal” pronoun). (Cf. infra, the
translation of the French impersonal pronoun “on”).
- One never knows. (On ne sait jamais).
- One can think so. (On peut le penser).
- One doesn’t easily confess one’s faults. (On n’avoue pas facilement ses fautes).
- Such an assertion may make one believe that… (… peut faire penser que…).
- It is not prudent to leave one’s car in this street at night. (… de laisser sa voiture…).
- In such a context, it is better to make up one’s mind immediately. (… se décider …).

4. Translation of the French impersonal pronoun “on”

 The French impersonal pronoun “on” can be translated into English by using the passive turn

- He is believed to be more amenable to compromise than his brother (on pense qu’il est
plus disposé …).
- You were expected to come earlier (on s’attendait à ce que vous …).
- “English spoken here” (“ici on parle Anglais”).
- The tower of Gaston Berger could be seen from here (on pouvait voir la tour de …).
- This way of dressing is not allowed in the …. (on n’admet pas ce type
d’accoutrement…)

 The French “on” can also be translated by using the English impersonal pronoun “one”

- One can’t feel at ease in this family (“On ne peut pas se sentir à l’aise…”).
- From that day one could easily understand why she was… (“A partir de ce jour on
comprenait facilement pourquoi elle …”.)
- One never knows when she will be back (“On ne sait jamais quand est-ce qu’elle …”.)
- One can think so. (On peut le penser).
- One doesn’t easily confess one’s faults. (On n’avoue pas facilement ses fautes).

 The French “on” can also be translated by using the English definite personal pronouns
“we”, “you”, “they” or by using “people”, depending on the context.
 - We can go now! (“On peut partir maintenant !” Here the French “on” can be replaced by
“nous” : “nous pouvons partir maintenant”. The speaker is included in the “on”.)
- All of a sudden we can see an elephant in the distance. (“Tout à coup on aperçoit …” Here
too “on” means “nous”: “… nous apercevons…”.).
- They organize too many concerts in this campus. (“Dans ce campus on organise ….” The
speaker is normally not included in the “on”. He or she does not belong with the people who
organize concerts.)
- What’s wrong? You seem to be worried today! (“Qu’est-ce qui ne va pas ? On semble
préoccupé(e) aujourd’hui !”. It is clear that “on” means here “vous” ou “tu”: “vous semblez
préoccupé(e) aujourd’hui”.)
- Here you can smell the rain long before it arrives (“Ici on sent la pluie longtemps avant …”.
Here I express a general truth which could also be rendered in English by: “… people can
smell…”, “…rain can be smelt ….”.).
- Here people can smell the rain long before it arrives.

NB: Whenever there is any doubt about the entity referred to in French as “on”, it is more prudent to
translate it by using the passive form (instead of using “we”, “they”, etc.). For example, when
somebody says: “On raconte qu’il la fréquente secrètement”, who is “on”? No precise answer is
possible. The use of the passive form is then required: “he is said to visit her secretly”.

 The French “on” can also be translated by using “somebody” or “someone”

- Somebody is making a noise outside (“On fait du bruit dehors”. Here “on” means:
“quelqu’un”).
- Somebody is waiting for you in the living room (“On t’attend dans le salon”.)

Translation Exercise:
Translate the following French sentences into English.

- Lui et moi, nous nous entendons très bien.

- Je parle chinois mieux qu’elle.
- On raconte dans la ville qu’elle sera candidate.
- Eux, ils n’aiment pas le soupou kandié, nous nous l’adorons.
- On est toujours fier de ses propres exploits.
- Ni elle, ni lui, ne sait ce qui se passe.
- Ils ne se parlent pas depuis deux mois.
- Crois-tu que lui il peut les convaincre ?
- Ils s’imaginaient déjà champions d’Afrique.
- Elles se sont injuriées toute la nuit.
- En voyageant on devrait toujours avoir sa carte d’identité avec soi.
- Est-ce lui ou elle qui a préparé ce plat ?
- On ne doit pas accuser le capitaine sans preuve.
- Est-ce lui ou elle que tu accuses de vol ?
- Ce sont eux qui ont tout fait.
- La Russie et les États-Unis s’espionnaient régulièrement.
- Bizarre… Elle parlait toute seule.
- Peut-être qu’eux ils pourront retrouver le voleur.
- Ils étaient assis l’un en face de l’autre.
- Vous aussi vous le savez.
- Aimons-nous les uns les autres.
- Je me disais que ça suffisait.
- On voit bien d’ici la tour de l’université.
- Ils se tuèrent dans un accident.
- Vous les saint-louisiens, vous vous prenez pour les plus civilisés.
- Toi tu es bon, moi je suis méchant. C’est ça !
- Ils déchirèrent l’un les habits de l’autre.
- On peut chasser le gibier ici.
- Pourquoi ne peut-on pas interdire cela ?
- Il n’a consulté personne : ni eux, ni moi.
 THE ARTICLES
In English we have three types of articles: the definite (the), the indefinite (a/an) and the partitive
(some/any) articles.

A THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: “THE”

1 PRONUNCIATION:
 “The” is pronounced [ði] before a vowel sound
The ocean The I.R.A. The air The heir The hour
The honour The earth The MPs The intelligent The eve
The honest… The umbrella The N.H.S. The NGOs The ear

However “the” is pronounced [ð] before the following words which do not begin with a vowel
sound, but with a consonant one: the universe, the one…, the year, the ewe, the USA, the
European, the hotel, the hair, etc.

 The is also pronounced [ði] when it is emphasized:

- He is the doctor

 The is also pronounced [ði] when one hasn’t found yet the right word to use after the
article
- He stood by the … the kind of shed they were using for …

2. MAIN USES OF THE ENGLISH DEFINITE ARTICLE

“The” can be used when we refer to a specific person, animal or thing, to specific persons,
animals or things, and when we are sure that our interlocutor(s) understand which person(s),
animal(s) or thing(s) we are referring to

- The boy is coming. (Everybody understands me. Compare with: “a boy is coming”: any
boy).
- I went to see the headmaster (there is only one headmaster in the school).
- They are opening the bridge tomorrow (my interlocutor knows which bridge I am talking
about)
- Are you spending the night in the university (this specific night: tonight).
- The red car stopped and its driver fired instantly (this car was mentioned before).
- I met yesterday the woman who sold you the pyjamas (not any woman, but a specific one).

 “The” is used before some nouns referring to only one person, one thing or group. For
instance, before specific names or proper nouns

- The Grand Sérigne has died.

- The King arrives today. (But: King Mohamed VI, President Clinton, etc. Cf. further).
- I’ll visit the Pyramids on Christmas.
- I love the Pope.
- The Koran is sacred.
The “specific name” can be a planet, an element or an atmospheric phenomenon.
- The sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, the weather, the snow, the sea, etc.

 “The” is used before some count nouns used in the singular to refer to something more
general
 - He often appears on the screen (the screen = cinema in general).
- One must respect the law (the law = the system of laws).

 “The” is used before some nouns referring to means of communication or transportation

functioning as a system.
- I never took the train between Saint-Louis and Dakar. (But: “I travel by train, bus, etc.)
- The telephone is not very reliable here.
- Yes, I saw it on the television.

 “The” is used before singular nouns referring to musical instruments.

- Youssou doesn’t play the organ. (But: “… doesn’t play tennis”.)

 “The” can be used before nouns referring to species or human types

- Do you like the dog?
- No, I prefer the cat. (We can also say here: “dogs”, “cats”, etc. But we say: “man is…”,
“woman likes…”).

 “The” is generally used in time expressions

- He had a fever in the afternoon.
- Cécile promises to consider it in the future.
- In the past Assane was a taxi driver.

 “The” is used with superlative adjectives

- Françoise is the funniest girl on the campus.
- This book is the least expensive of all.

 The is used before comparative adjectives or adverbs in expressions like these

- The more it rains, the happier the peasants get (plus il pleut, plus les paysans…).
- The cheaper the better (le moins cher est le meilleur).
- The more she tries to be beautiful the uglier I find her (plus elle essaie d’être belle, plus
elle devient vilaine à mes yeux = plus je la trouve vilaine).

 “The” is generally used before names of rivers, mountains:

The Senegal (river) The Gambia The Mediterranean The Nile
The Alps The Atlas The Himalayas The Kenya
NB
 “The River Senegal”, “The River Niger” are rather British, whereas in American English
people generally say “The Senegal River”, “The Mississippi River”, “The Niger River” etc.
 While “Senegal” is the country and “The Senegal” the river (this is the general rule in
English), the Gambians, exceptionally, call both their country and their river “The Gambia”
(“Welcome to the Republic of The Gambia”).
 If the names of mountains are used with the definite article, the names of their peaks are
generally used without the definitive article: Kilimanjaro (the peak of The Kenya), Everest
(the peak of The Himalayas).

3 “THE” IS NOT USED BEFORE:

 Abstract undefined nouns

 - Truth is sometimes hard to accept. (But I must say: “I want to know the truth”. Here I
am referring to a specific truth: the truth about the particular problem we are dealing
with now.)
- Intelligence doesn’t suffice here.

 Things considered as an amount or compound rather than a separate unit when they are
undefined
- Bread (but: “the loaf of bread”), water, iron, salt, air, dust, travel, rubbish, etc.

 Nouns referring to seasons, days of the week, etc.

- I prefer summer to spring. (But: “the summer I spent here…” Or: “the summer was too
rainy”. In each of these two examples I am not referring to summer in general, but to a
specific one.)

 Nouns referring to illnesses

- Influenza is not to be neglected.
- He suffers from bronchitis.
- One can notice an upsurge of malaria

NB: In the past, people used to say: “the measles” (la rougeole), “the plague” (la peste), etc.

 Nouns referring to games

- He plays chess.
- He plays basket ball. (Remember: “He plays the piano”, “He plays the guitar”, etc.)

 Nouns referring to streets or monuments

- Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Oxford Street, etc.

NB: But “the” is used before names of French streets or monuments preceded in French by the
definite article: The Eiffel Tower, The Champs Élysées, etc. We can say for the same reasons:
The Pompidou Avenue, The Rue Blanchot, etc.

 Nouns referring to subjects of study or languages

- I find history more interesting than geography.
- She boasted that she could speak Arabic, Japanese and Joola.

B. THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE: “A” (“AN”)

1. FORMS AND PRONUNCIATION:

“a” [] is used before a consonant sound and “an” [n] before a vowel sound.
“a” is pronounced [ei] and “an” [æn] when they are accented (mark of emphasis)
- You are not the [oi] champion but just a [æn] champion. (Tu es certes un champion,
mais pas le champion des champions !)

2 USES OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE

 The indefinite article is used when we mention someone or something unknown to the
interlocutor (and possibly to the speaker), or when we mention them for the first time.
- A boy is coming (compare with “the boy is coming).
- He saw a man coming out of the store and called him. (Il vit un homme sortir du…)
 - The huge grey shape over there looks like an elephant. (…ressemble à un éléphant.)

 It is also used when we refer to one of a number of possibilities

- She is a cashier in a store (… une caissière dans un magasin). (Compare with “She is
the cashier of the store” where there is just one store in the area and just one cashier in
it.)
- He is a teacher in a department of the university. (…un enseignant dans une section de…)

 The indefinite article is also used before such uncounts as: pity, shame, disgrace, relief,
hurry, mess, fuss, etc.
- It is a pity she can’t understand how wrong she is (c’est dommage qu’elle …).
- What a shame! (Quelle honte!)
- I can’t. I am in a hurry (… je suis pressé).

 It is used after link verbs (copulas) (“verbes d’état”) to introduce a complement

- I am an innocent person.
- His father has become a drunkard.
- He looks like a fool.

 It is used before an apposition noun:

- His uncle, an engineer from Kébémer, is accused of ...
- A perfect liar, she pretended that the drug was not hers.

 After a preposition, the indefinite article is often used

- He walks with a stick.
- He was in an awful situation.
- She is behaving as a lady.
- In his capacity as a doctor, he decided that…

 It is often used after “of” in the following type of expression

- My old witch of a mother-in-law has arrived. (Ma vieille sorcière de belle-mère …)
- This idiot of an apprentice is harassing me. (Cet idiot d’apprenti…)
- She is a marvel of a woman. (C’est une merveille de femme.)
- This Senegalese man is much of a tea-drinker. (… un grand buveur de thé.)

 It is used after “such” and “what” in the following examples

- Such a boy is crazy.
- What a cold day!
- I never suspected that he could buy such a big house.

 The indefinite article can be used with a noun when we use an individual person, animal
or thing to make a general statement about all people or animals or things of that type
(but the plural, or “the”, might also be used in this case).
- A cat is usually a good friend (= “cats are usually…”, or “the cat is usually…”).
- They will never succeed in making a computer think.

 The indefinite article is also used in the following expressions

- He has a guilty conscience (il a mauvaise conscience).
- I cannot travel on an empty stomach (… voyager le ventre vide).
- I have a headache (or sore throat, toothache, etc.).
 - We have a right to complain (… le droit de nous plaindre).
- Don’t make a noise (… du bruit).
- Let us make a fire (… du feu).
- Have you got a light? (… du feu).
- I was at a loss (… embarrassé).
- We are going to a concert tonight (or: “to a restaurant”).
- Please, put an end to this farce! (… mets fin à … / … mets un terme à …).
- I cannot help both of you at a time (or: “at once”, “at the same time”).
- You are supposed to set an example (… donner l’exemple)

 It is used after “many” in a written (and very formal) style.

- Many a time he rejected our proposals.

C. THE PARTITIVE ARTICLES: “SOME”, “ANY”

“Some” and “any” also are indefinite articles. They are often referred to as “partitive articles”

1 SOME
“Some” is usually used to indicate that there is a quantity of something or that there are a number
of things or people without being precise. It is then used before uncounts and plural count nouns.

 “Some” most often appears in affirmative statements

- There is some chance that he succeeds. (Il y a des chances que…)
- I saw some students in the restaurant some minutes ago.
- Bring me some pineapple please! (… un peu de…)
This is also the case for its compounds: somebody, something:
- Somebody is knocking at the door. (“Quelqu’un ….” Or: “On frappe…”
- I must take something for this cough. (Je dois prendre quelque chose contre cette toux.)

 “Some” and its compounds “somebody” and “someone” can be used in questions that
expect an affirmative answer or are requests and offers in question form
- Can you give me some copies? (I would be disappointed if you refused.).
- Would you like some cold drink? (I offer this to my guest and expect him/her to accept.)
- Is somebody coming to lunch today? (Offer again.)
- Are you looking for something? (I expect: “yes, I am”).

 “Some” is also used before numbers to show that you are not being totally accurate
- There are some 10 laps to go (Il reste encore quelques 10 tours de piste).
- Rosso is some 90 kilometres away. (… à environ 90 km d’ici.)

 “Some” can also be used to mean quite a large quantity of something (“some” means
then quite the same as “several”, “many”, etc.)
- You must stay here for some time (… un certain temps relativement long).
- It took me some years to discover that she had a child.

2 ANY
 “Any” is used before plural nouns or uncounts when we are referring to a quantity of
something which may or may not exist (it expresses then doubt or supposition: it conveys
then the notion of “n’importe lequel”)
- You can come any day you want. (… quelque jour que tu choisiras)
- Malick, like any other student, prefers grammar to any other subject.
 - If you need any book, let me know.

 “Any” is also used in questions asking whether something exists or not. It has then a
negative connotation (the person who asks the question is not very optimistic).
- (1) Do you have any cigarettes left? (Ne te reste-t-il pas quelques cigarettes ?). Compare
with (2) “Do you have some cigarettes left” (Est-ce qu’il te reste quelques cigarettes ?).
The tone of (1) is more pessimistic than that of (2).
- Would you like any cold drink? (Compare with “would you like some cold drink”?
Maybe when I use “any”, I don’t have any cold drink at all to give to my guest and hope
him/her to answer: “no, thank you”.
- Are there any jobs that women can’t do? (The feminist person who asks this question
hints that such jobs don’t exist. Compare with “Are there some jobs that women can’t
do?” which implies that a positive answer can’t be totally dismissed.)

 “Any” is also used in negative statements to say that something does not exist (or in
affirmative statements which convey however a negative idea)
- I have never found there any lions (je n’y ai jamais trouvé de lions).
- Nobody in this classroom knows any Chinese (Personne dans cette classe ne parle tant
soit peu le Chinois).
- There were hardly any buses that day (Il n’y avait pratiquement pas de…, Il y avait à
peine…).
- There was not any bread left /There were not any cakes left (Il n’ y avait plus de
pain/gâteaux)

 “Any” can be used with singular count nouns to talk about someone or something of a
particular type, when we don’t want to mention a specific person or thing.
- You can eat “ceebu jën” in any Senegalese house. (…dans toute maison…)
- Don’t worry about: any large room will do. (… toute grande salle conviendra.)
 THE ENGLISH QUALIFYING ADJECTIVE
I. THE PLACE OF THE QUALIFYING ADJECTIVE: WORD ORDER

 Contrary to the French qualifying adjective, the English qualifying adjective is invariable.
 In English the qualifying adjective is generally prepositive (placed before the noun or
pronoun which it qualifies).
• Grandma used to tell many funny stories. (… des histoires drôles.)
• She always cooks spicy dishes. ( … des plats épicés.)

 But in some cases the English qualifying adjective is postpositive. This is the case for some
fixed traditional expressions, most of which are translated from French:

Blood royal sang royal

Heir apparent héritier présomptif
The Princess Royal La Princesse Royale (fille aînée du souverain)
The Poet Laureate Poète officiel du souverain
A court martial une cour martiale
The sum total Le total de l’addition
The Inspector General L’inspecteur Général
The Attorney General (A peu près équivalent au Ministre de la Justice aux USA.)
The President Elect (Titre du tout nouveau Président des USA avant sa prestation de serment.)
The Vice-Chancellor Designate Le président d’université ( ≈ recteur) désigné
The Estates General Les États Généraux
The body politic Le corps politique
From (or since) time immemorial De toute éternité (de temps immémorial)
The Church Militant L’Église Militante
A battle royal Une bagarre générale
Asia Minor L’Asie Mineure
To be the devil incarnate Être le diable incarné

 In a very sophisticated literary English (especially in books titles), the qualifying adjective
may also be placed after the noun or pronoun:

Things English Choses/affaires anglaises

Remembrance of Things A La recherche du temps perdu (œuvre de Marcel Proust).
Past
Paradise Lost Le Paradis Perdu (œuvre de John Milton)
Prometheus Unbound Prométhée Délivré (œuvre de P. B. Shelley)
“Business International” (Une émission économique de CNN)

 Postpositive qualifying adjectives also include some –ible and –able adjectives qualifying
nouns which follow words such as first,
first last,
last next,
next only and superlative adjectives.
adjectives
• This was the wisest solution possible (= wisest possible solution) (C’était la solution la
plus sage possible.)
• We discovered that it was the only restaurant available there. (… que c’était le seul
restaurant disponible sur place)

 These –ible and –able adjectives can also be postpositive when followed by a prepositional phrase
 • This medicine is suitable to pregnant women. (Les femmes enceintes peuvent prendre ce
médicament.)

