Page:A simplified grammar of the Danish language.djvu/62

50 skrive om, 'This matter is difficult to write about.' In Danish and the kindred Swedish there is no inelegance in sentences of this kind; but, on the other hand, it is inadmissible to use the present participle in the sense of a gerund, and hence such English forms of expression as 'On seeing me, she ran away,' 'On hearing the man call, the child hid himself,' must be rendered by the use of a tense of the verb; as, Da hun så mig, löbte hun bort; Så snart som Barnet hörte Manden råbe, skjulte han sig.

The present participle remains unchanged, whether used as an adjective or as a verbal-predicate; as, En rödmende Pige, 'A blushing girl;' Et rejsende Selskab, 'A travelling company;' Generalinden og Kapteinen kom körende, 'The General's wife and the Captain came driving.'

It may also be employed in the following elliptical manner: Mit iboende Hus, 'The house I live in;' Den afholdende Auktion, 'The auction which is to be held.' In such expressions it has the force of the Latin future participle.

The past participle can be used as an adjective, and must in that case agree in gender and number with the noun; as, en reven Kåbe, 'a torn cloak;' et revent Bånd, 'a rent tie;' revne Klæder, 'torn clothes.'

In accordance with strict grammatical rules the past participles should all agree in gender and number with the subject, where the passive is rendered by the help of blive, 'to be;' as, Brevet er blevet skrevet, 'The letter has been written;' Bögerne ere blevne skrevne, 'The books have been written.' In common parlance, however, this form is rejected as pedantic, and wanting in euphony; and it is