They will first write _je_, then _donne_. After the English word "you,"
they are referred to a note. They look at this note (many don't), and
see that they must put the pronoun _vous_ before the verb. They do so
between the lines, and thus write down the proof of their iniquity:
_vous_
"_je_ ^ _donne_."
* * * * *
Although the boys use their eyes to look at things, there are few who
use them to see.
Young S. was an exception.
Having to put into French, "No sovereign ever was more worthy," he
brought me:
"_Jamais souverain ne fut plus digne._"
I congratulated him on his achievement, and as I was suspicious he had
been helped at home I asked him how he came to write this. He then said
to me that on his way home he had seen in the station a large
advertisement of a tooth-paste maker. The advertisement consisted of a
huge woman's head, showing two rows of beautiful teeth, with this
inscription:
"_Avec de belles dents jamais femme ne fut laide._"
He had come to the conclusion that this French phrase could help him,
and he took it down at the station.
This young Briton has a great future before him.
* * * * *
A boy having to translate "I have gone out," begins by writing
"_j'ai_." That is understood. When afterwards he finds that the verb
_sortir_ is conjugated with the auxiliary _etre_, he changes _j'ai_
into _je suis_. Nine times out of ten he trusts his memory, or rather
he leaves it to chance, and he keeps _j'ai_.
French books are loaded with facts, but few with explanations.
All the French grammars I know publish the list of the neuter verbs
that are conjugated with the auxiliary _etre_, but none give boys the
reason _why_ these verbs are conjugated with _etre_ and not with
_avoir_. Boys learn this list of verbs and forget it, and you know
little of boys' nature if you imagine that they will consult their
grammar at every turn. Some do, to be sure, but how many?
I do not know of one French grammar that tells students that neuter
verbs, which express a state as well as an action, or rather that
neuter verbs which express that a _state_ is enjoyed as soon as the
_action_ is over, are conjugated with _etre_.
A boy will understand you, and remember what you say, if you tell him:
"As soon as you _have_ died, you _are_ dead. This is why the verb
_mourir_, expressing the _state of being_ dead, as soon as the _action_
of dying is over, has to be conjugated with _etre_."
"As soon as you _have_ arrived, you _are_ arrived."
"As soon as you _have been_ born, you _are_ born."
"Therefore all these verbs _arriver_, _naitre_, _venir_, _sortir_,
_partir_, etc., are conjugated with _etre_."
"By this reasoning, with _courir_ (to run) you get an absurdity. 'As
soon as you _have_ run you _are_ run' is an absurdity. Therefore
_courir_, expressing only an action, not a state, takes _avoir_."
Yes, boys will understand all that, and nothing gives them more
pleasure than having their minds satisfied with a little explanatory
food. I have seen rays of happy satisfaction flashing over scores of
young faces as they got hold of these facts.
For the same reason, reflexive verbs are conjugated with _etre_,
because they also express that a state is enjoyed as soon as the action
is over.
"As soon as you _have_ washed yourself you _are_ washed--if you have
done it properly, of course."
Tell the boys so, and they will laugh, and they will understand you,
and they will be grateful to you.
* * * * *
I could give hundreds of instances in which a few explanatory words
would settle grammatical facts in boys' minds; but, although I am
tempted at almost every page to turn this book into a class--book, I
must bear in mind that my aim is not to instruct, and pass on.