 Postpositive adjectives also include: concerned, involved, opposite, present, etc. But what each
of these means then is different from what it means when used before the noun. Compare:
• My present visit will diffuse any tension. (Ma présente visite dissipera toute tension.)
• The children present found it very funny. (Les enfants qui étaient présents le trouvèrent …)

• All the students concerned are requested to attend the meeting. (Tous les étudiants
concernés…)
• The exams were very hard and concerned students pleaded for clemency (… et les
étudiants inquiets plaidèrent pour la clémence).

II.- OTHER WORDS PLAYING THE ROLE OF QUALIFYING ADJECTIVES

 Present and past participles (especially those with a passive meaning) can play the same role
as the qualifying adjective and be used as such.

A frightening beast Une bête effroyable

A written exercise Un exercice écrit
A stifling heat Une chaleur étouffante
The stolen goods Les marchandises volées.

 A noun can also play the role of qualifying adjective. It then sometimes corresponds to a
French adjective.

The school year L’année scolaire

An eye-witness
eye Un témoin oculaire
A cabinet reshuffle Une remaniement ministériel
The world economy L’économie mondiale
World Festival of Negro Arts Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres
Tear-gas
Tear (or teargas) Gaz lacrymogène
A border or family dispute Un différend frontalier ou familial
Road-traffic
Road Trafic routier
An air-disaster
air Une catastrophe aérienne

III. COMPOUND QUALIFYING ADJECTIVES

1. Definition and semantic links
A compound qualifying adjective is a combination of two words – generally linked with a
hyphen – playing the role of qualifying adjective. The two elements can be either adjectives or
nouns, adverbs, participles, etc.
• He bought an olive-green cloth. (Il a acheté une étoffe vert-olive.)

The first element of the compound determines, completes or modifies the meaning of the second
which is therefore more important. In “He bought an olive-green cloth”, the whole compound
“olive-green” qualifies the cloth. But in this compound there is a kind of semantic internal
hierarchy which sets “green” as the chief element of the compound: “olive” tells us what kind of
“green” we have.
2.- When the second element of the compound is an adjective

A brand-new camera Un appareil photo flambant neuf.

An olive-green cloth Une étoffe vert-olive
a sky-blue piece of material un tissu bleu ciel.
a navy-blue car une voiture bleu marine.
An ice-cold night Une nuit glaciale
To be sea-sick (or seasick) Avoir le mal de mer
To be home-sick (or homesick) Avoir la nostalgie de chez soi.
To be self-confident Être sûr de soi (être plein d’assurance).
a coal-black night une nuit aussi noire que le charbon.
To be trouble-free Être sans problèmes / Qui ne tombe pas en panne
A duty-free shop Un magasin hors-taxe (dans les aéroports, par exemple)
A year-long war Une guerre qui dure un an
A mercury -free battery Une pile (ou batterie) qui ne contient pas de mercure
a self-obvious / self-evident true une vérité qui va de soi.
To be self-conscious Être timide, gêné, etc.

3.- When the second element is a present participle (with an active meaning)

A nice-looking woman Une belle femme

A never-ending quarrel
A heart-breaking experience
A hair-raising spectacle
A hard-working (painstaking)
painstaking student
A tight-fitting / close-fitting shirt
A long-standing dispute
A mouth-watering meal
Une querelle interminable
Une expérience déchirante
Un spectacle à faire dresser les cheveux sur la tête.
Un étudiant qui travaille dur.
Une chemise étroite
Une vieille dispute
Un plat alléchant / appétissant

4.- When the second element is a past participle with a passive meaning

A hand- made (handmade) bag Un sac fait à la main

A home-made (homemade) car
A well-brought (well-educated)
well-educated boy
A well-known story
A remote-controlled device
To be tongue-tied
A far-fetched expression
An air-conditioned room
A time-honoured habit
A self-taught / self-made / person
A horse-drawn plough
An ill-advised man
Un véhicule de fabrication locale
Un garçon bien éduqué
Une histoire célèbre
Un appareil télécommandé
Rester muet
Une expression tirée par les cheveux
Une pièce climatisée
Une vieille habitude
Un autodidacte
Une charrue à cheval
Un homme mal conseillé

5.- When the second element is a past participle with an active meaning

A well-read person Une personne qui a beaucoup lu (cultivée)

A well-travelled person Une personne qui a beaucoup voyagé
A short-lived friendship Une amitié éphémère
A plain-spoken person Une personne qui a son franc-parler.
6.- When the second element is a noun with an –ed suffix

A dark-skinned / fair-skinned girl Une fille au teint noir / teint clair.

A one-eyed /one-legged [legid] person Un borgne, un unijambiste
To be left-handed / right-handed Être gaucher / droitier
A fair-haired woman Une blonde
High-heeled shoes Des chaussures à talons hauts
To return empty-handed Revenir bredouille (les mains vides)
An empty-headed girl Une fille écervelée, une évaporée
A low-necked dress Une robe décolletée
A U-shaped piece of metal Un morceau de métal en forme de U
A four- storied (storeyed) building Un bâtiment à trois étages (et non quatre !)
Gold-framed spectacles Lunettes à monture en or
A blue-eyed girl Une fille aux yeux bleus
A short-sighted person Un myope
A long-sighted man Un presbyte
An old-fashioned car Une voiture démodée / ancienne
Cold-blooded person Une personne froide (insensible)
A kind-hearted man Un homme qui a bon cœur
To be narrow-minded / open-minded Avoir l’esprit étroit / ouvert
A big-nosed man Un homme au gros nez
A double-edged knife Un couteau à double tranchant
A single-breaded / double-breasted jacket Une veste droite / croisée

NB
We can use this type of compound adjectives to form adverbs:

She accepted it half-heartedly (halfheartedly) Elle l’accepta sans enthousiasme

We supported him whole-heartedly (wholeheartedly) Nous l’avons soutenu avec enthousiasme
I wrote the letter absent-mindedly (absentmindedly) J’ai écrit la lettre distraitement

“A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed
with women…” (From Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.)

7.- Other types of qualifying compounds

several types of expressions with compound forms can play the role of qualifying adjectives:

A one-way street Une rue à sens unique

A two-day visit
A second-hand mobile phone
An unheard-of story
A top-secret mission
A short-range / long-range missile
A day-to-day chore
A plain-clothes policeman
A happy-go-lucky boy
An up-to-date machine
Une visite de 2 jours
Un téléphone cellulaire d’occasion
Une histoire sans précédent
Une mission top secrète
Un missile à courte portée / longue portée
Un corvée quotidienne
Un policier en civil
Un garçon insouciant
Une machine à la mode
 Ladies-only toilets
A first-rate restaurant
The 9.45 train
The do-it-yourself (DIY) department
A down-to-earth attitude
A life-and-death combat
A matter-of-fact idea
A hand-to-mouth life
A live-and-let-live attitude
A winner-take-all electoral system
A we-are-not-amused expression
A life-size (= life-sized) picture
Toilettes réservées aux dames
Un restaurant de classe
Le train de 9 h 45
Le rayon bricolage
Une attitude réaliste
Un combat à mort (désespéré)
Une idée terre-à-terre
Une vie au jour le jour
Une attitude de tolérance réciproque
Un système électoral majoritaire
Un air pincé (un air de « ça ne me fait pas rire »)
Un portrait grandeur nature

8.- Substantivized adjectives used as nouns

Qualifying adjectives can be used almost as nouns (substantivized or nominalized adjectives).
Then they don’t generally have the mark of the plural (the “s”).

The rich and the poor Les riches et les pauvres

The dead and the wounded Les morts et les blessés
The blind and the deaf Les aveugles et les sourds
The young and the old Les jeunes et les vieux
The happy few L’élite
The handicapped / the disabled Les handicapés
The unemployed Les chômeurs
The military Les militaires (l’armée)
The left-handed / The right-handed Les gauchers / Les droitiers

 Some of these substantivized adjectives can however have the mark of the plural (“s”)

The Blacks,
Blacks The Whites,
Whites The Coloureds Les Blancs, les Noirs, les gens de couleur
The Reds Les Rouges (les communistes)
The Greens Les Verts (les écologistes)
The drunks Les ivrognes
The under-tens Les moins de 10 ans

9.-Adjectives from names of countries or continents

 Generally adjectives and nouns from country names look and sound alike: The Senegalese
like tea (Senegalese = noun: the people), the Senegalese government (Senegalese = adjective),
the French like wine (French = noun: the people), the French educational system … (French
= adjective).
 Adjectives from country or continent names are always spelt with an initial capital letter
(whereas in French only the noun is spelt in this way). Senegalese, French, English, Japanese,
African, American, Asian, etc. always begin with a capital letter, be they nouns or adjectives.
 For some country names, however, the adjective is morphologically and phonetically different
from the noun
COUNTRY NOUN ADJECTIVE REMARKS
(THE PEOPLE)
Spain A Spaniard / The Spaniards Spanish
Scotland A Scot / The Scots Scottish “a Scottish” instead of “a Scot” is
pejorative
Poland A Pole / The Poles Polish
Denmark A Dane / The Danes Danish
Sweden A Swede /The Swedes Swedish
Finland A Finn /The Finns Finnish
Afghanistan An Afghan (or an Afghani) Afghan
Benin Beninese Beninese
Côte-d’Ivoire Ivorian Ivorian
Israel Israeli Israeli
Kuwait Kuwaiti Kuwaiti
Lebanon Lebanese Lebanese
Luxembourg Luxembourger Luxembourg
Madagascar Malagasy Malagasy
The Dutch Dutch
Netherlands
Pakistan Pakistani Pakistani
Turkey Turk Turkish
The UK Briton British
Iraq Iraqi Iraqi

 “Arab” can be either a noun (the Arabs)

Arabs or an adjective (the Arab countries, the United
Arab Emirates, etc.). “Arabic” is the name of the language (I speak no Arabic at all).
“Arabian”
Arabian is generally used to refer to the Peninsula (The Arabian Gulf, The Arabian
Desert, etc.).
 COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

A.COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

There are 3 types of comparison:
- Comparison to the higher degree (“comparatif de supériorité”).
- Comparison to the same degree (“comparatif d’égalité”).
- Comparison to the lower degree (“comparatif d’infériorité”)

1. Comparison to the higher degree

 The general rule
 1st case: short (monosyllabic) adjectives: (radical + er) + than
- Antoine is taller than Omar.
- The risk of accident is higher during the Magal than ever.

 2nd case: long adjectives (more than one syllable): more + adjective + than
- The dress you wore at the conference is more beautiful than this one.
- We decided that it was more interesting for us to visit the exhibition than to watch the
match.
- “… there can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for America to undertake on this
day of a new beginning than to help shape a just and peaceful world…” (USA President
Jimmy Carter’s 20 January 1977 inaugural address.)

 Exception: some two-syllabic (disyllabic) adjectives “behave” like monosyllabic ones

 This is especially the case for disyllabic adjectives ending in “r’ or “y”. (The comparative
to the higher degree of the “y” mono- or disyllabic adjectives is irregular. Cf. further.)

angry ⇒ angrier friendly ⇒ friendlier

busy ⇒ busier heavy ⇒ heavier
dirty ⇒ dirtier lucky ⇒ luckier
tiny ⇒ tinier pretty ⇒ prettier
easy ⇒ easier steady ⇒ steadier
silly ⇒ sillier lovely ⇒ lovelier
happy ⇒ happier likely ⇒ likelier
clever ⇒ cleverer

 Some adjectives form their higher degree comparative either by “er+ than” or by “more
… than”. The latter seems to be gaining ground in today’s English:

common ⇒ commoner ⇒ more common

cruel ⇒ crueller ⇒ more cruel
gentle ⇒ gentler ⇒ more gentle
pleasant ⇒ pleasanter ⇒ more pleasant
simple ⇒ simpler ⇒ more simple
shallow ⇒ shallower ⇒ more shallow
likely ⇒ likelier ⇒ more likely
polite ⇒ politer ⇒ more polite
stupid ⇒ stupider ⇒ more stupid
remote ⇒ remoter ⇒ more remote
 obscure ⇒ obscurer ⇒ more obscure
subtle ⇒ subtler ⇒ more subtle
quiet ⇒ quieter ⇒ more quiet
solid ⇒ solider ⇒ more solid
frank ⇒ franker ⇒ more frank

Today it is more common to say “more common”, “more subtle”, etc. than to say “commoner”,
“subtler”, etc.

 In fact, none of these rules is absolutely respected. For instance, for aesthetic reasons
some authors can say things like “more strong”, “more mad”, “more wealthy”, etc.

 Irregular forms of comparison to the higher degree

 We already mentioned happy ⇒ happier, angry ⇒ angrier, heavy ⇒ heavier, etc. In these
examples, the final “y” becomes “ier”.

Other instances of irregular forms:

 Good ⇒ better than…
Bad (or ill) ⇒ worse than…
far ⇒ farther than… (geographical distance).
far ⇒ further than… (geographical distance or used abstractly, figuratively: deeper, etc.).
- Kébémer is farther than Thiès. (Plus loin : plus éloigné)
- Kébémer is further than Thiès. (Plus loin : plus éloigné)
- I am tired: I can’t go further in my research. (Plus loin : plus en avant : je ne peux
pas aller plus loin…)
- This is repeated further in the book.
- For further explanations, please contact M. Dixon. (Pour plus de détails, etc.)

old ⇒ older (general): he is older than I am.

old ⇒ elder (for family members only, and never with “than”): my elder brother/sister.

late ⇒ later (chronology: “plus tard”). Please come later (= plus tard).
late ⇒ latter (on the list, always singular: « ce dernier, ces derniers, cette dernière, ces
dernières “).
- Please come back later: I am very busy now. “Veuillez revenir plus tard …”
- You must hand in your assignments not later than Friday morning. (Vous devez
rendre vos devoirs le vendredi matin au plus tard).
- The colonial rule proved really devastating to many African intellectuals. In effect, the
latter couldn’t come to terms with … (… En effet, ces derniers ne pouvaient pas …)
- I saw three girls and four boys: the former were singing and the latter were
dancing (… les premières chantaient et les derniers dansaient.)

much ⇒ more: there is much wind today: more wind than yesterday.
many ⇒ more: there are many people: more people than yesterday.

2. Comparison to the same degree

 To make a comparison to the same degree, we use the expression “as…as”, no matter
how long the adjective is.
- He is as good as Alioune.
 - He is as intelligent as Alioune.

 For the negative form of comparison to the same degree, we use “not as… as” or “not
so…as”, no matter how long the adjective is
- He is not as good as Alioune / not so good as Alioune.
- He is not so intelligent as Alioune / not so intelligent as Alioune.

 Comparison, contrast and similarity: “as” or “like”?

We use like when the two terms of the comparison are names, nouns or personal pronouns.
Examples:
- Moussa is like Astou: he is as greedy as she (is). (Moussa est comme Astou : il est aussi
gourmand qu’elle.)
- He is like everybody else: stop blaming him then! (Il est comme tout le monde…)

We can use as to compare two adjectives or adverbs. Examples:

- The river became then as dry as a stone. (… aussi sec qu’un caillou.)
- She tried to voice her feelings as clearly as she could. (… aussi clairement qu’elle le
pouvait)

We also use as to introduce a clause used as the second term of the comparison (no matter where the
clause is located in the sentence). Examples:
- Feel free to design the building as you want it! (…comme vous le voulez.)
- She put everything away and kept the key in the cupboard, exactly as her mother used to
do every morning. (… comme sa mère le faisait chaque matin.)
- As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together (comme le dit l’adage, qui se
ressemblent s’assemblent).

NB In colloquial English, some people sometimes use like where they should use as. This is very
frequent in informal American English, for instance.
- Feel free to design the building like you want it (normally: “… as you want it”).
- …exactly like her mother used to do every morning (normally: “… as her mother...”).
- “The Microsoft® Windows®XP operating system unlocks the power of your PC to let
you eXPerience photos, music, video, and entertainment like never before”.
(Presentation advertisement for Windows XP on Hotmail.com.)

This way of using “like” is grammatically inappropriate.

“As” can be used to introduce a title or a professional occupation:

- As a principled man, he could not condone these acts (en tant qu’homme de principe, il
ne pouvait pas…).
- In my capacity as a doctor, I order that…(en tant que médecin/en ma qualité de… je…).
- I consider (= regard) this incident as a very useful moment in our relationship (…comme
étant …)

There are situations where we can use either as or like, depending on what we mean. Compare:
- That day he behaved as a real gentleman. (He was a real gentleman: “comme un vrai
gentleman” = “en tant que vrai gentleman”.)
- That day he behaved like a real gentleman. (He was not one, but acted as if he were:
“comme un vrai gentleman”= “comme l’aurait fait un vrai gentleman”.)
3. Comparison to the lower degree
 To compare to the lower degree, we can use “less … than” no matter how long the
adjective is:
- … less tall than …
- … less beautiful than …

 Dealing with quantities, we can use “less” for the singular and “fewer” for the plural:
- I know little Spanish and less German.
- There is less milk in this pot.
- There are fewer people on the beach today than yesterday.
In informal English, some people sometimes use “less” even for the plural (“… less people…”).

B.SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

We use the superlative to mean that a person, animal or thing is above or below everybody or
everything else (the best of all, the worst of all, the most beautiful of all, etc.). Compare:
- Moussa is taller than Demba (comparative).
- Moussa is the tallest of the class (superlative).

1. Higher degree superlatives

 The rule is quite the same as that of the comparatives but we have “est” inflection instead
of “er”, and “the most …” instead of “more…than”.
- He is the tallest person I ever met. (… la plus grande personne que j’ai jamais rencontrée”).
- She is the most unintelligent woman who ever existed. (“… la plus inintelligente ….”).

 Irregular forms of superlatives

Good ⇒ best
Bad (ill) ⇒ worst (not worse!)
far ⇒ farthest/furthest
old ⇒ oldest/eldest (he is the oldest boy in the class/he is our eldest brother/he is my eldest son).
late ⇒ last/latest (the latest news is bad = most recent news. But this news may not be the last!)
much ⇒ most

2. Lower degree superlatives

For the lower degree superlative, we use “the least…) however long the adjective is:
- He is the least committed Nigerian writer of his generation.
- Your car is the least fast.

NB. “Least” is rarely used for short adjectives and adverbs. So, instead of “the least fast”, people
usually say “the slowest” (even though the two don’t mean exactly the same. Compare: “the least
beautiful” and “the ugliest”!)

C.SOME TRANSLATION HEADACHES…

 Mind the translation of the French superlatives and comparatives into English! In
French, superlatives and comparatives sometimes look alike
- Tu n’es pas gentil, mais ce n’est pas grave : arrivé là-bas je trouverai un meilleur ami.
In this sentence, “meilleur” is a comparative : “I will find there a better friend.”
- Elle était ma meilleure amie, mais maintenant, mon dieu …
In this sentence, “meilleur” is a superlative : “… my best friend”.
 - … un jour plus long (comparative : “a longer day”).
- … le jour le plus long (superlative : “the longest day”).
 Sometimes the French superlative can be translated in two different ways depending on
the context
- Les dernières nouvelles sont mauvaises. In English it is
either:
-“The last news is bad”, when the series of pieces of news has ended: there is no more news
to come.
or:
-“The latest news is bad”, when I mean “the most recent piece of news” in a context
where other pieces of news are likely to follow.

