Jean Racine - Esther

takes the passé défini.

E.g., l. 4: . . . fus de mes premiers ans la compagne assidue = "wast the constant companion of
my earliest years."

l. 272: . . . qui ne furent jamais = "who never [in all time] had existence."

l. 477: . . . il fut des Juifs = "there was once [but is no more] a race of Jews."

NOTE that the action may be stated as recurring a given or indefinite number of times, and yet the verb
will not be in the imperfect.

E.g., l. 249: Mon pere mille fois m'a dit . . .

l. 531: Et j'ai pâli deux fois. . . .

If the imperfect were used here, the meaning would be "My father used to tell me a thousand times," i.e.,
he told me 1000 X n times, and in the second sentence, "I grew pale 2 X n times."

The student is recommended to account to himself carefully for the different tenses used in contrast to
one another in the following passages:

ll. 4 and 6; 72 and 73; 1058 sqq. and 1073; 1074 to 1082.

PASSÉ INDÉFINI.

With regard to the third tense, the PASSÉ INDÉFINI, there is no difficulty. It is used:

A. Precisely like the English compound of the past.

E.g., l. 30: le ciel a-t-il conduit . . . = "has heaven brought about. . ."

l. 158: a . . . conduit vos pas = "has guided your footsteps."

B. As a colloquial form of the passe defini in all its uses.

E.g., l. 24: j'ai su trouver = "I succeeded in finding."

l. 399: . . . que j'ai laissé plus calme = "whom I left . . ."

APPENDIX III.

ACTIVE INFINITIVES WITH PASSIVE MEANING.

Faire, laisser, and a very few verbs of physical perception, such as voir,
entendre, sentir, are idiomatically used before an active infinitive which assumes a passive
meaning. E.g., J'ai fait faire un habit, "I have had a coat made."

These constructions are due to the dropping of the obvious subject of the infinitive ("I made [the tailor]
make a coat") which must be supplied in order to account for the form.

E.g., Esth. l. 9: . . . je te fais chercher = que je fais [mes esclaves] te chercher.

l. 146: Quand verrai-je relever tes remparts = quand verrai-je [tes fils] relever tes
remparts.

< page précédente | 64 | page suivante >