Page:A simplified grammar of the Danish language.djvu/57

Rh in which case they follow the latter; as, Fruentimmeret (n.) lå da gik forbi, 'The woman laughed as she went by.'

An exception to the agreement in regard to number occurs in the case of the third plural personal pronoun De when used as 'you,' De always demanding a singular verb; as, Kommer ikke? 'Are (is) you not coming?' Er  gal? 'Are (is) you mad?' The reflective used with De must, however, be Dem, plural third person, and not the singular, sig; as, Hvordeles befinder ? 'How are you?' ('how do you find yourself?')

I, 'ye,' han, 'he,' were formerly used in addressing inferiors in rank, but the use of De is now regarded as imperative for all classes of persons. It should be observed that while De is always written with a capital D, jeg, 'I,' is written with a small j.

In speaking of persons, han and hun, 'he' and 'she,' hans and hendes, 'his' and 'hers,' must always be used; but in referring to animals, den and det, dens and dets, 'it,' 'its,' usually take the place of 'his' and 'her.'

When the demonstrative pronouns den and hin occur together, the former is understood to refer to what is near, (this), and the latter to what is distant, (that); as, gå Vej, ikke, 'go this way, not that.'

Samme, 'the same,' may be used in the place of another objective pronoun; as, Præsten gav mig nogle Böger og bad mig læse, 'The clergyman gave me some books, and begged me to read them.'

Selv, 'self,' may be used in the sense of 'even;' as