 If there are only two elements to compare, the French superlative corresponds to an
English comparative
- Le véhicule le plus grand est tombé en panne (superlative, but there are only two).
- The bigger car has broken down (comparative).

- Le véhicule le plus grand est tombé en panne (superlative, and there are more than two.)
- The biggest car has broken down (superlative).

- Le premier est gentil mais le dernier est un monstre (two superlatives in French).
- The former is kind, but the latter is a monster (two comparatives in English).

 When there is an implicit idea of opposition between two elements, a simple French
adjective (or adverb) corresponds to an English comparative
- The upper/lower jaw (English implicit comparison) (“La mâchoire
supérieure/inférieure”: French adjective).
- The younger generation (la jeune génération).
- Sooner or later (tôt ou tard).
- The Upper Nile, the Upper Volta, the Lower Falémé (le Haut Nil, la Haute-Volta, le
Bas Falémé, etc.

 Translation of “d’autant plus que …”

(Cf. the rules of comparison with short/long adjectives.)
- I am (all) the more surprised as/since/because he promised to vote for Diouf. (Je suis
d’autant plus surpris(e) que …)
- Of course we were very worried. All the more so as/since/because the Doctor refused to
reveal… (Nous étions bien sûr inquiets. D’autant plus que le médecin…)
 SOME INDEFINITE PRONOUNS, ADJECTIVES AND
ARTICLES
A.- “EACH” AND “EVERY”

 We generally use each when we refer to the individual members of a group. We use every
when we refer to all of the members of the group taken as a whole. Compare:

- (1) Each participant received a valuable gift.

- (2) Every participant received a valuable gift.

In (1), we emphasize that the gifts were given to the participants considered individually,
separately: a gift was given to participant A, another to participant B, another to C, etc. (« Chaque
participant a reçu un précieux cadeau », « On a donné un cadeau précieux à chacun des
participants ».) In (2), we mean that all participants received gifts. I consider the group, not the
participants taken individually. (« Tous les participants ont reçu un cadeau précieux ».)
Compare again:
- Wade gave clear instructions to each minister. (… à chaque ministre : à chacun d’entre
eux.)
- Wade gave clear instructions to every minister.(… à chaque ministre : à tous les
ministres.)
- I had a 30-minute meeting with the boss every day. (… tous les jours…)
- According to the students, each day spent in Sanar is a day in paradise. (… chaque jour…)

 We use each,
each and never every,
every when we refer to a pair of persons or things:
- Ndèye Daba has two sons and each has been jailed twice at least (= each of them has been….)
- He studied in both UCAD and UGB and in each he spent more than 3 years.

 Each and every are generally used with singular nouns (each/every participant, each/every
minister). For this reason we have a singular verb after each (or each of ) and every.
every
- Each of the boys has confessed.
- Yes, I think that every person in this house knows what happened last night.

For plural nouns we use all (or people) instead of each or every (we could say: “all participants
received valuable gifts”, “Wade gave clear instructions to all ministers”).

 However each can be used after a plural subject:

- They are each sentenced to death.
- I hope we will each receive top marks.

In a context where the gender is not specified (man or woman) we use they, their, them, to refer
back to a noun or name used with each and every.
every Compare:
- Every/each girl knew that she could be chosen.
- I remember that each/every boy was asked to bring his own lunch.
- Every/each student knew that they could be chosen. (Instead of “he/she”.)
- I remember that each/every pupil was asked to bring their own lunch. (Instead of
“his/her”.)

B.- SOME PLURAL INDEFINITE PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES: MORE THAN TWO
PLURAL: MORE THAN TWO ELEMENTS: “ALL”
All
Examples:
- The party was so dull that they were all sleepy. (“…ils somnolaient tous/toutes”.)
- Cats and dogs are all his favourite pets. (“… sont tous ses compagnons favoris”.)

All is used in these examples to refer to a plural subject. Its “opposite” is none (none of).
of
- None of the students I talked to knows the right answer (= none of them knows …)
(“Aucun des étudiants à qui j’ai parlé ne connaît la bonne réponse.”).
- Since they were all sleepy, none of them could drive us back home.
NB sometimes people use none of with a plural verb: “None of the students I talked to know
(plural) the right answer”. This is very informal English.

PLURAL: TWO ELEMENTS (DUO): “BOTH, EITHER”

BOTH
We can use both (both of) to talk about two elements or entities together, to mean that what we
are saying is applicable to these two elements or entities put together.

- I bumped into Babacar and Antoine. They were both drunk (or “both of them were…”).
(“… Ils étaient tous les deux ivres”.)
- It appears that both of them received a large amount of money.
- Both cats and dogs are his favourite pets. (“… sont tous ses …”.)
- Please, speak to both your wives before it becomes too late!
- He got rid of both wives and flew to Italy. (“Il se débarrassa de chacune de ses deux
épouses et …”.)
- Are both of you staying home? (= Are you both staying home)? (Est-ce que vous restez
tous les deux ?)
- I have the impression that you suspect them both (= both of them).
- Mind cholera! Wash both hands before eating.
- He introduced me to Ousmane and Déguène, both of whom I at first took for American
tourists. (Il me présenta à Ousmane et Déguène que je pris de prime abord pour des…)
- These two machines are at your disposal. Use both! both Thus things will go faster. (…
Utilisez toutes les deux! Ainsi les choses …)

EITHER
We use either (or either of)
of in this context to mean that what we are saying is equally applicable
to element (or entity) A and element (or entity) B. with both the two elements are concerned
together, whereas with either,
either choice is possible between element A and element B.

- Turn right or left: you can go either way / either way leads you to the market. (“… l’un ou
l’autre de ces deux chemins…”.)
- I planned to talk to Aïda and Nogoye, but I came back earlier than expected. This is why I
didn’t meet either. (= “I didn’t meet either of them.”) (… je n’ai rencontré ni l’un ni l’autre).
- What do you prefer? Youssou Ndour or Oumar Pène? – Either would be OK, I think.
(Chacun d’entre eux me conviendrait = l’un ou l’autre me conviendrait).
- You can find a similar passage in either book. (… dans chacun des deux livres = dans l’un
ou l’autre).
NB Sometimes either means almost the same as both. both For instance, when I say “People gathered
on either side of the street”, either doesn’t mean side A or side B, but side A and side B.

NEITHER
In this context neither is the “opposite” of either.
- Youssou Ndour or Oumar Pène? – I like neither of them (“… ni l’un, ni l’autre”.)
- You can find a similar passage in neither book (… ni dans l’un, ni dans l’autre livre).
NB: Pay attention not to use the “double negation”. Don’t say: “I don’t like neither of them”, “You
can’t find … in neither book”, etc.
 QUANTITIES, FIGURES AND NUMBERS
I.-SOME QUANTIFIERS

1.- The indefinite adjectives MUCH and MANY

Compulsory revision: count and uncount nouns.

 Much is used for singular uncount nouns and many for plural count nouns.

• I’m afraid you can’t keep so much milk in this small fridge (… autant de lait dans…)
• How much time will you need for that? (Combien de temps vous faudra-t-il …?)
• Many people believe that he is guilty. (Beaucoup de gens pensent que …)
• No matter how much I owe you, you can’t shout at me like that (Quelle que soit la somme
que je vous dois, je ne vous permets pas de …)

 Much can be replaced by a lot of,

of plenty of,of a great deal of when referring to an uncount noun.
• I can’t spend a lot of time in this filthy place. (… beaucoup de temps dans cet endroit malsain).
• There is plenty of milk in this area during the rainy season. (… beaucoup de lait…)
• The Senegalese people eat a great deal of rice. (… beaucoup de riz…)

• Many cannot normally be replaced by a great deal of (the use of which is generally
restricted to uncount nouns) but can be replaced by a lot of,
of lots of,
of a large number,
number
plenty of,
of a great many of, etc.

• There were a lot of pilgrims, lots of pilgrims, plenty of pilgrims, a large number of
pilgrims, a great many of,
of etc.
NB
- “a lot of”
of can be used with both count and uncount nouns. It is however less formal than “ many”
many or
“much”.
much The latter are therefore better in formal English (in an academic piece of work for instance).
- Remember that lots of is normally only used with plural count nouns. (In very informal English,
however, people can say: “lots of time”, “lots of money”, etc.)

 Many a – a rather literary expression – is always used with a singular noun, even though it is
semantically the equivalent of many.
many
• Many a time Wade repeated this promise in his inaugural address. (A plusieurs reprises
Wade … au cours de son discours d’investiture.)
• The proposal was rejected by many a student. (… par bon nombre d’étudiants.)

2 –The indefinite adjectives LITTLE and FEW

a little,
little like much,
much is used with uncount nouns.
• There is a little bread on the table. (Il y a un peu de pain sur la table.)

a few,
few like many,
many is used with count nouns.
• Yes, very boring indeed. A few people attended it but left before the end. (Quelques
personnes y assistèrent…)

Little and few (without the indefinite article a) are used to emphasize how small the quantity or
size is. Compare:
 • There was a little bread on the table. (Il y avait un peu de pain…)
• There was little bread on the table. (Il y avait peu de pain… = Il n’y avait que peu de pain.)
• A few people attended it … (Quelques personnes y assistèrent).
• Few people attended it … (Seules quelques rares personnes … = Il y en avait vraiment peu.).

II.- CARDINAL NUMBERS

To refer to exact numbers of people or things, we use numbers like “one”, “two”, “hundred”,
“thousand”, etc. These are called cardinal numbers (or just cardinals).
cardinals

 PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLING PROBLEMS

seven [sevn] fourteen [4f]:4ti:n]

eleven [i4levn] forty [4f]:4ti]
twelve [twelv] twenty-one
thirteen [4›c:4ti:n] eighty-three
thirty [4›c:ti] sixty-six

-ty cardinals (thirty, forty, sixty, etc.) bear an accent on their first syllable, whereas –teen cardinals
(thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, etc.) bear generally two accents. In some cases –teen cardinals have just
one accent (on the last syllable, the –teen syllable).
Notice the spelling of four/f
ou ourteen/f
ou orty and the hyphen for twenty-one, eighty-three, etc.

 “A HUNDRED PEOPLE” OR “ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE”?

We say one hundred or one thousand when we can or want to be very precise, and a hundred or a
thousand when we cannot or don’t want to be exact. Compare:

• (1) The PM promised that Dakar-Dem-Dikkë will receive a hundred buses before
October.
• (2) The PM promised that Dakar-Dem-Dikkë will receive one hundred buses before October.

In both sentences we have “…que Dakar-Dem-Dikkë recevra cent bus…” However, what is
meant in (1) is very close to “…une centaine de bus…” and in (2) to “… exactement cent bus…”
Of course, when reading “1,000,000 CFA Francs” (which refers to a precise quantity), we can
say either “a million CFA Francs” or “one million CFA Francs”. However, the latter is more formal.

 We generally use and to introduce the dozens and/or the units following “hundred”,
“thousand”, “million”, etc. The comma is generally not used.
• 523: five hundred and twenty-three.
• 2,447 two thousand four hundred and forty-seven.
NB
English uses the comma to separate thousands from hundreds, millions from thousands, etc.
(2,447) and the dot before the decimal part of a figure (2.447). It is exactly the reverse in French.

 Dozen,
Dozen hundred,
hundred thousand and million accept the plural only when followed by “of” (“des
douzaines de…”, “des centaines de…, etc.). Otherwise they are invariable singular cardinals.
• More than two thousand refugees are taken care of by the local Red Cross. (Plus deux
mille réfugiés sont pris en charge par la Croix Rouge locale.
• Thousands of refugees are taken care of by the local Red Cross. (Des milliers de …)
Other cardinal numbers can have a plural in some especial circumstances where they are used as nouns.
• Two fours are eight. (Deux fois quatre égale huit.)
• The early fifties (or: “early 1950ies” or: “early 1950s”), the late seventies (“1970ies” or
“1970s”). (Le début des années 50, la fin des années 70.

 In decimal numbers, 0 is read zero in American English and nought [n]:t] in British English.
• 4.06 is read “four point nought six” in British English and “four point zero six” in
American English.

 For telephone numbers, numbers of bus lines, etc., 0 is read o [cu] in British English and still
zero in American English.
• My mobile phone number is 625 05 08 (“six two five o five o eight” in British
English and “six two five zero five zero eight” in American English. (Mon numéro
de portable est le …)
• She has bought a gorgeous Peugeot 607. (“Six o seven” in British English, “six zero 7” in
American English.) (Elle a acheté une somptueuse Peugeot 607.)

 For sports results, 0 is read nil in British English and still zero in American English
• Ndiambour beat Gorée by 2-0 (“two nil” in British English “two zero” in American
English). (Le Ndiambour a battu Gorée par deux à zéro.)
In tennis, however, 0 is read “love”
love in both American and British English .
• Pit Sampras is leading 2-0 (“two love”).
NB
The mentioned differences between American and British English do not amount to an absolute rule.
Variations of use sometimes occur both ways: “Zero” can be heard in British English and “o” [cu] in
American English, etc.

III. ORDINAL NUMBERS

We use ordinal numbers to indicate the ranks or positions occupied by people or things in a series or
sequence: first, second, seventh, etc. Some ordinal numbers have a regular form or/and pronunciation,
others don’t. Here are the major irregular ordinals.

one ÷ first (1st) nine ÷ ninth (9th) [nain›]

two ÷ second (2nd) [4sekcn] twelve ÷ twelfth (12th) [twelf›]

three ÷ third (3rd) twenty ÷ twentieth (20th) [4twentic›]

five ÷ fifth (5th) [fif›] fifty ÷ fiftieth (50th) [fiftic›]

eight ÷ eighth (8th)[eit›] ninety ÷ ninetieth (90th) [naintic›]

Regular forms: the -th suffix is added to the base form (that of the cardinal). Four ÷fourth,
th ten ÷
th etc.
th hundred ÷ hundredth, thousand ÷ thousandth,
tenth,

Reminder: François I (“François the First”), Pope John-Paul II (“John-Paul the Second”), Edward IV
(“Edward the Fourth”), etc.

NB
Beware word order! “Les trois premières pages du livre” becomes in English “The first three pages of
the book”. (Likewise “Les deux autres invités” becomes “The other two guests”, “Les trois plus
grandes villes” becomes “The biggest three cities”.) But some people, especially in a very formal –
literary – style, may write “The three first pages of the book” (as in French). But this is quite exceptional.

IV.- COUNTING MONEY

The British system

£10 = “ten pounds”
£3.70 = “three pounds seventy pence” or “three pounds seventy” or just “three seventy”.
50p = “fifty pence” or “fifty p”.
NB
In “50 pence”,
pence “pence”
pence is the plural of penny.
penny When I refer to the coins worth a penny each, the
plural is pennies.
pennies

The American system

$6 = “six dollars”. $7.50 = “seven dollars and fifty cents”.
 THE EXPRESSION OF POSSESSION
A.- THE MARKS AND PHONETICS OF THE GENITIVE CASE (= POSSESSIVE CASE)

 Nouns and names not ending in ‘s’ (be they singular or plural nouns!): Apostrophe + S:
- (1) The boy’s room is not tidy. (singular common noun).
- (2) The President’s promises are not easy to keep.
- (3) George’s piano is more modern than mine (proper noun).
- (4) Maybe only Mr Watch’s friends believe so.
- (5) They have been thinking of postponing the Pope’s visit.
- (6) I didn’t attend the women’s conference (plural noun, but not ending in ‘s’!).
- (7) Unfortunately I couldn’t accept my niece’s suggestions.
- (8) To my mind, Bob’s style is more original.
- (9) The police haven’t found yet some of Tiger’s accomplices.
- (10) Jean-Paul Diaz’s party claims to have been cheated.

 Pronunciation rules
The ‘s’ inflection in these examples is pronounced differently, according to the final sound of the
noun.
• It is pronounced [s] when the final sound of the noun is one of the following voiceless
consonants (“consonnes sourdes”): ([t], [p], [f], [k], []. This is the case in (2) and (5).
• It is pronounced [z] when the final sound of the noun is one of the following voiced
consonants (“consonnes sonores”): [d], [b], [v], [g], [l], [m], [n], [] or when the final
sound of the noun is a vowel sound (all vowel sounds are voiced). This is the case in (1),
(6), (8) and (9).
• It is pronounced [iz] when the final sound of the noun is a sibilant (“consonne sifflante ou
chuintante”): [s], [z], [•], [¥], [t•], [®]. This is the case in (3), (4), (7) and (10).

 Plural common nouns and common nouns of persons ending in ‘s’: Apostrophe only
(“zero genitive”)
- The inhabitants’ worries are not justified. (Les inquiétudes des habitants…)
- You can’t image how boring the girls’ party was. (… à quel point la fête des filles était
ennuyeuse…)
- The actress’ visit coincided with my leave. (La visite de l’actrice a coïncidé avec…)

 Proper names ending in ‘s’: apostrophe + s or “zero genitive”

• Generally we apply to them the rule applicable to nouns not ending with ‘s’: apostrophe +
‘S’. Remember then that the ‘s’ is read [iz] (sibilant):
- Jones’s dog never barks at night. [®uniz dg] (Le chien de Jones n’aboie pas ….)
- I attended Mrs Burns’s [b:niz] lectures. (J’ai assisté aux cours de Mme Burns.)

• But sometimes they are spelt in the “zero genitive” manner (even though the
pronunciation of the inflection remains the same: [iz]

- Jones’ dog never barks at night.

- I attended Mrs Burns’ lectures.
 • Greek names of more than one syllable ending in ‘s’ and biblical names ending in ‘s’ are also
often spelt in the “zero genitive” manner (and of course pronounced with the [iz] final sound):

- I’ve read three of Euripides’ plays. [diz]

- Socrates’ philosophy is very wise. [ tiz]
- Moses’ laws; Jesus’ teachings. [ziz]

A.- THE USES OF THE GENITIVE CASE

 The genitive case is generally used for persons’ names (or names of animals which are, for
one reason or another, considered closer to men than to things and are therefore somehow
personified).

- My friend’s advice.
- The cat’s tail.
- This is dog’s food!
For other nouns, we normally use “… of” instead of the ’s genitive to mark possession:
- She has broken the leg of my table. (Instead of “the table’s leg”.)
- The people of Saint-Louis still remember that day. (Instead of Saint-Louis’s people.)

NB Remember that the English “of” is not always the equivalent of the French “de”. The latter is
translated in several ways into English, according to the contextual meaning. For instance, “un
roman de Sembène” becomes in English “a novel by Sembène”; “un tableau de Picasso” “a
painting by Picasso”, “une fille de Louga” “a girl from Louga”, etc.

 The genitive case is also used for personified neutral nouns

- Senegal’s parliament, France’s flag, etc.

 The genitive case is also used in such fixed or traditional expressions as:
- At arm’s length (à bout de bras).
- The lion’s share (la part du lion).
- A bird’s eye view (vue à vol d’oiseau).
- Art for art’s sake (de l’art pour l’art).

