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

40 of the inflectional s, as qvinnans barn, 'the woman's child,' but also by numerous prepositions, as bland, till, af, efter, etc.; as, son till qvinnan, 'the woman's son;' hon är enka efter en prest, 'she is a clergyman's widow;' tre af oss, 'three of us;' den yngsta bland flickorna, 'the youngest of the girls;' kärleken till Gud, 'the love of God.'

Where several nouns stand in apposition, the last only takes the genitive form; as, kejsar Karl den Stores efterkommande, 'the descendants of Charles the Great.'

After words expressing quantity the genitive is not used, although implied, such words being merely put in apposition with the nouns which they govern; as, en hop soldater, 'a number (of) soldiers;' ett par handskar, 'a pair (of) gloves;' ett glas vin, 'a glass (of) wine.'

The genitive is used after hos, 'at,' and in familiar parlance when a person's family or house is understood; as, hon är hos prestens, 'she is at the clergyman's;' vi ha sett doktorns, 'we saw the doctor's (family).' In some cases the genitive is used directly before the noun by which it is governed; as, en man, 'a man of honour;' en sexton  flicka, 'a girl of sixteen.'

The dative may be expressed simply by position; as, Herren gaf brefvet, 'the gentleman gave (to) the peasant the letter;' arbetet är  nyttligt, 'work is good for us.'

It may be expressed by åt, 'at;' för, 'for; as, Smeden skrattade åt sitt eget infall, 'the smith laughed at his own fancy;' för hvem är arbetet nyttligt? 'for (or to) whom is