Page:A simplified grammar of the Danish language.djvu/49

Rh place of the noun-affixes when special emphasis, or a distinct meaning is to be given to the word; as, Aldrig lader den Mand sine Börn i Fred! "The man never leaves his children in peace!" Siger den Soldat at jeg er döv? "Does the soldier really say that I am deaf?" In such cases, however, den may be considered to be used more in the sense of a demonstrative pronoun than a mere article, although still retaining its unaccented tone.

The position of the noun in a simple sentence is the same as in English. The subject precedes, and the object follows, the verb; as, Manden slå Drengen, "The man beat the boy."

In a secondary part of a sentence subject to, or conditional on, the preceding part, and in interrogations, the noun, with its article or pronoun, and its qualifying adjective, is invariably placed after the verb; as, hvis Læreren var her, vovede disse unartige Drenge sig ikke at göre sådant et spektakel, "If the master were here those naughty boys would not dare to make so much noise." Går De ikke i Haven i Dag? "Are you not going into the garden to-day?"

The genitive precedes the subject or the object to which it refers; as, Den gode Mands små Börn, "The good man's little children." For Guds skyld, "For God's sake."

Where several words are used to indicate the noun standing in the genitive, the last only takes s, or es; as, Victoria, Dronning af Englands Rige, "The dominions of Victoria, Queen of England."

The genitive may be used where a comparison between the qualities of two persons or things is made, without repeating the word designating the quality; as, Guldets