 The genitive doesn’t mean the same in the following examples:

- Ousname and Dieynaba’s parents. (They share these parents).
- Ousmane’s and Dieynaba’s parents. (Each of them has his/her own parents).

 The incomplete genitive is often used when we refer implicitly to a place such as a shop, a
church, a cathedral, a school, a hospital, a house, etc.
- She has gone to the chemist’s ( = “the chemist’s shop). (… à la pharmacie).
- It is possible that he left his uncle’s ( = his uncle’s house)at noon. (… chez son
oncle).
- Notre-Dame’s was full of believers. (= La Cathédrale Notre-Dame était …)
- Are there many people in the hairdresser’s? (… le salon de coiffure).

 The genitive case can also be used to express duration, distance or date

- A week’s holiday (un congé d’une semaine).

 - A ten minutes’ break (une recréation de dix minutes).
- A moment’s rest (un repos de quelque temps).
- A 30 kilometres’ drive (un parcours en voiture de 30 kilomètres).
- A 2 miles’ walk (une promenade de 2 miles).
- Today’s England (l’Angleterre de nos jours / d’aujourd’hui, etc.).
- Last Monday’s Wal Fadjri (le Wal Fadjri du lundi dernier).
- Last night’s storm (l’orage d’hier nuit).

 A noun or a group of nouns can sometimes replace the genitive (this is more frequent in
American English), especially among journalists and politicians.

- The Bush foreign policy (instead of “Bush’s foreign policy”).

- The barber shop (instead of “the barber’s”).
- The Harrison family (instead of “Harrison’s family” or “The Harrisons”).
- The Kabila rebellion (instead of “Kabila’s rebellion”).
 MODAL AUXILIARIES
 Language serves not only to exchange simple pieces of information, but to do such things as
requesting, suggesting, offering, expressing our wishes, doubts, preferences, speculations, etc.
For that, we use a group of very useful verbs called modals or modal verbs (can, may,
must, will, should, would, could, might, ought to, shall, etc.). The modals are always used
with other verbs which they accompany, whose meaning they modify, complete, etc. So,
they are auxiliaries (in the same way as “do” and “have”). This is why these modals are also
called modal auxiliaries.

 Some of them have a second (preterite) morphological form: can/could, may/might

will/would shall/should. The other modals have no second form but can have a past. This is
the case for “must” and “ought to” for instance:
- All that time I kept on reminding him that he must be careful (must = past, “devait”).
- All that time I kept on reminding him that he ought to be careful (ought to = past).

 “Dare” and “need” can be used either as “normal” verbs or as modals. This is why they are
sometimes called “semi-modals”. When used as models, they have no inflection (“s” or “–ed”).

 The modals have no inflection at their third person singular: he wants/he can, she weeps/she
may, etc.

 They are never used with the auxiliary “do”: He does not know / He may not go.

 They have neither present perfect, nor future, nor subjunctive, nor continuous (“ing”) form.
This is why they are often referred to as defective verbs (they are deficient in tenses.)

1. CAN
 Its negative form is “cannot” in Brit. English and “cannot” or “can not” in Amer. English. Its
contracted form is “can’t” and its preterite “could”.

 “Can” can be used to express a physical or intellectual or professional ability or a

natural faculty:
- Sarah can speak (could speak) Russian. (Intellectual ability or natural faculty?)
- Can you cook chips? (Intellectual or professional ability)
- He can/could kick penalties.
- I think that he cannot (could not) carry this trunk
In this case “can” can be paraphrased by the use of the expressions: to be able to, to know how to.
We use these periphrastic expressions for instance to express a future.
- I can drive a car.
- In a few months I will be able to/know how to drive a car. (…je saurai conduire …)
Of course, the paraphrase “to be able to” can also be used in the present and the preterite (he can /
he is able to he could / he was able to, etc.). But very often “can” is used to express a general
or permanent ability (or a permanent faculty) whereas “to be able to” is used in the present or
the preterite to express a specific achievement. Compare:
 - She can/could cook (“Elle peut/sait pouvait/savait faire la cuisine”): general,
permanent, durable ability.
- That day she was able to cook “domoda” unassisted. (“Ce jour-là elle a pu/su préparer
le “domoda” toute seule”): one day’s specific performance.

- At the end the boy could drive (“… savait conduire.”) general ability.
- The boy was able to drive his father’s car to take the almost dying man to the nearest
clinic. (“Le garçon a su/a réussi à …”): one day’s exploit.

 “Can” can also be used to express a possibility, a likelihood

- She can say again that she forgot the appointment (“Elle peut encore dire [il est
possible qu’elle le dise]”).
- The river could easily overflow. (“le fleuve pouvait déborder facilement : c’était
possible”).
- It can rain today (the probability is greater than in “it may rain today”.)
- What can he be thinking of? (A quoi peut-il être en train de penser ?)

 “Can” can express the idea of permission (it is then less formal than “may”)
- At that time only he could speak to the Damel (was allowed to …)
- Can I use your pencil? (talking to a friend, a fellow: I don’t have to be very polite).
- Now you can open the window (now this is allowed).
NB: In this case the negative form expresses a prohibition:
- You cannot/could not smoke here (this is/was forbidden).
- No! They can’t behave in this way! (this is inadmissible).
When “can” expresses the idea of permission, it can be replaced by “to be allowed to”.

 “Can” generally accompanies verbs expressing involuntary perception (hear, see, feel,
smell, taste, etc.) and to understand
The “can” doesn’t appear then in the translation into French.
- I can hear / could hear a curious noise (J’entends / j’entendais un bruit…)
- Can you smell the delicious scent of…? (Sens-tu / Sentez-vous le parfum…)
- I couldn’t understand what she was up to. (Je ne comprenais pas ses intentions.)

2. COULD
 “Could”, the preterite form of “can”, can be used to express a condition
- They could arrive now if they left early. (Ils pourraient … s’ils avaient quitté…)

 It can also be used to make a polite request (more polite than “may”) or a suggestion
- Please, could I have a cup of tea? (I owe respect to my interlocutor.) (S.v.p., puis-je …)
- Could you show me the classroom C 03?
 - Perhaps we could wait for them here (if you are kind enough to allow us to wait in your house).

 “Could” + past infinitive can be used to express a missed opportunity (in an affirmative
sentence).
- Wonderful birds! You could have brought your camera! (Tu aurais pu … et c’est
dommage.)
- If only we could have tested it before. (Dommage que nous n’ayons pas pu l’essayer avant.)
3. MAY
Its preterite is “might”.

 “May” can be used to express a possibility, an uncertainty (“epistemic possibility”).

- He may be ill (= He might be ill. Cf. further). (Il se peut qu’il …)
- They may not come today. (Il se peut qu’ils ne viennent pas aujourd’hui.)

 Referring to the past, we can use “may” + past infinitive to express an uncertainty.
- He may have forgotten the appointment (il se peut qu’il ait oublié …)
- She may have lost the toolkit (Il se peut qu’elle ait perdu le trousseau.)
- They may have gone to the Magal (il se peut qu’ils soient partis…)

 “May” can be used to express permission

- You may borrow my car if you want (tu peux / vous pouvez… = je l’autorise).
- Students may choose the topic they want (… peuvent choisir… = y sont autorisés).
- May I ask you a question? (Puis-je …? = est-ce que vous m’y autorisez ?)
- If I may say so … (Si je puis dire…)
- “You may attach a maximum of three files” (Yahoo.com file attachment procedure.)
(Vous pouvez … = Vous êtes autorisé à …)
In this case, its equivalents are “to be allowed to”, “to be permitted to”.

 To express a prohibition, we can say “… may not” but we generally use “must not” (or
cannot) because “… may not” is sometimes ambiguous. Compare:
- (1) He may not start now. (Il se peut qu’il ne commence pas maintenant.)
- (2) He may not start now. (Il n’est pas autorisé à commencer maintenant.)
It is then advisable to say, instead of (2): “He must not start now” (or: “He is not allowed to…”).
Indeed, “may not” used to express a prohibition is rather archaic, too formal (in official notices,
for instance). Examples:
- These books may not be taken out of the library. (Il n’est pas permis de … Il est interdit de …)
- “All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means …” (On the copyright page of many books).
- “You may attach a maximum of three files. The total combined attachments may not exceed
1.5 megabytes”. (Yahoo.com file attachment procedure.) (… Le total … ne doit pas
dépasser …. = ce n’est pas autorisé.)
 “May” can be used to express a wish in a formal style
- May the best win! (= Let the best win!) (Que le meilleur gagne!)
- May God bless you ! (= God bless you!)
- May the Lord have mercy on your soul! (Just before execution.) (Que le Seigneur ait pitié
de ton âme !)

 “May” can be used in subordinate clauses of concession

- Strange as (= Strange though) it may seem, they can’t … (Aussi étrange que cela puisse
paraître, ils ne peuvent pas …)

4. MIGHT
 “Might” can be used to express possibility, uncertainty. There is more uncertainly with
“might” than with “may”.

- It may rain this afternoon (il se peut que…).

- It might rain this afternoon (il se pourrait que…).
- I thought (that) you might need a knife. (… vous pourriez avoir besoin de … = c’est possible.)
- “Chris plunged into the crowd looking for someone who might have coherent information”
(C. Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah). (… qui pourrait éventuellement avoir une
information.)

NB: to express possibility or uncertainty, “might” is much more used in today’s oral language
than “may”. “It might rain this afternoon” is today more usual than “It may rain this
afternoon”. But remember to use “may” in a formal style (in your essays and dissertations).

 “Might” can also be used to express a suggestion or a reproach in affirmative sentences.

- You might begin now (vous pourriez … Je vous le suggère).
- They might accept him (ils pouvaient l’accepter … Léger reproche).

Of course, sometimes only the context (or the tone!) can tell whether “might” expresses a
reproach or a suggestion. Actually, the border between suggestion and reproach is extremely
narrow.

 “Might” can be used for permission. It is then too polite, quite ceremonious

- Might I tell you something?

But “You might come” does not express permission. It is not the past form of “You may come”
(in the sense of “You are allowed to come”). “Might” can only play this role in the interrogative
form “Might I tell you something?” or in the indirect speech:
- His father said that he might go out (he was allowed to go out).
Of course, this sentence could also mean: “He was likely to go out”. Bear in mind the fact that
meaning is generated by the overall communicational context, the whole sign systems. For
instance, sometimes the tone we use, our facial or corporeal expressions, the cultural environment
we live in, etc. tell more or better than the properly linguistic tools – the modals, for example –
we use in our daily interactions. Each modal can or may mean several things depending on these
linguistic or non linguistic factors.

 “Might” can be used with “well” (“as well”) to express the idea that what happened is
understandable, logical: people must not be surprised.

- We were all dejected when he terminated his despicable speech, as well we might be (or:
“as well we might”). (Nous étions tous abattus lorsqu’il acheva son ignoble discours, ce
qui n’était pas surprenant.)
- The Talibans are insisting that they are determined never to hand Ben Laden over to the
Americans, as well they might (or: “as well they might be). (Les Talibans réitèrent leur
détermination à ne jamais livrer Ben Laden aux Américains, ce qui n’a rien d’étonnant).

 “Might” + past infinitive is used to express the idea that people narrowly escaped danger:
- They might have failed their exams (Ils auraient pu… ils l’ont échappé de justesse).
- You might never have married him (Tu aurais pu ne jamais l’épouser… heureusement pour
toi).
- “Lionel Jospin [former French Premier] might have lost his majority” (… aurait pu… = l’a
échappé de justesse).

NB: Sometimes people use “could” + past infinitive to mean the same: “they could have
failed…”

 “Might” + past infinitive can also express a doubt, an uncertainty, a probability, a

hypothesis concerning an event situated in the past
- They might have received the letter (ils auraient peut-être reçu…).
- “Had there been a Papist among the crowd of Puritans, he might have seen in this
beautiful woman […] an object to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity…” (From
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.) (Si d’aventure il y avait un Papiste [ = un
Catholique] dans la foule de Puritains, celui-ci aurait probablement vu dans cette jolie
femme …)

 Might” + past infinitive can also be used to express reproach

- You might have warned the doctor. (… auriez dû…)
- The USA might have signed the treaty.

5. MUST
 The same form can be used to refer to the past (“I kept on reminding him that he must be
careful”, “… qu’il devait …”).

 “Must” can express a necessity, an obligation

 - You must return immediately (tu dois / vous devez …)
- They must tell us our marks.

 To express the same idea in the future, we can use “to have to” or “to be obliged to”
- Tomorrow you will have to go and fetch wood. (…tu devras… / … vous devrez…)

But “must” and “to have to” don’t mean exactly the same. Compare:
- You must read this book (I order it: the source of the order is definitely me).
- You have to read this book (the order may come from somewhere else: your father, the
teacher, etc. Maybe I just convey it to you).
Their negative forms “must not” and “don’t have to” mean totally different things. Compare:
- You must not call her (tu ne dois pas l’appeler: “obligation négative” : interdiction).
- You don’t have to call her (= you don’t need to …) (tu n’es pas obligé de l’appeler :
absence d’obligation).

 “Must” can also express a quasi-certainty, a high probability or a logical conclusion

- People are shouting. Our team must have won the cup. (… a sûrement…)
- She must be the midwife. (Elle est sûrement la sage femme.)
- “I see1 that the president [George Bush (senior)] has stood up so he must have something to
say about this” (the journalist refereeing the Bush/Perot/Clinton presidential debate in 1992).
(“…il a sûrement quelque chose à dire à ce sujet.)

 “Must” + past infinitive expresses the same idea with reference to the past

- You must have waited for a long time (I can notice that you are tired). (Vous avez dû…)
- She must have known him for years (I see that she teases him). (Elle doit l’avoir connu …)

6. SHALL
Its contracted form is “shan’t”
 “Shall” and “will” may not be used as modals, but to express the “plain”, “colourless”
future.
This means a future without any trace of suggestion, obligation or whatsoever (I / We shall go,
You/He/She/They will go).

 But in today’s English, “shall” is very scarcely used in the “plain future”.
Today people generally use “will” everywhere (I will, we will, you will, etc.) Now “shall” is
generally reserved to modal constructions.

 “Shall” used as a modal often refers to contexts where the subject has little, if any, choice.

1
Here “I see that…” (instead of “I can see that…”) means: “I notice that…”, “I remark that…”. This is
the case for “Je vois que…” in French which could rightly be replaced by “Je constate que…”. The
meaning would be slightly different if the journalist said: “I can see that…”.
 - You shall die one day. (You can’t escape it.) (Tu mourras [inéluctablement] un jour).
- They shall have to admit that they are wrong. (It will be too difficult to them not to admit it.)
- “Tony Blair shall have to count with the trade unions”. (In The Guardian.) (… sera bien
obligé de compter avec les syndicats.)

 “Shall” can be used to express sensations and feelings in situations like these:
- We shall enjoy having tea with you.
- You shall be cold if you wear this!

 “Shall I…?”, “Shall we…?” serve to offer a service or ask the interlocutor’s opinion:
- Shall I help you, Madam? (I offer to help.) (Voulez-vous que je vous aide… ?)
- Shall we go the movies tonight ? (I ask their opinion.) (= Et si on allait au cinéma ce soir ?
[Qu’en pensez-vous ?])

 “Shall” can also be used to express an order, a constraint, a threat, a promise, a challenge

- You shall receive your gift, In Challah. (Promise.)

- You shall return this book before June 1st. (Order.) (= “you must…”)
- Thou shalt obey thy parents (Biblical order in classical English.)
- “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States,
which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives (Art.1 Sect.1 of the
American Constitution).
- “We shall overcome!” (Martin Luther King’s followers.) (Promise, challenge.)

7. WILL
Its contracted form is “won’t”.
 “Will” generally expresses a will, a choice, a consent.
- Will you visit us on Christmas? (Voulez-vous … ?
- Yes we will. (Volontiers.)
- Wilt thou have this woman to be thy lawful wedded wife? (At the church, in Biblical English.)
(Voulez-vous prendre pour épouse….?)
- Yes I will. (Oui!) (“Yes I shall” would be very inappropriate in this context. Why?)
- Open the door, will you? (… s’il vous plait).
- We have invited him but he will not come (… mais il ne veut pas …)2.

2
“He will not come” may of course be ambiguous here. Consider carefully the context to see whether
“will” (or “will not”) expresses a plain or “coloured” future. “He will not come” may mean here: “il ne
viendra pas” (“il ne refuse pas, mais il n’en a pas la possibilité”). This is the case in a context like this:
“He is too busy. This is why we have invited him but he will not come”.
 - I want him to spend the holidays with us in Kolda, unfortunately he will not. (… a décline
l’invitation).
- If you will pay the money, I will be very grateful (si vous acceptez de payer …)
- “The defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld will neither confirm nor deny reports that the
Pentagon is now using armed but unmanned drones …” (on CNN, 19 October 2001, while
US forces fight in Afghanistan). (Le ministre de la défense… n’a voulu ni confirmer ni
démentir les allégations (des médias surtout) selon lesquelles le Pentagone utilise
maintenant des drones armés mais sans équipages …)

 “Will” can also be used to express the idea of repetition, of habit, of custom, of mania
- Accidents will happen (il arrive toujours des …)
- He will wake up at 7 and sing Rap songs (il faut qu’il se réveille toujours à 7 h pour…).

 “Will” can also express a quasi-certainty (cf. “must”)

- You will be Doudou’s son. (Cf. “must”: “You must be …”) (Tu es certainement…)
- They will realize how sod Yacine Diagne is. (Ils vont se rendre compte à coup sûr…)
- I don’t know about Marième, but Youssouf will fail. (… mais Youssouf lui va …)

8. SHOULD
Should is the preterite of shall
 “Should” is often used to express a toned down moral advice.
- You should accept her proposal (Vous devriez …)
- The students shouldn’t boycott the restaurant (… ne devraient pas …)
- I think that your father should stop smoking. (…devrait cesser de fumer.)

 “Should” + past infinitive expresses a regret or a reproach for a past action (when it is too
late to give advice)
- You should have worn you green dress (tu aurais dû…).
- The guests should have told us that they don’t eat “ceebu jën”.
- The chairman shouldn’t have refused to give him the floor (… n’aurait pas dû…).

 “Should” can be used in subordinate clauses to express:

• A goal
- I coughed so that she should notice me (… afin qu’elle …).
- We switched off the light so that father should not see us (… pour que …).
- We switched off the light lest father should see us (… de peur que …). (= “… lest father
might see…”)
- “She nipped the candles, so that the wick should not leave a smell”. (Graham Greene.)

• An order or a suggestion
 - I propose that we should go out (= that we go out) (je propose que nous sortions)
- The judge ordered that he should be kept (= he be kept) in prison.

• A necessity
- It is indispensable that they should bring the lorry.

 “Should” can be used to express likelihood, probability

- He should visit the park before coming back (Il devrait visiter le parc… = normalement,
selon toute vraisemblance.)
- The match should be broadcast live. (… devrait être télévisé en direct.)

