Page:A simplified grammar of the Danish language.djvu/63

Rh customary to say, Brevet er bleven skrevet; Bögerne er bleven skrevne.

The present tense of the indicative is used indifferently in the present, future, conditional, and subjunctive moods; as, Han kommer i Dag, han kommer ikke i Morgen, 'He is coming to-day, he will not come to-morrow;' Hvis han ikke kommer, går jeg ikke med, 'If he should not come, I will not go;' Jeg håber det er sandt, 'I hope it may be true.'

The subjunctive or optative is only used in a few expressions, such as Gud velsigne Dem! 'God bless you!' Leve Kongen! 'Long live the king!' Så hjælpe mig Gud! 'May God help me!' The interjections gid (corruption of Gud give) and bare, 'only,' are used to express a wish; as, Gid han kunne komme, 'I wish he could come;' Bare jeg kunne få Bonden at se! 'If only I could see the countryman!'

The Danes have of late followed a German mode of construction, regarded as erroneous by Scandinavian grammarians, which admits of the use of the auxiliary være, 'to be,' instead of have, 'to have,' in reflective or passive verbs, and in expressing action; as, jeg truffen sammen med ham för, instead of jeg  truffen, 'I have met him before.' Norwegians do not commit this error, which is now being so far modified by some Danish authorities, that an attempt is being made to limit the use of være, and to employ it only where a change in the condition of the subject-noun, or a temporary action, is expressed; as, Han er kört bort, 'He has driven out;' Han er gået ud i Haven, 'He is gone out into the garden.' When a definite action or permanent act is expressed, the verb have should be employed, in accordance with this distinctive use of the