COMPOUND TENSES.

When a verb is a single word, as je chante, the tense is called simple.

With avoir, être, and a participle past, other tenses are formed, and called compound tenses, as:-j'ai chanté, I have sung; je suis arrivé, I am arrived. When thus used, avoir and être are called auxiliary verbs, from the Latin, auxilium, help, because they help the participle past to designate the persons, numbers, tenses and moods.

Conjugation of the Compound Tenses with AVOIR.

REMARK. The participle, conjugated with avoir, never agrees with

je, tu, il, elle, etc.

E

Conjugation of the Compound Tenses with ÊTRE.

INFINITIVE, FAST-être arrivé-ée,-és-ées.

REMARKS.-1. The participle past, conjugated with être, must agree with je, tu, il, etc.

2. The participle must be put in the singular when vous is used for tu, from politeness, as: Madame, vous êtes arrivée.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERBS.

Besides the two auxiliary verbs, French verbs are divided into five kinds: active, passive, neuter, reflected, and unipersonal.

§ 1.-ACTIVE VERB.

An active verb expresses an action done by the subject, and suffered by an object, as-Brutus assassina César. Brutus is the subject, assassina the active verb, so called because its subject is active; that is to say, it acts, it does an action suffered by César, who is the object.

An active verb may always be placed before quelqu'un, somebody; or quelque chose, something.

An active verb is always conjugated with avoir in its compound tenses.

§ 2.-PASSIVE VERB.

A passive verb expresses an action suffered by the subject and done by the object, as-César fut assassiné par Brutus. The verb fut assassiné is called passive, because its subject is passive, that is to say, suffers the action done by the object. An active verb alone becomes passive.

A passive verb is always conjugated with être in all its compound tenses, as the following.

A neuter verb expresses an action which cannot be suffered by an object. Not being active, that verb cannot become passive, hence it is called neuter, from a Latin word, meaning neither.

Neuter verbs cannot be placed before quelqu'un, quelque chose. We cannot say-Jarrive quelqu'un, or quelque chose; therefore arriver is a neuter verb. When neuter verbs have an object, it must be preceded by a preposition, as: rire de quelqu'un, plaire à quelqu'un, succéder à quelqu'un, pardonner à quelqu'un, etc.

The most part of neuter verbs take the auxiliary avoir in their compound tenses.