 “Should” can also be used in exclamations or interrogations to express surprise,

bewilderment, etc.

- How should I imagine that it was him?

- I kicked the door open and, whom should I discover lying on my bed but a thief?

9. WOULD
 It is the preterite of “will” and as such can serve to express a will, a choice, an agreement
(for past actions.)
- I offered to show him the way but he would find it by himself (il voulait le trouver…)
- I advised him to play midfield but he would not (… mais il a refusé / ne voulait pas).
- They would not vote for him, despite his noisy campaign.
NB: Of course, this use of “would” can be ambiguous. Remember what we said above about “he
will not come”. Consider carefully the context before deciding whether “would” expresses a
condition or a past will. Compare the last example with the following:
- If his brother didn’t come to his rescue, people would not accept him. They would not
vote for him, despite his noisy campaign. (Condition instead of past will: “… Ils ne
voteraient pas …”)

 “Would” can be used after “wish” to express what we would like things to be in the future
- I wish (that) you would confess your misdeeds (je souhaite que vous…).
- “I wish it would rain down” (Phil Collins’s song).

 “Would” can be used to express the conditional mood or a future located in the past. In this
case, it generally replace “should” in today’s English:
- I would (originally: I should) be disappointed if you refused to resign (conditional).
- Did she discover the corpse earthier, she would suspect the maid.
- He thought that we would miss the plane because of the bottleneck (future in the past).
 - Had I known, I would have bought this car.

 “Would” can be used for repetitive actions which took place in the past (it is then very
similar to “will”)
- Adji Sall would bang the door any time she came back. (… avait la manie de …)
- He would drink a cup of tea before going to bed.
- Occasionally the birds would make a noise among the woods on the other side of the
Great River.

 “Would” can also be used to express the likelihood of an expected or predictable event (very
similar then to “must” or “will”).
- That man coming there would be your uncle. (… est sûrement / normalement …)
- They would be around Ngaay Mexe now. (Ils doivent être …)

10.OUGHT TO
It is the sole modal auxiliary which accepts “to”.
 “Ought to” can be used to give advice (it is then almost equivalent to “should” but the
moral connotation is often stronger with “ought to”).

- You ought to obey him. (Tu devrais …)

- Oughtn’t we pay him a visit? (Ne devrions-nous pas…?)
- I reminded them that they ought (= past) to revise their lessons.

 “Ought to” can also express a likelihood (it is then very similar to “should”)
- After the inquiry he ought to discover the truth. (… il a sûrement…)
- This film ought to be very funny. (… est certainement …)

11.DARE
 Dare can be either a defective verb or an “ordinary” one.
Normally it is defective only in the interrogative and negative forms (or in sentences containing a
restrictive term: “only”, “hardly”, etc).
Used as a defective verb, “dare” is of course used without “to”, has no inflection (neither
“s” nor “-ed”) and generally has no auxiliary constructions:
- He dare not (= daren’t) touch it (he “doesn’t dare” is extremely scarce).
- Dare you meet him alone?
- He was so angry that nobody dare tell him the truth. (dare = past: “personne n’osait…”)

 In assertive contexts, “dare” is generally an ordinary verb and is thus used with “do”, “to”,
has inflections, etc.
However, more and more people now blend the modal and the “ordinary” constructions.
 - They do not dare ask for me (instead of “don’t dare to ask” or “dare not ask”).
- Does Mbaye Jacques dare leave the “PS”? (instead of “dare to leave…”).
These “confusions” are now widely accepted.

12.NEED
 The rules mentioned above about “dare” are generally applicable to “need”.

 “Need” is used as a modal (and in the negative form) to express the idea that it is not
necessary to do something or to behave in a way.
- You need not (needn’t) worry: she will manage (Ce n’est pas la peine de s’inquiéter : elle
pourra s’en sortir.)
- “You need not be ashamed that you live in Shanty Town” (From Alan Paton, Cry, the
Beloved Country.) (Ce n’est pas la peine d’avoir le complexe …) Here “need not” means
almost the same as “you must not” (vous ne devez pas avoir le complexe…) or “you
should not” (vous ne devriez pas avoir le complexe…)
- They needn’t read the book. (Here the “ordinary” “need” may be used: “They don’t need
to read the book”).
- “Nwego, you need not wait to collect the utensils”. (C. Achebe, Arrow of God.)

 “Need” is used as a modal and in the interrogative form to mean an obligation, a necessity.
- (1) Need I bring my drink? (Here “need” is almost equivalent to “must”, but with “need” I
generally expect a negative answer, something like: “Non, ce n’est pas la peine”).
- (2) Need you use a computer for that?

NB: The answers to these questions can be for (1)

- Yes, you must. (I usually don’t expect this answer: I am disappointed).
- No, you needn’t (= “No, you don’t have to”) (I expected this answer: I am relieved!)

And for (2)

- Yes, I must (my interlocutor is perhaps a bit surprised).
- No, I needn’t (= I don’t have to).
 TENSES
The notions of “tense” and “aspect”
(1) The earth moves round the sun.
(2) He died in July 1991.
(3) They are talking to the policeman.
(4) I have found my case.
(5) She has been sleeping for three hours.
(6) She wakes up at 7.
(7) We were crossing the river when it started raining.

TENSE ASPECT
(1) Present Permanent
(2) Preterite (past) Punctual
(3) Present In progress, non perfective, durative
(4) Present Finished, perfective
(5) Present In progress, non perfective
(6 Present Repetitive, habitual
(7) Preterite (past) In progress, continuous, durative

In the examples mentioned above, “The sun moves”, “she wakes up”, “They are talking”,
“She has been sleeping”, “I have found”, are all expressions of present actions, events or states.
Each of them corresponds to an aspect of this present: permanent aspect (“general truth”),
Habitual or repetitive aspect, non perfective aspect (the action, event or state is in progress
[“progressive” or “continuous” aspect], is going on while I mention it), the perfective aspect (the
action, event or state has finished: it has been done or has already happened).
But when I say “he died”, “we were crossing”, I refer to actions, events or states which are
totally located in the past. The past also has its aspects. It can be punctual (when referring to something
which happened once and was not durative), progressive (continuous, in progress, durative), etc.

A.- THE PRESENT

1.The simple present

The simple present is much more frequent in French than in English. This is the major
reason why francophone people tend to wrongly translate “Que fait-il ? Il mange ?” by “What
does he do ? Does he eat?” or “Elle enseigne ici depuis deux ans” by “She teaches here for (or
since!) two years”. In fact, the simple present is used in English almost exclusively in the
following three cases:

 The simple present can be used to express permanent truth (“state present”).

- Senegal is smaller than Germany. (This situation is unlikely to change.)

- Can you speak Haoussa? (The ability to speak a language is generally permanent.)
- He sleeps in this room. (This is the room where he permanently sleep.) (Compare with:
“he is sleeping in this room” where the speaker tells what is happening now.)
 - Her father says that he agrees to pay off the fine. (Son père dit qu’il accepte de payer
intégralement l’amende.) Here “says” and “agrees” express the father’s durable or
definitive position or opinion. This can be considered as a type of “permanent truth”.
(Compare with: “Her father has said that…” or “Her father is saying that…”.)
- She thinks that she is innocent. She refuses to sign the paper. (Durable or definitive
standpoint.)
- Things fall apart. (Durable situation.)

 It can also be used to express a habit, a repetitive action (“habitual present”). Of course, the
border between “permanent truth” and “habit” or “repetitive action” is sometimes very narrow:
- Water boils at 100°c.
- She wakes up at 7 o’clock.

 It can also express instantaneous actions:

- I pour some vinegar, add some salt, peel the onion, etc.
- I advise you not to follow him.
- El Hadj crosses the ball, Fadiga heads it … goal!

2.The progressive present

 It is also called “present continuous” or “durative present” or “real present”. It is called so
because it refers to situations happening now (“continuous”, “durative”, are aspects of this
present). It describes non-perfective events, those started, but not finished yet. It describes
actions, postures, behaviours taking place now (Cf. the French notion of “être en train de …”)

The roof is leaking and the wind is howling

Kids are crying ‘cos the sheets are cold
And me, I’m getting stronger by the minute
My wife’s expecting, but I hope she can wait
(From Phil Collins, “The Roof is Leaking”.)

 The verbs expressing an involuntary perception (to see, to hear, to smell, to feel, to taste [in the
sense of “to taste like…”], to sound [in the sense of “to seem”], etc.) don’t generally, or
“normally”, admit a progressive form. We can’t normally say: “I am smelling…”, “I am
hearing …”, etc. What they mean can’t be a durative process. They don’t normally accept the
notion of “être en train de…”

- I can see a ghost coming. (Je vois venir un fantôme).

- I can smell a delicious “maafe” from here. (Je sens d’ici un délicieux “maafe”).

Neither do such verbs as the verbs of cognition (know, believe, remember, understand, wonder,
suppose, realise) or the affective verbs (want, like, dislike, love, prefer, hate). These too don’t
“normally” admit a progressive form, the notion of “être en train de…”.

However, in some special, specific contexts, the progressive form can be used.
Ex.:- The dog is feeling much better today (physical condition, not involuntary perception).
 - Then Madjiguène started feeling my pockets (= caressing suspiciously).
- Are you seeing Soumbédioune today? (= visiting).
- We are smelling delicious flowers in here. (Intentional perception.) (Nous humons… )
- Wait: Nabou is tasting the wine for you. (Intentional perception.)
- “Ezeulu was still hearing in his mind the voices of the children of Government Hill when…”
C. Achebe, Arrow of God. (“Hear” is used figuratively here: reliving, listening again to…)

Of course, We can, in all circumstances, say: I am looking at … I am listening to …. I am

sniffing …., because these are verbs of voluntary perception. Compare see/look, hear/listen,
smell/sniff, etc. (Cf. in French: voir/regarder, entendre/écouter, sentir/humer, etc.)

 The progressive present can be used to tone down a statement:

- I must be leaving now (instead of “I must leave now” which may sound abrupt).
- I am looking forward to hearing from you soon (instead of “I look forward…”) (At the
end of a letter: “En attendant le plaisir de recevoir vos nouvelles, je vous prie d’agréer,
…")

3.The present perfect

 Generally the present perfect expresses a past action in relation to the present (perfective
aspect of the present tense).

 We use the present perfect to mention something that happened in the past for which we
cannot, or don’t want to, state a specific time, to specify the circumstances. In fact, the
“when?” has no importance. Only the result matters: it has been done, it has happened. In
some circumstances what has happened can be seen, can be noticed or remarked.
- They have called. (They have done it: here I don’t care about the “when?”.)
- I have met her.
- Diatou is coming over there. She has plaited her hair. (I can see it, I can remark it.)
- The government has accepted the deal.
- The referee has whistled the kick-off. (I have seen or heard it.)

NB: We can never say: “They have called last night”, “I have met her yesterday”, etc. The
specification of the moment when the event happened requires the use of the preterite instead of
the present perfect (“They called last night”, “ I met her yesterday”).
However, we can say: “They have always invited him”, “She has left for ever” because
“always” and “for ever” do not refer to a specific moment.

 We can use the present perfect to talk about something that started in the past and is still going
on (we can also use the present perfect continuous in this case, cf. “for/ since /ago”, below”)
- I have waited for this moment for ten years. (J’ai attendu … pendant … )
- I have been waiting for this moment for ten years. (Cela fait 10 ans que j’attends…)
- She has been crying for a week now, since her husband died. (Elle pleure depuis maintenant …)
- She hasn’t finished cooking her “dëxin mbëpp” (Elle n’a pas fini…)
 - How long have you been thinking about it? (Cela fait combien de temps que vous… ?)
- You have been sick since you came back from Kolda. (Vous êtes malade depuis…)

 We can also use the present perfect to refer to the amount of time an action or a state lasted in
the past:
- He has lived here for 2 years (he doesn’t live here any longer).

 We can use the present perfect to indicate that the action or situation is very recent (it has just
finished):
- Not lucky! They have just left!

 The same idea can sometimes be conveyed by the present perfect continuous:
- We have been watching a film (nous venons de voir …)

B.- THE FUTURE PERFECT

The future also can have its perfective aspect: the future perfect

 We can use the future perfect to say that something will be done or completed before a
particular moment in the future. It is constructed by use of shall or will + have + past principle.
- The sun will have risen before we reach Saint-Louis (… se sera levé avant que nous…).
Compare with: “The sun will rise before we reach Saint-Louis (… se lèvera avant que
nous …). With “will have risen”, the idea of anteriority is more strongly expressed.
- She will soon have forgotten the incident. (Elle aura bientôt oublié l’incident). Compare
with: “She will soon forget the incident” (elle oubliera bientôt…).
- I shall have met her by the weekend. (Je l’aurai rencontrée d’ici le weekend).
- Before she realizes her mistake and corrects herself, she will have lost her credibility.
(Avant de se rendre compte de son erreur et se corriger, elle aura perdu sa crédibilité.)
- The match will have ended before 7pm. (Le match se sera terminé avant 19 heures = avant
19 heures le match se sera déjà terminé.)

 The future perfect can also be used to express duration, to emphasize how long something
has been going on until a particular moment in the future.
- Next October, we will have been studying in the university of Saint-Louis for 3 years. (Au
mois d’octobre prochain, cela fera 3 ans que nous étudions à l’université de Saint-Louis.)
- In a few days we will have been married for 7 years. (Dans quelques jours, cela fera 7 ans
que nous nous sommes mariés.)
- Next Summer, I shall/will have known him for four years. (L’été prochain, cela fera 4 ans
que je le connais.)
- By the time you come back, your two wives will have been fighting for hours. (Avant ton
retour, tes épouses se seront mises à se battre pendant des heures.)

C.- THE PAST

a.The simple past (simple preterite)
 We can use the simple preterite to indicate that something occurred at a particular moment in
the past. The “particular moment” is a more or less definite date.
- They called last night.
- He abandoned this job when his father died.
- When did you last eat chicken?

 We can also use the simple past to talk about past repetitive actions. (cf. the French
“imparfait”)
- Every month we bought a sheep for our picnic. (Nous achetions… = nous avions l’habitude…)
- We travelled a lot when we were younger. (Nous voyagions beaucoup …. = nous en
avions habitude.)

b.The continuous (progressive) past (progressive preterite)

 We use the progressive form of the preterite to talk about continued stages or repeated actions
in the past. (cf. again the French “imparfait”)
- She could not come: her head was aching badly. (… lui faisait terriblement mal.)
- Everybody was asking him to stop quarrelling. (… lui demandait de…)
- They were always quarrelling. (Ils se querellaient toujours.)

 We use it also to contrast a situation with an event which happened just after that situation
existed (cf. in French the contrast between “imparfait” and “passé simple”):
- I was watching the Tyson/Fadam wrestling match when she knocked at the door. (Je
regardais … lorsqu’elle frappa à la porte).
- “While Kumalo was waiting for Msimangu to take him to Shanty Town, he spent the time
with Gertrude and her child”. (From Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country.) (Pendant que
Kumalo attendait que Msimangu le conduisît à …, il passait son temps avec …).
NB. Here the preterite must be translated by the “imparfait” because of the durative nature
of the described process : to spend the time. In fact, the author could write here: “he was
spending the time”.
- What were you doing when the police rushed in? (Que faisiez-vous /étiez-vous en train de
faire lorsque la police entra précipitamment ? …)

 We can also use the progressive form of the preterite to express, in the indirect speech in
particular, a future in the past.
- He finally confessed that he was leaving her on August. (… qu’il la quitterait en août).

 The modal preterite expresses a supposition, a wish or a regret:

- If I were you, I would not … (à votre place, je ne …)
- I wish I knew him before. (Je regrette de ne l’avoir pas connu auparavant).

c.The past perfect (or pluperfect)

 We use the past perfect to indicate that a past event or situation occurred before a particular
time in the past: anteriority in the past:
- We arrived and discovered that she had died.
- They went out after/when/as soon as they had finished rehearsing (…dès qu’ils eurent fini…)
.
- “When they had all gathered, the white man began to speak to them”, Chinua Achebe,
Things Fall Apart. (Quand ils furent tous rassemblés, le Blanc commença…)

 We can use the past perfect to emphasize the recentness and the duration of a continuous
activity which took place before a particular time in the past.
- What they had been promising proved absolutely false. (Ce qu’ils promettaient s’avéra faux.)
- The Dean had been discussing the problem with our delegates.

 We can use the past perfect to talk about an action or a situation which was still going on at a
particular moment in the past:
- When I knew him, he had been the principal of the school for 3 years.
- How long had they been married when they divorced?

 The modal past perfect serves to convey a supposition, a regret.

- I wish you had revealed it earlier.
- I wish I had been able to keep my promise.

D. TRANSLATION OF “DEPUIS …”, “IL Y A DE CELA…”: “FOR” “SINCE”, “AGO”

 FOR
“For” is used to express the duration of an action, an event or a situation.

a) The action or event or situation may be still going on: “depuis” ⇒ “cela dure combien
de temps?” In French, the corresponding tense is either the simple present or the
“passé compose”.
• I can use either the simple present perfect:
- It has rained here for 3 months. (Il a plu ici pendant 3 mois.)
- That house has been empty for ages. (Cela fait une éternité que cette maison est vide.)
- How long has she been mad? (Depuis combien de temps est-elle folle ? = Elle l’est toujours).
- We haven’t eaten meat for more than a year. (Nous n’avons pas mangé de la viande depuis
plus d’un an.= notre calvaire se poursuit.)

• or the progressive present perfect (make sure then that the verb we use accepts this form):
- We have been studying music for two years now (nous étudions… depuis maintenant…)
- How long have you been trying to jump 2 metres ? (Depuis combien de temps essayez-vous …)
- The dog has not been barking at night for a week. (… n’a pas aboyé la nuit depuis…)
NB: We can also say “it is …since” (or sometimes: “it has been … since”) to mean “for”:
 - It is two years now since we have been studying music.
- It is 3 months since she has been mad.

b) The action or event or situation is over, but maybe it is very recent or its
consequences are still visible or otherwise perceptible: simple present perfect.
(Combien de temps cela a-t-il duré?)

- He has lived here for 5 years (he is no longer here, but maybe he has just left or for one reason
or another he is not totally “absent”: something remains…). (Il a habité ici pendant 5 ans.)
- How long have you stayed in the park ? (The visit has just ended.) (Combien de temps
êtes-vous restés …)

c) The action or event is over, and I want to totally separate it from the present, to
isolate it in the past: we use then the preterite (Combien de temps cela a-t-il duré, ou
dura-t-il?)

- He lived here for 5 years. (His living here is presented as an old business. Compare with :
“he has lived here for 5 years” which implies proximity with the present.)
- He ruled the country for 8 years (Il a dirigé … pendant… = il dirigea …).
- How long did you work in the factory ? (Combien de temps as-tu … ou : …travaillas-tu…)
- “You were married and for long time did not have a child” (Flora Nwapa, Efuru).

 SINCE

a) When do we use since?

We use “since” to refer to a more or less precise date in the past, when an action or event or
situation started. The “more or less precise date” can be an event. (“Depuis” = date =
“depuis quand” ?). We then use the simple or progressive present perfect, depending on the
context (cf. above, with “for”). In French we generally use the simple present.

