Page:A simplified grammar of the Danish language.djvu/58

46 Kvinder og Börn arbejdede på Murene, 'Even women and children worked on the walls.'

Man, (one, they,) can only be used in the nominative, while En, (one,) can only be used in the objective; as, söger hvad behager, 'One seeks for that which pleases one.'

The use of the possessive pronoun sin, sit, sine (his, her, its), in contradistinction to hans, hendes, dets (his, her, its), demands careful notice, but as a general rule it may be accepted that sin should refer to the nearest preceding subject-noun, and hans, hendes, to the objective personal noun; as, hun gik med Börn til hendes Have, 'she went with her (own) children to her (another woman's) garden.' In such simple sentences the correct use of sin will always be indicated when, as in the above case, it conveys the sense of 'own' in connection with the noun. This is also the case in regard to objective nouns; as, Hendes Fader bad hende at tage Vogn, og köre til Bys, 'Her father told her to take her (own) carriage, and drive into town.'

When the subject-noun is in the plural, the Danes replace sin by deres, 'their;' as, Mine Venner tog Börn til hendes Have, 'My friends took their children to her garden.'

The relative pronouns som and der may be used indifferently; as, Giv mig den Bog, (or ) ligger der, 'Give me the book, which is there.'

The relative pronoun may be omitted when the noun is governed by a verb, or a preposition; as, Jeg så Hesten De köbte i Går, 'I saw the horse which you bought yesterday;'