Page:A grammar of the Bohemian or Cech language.djvu/91

 ﻿issued a decree whereby they banished the archbishop and the abbot from the land. In this sentence we may also see the in- clination of the Slavonic language to avoid a passive form. In English we should say: the archbishop, &c, were banished. See remarks on passive, p. 48. In- both Bohemian and Polish authors we frequently feel that German syntax underlies their sentences. But the involved style is not necessary, it is rather contrary to the genius of the language. Thus the following seems a simple and direct sentence: tu pani hltí, jelťe nedávno slibivle Přemyslovi ze za nej chíí životy své nasadili, prve než přillo k bitvě, zrádní jej opustili a dali se k biskupovi, there the Bohemian lords, who not long before had promised Přemysl that they would lay down their lives for him, before that they came into battle, traitorously deserted him and surren- dered themselves to the bishop. In the second clause it will be observed that the verb is at the end, which however is not necessary.

The student should notice the use of the neuter form přillo, which is thoroughly Slavonic and has been previously explained; also that the sequence of tenses is violated in chtl.