- (1) The cabinet has been meeting since 9 am (le cabinet est en réunion depuis 9 heures.)
- (2) She has been crying since she failed at her exams (elle pleure depuis qu’elle …)
- (3) You have been drinking since the girl has been serving beer. (Tu bois depuis que la fille
sert…)
- (4) Your parrot hasn’t spoken (= hasn’t been speaking) since we arrived. (… n’a pas
parlé depuis notre arrivée).
- (5) Since when haven’t you eaten meat? (Depuis quand n’avez-vous pas mange = ne
mangez-vous pas….)

b) What tense to use after since ?

After “since”, we use the preterite, the present perfect or the pluperfect depending on whether
the action or state introduced by “since” is present or past, durative or punctual, etc. In (2)
(“She has been crying since she failed”), the failure is not durative, can’t be a durative
process (we can’t normally say: “she has been failing…”). This is true for (4) where the fact
of arriving is not durative. But in (3) (“You have been drinking since the girl has been
 serving beer”), “since” is followed by a durative action: both the drinking and the serving are
durative. In (5) (“Since when haven’t you eaten meat?”), the situation of having not eaten
meat is going on (therefore we could say: “since when haven’t you been eating meat?)

 AGO
We use “ago” to refer to the amount of time elapsed since an action, event or situation ended
“depuis” = durée = depuis que cela a pris fin = il y a de cela …). We then use the preterite (so do
we in French). We can also use a modal + past infinitive with “ago”.)

- He lost his job 3 months ago. (Il a perdu … depuis…)

- He died three weeks ago (American English: “He was dead three weeks ago”). (Il est mort
il y a de cela 3 jours). (Compare with: “He has been dead for three weeks” where “dead”
is an adjective.)
- I ate meat more than a year ago. (Compare with: I haven’t eaten meat for more than a year)
- The MPs last met one month ago. (Cela fait un mois que les députés ne se sont pas réunis.)
- They must have found the solution some time ago (modal + past infinitive + ago). Ils
doivent avoir trouvé la solution il y a de cela un certain temps.)
- “You should have done it a long time ago” (a British official about the Northern Ireland
crisis, on CNN, August 8 2001.) (Vous auriez dû le faire depuis longtemps.)

We can also use “it is … since” to mean “ago:

- It is more than a year since I last ate meat (= I ate meat more than a year ago).
- It is three weeks since he died (= He died three weeks ago).

 FOR, SINCE AND THE “PAST IN THE PAST”

We can use “for” (duration) or “since” (starting point) and the pluperfect (past perfect) to refer
to actions or events or situations which happened in the past before other past actions or events.
(We can also use “ago” with modal + past infinitive in the same context.)

- When I met him at Louga, a month ago, he told me that he and Évelyne hadn’t spoken to
each other for two years. (Lorsque je l’ai rencontré … il y a de cela … il m’a dit que lui et
Évelyne ne s’étaient pas parlé depuis deux ans.)
- Antoine had been looking after the cattle since he arrived there (or: “since he had
arrived…”).
- The room was messy. The children must (or might) have been playing inside.
- When I came to the university, I had already been reading English for 7 years. (Or: … it
was already 7 years since I had been reading English). (… j’apprenais déjà l’anglais
depuis 7 ans).
- They discovered that all the gates had been locked some days before. (They discovered
that it was some days since all the gates had been locked.)
- The people of Thiès had been voting for him since they learnt (or had learnt) that he was…
 CAUSATIVE STRUCTURES
What we call in this course “causative structures” corresponds to the French notion of “faire faire
quelque chose”.

A.- ACTIVE INFINITIVE

1.- Make/have/let + Object + bare infinitive (infinitive without “to”) complementation

We can use this type of causative structure to express the idea that the subject causes something
(the object) to happen, or causes someone (the object) to do something or behave in a certain
manner. We use for that the causative verbs to make, to let and to have.

TO MAKE
- His behaviour makes me believe that he is somewhat inebriated. (... me fait penser qu’il
est quelque ivre.)
- What made Arafat protest so vehemently? (Qu’est-ce qui a amené Arafat à protester si
véhémentement ?).
- This story made us laugh all the night long. (... nous a fait rire ...)
- It is important to make the Senegalese people accept this sacrifice. (... de faire accepter
ce sacrifice par les Sénégalais / ... d’amener les Sénégalais à accepter ...)

NB: In the passive form, “make” must be used with a to-infinitive

- The Senegalese people were made to accept this sacrifice. (On a fait accepter ce sacrifice
par les Sénégalais.)
- I was made to believe that “Le Joola” tragedy was due to fate. (On m’a fait croire que la
tragédie du « Joola » ...)

TO HAVE
“Have” conveys more strongly than “make” the sense that the object is somehow
forced/obliged to do something or behave in a certain manner.

- They wanted to have him chair the meeting (Ils ont voulu / voulaient l’amener à / le
convaincre de présider la réunion. (This is slightly different from “... to make him chair
the meeting”.)
- We can by no means have her cook the dinner tonight. (Nous ne pouvons absolument
pas / en aucune manière lui faire préparer le dîner ce soir.)
- We will try to have the town council postpone the meeting. (Nous essayerons de
convaincre la mairie de reporter la réunion.)

TO LET
- I don’t understand why they don’t let him talk. (… pourquoi ils ne le laissent pas parler).
- Iba Der has let his party’s spokesman say that he won’t join the government. (… a fait
dire par le porte-parole de son parti…)
- You shouldn’t let the thief go! (Tu ne devrais pas laisser partir le voleur !)

2.- Cause/get + Object + to- infinitive (infinitive with to) complementation

We can use “to cause” instead of “to make” and “to get” instead of “to have” to say almost the
same. In these cases, the object is followed by a to-infinitive:

TO CAUSE
 - His behaviour causes me to believe that he was somewhat inebriated..
- What caused Arafat to protest so vehemently?
- This story caused us to laugh all the night long.
- It is rumoured that her pregnancy caused her to be so erratic. (On raconte que sa
grossesse l’a rendue tellement nerveuse.)

TO GET
- They wanted to get him to chair the meeting.
- We can by no means get her to cook the dinner tonight.
- We will try to get the town council to postpone the meeting.
- I am confident that we will get her to bring back the stolen make-up kit. (Je suis
persuadé que nous arriverons à lui faire restituer le trousseau de maquillage volé.)

B.- PASSIVE INFINITIVE:

1.- Have/get + object + participle complementation (past participle)

- (1) Daba said sadly that she will have her three teeth pulled out tomorrow morning.
(… qu’elle se fera arracher trois dents demain matin …)
- (2) The referee says that he will get the match started immediately. (L’arbitre dit qu’il
fera débuter le match immédiatement.)
- (3) Ibou got his book torn apart (s’est fait déchiqueter le livre).
- (4) Because of his stubbornness, the boy eventually fell down and got his left leg
broken. (… s’est fait / se fit casser la jambe gauche).

We can use this type of causative structure to express the idea that the subject (Daba/she, The
referee/he) causes something to be dealt with (to be done, for instance) by someone else (the
dentist, the football players). This structure is also used to say that something belonging to the
subject is affected in some way. We then use either “have” or “get”.
Generally we use “have” when the subject of the sentence is not responsible for what
happens or has no control over it. We use “get” when the subject involves himself/herself in the
action, intervenes directly in it or otherwise causes it to happen (by taking appropriate measures,
for instance) or is to blame or be pitied for it (in an accidental occurrence, for instance). The last
case, “to blame or be pitied”, generally corresponds to situations where “something belonging to
the subject is affected in some way”.
In (1), the subject, Daba, will not perform the action herself, will not have control over
the action. In (2), the referee will order the match to start, will take measures. In (3), Ibou can
be blamed or pitied for what happened to something belonging to him (the book). In (4), we
can blame the boy or feel sorry for him for what happened to something belonging to him (the
leg).

NB:
1.-We can use “have” instead of “get” when we prefer to insist on the result of the action rather
than on the action itself or its performance.

- The referee says that he will have the match started immediately.
- Ibou had his book torn apart.
- The … got his left leg broken.
2.-“Have” is sometimes said to be more suitable in formal English and “get” to be reserved to
informal English. For this reason “have” is sometimes used in formal English and “get” in
informal English, regardless of how much or to what extent the subject is or is not involved in
the performance of the action.

3.- “Will not” + “have” or + object + past participle

we can use “will not” followed by “have” (never “get”) in this type of causative structure to mean
that we don’t allow something to happen to somebody or something:

- I will not have my reputation smeared by such naughty accusations. (Je n’admettrai
pas que ma réputation soit ternie par des accusations aussi méchantes.)
- I won’t have my house polluted by this filthy mob. (Je n’accepterai pas que cette
populace malpropre pollue ma maison.)
- Laurent Gbagbo has hinted that he will not have the country partitioned. (… a laissé
entendre qu’il n’admettra pas que le pays …)

OTHER EXAMPLES OF USE OF “HAVE” AND “GET”.

- Tomorrow you will have your hair cut. (… tu te feras couper les cheveux.)
- I can assure you that you will have your suit ironed. (… on te repassera le costume)
- She says that she will not have her husband spoken to in so rude a manner. (Elle dit
qu’elle ne permettra pas que l’on s’adresse à son mari sur un ton aussi vulgaire.)
- They insisted to have (or get) all the three rebels sentenced to death. (Ils ont tenu à ce
que les trois rebelles soient condamnés à mort.)
- Last April I had/I got my eyes tested in this clinic. (… je me suis fait examiner les
yeux dans cette clinique).
- President Lansana Konté says that he won’t have his regime wrongly accused of
violating human rights. (… qu’il n’acceptera pas que son régime …)

3.- Volitional or perceptual verbs + object + -ed participle complementation

We can also have the passive infinitive causative construction with volitional verbs (verbs
expressing what I like/dislike, want/don’t want, prefer/don’t prefer, need/don’t need) or
perceptual verbs (perception verbs: to hear, see, to feel, etc.)
- She said she wanted this door closed for good. (Or: … “this door to be closed…”) (…
que cette porte soit fermée pour de bon).
- They don’t need this matter discussed in public. (Or: … “to be discussed …”) (… que
cette affaire soit débattue en public).
- I know you were not sleeping: you must have heard her beaten by her husband. (… tu
as (vous avez) dû l’entendre se faire battre par son mari = tu as (vous avez) dû
entendre son mari la battre).
- They said that they arrived only to see the windows smashed.
- I would like (I’d like) my hair plaited (or “braided”) before Tabaski (Or: … “to be
plaited / braided …”)
- I felt myself scorned. (Je me suis senti méprisé.)
- Well, I wonder why, but I heard him called “ngot”! (Or: “… to be called …”) (… j’ai
entendu les gens l’appeler “ngot”).

4.- Make + oneself + past participle

This construction is generally used with the verbs: to hear, obey, respect, understand.
- You can’t make yourself respected / obeyed by bullying people. (Ce n’est pas en
brutalisant les gens que tu obtiendras qu’ils te respectent / obéissent. Or: “… que tu te
feras respecter/obéir d’eux.)
- There was so much noise in the mosque that the Imam couldn’t make himself heard /
understood. (… que l’imam ne pouvait pas se faire entendre.)
 PHRASAL AND PREPOSITIONAL VERBS
MANNER-RESULT CONSTRUCTIONS

MANNER RESULT
He runs out
The boy kicked the door open
Can you swim across the river?
We blackmail her into obedience
They walked to the fair

In this kind of multi-word verbs, we have the expression of the manner, the way in which
something has been achieved (he runs) then the result, outcome, achievement of the action (out).
Both the manner and the result must be clearly stated in the translation of the phrasal verb into
French. Notice however that sometimes the result comes before the manner in French.

- He runs out = “Il sortit (the result) en courant (the manner)”. (And not: “Il courut dehors”!)
- The boy kicked the door open = “Le garçon ouvrit la porte (the result) d’un coup de pied
the manner)”. Or: “D’un coup de pied (the manner) le garçon ouvrit la porte (the result).
- Can you swim across the river = “peux-tu / pouvez-vous traverser le fleuve (the result)
à la nage” (the manner). (And not: “Pouvez-vous nager à travers le fleuve”!)
- We blackmailed her into obedience = “nous l’avons fait obéir (the result) en exerçant
un chantage sur elle” (the manner).
- They walked to the fair = “ils se rendirent à la foire (result, destination) à pied
(manner). (And not “ils marchèrent à la foire”!)

There are mainly two types of multi-word verbs: the phrasal verb (lexical verb + adverb) and
the prepositional verb (lexical verb + proposition). Remember that English adverbs include:
off, away, to, by, down, up, back, about, on, etc. and English prepositions: in, into, for, about, by,
on, across, at, to, with, through, etc. Generally the adverb can be placed before or after the object
( The rebels pulled down the walls / The rebels pulled the walls down) whereas the preposition
can only be placed before the object (They aimed at the lioness / They aimed the lioness at).

MAJOR ADVERBS AND PREPOSITIONS USED

IN PHRASAL AND PREPOSITIONAL VERBS

Meanings conveyed Examples

A Going from one side to another They have built a bridge across the river.
c On the opposite side (road, etc.) I saw a corpse lying across the street.
r … Then you turn left: my house is just across the street.
o
s
s
A In the same direction as, beside He was jogging along the riverside.
Debris of the plane were scattered along the runway.
l
o Forward movement, progress. The ceremony was going along when it started raining.
n How far along are you with your essay?
g
Together with Don’t forget to bring the children along.
along

A Into small pieces He couldn’t put together his watch which came apart.
apart
Things fall apart
p
a
r
t
A Separated into pieces, generally by a mighty The explosion blew the building asunder.
asunder
force This terrible accident tore his life asunder.
asunder
s A civil war is tearing this beautiful country asunder.
u
n
d
e
r
A To be in a different place, position or situation He ran away.
away We frightened the thief away.
away
She gives away all her valuable belonging.
w
a To put in or into the appropriate or usual place She put the cleaned utensils away in the cupboard.
y The boy used to hide the money away in the trunk.

Diminishing gradually until mostly or The snow was melting away.

away The water in the pot boiled away
completely gone During Ramadan they while away the day in this mosque

Continuously or repeatedly or busily I coughed away all the night.

Arame has been washing away the heap of dirty clothes.

B Return to previous place or condition or an Give me my money back!

back She will come back tomorrow. I
earlier time heard a voice and looked back.
back That event dates back to the
a 12th Century.
c
k In return (reply to an attack, for instance) We will fight them back.
back If she hits you, hit her back!
back
“America strikes back”
back (CNN headline, when the first US
missiles hit Afghanistan). I will pay you back for what you
did.

Farther away in distance It’s dangerous, please stand back.

back Everybody keep back! back
Push this table back against the wall. The police are trying to
hold the crowd back.
back She lay back in the chair.
D In or towards a lower position from a higher A car knocked her down.
down
one Get some hot soup down you and you’ll feel better.
o
w Distance from the speaker or from a central My family live down in Ziguinchor.
n place. We’re going down town this afternoon.

Along They sailed the boat down the river towards the sea.
We drove down this lane to Gossas.
F Something is removed or taken away or He was booed from the stage.
someone has left a place
r
o
m
I From outside, entering We showed him in. in I beckoned him in.
in Come in!
in
The walls fell in on them. The damaged bridge gave in.
in
n
To show when an activity makes something Fill in the application form…
complete The text is finished but the pictures will be pasted in later.

I Movement and entry He rushed into the room. I pushed her into the car. We
knocked some sense into her mind.
n
t Make somebody change from one position, We talked them into the project.
o opinion or behaviour to another (by force or I frightened him into confession.
influence)

Make something change from one condition or She chopped the cucumber into pieces. The van burst into
form to another flames. It has been translated into French.
O Not operating because it is not switched on
f
f Being away from a place or position
Please turn the lights off.
off
I must get off soon. She run off with the money. I am off to
Mexico in March. The noise scared off the burglars.

Something is removed or removes itself from He took off his coat. He fell off the horse. The plane took
another thing off at 5 pm. You must get off the bus here.

Completely absent because of being killed or I have paid off all my debt. This spray kills off all crawling
used ( almost equivalent to “up”). insects. Bernard alone drank off 10 bottles.

Stopped or cancelled or abandoned The meeting initially due today has been called off. off The
horse race was rained off (stopped because of rain).

In such a way as to separate, isolate, something A police special unit sealed off the area. The garden has
from the rest been fenced off.
off To stop intrusion, shut off all the 3 doors!

In such a way as to get rid of something Why not go out and walk off part of the couscous? Go to bed to
sleep off your headache! Don’t mind! Laugh their remarks off!
off

O Not stopping Let’s hang on a little longer. The baby was jumping on in the
car. We talked on and on…
on
n
In a way which results in forward movement Please go on,
on I’ll join you later. Move on please, the
ambulance is arriving. Very promising start! Carry on!
on

To show when something is operating or Turn on the TV set, will you? Switch on the lights.
starting to operate

O Forward movement resulting in a position on Get back onto the good track. Let us move onto the next
something (on + to) discussion item. The sheep are loaded onto the trucks. He
n jumped onto the wall.
t
o
O Movement resulting in an outside position. He ran out.
out He threw her clothes out the window. He pulled
his pocket inside out.
out The police kept the crowd out.
out Go out!
out
u Come out!
out
t
( Make somebody leave a position, opinion or We talked him out of the project. She frightened the boy out
behaviour for another (by force or influence) of his wits.
o
u Until something is removed or disappears If you miss the class, I will cross your name out.
out They used
t a lot of water to put the fire out.
out My time / my money /my
o patience is running out.
out
f
Movement away from a central point I will hand out the assignments tomorrow. He sent out
) letters to all participants.

Solution to a problem, or the end of it Leave them fight their dispute out between them. The
situation is complex but I’ll manage to sort it out.
out

To emphasize the loudness of a sound He cried out.

out This made us laugh out.
out

Far away, a long distance They live out in the countryside. They were out at sea. We met
them 30 km out of Kaffrine. She was looking out at the sea.

Open or flat or extending or expanding
Look, the flowers are opening out. out The epidemic is
allegedly spreading out.
out He spread the mat out on the floor.
He hammered the nail out.
out

Unconscious or sleeping Tyson knocked him out.out She passed out (vanished). She
took too tablets and went out (vanished).

T Among or between a number or amount of They walked all the day through the woods.
people or something
h
r Movement from one side to another He elbowed his way through the crowd of fans. Her words
o kept running through my mind. We drove through the
tunnel.
u throughout) June and into the 1st half of
During a period of time, from the beginning to It rained through (=throughout
g the end of the event (= throughout) July. I supervised the project trough to its completion.
h
T Showing the destination We drove to Dakar in the night. Then she flew to Brussels.
o Showing an extreme state or condition Again! You’ve torn your shirt to pieces! It was a terrible
night, I was bored to tears.
U Towards a higher position, value, number or Astou, pick your clothes up and put them away. This road
level leads through the jungle and up into the Andes. She limped
p up the hill. Get up!
up

In or into a vertical position You stand up!

up Shocked, I jumped up and started shouting.
They are putting up new buildings in the area.

