Page:A simplified grammar of the Danish language.djvu/43

Rh the infinitive, to which r is added in the singular; as, at give, 'to give,' jeg, du, han, or hun, De, giver, vi, I, de give. (2) That whatever may be the form of the past imperfect of the indicative, it remains the same for all persons, both in the singular and plural. The strong, or irregular form of conjugation, whose imperfect past of the indicative is always monosyllabic, includes upwards of 100 verbs, and was apparently the more ancient mode of conjugation in the Old Northern. The tendency of modern Danish is to depart from this more characteristic type, and to bring certain verbs, which in older times accorded with the strong form, under the rules of the regular weak forms of conjugation. Thus we now find indifferently vejede and vog for the imperfect past of at veje, 'to weigh;' gravede and grov for at grave, 'to dig,' &c.

Deponent verbs have an active significance, while in most particulars they follow the mode of conjugation required for passive verbs; as,—


 * {| cellspacing="0"


 * - align="center"
 * Infinitive. || colspan="3" | Indicative.
 * - align="center"
 * || Present. || Imp. Past. || Participle.
 * at blues, to blush. || style="border-left: 1px solid black;" | jeg, &c., blues, || bluedes, || bluets.
 * at lykkes, to succeed. || style="border-left: 1px solid black;" | jeg, &c., lykkes, || lykkedes, || lykkets.
 * }
 * at lykkes, to succeed. || style="border-left: 1px solid black;" | jeg, &c., lykkes, || lykkedes, || lykkets.
 * }

Many deponents can only be used as impersonals; as, det dages, 'the day is breaking,' (day is coming); det mörknes, 'it is growing dark.'

Passives and deponents may be used in an impersonal sense with der, 'there;' as, der slås, 'there is fighting going on;' der kappes om Prisen, 'the prize is being contended for.'