French Idiom List

Author : R. De Blanchaud
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781533325433
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (254 download)

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Download or read book Progressive French Idioms written by R. De Blanchaud and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-05-17 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the PREFACE. This little volume of "Progressive French Idioms" claims neither to be exhaustive nor even very highly advanced; it is meant to be really practical and useful. Any expressions, idioms, or proverbs which might be unknown to an ordinary educated Frenchman have been omitted. An attempt has been made at some division of the matter according to its relative importance, but, of course, opinions will differ as to this, and the sections are bound to overlap to some extent. Section A contains under the name of Grammatical Idioms! typical examples of most of the points in which French and English grammar do not agree. It does not go into grammatical oddities or moot questions debated amongst scholars. A pupil well drilled in this section-that is, able to construct sentences readily and intelligently on the model of those given-would actually possess as much practical knowledge of grammar as is necessary and sufficient to proceed with the study of French. It may here be remarked that lack of fluency in conversation does not as a rule arise from want of knowledge in advanced grammar, or even from a deficient vocabulary, but rather from want of readiness in the use of those elementary constructions of French grammar which are quite easy and natural to natives. Until the pupil is perfectly at home in the use of the personal pronouns, the conversational tense, the idiomatic auxiliaries, etc., no fluency in speaking is possible. The next requirement is an equally ready knowledge of a number of idiomatic turns and expressions which every Frenchman, be he educated, or not, uses constantly. A knowledge of these is absolutely essential to speaking and writing French as it is spoken and written by French people. These are given in Section B. Section C is concerned with idioms more literary than those in Section B, but by no means uncommon. They are the kind of expressions and constructions constantly I found in the books of good writers, or used by people who speak well. Most of them will be required in the translation into French of an ordinary English passage, and consequently they must not only be understood but learned and used by more advanced pupils having to translate English into French or write original composition. In Section D are included idioms difficult of use for English pupils, but, generally speaking, easy and perfectly well known to any educated Frenchman. Many are idioms which a foreigner is apt to use incorrectly or in the wrong place. Owing to their constant occurrence in French books the pupil must know their meaning, but should not as a rule be advised or encouraged to use them until he has by a larger intercourse with French writers or French people obtained a deeper understanding of the genius of the language. In this section the French is given first. Section E contains a number of trite and stereotyped similes, most of them having now lost their original wit or sarcasm, but which are still used everywhere by everybody. The list could easily have been extended and might have been interesting as sometimes giving curious illustrations of the difference in the respective characters of the two peoples. In Section F some well-known proverbs are given with English equivalents. The list does not go beyond such sayings as everybody uses and quotes freely in France. For some there is an acknowledged rendering, sometimes perhaps not very accurate, for others a somewhat awkward translation has to be resorted to. Indeed, as the intercourse between France and Britain increases, not a few seem now to admit of a literal translation.