To a greater degree, in order to increase Will you speak up,

up Madam? It is heating up in here! Don’t
turn the TV up,
up the children are sleeping. Speed up the
process!

To exist, to appear, to occur; to become visible, Don’t bring up this issue here. Something strange has come
to make appear, to make visible up in your house. “Sublime Mensonge” is coming up next.

So as to be equal in quality or achievement, to Don’t worry, I will catch them up.

up It’s difficult to keep up
be at the same level with all the new developments.

Very near, or moving to a short distance of With her gun she walked up to the cashier and demanded
somebody or something. money. The big car drew up to us and the driver got off.

Together We gathered up our belongings and ran off. Add up the

column of figures. You must mix up all these ingredients.

Tightly Can you do my shoelaces up for me? Tie up the top of the
bag. Wrap this parcel up.
up

Broken or cut or folded into smaller pieces The bomb blew the car up.up Cut the paper up into pieces.
Write you suggestion on a piece of paper and then fold it up.
up

To an end, to the completion (almost She alone drank up this bottle. You will end up in prison.
equivalent to “off”). We have used up all the money. All these concessions will
eat up our national sovereignty. When are you going to pay
up the money you owe me?

NB: Remember that in a result-manner structure, the result can also be expressed by means of an
adjective: Examples: “He worked himself free”, “He kicked the door open”, “He read
himself blind”, “He shot two rebels dead”, etc.

TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO FRENCH

- He broke into the restaurant.

- Tomorrow we will drive/fly to our home city.
- Then I beckoned them out.
- I think that it’s Papa Bouba who headed the ball into the net.
- I think that he then shied away.
- “So I was marched out and off down the corridor towards the Wing Chapel” (A. Burgess)
- He limped up the hill.
- I found that she was waiting up for me.
- Wounded, the poor man crawled into his car.
- This happened the year he was voted out.
- I called my dog in order to frighten the thief away.
- Ndèye Astou was so hungry that she licked the dish clean.
- Come out!/Go out! Come in!/Go in! Come up!/ Go up Come upstairs!/Go upstairs.
- Many refugees starved to death. The rest were shot dead.
- The conductor (= “receveur de bus”) helped the blind woman up.
- Go on! Shake her awake!
- Two policemen grabbed me but I eventually succeeded in working myself free.
- Be careful! Or else you will read yourself blind!
- Show her in, will you?
- I’ll see you to the door.
- It was very dark, but we had to walk him home.
- “The miner ran towards the wood. Suddenly he thought of the stick. He ran back, picked it
up and ran into the forest”. (From a short story.)
- Please wait a minute. I will see you off at the bus stop.
- He ran past me without seeing me.
- Don’t let me down!
- Nafi lulled the baby to sleep.
- They laughed us out of the project.
- The police clubbed the striking students into submission.
- I talked her out of the marriage (or: “into the marriage”).
- You don’t need to worry yourself into breakdown.
- “… and his steward ran out with a torch to light him in”. (G. Greene, The Heart of the Matter)
- “The IRA is bombing its way into the headlines” (BBC).
- She got up, stretched and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
- The angry fans booed Oumar Pène from the stage.
- I think she bribed him away from his decision to close the restaurant.
- Dazzled, I groped my way along the corridor.
- “… he threw her out into the cold, with these few rags, and drove back to Johannesburg”.
(From Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country.)
- Satan lured Eve into eating from the forbidden tree.
- The hunters’ shouts frightened the lion out of its lair (or den).
- He however struggled to his feet and staggered away.
- The noise is now dying down.
- “It was foolish to go through the kitchen, past the stain on the floor, up the stairs that led
to the bedroom”. (From Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country.)
- Baaba Maal succeeded in elbowing (or shouldering) his way through the crowd of fans.
- My God! You are yawning your head off!
- Then I hammered the nail out.
- “He wildly crushed the cockroach (= “cafard”) out of existence”.
- The army pushed the rebels back across the border into their stronghold.
 OBJECT COMPLEMENTS
I.- TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS
 Some actions or events involve, in addition to the subject, other persons or things which are in
one way or another affected by these actions or events. “I need it”,
it “She used to study biology
here”, “The boys prefer swimming”,
swimming Now I understand what daddy was trying to explain”,
explain
“We are speaking to the whole team”,
team “Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel Tour”,
Tour etc. The verb
groups which describe these actions or events are said to be transitive verbs (to need, to
prefer, to build, to speak to, etc.). The nouns or noun groups which follow these verbs and
which are answers to the questions: “what?” “who?” “to what?” “to whom?”, etc. (“it”,
“biology”, “swimming”, “what daddy was trying to explain”, etc.), are called object
complements.
complements The object complement can be either a noun (“biology”, “the Eiffel Tour”) or a
noun group (“to the whole team”) or a pronoun (“it”) or an infinitive (“swimming”) or a
clause (“what daddy was trying to explain”), etc.

 Other verbs do (normally) never have an object complement. These include: to die, to sleep,
to shine, to rise, to hesitate, to disappear, to lie, to work, to swim, to shout, to arrive, to cry, to
fall, to ache, etc. We can’t normally say “to die somebody or something or to die to
somebody, etc.”. These verbs are said to be intransitive verbs. verbs (One can notice that many
verbs which are normally always intransitive describe physical state or behaviour and sound
production.)
 Some normally intransitive verbs can be used transitively when used figuratively. We can say:
“he shouted his innocence” (“to shout” means here to assert vehemently).

 Remember that to lay (laid, laid) is a transitive verb (“He laid the mat on the ground”) and to
lie (lay, lain) an intransitive one (He lay down and slept.). To rise and to arise are intransitive
whereas to raise is transitive, etc.

 Many verbs (the vast majority) can be used either transitively or intransitively according to
what they mean in the context we use them. Compare:
• (1) The child can’t speak yet. (L’enfant ne sait pas encore parler.)
• (2) The child can’t speak Soninke yet. (L’enfant ne sait pas encore parler Soninke.)
• (3) Her heart was beating very fast (Son cœur battait très rapidement.)
• (4) Why did you beat the child?
child (Pourquoi avez-vous battu l’enfant ?)
• (5) Our national side is playing today. (Notre équipe nationale joue aujourd’hui.)
• (6) Stop playing the fool!
fool (Arrêtez de faire l’imbécile !)

What “to speak” means in (1) is different from what it means in (2), what “to beat” means in (3)
is different from what it means in (4), etc. Likewise “to run” does not mean the same in “to run
10 km” and in “to run a restaurant”.

1I.- DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECT COMPLEMENTS

 Object complements are said to be “direct” when they follow immediately the transitive verb
(I like music)
music and “indirect” when they are linked to the verb by means of a preposition (I
listen to music)

 Some verbs require a direct object complement in French, but an indirect one in English. For
other verbs it is the reverse.
DIRECT OBJECT VERBS IN ENGLISH … BUT INDIRECT OBJECT VERBS IN FRENCH

We approached him. Nous nous approchâmes de lui. lui

This suits/fits/becomes Marième.
They trust her.
her
She deeply resented your observation.
observation
Obey your parents!
parents
Answer my questions!
questions
I didn’t expect her coming.
coming
I don’t doubt his frankness.
frankness
She resembles a ghost.
ghost
Will you attend the mass this afternoon?
Let’s drink his health.
health
I don’t need your help.
help
They boarded the train together.
You will not resist her.
I am addressing you.
you
We hesitantly entered the room.room
Don’t mind what he says!
says
We used to patronize Mohamed’s shop
Ceci convient à/va à/sied à Marième.
Ils lui font confiance (= à elle.)
Elle s’est profondément offusquée de votre remarque.
remarque
Obéis à tes parents !
Réponds à mes questions !
Je ne m’attendais pas à sa venue.
venue
Je ne doute pas de sa franchise.
franchise
Elle ressemble à un fantôme.
Assisterez-vous à la messe cet après-midi ?
Buvons à sa santé.
Je n’ai pas besoin de votre aide.
Ils sont montés ensemble dans le / à bord du / train.
train
Tu ne lui résisteras pas (= résister à elle).
Je m’adresse à vous (= Je vous parle).
Nous sommes entrés dans la pièce d’un pas hésitant.
Ne fais pas attention à ce qu’il dit.
dit
Nous nous ravitaillions dans la boutique de Mohamed.
Mohamed

INDIRECT OBJECT VERBS IN ENGLISH … BUT DIRECT OBJECT VERBS IN FRENCH

To wait for somebody (but: to await something).
To listen to something.
something
To look at (stare at, gaze at, etc.) something.
something
To point at somebody
To aim at a lion
To comment on a book
To approve of a decision
To account for something
To hope for something
To operate on a patient
To spy on / to pry on somebody
To pay for something
To care for something
Attendre quelqu’un (to await sth = s’attendre à qqch).
Écouter quelque chose.
chose
Regarder quelque chose.
chose
Désigner quelqu’un du doigt.
Viser un lion.
lion
Commenter un livre.
livre
Approuver une décision.
décision
S’expliquer quelque chose.
chose
Espérer quelque chose.
chose
Opérer un patient.
patient
Espionner quelqu’un.
quelqu’un
Payer quelque chose (marchandises, etc.)
Aimer quelque chose (s’y intéresser)

 Verbs may require indirect complements in both languages, but with different linking prepositions:

To depend on Dépendre de
To think of Penser à (y penser légèrement, ou envisager de ….)
To think about Penser à (réfléchir sur la question : c’est plus profond.)
To attend to S’occuper de,
de veiller sur (personne, bagages, etc.)
To laugh at Rire de
To wonder at S’étonner de
To believe in Croire à
To profit by / gain by / benefit from Profiter de
To live on Vivre de (argent, nourriture, etc.)
To answer for Répondre de (acte, faute…)
To abide by (the law, for instance) Respecter, se conformer à
 To remonstrance with Faire des remontrances à
To relate to / connect with Établir une relation avec
To prevent somebody from Empêcher quelqu’un de…de

III.- DITRANSITIVE VERBS: ORDER AND CONSTRUCTION

Some verbs admit two-complement constructions. They are said to be ditransitive (to write, to show,
to pay, to teach, to give, to offer, to tell, to send, to award, to lend, etc.)
• She promised to give François the keys. keys (Il a promis de remettre les clefs à François.)
• I taught her music.
music (Je lui ai appris la musique.)
• Please show Moussa the way. way (Veuillez montrer le chemin à Moussa.)
• I bought him a beautiful shirt. shirt . (Je lui a acheté une belle chemise.)

In each of these examples the indirect object is put immediately after the verb and the direct object
after the indirect one (V + I.O. + D.O. construction). It is however possible to put the direct object
before the indirect one and have therefore a V + D.O. + I.O.. construction. In this case, the indirect
object is introduced by to or, sometimes, by for.

• She promised to give the keys to François.

François
• I taught music to her.
her
• Please show the way to Moussa
• I bought a beautiful shirt for him

 In fact, the order of utterance of the complements depends on the intended meaning. The
second complement is generally the one which we want to put emphasis on. In the V + I.O. +
D.O. construction, emphasis is on the direct object (the keys,
keys music,
music the way,
way a beautiful
shirt)
shirt and in the V + D.O. + I.O.. construction, emphasis is on the indirect object (François,
François
her,
her Moussa,
Moussa him).
him

 We can be compelled to use the V + D.O. + I.O.. construction when the indirect object is
relatively long.
• Please show the way to the group of visiting students.
students
• I bought a beautiful shirt for each of my aunt Arame’s lovely children.
children

In these examples, owing to the length of the indirect object, it would be awkward to say: “Please
show the group of visiting students the way”,way “I bought each of my aunt Arame’s lovely
children a beautiful shirt”.
shirt

 We also generally use the V + D.O. + I.O.. construction when the direct object is a pronoun:
• I received the letter and forwarded it to Anna.
Anna (J’ai reçu la lettre que j’ai réexpédiée à Anna.)
• She failed to introduce us to her father.
father (Elle ne nous a pas présentés à son père.)

In these examples, it would be incorrect to say: “… and forwarded Anna it”, “…to introduce her
father us”.

NB
“Give it to me”
me and “Give me it” it are both correct, but the former (“Give it to me”)
me is more so. The
latter (“Give me it”)
it is rather informal.
 Certain verbs can never have two direct complements. These verbs are: to explain, to
describe, to borrow, etc. One can therefore say:
• I explained the lesson to Jacqueline.
Jacqueline
• They described the landscape to me.me
• He said he was obliged to borrow money from the bank.
bank

But one can never say: “I explained Jacqueline the lesson”, “they described me the landscape”, etc.

IV.-TWO-COMPLEMENT CONSTRUCTION: PERSON + INDIRECT

COMPLEMENT
Examples
• He blamed the boy for his carelessness.
carelessness (Il reprocha à l’enfant son imprudence.)
• We trusted them with the job.
job (Nous leur avons confié le travail.)
• We entrusted them with the job (idem).
• I’ve provided her with whatever equipment she needs.
needs (Je lui ai fourni tout l’équipement …).
• I’ve supplied her with whatever equipment she might need. need (idem).
• The President presented each player with a big house.
house (Le Président offrit à chaque joueur…)
• Stop plying us with your silly questions (Arrêtez de nous embêter avec vos questions idiotes.)
 WRITING & METHODOLOGY
PUNCTUATION AND TYPING RULES
I. The punctuation signs
A.- General presentation
 The comma ,
 The colon :
 The semicolon ;
 The period (better known as “full stop”): .
 The hyphen (‘trait d’union’) good-looking
 The dash (‘tiret’) Terry – his uncle – didn’t see the importance of …
 The quotation marks. They are of two types in English
- single (simple) quotation marks ‘…..’ (or inverted commas)
-double quotation marks “…”
 The question mark ?
 The exclamation mark !
 The brackets. They are of two types:
- The parenthesis (plural: -theses) (…)
- The square brackets […]
 The suspension points (also called “ellipsis”) … (NB: In all languages, “etc.” is followed by
one dot, never three.

B.- The comma

 The comma is used to make reading pauses between the units of meaning of the sentence.
Examples:
- When I was younger, I used to hunt the deer here.
- No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the
forecastle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. ( From Moby Dick).

Without these pauses, the units of meaning of the sentence become confused. If the commas are
missing or misplaced, the sentence usually becomes either meaningless or extremely difficult to
understand.

Example: Delete or displace commas in a sentence and ask you partner to read and understand.
 In some cases, missing or misplaced commas cause the sentence to mean something totally
different from the original intention.
Examples:

C.- The colon

 We can use it to introduce a list or an explanation:
- She easily got all her credits (“uv”): translation, grammar, literature, French, etc. (list).
- The car suddenly stopped: we were out of gas and 20 km away from Louga (explanation).
 The colon is generally disallowed immediately after a proposition or a verb. It is better not to write this:

- She claims that while in Saint-Louis she studied: astronomy, cooking, sewing, etc.
- She claims that during the summer holidays she went to: Mbour, Touba, Banjul, etc.
We should write instead:
- … she studied the following subjects: Astronomy, etc.
- … she went to Mbour, Touba, etc. (Or: she went to all these places: Mbour, Touba, etc.)

D.- The hyphen and the dash

1) The hyphen:

- a short-wave radio
- Three-quarters of the students attended the course on punctuation.
The hyphen is used to form compound elements (“éléments composés”): compound nouns for
instance. There never is a space before and after the hyphen.

2) The dash:

- (1) He repeated – what else could he do? – that it was not him.
- (2) The other minister – Robert Sagna, I think – confirmed it.
- (3) I have not obtained yet a clear statement from the lawyer – the man who wore the dark gown.
- (4) They gave him a prize for getting top marks – and a certificate as well.

- The dash introduces and ends a comment, an additional piece of information.

- The parentheses play quite a similar role (French often “prefers” parentheses to dashes, English
the reverse).
- In some cases, the commas can replace dashes. We could do it in (2), for instance.
- Of course, there is no second dash when the end of the comment coincides with that of the
sentence: (3) and (4).
- There is a space before and after the dash. Besides, the dash is longer than the hyphen. Some
modern word-processing programmes (ex.: the latest versions of Microsoft Word®) take this
difference into consideration and automatically transform a hyphen into a dash when you leave a
space before.

E.- The quotation marks

 « …………. ». These are French quotation marks. (In case of need, you can get them on your
computer keyboard by typing the number 174 [opening quotation mark] or 175 [closing
quotation mark] while pressing down the ALT key.) (Microsoft Word® automatically selects
the French or the English quotation marks according to the manually or automatically selected
language: French or English.)
- In English the simple commas generally introduce and end reported words. The double commas
introduce and end a quotation within a quotation.
Examples:
 - ‘You are right’, another woman took over. ‘We are happy that you have left him…’ (From
Efuru).
- ‘At that time we were watching “Secrets de Famille” in the living room’, she explained.

NB: Sometimes people use double commas for a single quotation. One can notice that double
marks are more used in American English and single marks in British English.

F.- The brackets

 I can use the square brackets to insert my personal comment (an explanation for instance) in a
reported speech (a direct quotation).
Examples:
- He said: ‘I would rather spend the holiday with Adama [his brother who teaches music]
than stay in this rotten place.’
- He eventually told us that he ‘didn’t meet [his] father there’. (Originally this person
said: “I didn’t meet my father there”.)

 The square brackets can also be used to play the role of parentheses within parentheses.
Example : (In case of need, you can get them on your computer keyboard by typing the number
174 [opening quotation mark] or 175 …).

II. Capitalization
In addition to marking the beginning of a sentence, initial capitals are used for:
 Proper nouns:
- Moctar, Aïda, Diop, Senegal, Africa, the Middle Ages, the Dow Jones, etc.
 Names of planets (generally the earth, the sun and the moon excepted)
- Venus, Mars, Jupiter, etc. (But: the sun, the earth, the moon, etc.)
 Adjectives deriving from names of countries, continents:
- the African novels, the Japanese government, I am Senegalese, the Senegalese music, etc.
NB: In French, only the names are capitalized: never the adjectives (un Africain, un Japonais, le
roman africain, le gouvernement japonais). In English, the initial capital is everywhere required.
 Days of the week and months of the year (but usually not the seasons):
- She will be back on Monday.
- Here it starts raining from late spring: from June.

NB: In French the days of the week and the months of the year are not written with an initial
capital (unless they be at the beginning of the sentence): Il sera là le lundi. Ici il commence à
pleuvoir à partir de la fin du printemps : à partir de juin.

 Important words in the titles of books, headlines of newspapers, etc. (Generally people
capitalize the first word and all the nouns and adjectives.)
- The Cambridge Guide to the English Literature.
- British and Irish Political Drama in the Twentieth Century.
- Things All Apart.
NB: - In French, generally only the first two words of the title are capitalized: Le Monde
s’effondre, Les Théories du pouvoir. La Vie et l’œuvre de Victor Hugo. Sometimes some people
capitalize just the first word: Discours de la méthode.

III. Other typing rules.

There are important differences between the French and the English typing rules (which,
unfortunately, many secretaries don’t know: be then very careful when you give them an English
text to type, your “mémoire” for instance!).
1). Italicising
 In handwriting, titles of books are underlined. Thanks to this system, it is possible to
distinguish names of characters from the novels or plays bearing their names.
 When using a typewriter or a computer, titles of books are italicised (written in italics), but
never underlined.
 When quoting from an article published in a book, the title of the article is put between
quotation marks and that of the book written in italics.
Examples:
GRANSDEN, K. W. ‘Graham Greene’s Rhetoric’, Essays in Criticism, January, 1981, etc.
BEIER, Ulli, "A year of sacred festivals in one Yoruba town", Nigeria Magazine. Lagos, 1959.

2) Spaces: before or after the punctuation sign?

Examples:
- Ce jour-là il quitta tôt ; il tenait à être à Dakar avant midi.
- I noticed that they did not like each other; it was only later that I discovered that…

In French there is a space before and after the semicolon. In English there is a space after, never
before the semicolon.

This rule applies to the colon, the question and exclamation marks.
As to the comma and the period, there is a space after, not before, in both French and English.

3) The parenthesis and the period: which comes first at the end of a sentence?
Examples:
- (1) … and he promised to thoroughly assess the situation (which he'd better do).
- (2) … quotation marks. (In case of need, you can get them on your computer keyboard … while
pressing down the ALT key.)
When the opening parenthesis is at the beginning of a sentence, like in (2), the closing
parenthesis will come after the full stop at the end of that sentence. Otherwise, the closing
parenthesis comes before the period (1).

4) The paragraph: how to begin it?

In French, a paragraph always begins with an indentation (called “alinéa” in French: a small space
after the right margin) and paragraphs are generally separated by a skipped line.
In English, while ending a paragraph and starting a new one, you must:
- Either indent: this is the most common procedure;
- Or skip a line (then without an indentation); you can do that in some cases, for instance
at the beginning of a chapter, a part or section.
In English you can’t do both at the same time
NB: In French, people sometimes use the English system (indenting without skipping a line),
mainly to shorten a text.
 THE TAGS
1. We can use tags to tone down answers (to avoid short, abrupt answers).
Ex. - Are you satisfied with his proposal?
- Yes, we are (instead of just “yes!”, which would sound too brusque).
- No, we are not (instead of just “no!”).
NB: In these examples the comma after “yes” or “no” is optional (= Yes we are - No we are not).

- Is the river deep here?

- I think it is ( je crois que si). Or: I think it is not (je crois que non).

- Madam, must I read the whole text? (Madame, dois-je …)

- I’m afraid you must. (Oui, hélas)
- Is not Djibo a sharp man? (Djibo n’est-il pas un homme malin ?)
- Yes, he is (Si !) or: - No, he is not (Non!)

- Don’t you prefer PBS?

- Yes, we do (Si!). Or: No, we don’t (non!)

NB: Mind the change of modals in negative answers.

Ex. The students may keep the books until further notice (may = are allowed to)
- Yes, they may.
- No, they cannot. (In this example “may not” would be ambiguous.)

- I think that we must queue up here (=line up here) to welcome our glorious team.
- Yes, you must (Oui, il le faut = Oui, vous devez le faire, etc.)
- No, you need not. Or: - No, you don’t have to (Vous n’êtes pas tenus de le faire).

2. We can also use a tag to emphasize an answer

Ex.:
- Wilt thou have this woman to be thy lawful wedded wife? (Voulez-vous prendre
pour épouse ….?)
- I will. (Oui !)
- I will not. (Non !)

- Do you think that Abdoulaye Wade will run for another term? (Croyez-vous que
… briguera un autre mandat ?)
- I don’t (Certainement pas !). Or : - I do (Certainement !).
- People said that I am not entitled to represent you. (On a dit que je ne suis pas …)
- You are ! (Mais si !)
3. We can also use tags to mean that we are surprised to realize the truth of what
we are told:
Ex.:
- She is elected chairperson of our club.
- So she is (Tiens ! C’est vrai !). (The information is correct and I have just realized it.)

- They have stopped their six-week strike. – So they have (Tiens! C’est vrai !)
- Henceforth, you can sleep in my room every other day (= every two days = tous les deux
jours.) – So I can.

4. We can use tags to mean that our surprise turns into astonishment…
Ex.:
- You won’t believe me, but Gorgolu has got a second wife.
- Has he? (Or: Oh, has he?) (Vraiment?).

- I never sit here at night.

- Don’t you? (Vraiment?)

5. Translations of “Moi aussi”, “Moi non plus”

You must first make sure that you can use them properly in French: “Moi aussi” is a confirmative
reply to an affirmative statement, “Moi non plus” to a negative one.
Ex. - Je croque la kola. – Moi aussi.
- Je ne croque pas la kola. – Moi non plus (you can’t say here : « Moi aussi »).

- She received a standing ovation. (Elle a eu droit à une acclamation debout.)

- So did he. (Lui aussi.)

- We are not at all worried.

- Neither are we (Nous non plus). Or: “We aren’t either”. Or: “Nor are we” (but this sounds
rather literary or archaic).

- We can’t get this radio here. (Nous ne pouvons pas capter cette radio ici.)
- Neither can the inhabitants of Bissau. (Les habitants de Bissau non plus.)

- Here we don’t play Rugby. Or baseball either. (Ici nous ne jouons pas au Rugby. Ni au
baseball non plus.)

6. Translations of “Moi si”, “Moi non”

Ex. :
- Here nobody eats “baasi salte” (Ici personne ne …)
- I do. (Moi si.)
 - I like Viviane (= Viviane’s music)
- I don’t. (Moi non).
- “Some believe in protection. I don’t. I believe in free fair trade…” (George Bush [senior],
1992). (Certains croient au protectionnisme. Moi non. Je crois à la libre concurrence.)

- I Can’t drive, but my sister can. (… mais ma sœur si).

- If you are not aware of AIDS, we are (… nous si).
- He never drank tea after lunch, his friends did (mind tenses!) (… ses amis si).
7. Translations of “Et vous ?”, “Pas vous ?”

- I am from Rufisque. Are you? (Et vous?). Or : Aren’t you ? (Pas vous?)
- I always wake up at 7. Does she? ? (Et elle?). Or: Doesn’t she (Pas elle?).
-The students of our Department have decided to boycott the test. - Have you? Or: Haven’t you?
(… Et vous ? Or : Pas vous ?)

8. The “Colloquial query” (also called “question tag”): “n’est-ce pas?”, “vous
savez ? », « bien sûr. », « non ? », etc.

- We won the match, didn’t we? (Nous avons gagné le match, n’est-ce pas? = n’est-ce pas
que nous avons gagné le match ?)
- You’ve behaved like a donkey, haven’t you? (Vous vous êtes comporté comme un âne,
vous savez ?)
- Of course, we couldn’t catch them up, could we? (… nous ne pouvions pas les rattraper,
n’est-ce pas ?)
- They bombarded all the training camps, didn’t they? (Ils ont bombardé tous les camps
d’entraînement, non ?)
- I am not the most stupid girl of the English Department, am I? (Je ne suis pas la fille la
plus stupide de la Section d’Anglais, bien sûr ! (= avouez-le = n’est-ce pas ?)

NB: With statements introduced by “everybody”, “somebody”, “nobody”, we use a plural

personal pronoun in the tag.

- Everybody burst out laughing, didn’t they? (Tout le monde éclata de rire, n’est-ce pas ?)
- In this campus, nobody knows how to dance “jalgati”, do they? (Dans ce campus,
personne ne sait … Pas vrai ? / N’est-ce pas ?, etc.)
- Somebody was shouting then, weren’t they? (Quelqu’un criait alors, n’est-ce pas ?)

Besides, “one” as personal pronoun is sometimes repeated in the tag. Example:

- With her, one never knows, does one? (Avec elle, on ne sait jamais, n’est-ce pas ?)
9. Elliptic constructions: when we don’t want to repeat …
- He was terribly disappointed.
- Yes, I think he was. (Oui, je crois qu’il l’était…). This is shorter than: “Yes I think he was
terribly disappointed”.

- Sir, do you think that we can help her?

- Yes you can, but you should not. (Or: “Yes you can, but you don’t have to.”)

- Didn’t he give you the money he promised?

- He said he would, but he didn’t yet. (Il disait qu’il le ferait, mais il ne l’a pas encore fait.)

- Did you eat the dish she cooked for you? (Avez-vous mangé…?)
- Yes (or : “Yes, I did”, or just: “I did”), but I wish I hadn’t. (Si, mais je regrette de l’avoir fait.)

- They wanted to block the road and burn a second lorry, but we advised them not to.
- For mysterious reasons his wife asked him to vote for Dièye but he said he preferred not to.
- I can help you if you want me to.
 THE IMPERATIVE MOOD
1. Affirmative imperative: order, instruction, suggestion, advice, etc.
 Second person (singular or plural):
- Give her my regards. (Mes amitiés à …)
- Show me the picture.
- Be kind with your brother.

 Other persons: let…

- Let us start. (Commençons.)
- Let the boys lead the way. (Que les garçons passent devant.)
- Let him tell you what is wrong. (Qu’il vous dise…)
- Let he (or she) who doesn’t understand raise his (her) hand (que celui ou celle qui n’a pas
compris lève la main).
- Let me tell you.
- God said: Let there be light (que la lumière soit).

 Translation problem: ambiguity of “let”:

- Let him try on the shirt: two possible meanings:
a.) qu’il essaie la chemise.
b.) laissez-le (laisse-le) essayer la chemise.
The confusion could be avoided by replacing “let” with “allow” or “authorize”, whenever this is
what you mean : Let him try on / allow him to try on.

But when we mean a wish instead of an order, it is better to use “may” instead of “let”:
- Que le chien et le chat deviennent des amis. (Je le souhaite.)
- May the dog and the cat become friends. (This is clearer than “let the dog and …”)

 Translation problem: imperative vs. infinitive

• Some instructions or warnings require the imperative mood in English, but the infinitive in French.
- Keep cool and dry (conserver dans un endroit frais et sec = au frais et au sec).
- Store in a cool and dry place (meaning the same).
- Keep away from (= out of) the reach of children (ne pas laisser à la portée des enfants).
- Translate the following sentences into Arabic (Traduire les phrases …)
- Please forward (on a mail) (faire suivre, s.v.p.)

• Some English imperatives correspond in French to a variety of fixed expressions:

- “Handle with care” (on a packing cardboard.) (“Fragile”, sur un emballage)
- Stop thief! (Au voleur!)
- Look out! (Attention!)
- Hands up! (Mains en l’air ! = Haut les mains! )
- Mind the dog (Attention, chien méchant). (English is more courteous than French here.)

 After “yes”, people sometimes use an elliptic (incomplete) imperative.

- Sir, can I speak? (Monsieur, puis-je parler ?
- Yes, do. (Je vous en prie).
2. Negative imperative: advice, warning, prohibition, etc.
- Don’t eat this fruit.
- Don’t mind what he says. (Ne fais pas attention à ce qu’il dit.)
- Don’t let them accuse him without tangible evidence. (Qu’ils ne l’accusent pas …)
- Don’t let this story be told in my room. (Qu’on ne raconte pas…)
 - Don’t let me repeat it (Que je ne le répète pas = Il ne faut pas me le faire répéter).
- Don’t let us talk about it all the night long. (Ne passons pas toute la nuit à en parler.)
 Translation problem
In the last 4 sentences too the use of “let” may be ambiguous (Don’t allow them to accuse …).

 With the negative imperative also it is possible to have elliptic answers

- Shall I type your second letter? (A secretary to her boss.) (Dois-je taper/saisir votre …)
- Don’t. I think I have changed my mind. (Non, ce n’est pas la peine. Je crois que …)

 In a very formal (classical, archaic) style, people sometimes make negative imperatives
without the auxiliary “do” (this is more common in American English):
- “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair” (Martin Luther King, “I Have a Dream”).
- Eat not this fruit ⇒ (instead of: “Don’t eat this fruit”)
- Let us not talk about it ⇒ (instead of: “Don’t let us talk about it”).
- Mind not what she says. ⇒ (instead of: “Don’t mind what she says”).
NB: In this case, if the complement is a noun, we put it after “not”.
- Don’t let my uncle know what I am doing here. ⇒ Let not my uncle know …

 We can also form a negative imperative by putting “never” before the verb:
- Never think that I am afraid of you. (Ne pense jamais que …)
- Do never think that …

3. Emphatic imperative
 The use of “you” (and sometimes “everybody”, “somebody”) in front of the verb (in a rather
informal English) gives more strength to the order, the instruction, etc.
- You stay where you are! (Vous, ne bougez pas de là).
- Everyone stay where they are! (Que personne ne bouge!).
- Somebody remind me the question! (Que quelqu’un me rappelle …).
- You dare! (Ose un peu, pour voir !).
- You dance with Nafi, if you prefer! (A jealous girl speaking). (Danse donc avec Nafi, si
c’est ça que tu préfères !).
- You read! (Lis ! Ou bien: lisez !).
- As you witnessed the accident, you tell the police how … (… dites à la police…)

 We can obtain a similar result with the use of “do”.

- Do come to my party! (Venez… je vous en prie).
- Do drink this sorrel syrup (buvez donc ce sirop d’oseille « bisaap »).
- Do be kind! (Soit gentil !).
- Do let us show him how it works! (Oh, montrons-lui comment ça marche).
 The emphatic effect can also be obtained in the negative form, for instance by emphasizing the “not”.
- Do NOT repeat it (Défense absolue de le répéter).
Or by using “you”:
- - Don’t you tell Diouf everything Tanor told you (Ne raconte surtout pas…).
 THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD
Ex.: - I insist that we start now. (Indicative.) (J’insiste sur le fait que nous …)
- I insist that we start now. (Subjunctive.) (J’insiste afin que nous …)
- I insist that the match start now. (Subjunctive.)
- I insist that the match be started now. (Subjunctive.)

Though having a totally different meaning (certainty vs. uncertainty), the indicative and the
subjunctive moods differ morphologically from each other only with “be” and the 3rd person
singular.
There are two forms of subjunctive: the present and the past.

1. Present subjunctive
a. “Mandative” subjunctive
 The “mandative” subjunctive is generally used in subordinate “that-clauses” (“I propose
that…”, “She ordered that …”, etc.) to express an order, a suggestion, a proposal, a request,
advice, a necessity. We use then the present subjunctive regardless of the tense of the principal
clause (whereas in French we would have, for instance, imparf. indicat. ⇒ imparf. Subjonct).
Ex.:
- It was compulsory that you show your licence. (Vous étiez tenus de montrer votre permis.)
- “The opposition demanded that the policy be reversed” (BBC Radio 4, Nov. 92).
- I propose that she be our spokeswoman.
- It is very likely that he obtain it.
- I whish that the visit take place after Easter.

 In these examples the subjunctive mood can be replaced by the “putative” should (or “would”
or “could” for “wish”):
- I propose that she should be our spokeswoman. (Je propose qu’elle soit notre porte-parole.)
- It is likely that he should obtain it. (Il est probable qu’il l’obtienne.)
- I wish that the visit would take place after Easter. (Je souhaite /J’aimerais que la visite ait
lieu après Pâques.
- She wishes she could travel with us. (Elle souhaite/ aimerait voyager avec nous.)
NB: Bear in mind that “should” is never used with “wish”. It is “would”, or “could” instead.

In British English, the “putative” “should” is generally more used than the subjunctive. It is the reverse
in American English. “The Prime Minister proposes that the plan should be finalized before Christmas”
is more British. “… that the plan be finalised before Christmas” is more American. But this is not an
absolute rule: “The opposition demanded that the policy be reversed” was heard on the BBC!

b. “Formulaic” subjunctive
The formulaic subjunctive is used in some special expressions, mainly in independent clauses. (It
is also called “optative subjunctive” because it is generally used to express a wish.) Ex.:
- God save the Queen (= May God save the Queen).
- Heaven forbid that I (should) accept such a thing! (Que Dieu me garde de …)
- God bless you! (Que Dieu vous bénisse).
- “Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done …” (in The Bible). («Que
Ton nom soit sanctifié, que Ton règne vienne, que Ta volonté soit faite…. »)
- Perish the thought ! (Loin de moi cette pensée!)
- Suffice it to say that… (=Let is suffice…).
- Be that as it may, we are very confident. (Quoiqu’il en soit, …)
- Far be it from me to … (Loin de moi l’idée de …)
- Be it noted that this rule … (Notez bien que …)
- The devil take you! (Que le diable t’emporte.)

c. Other uses of the present subjunctive

 We can use the present subjunctive in the following cases to express doubt, supposition,
concession, order, condition, etc.
- If this be your position, then … (Si telle est votre position …)
- If this be so … (S’il en est ainsi …)
- Be this as it may … (Quoi qu’il en soit …)
- Talk to her lest (= for fear that) she think (= she should think, she might think) you don’t love
her. ( … de peur qu’elle …)

2. Past subjunctive
 It is also called “were-subjunctive”, because it uses only the “were” form of the verb “to be”.
This “were” is referred to as “modal preterite”. (The modal preterite of the other verbs is
morphologically the same as their “ordinary” preterite.) Ex.:
- If I were you (informal English: “If I was you”), I would buy this house (A votre place ….,
Si j’étais vous…)
- I wish (that) we won the battle. (Je regrette que nous n’ayons pas remporté la bataille).
- I wish (that) the film started earlier.
- I wish I could speak Pulaar. (J’aimerais comprendre le Pulaar.)
- Suppose everybody were to shout his name. (A supposer que tout le monde se mette à crier
son nom ?)
 In these examples, the subjunctive (the modal preterite) is not actually a past tense, but a mode of
the present (wish, regret, preference, etc.) It is hypothetical or "unreal" (“l’irréel du présent”).

 The hypothetical, unreal past subjunctive should not be confused with the potential indicative:
- If he were to call (= If he should call), tell him that… (Hypothetical.) (Si d’aventure il
appelait…)
- If he calls, tell him that… (Potential.) (S’il appelle, dites-lui que … Quand il appellera, vous
lui dites que…)
- I wish Ngagne wins (or win) (= would win). (Potential.) (Je souhaite qu’il gagne.)
- I wish Ngagne won. (Unreal.) (Je regrette qu’il n’ait pas gagné.)

 We can use the subjunctive mode to refer to facts totally situated in the past (in this case, we
use the past perfect modal instead of the preterite modal).
- If I had been you, I would have bought this house. (A votre place, j’aurais acheté…)
- I wished we had won the battle.
- I wished the film had started earlier.

In these examples, the wishes and regrets which I express are “located” in the past (“l’irréel du passé”).
However it is possible to regret now facts which preceded the moment in the past we refer to.
Compare: - I wished (= then, in 1994) we had won the battle (which happened in 1991).
- I wish (= now, today) we had won the battle (which happened in 1991) before the enemy got
his new tanks (in 1992).
 The expressions “I would rather” (originally more correct than: “I had rather”), “It is high
time”, “It is about time”, etc. can sometimes be followed by a past subjunctive:
- I would rather he died before that. (Je préférerais qu’il mourût avant cela…)
- It is high time they stopped this performance. (Il est grand temps qu’ils arrêtent…)