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those ending in e, take s in the genitive; as Mand, c. g., 'man,' gen. Mands; Barn, n., 'child,' gen. Barns; Konerne, pl. 'the women,' gen. Konernes.

Nouns ending in s, ks (x), and in vowels, excepting e, take es in the genitive; as, Hus, n., 'house,' gen. Huses ; By, c. g., 'town,' gen. Byes; Bro, c. g., 'bridge,' gen. Broes.

Although the common gender includes generally all words designating living beings,—as en Person, a person;' en Sanger, a singer;' en Hest, a horse,'-certain words which indicate a special class of beings without reference to sex are exceptions to this rule; as, ET Barn, 'a child;' Er Væsen, 'a creature;' Kvæg, n., ' cattle.'

The words Mandfolk, a male,' Fruentimmer, a female,' are neuter.

To the common gender belong, generally, the names of trees and flowers, and of special products of the vegetable world; as, en Bög, 'a beech;' en Rose, 'a rose ;' en Blomme, a plum;' Te, c. g., 'tea;' Vin, c. g., 'wine;' Terpentin, c. g., 'turpentine.'

Definitions of distinct kinds, or parts, of plants are neuter; as, Træ, 'tree;' Blad, 'leaf;' Græs, 'grass;' Korn, 'corn.'

Words ending in e, de, hed, skab, dom, when they imply conditions and properties, are generally of the common gender; as, Varme, 'heat;' Höjde, 'height;' Dumhed, stupidity;' Ondskab, 'wickedness;' Manddom, 'manhood.' To the same gender belong, generally, words ending in ning, else, sel, st, en when they indicate some action, or active

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principle; as, Læsning, 'reading;' Styrelse, 'direction ;' Færdsel, 'traffic;' Fangst, 'capture;' Löben, 'running.'

To the neuter gender belong, generally, names of places and metals; as, det store London, great London;' det stærke Jærn, 'strong iron.' To the neuter gender belong also words ending in eri, at, ium; as, Krammeri, ' trumpery;' Krat, 'thicket;' Kollegium, 'college.' And words derived from the infinitive of words by discarding the final e; as, et Skrig, a cry,' from at Skrige, 'to cry out.'

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Some words are of uncertain gender; as, en, or et Telt, a tent;' en, or et Trold, a goblin.'

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As a rule, it may be observed that in such cases of uncertainty the neuter gender is usually to be preferred.

Many words have a different meaning, in accordance with the special gender assigned to them; as, en Brud, ' a bride;' et Brud, a rupture,' 'a quarry.' The number of such words, of which we give examples in Part II., is very large.

ADJECTIVES. (Tillægsord.)

Adjectives, which must agree in gender and number with the noun which they qualify, generally form the neuter by adding t, and their plural by adding e to the abstract singular form; as, en god Mand, a good man;' et godt Barn, 'a good child;' gode Drenge, 'good boys.' When the adjective is preceded by the independent demonstrative article, den, det, de, it generally takes an e, as den gode Mand, det gode Barn, de gode Drenge.

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When the adjective ends in e or s, these letters remain unchanged; as, den stakkels Mand, the poor man;' den lille Mand, the little man;' det lille Barn, the little child;' det stakkels Barn, 'the poor child.'

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Adjectives ending in el, en, er, discard the e, when used with the independent article; as, ædel, 'noble,' den ædle Mand, the noble man;' moden, 'ripe;' den modne Blomme, 'the ripe plum;' mager, 'lean;' den magre Hest, ‘the lean horse.' A similar change is effected when the adjective is used in the plural as a predicate, or absolutely; as, Blommerne ere Modne, the plums are ripe;' ædle Mænd, ' noble men.'

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Adjectives ending in an unaccentuated syllable double the final consonant; as, slem, or slet, 'bad;' den slemme (slette) Mand, 'the bad man.'

Some adjectives are at once defective and irregular; as, megen, sing., 'much;' flere, pl., 'many;' få, pl., ' few ;' små, pl., 'small.'

Adjectives may be used independently in the sense of qualified nouns; as, den Gode, 'the good' (man understood); De Store, 'the great' (people understood).

The comparative degrees are formed as follows:-(1) by the addition to the positive of ere (comp)., est (superl.); (2) by the addition to the positive of re (comp.), st (superl), when the word ends in e, and in some other cases, more especially when the radical vowel undergoes a change; (3) by the use of mere, ' more,' and mest, 'most,' chiefly in words ending in unaccentuated et, and derived from the past participle of verbs; as

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Adverbs are often identical with the neuter singular of corresponding adjectives; as, hurtigt, 'hastily,' from hurtig, adj., 'hasty.'

Adverbs of place and time, negation and affirmation, &c. are both simple and compound; as, her, 'here;' herfra, 'hence;' ude, 'out;' udenfra, 'from outside;' ikke, 'not ;' ja, jo, ‘yes ;' så, 'so;' således, 'thus ;' silde, 'late ;' årle, 'early;' tilforn, formerly; i-dag, 'to-day;' i-går, ʻ yesterday.'

Some are formed by the addition to other adverbs, adjectives, or other parts of speech, of the affixes ledes and vis; as, ligeledes, 'likewise;' uheldigvis, 'unfortunately;' stykkevis, 'piece by piece.'

Adverbs form their degrees of comparison in the same manner as adjectives; as

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The latter are used to express diminutive degrees of com

parison both for adjectives and other adverbs; as—

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The superlative of adjectives and adverbs acquires additional force when preceded by aller (all, most, very); as, den aller störste Glæde, the very greatest joy;' på det aller smukkeste, most handsomely.'

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Other

Cases

mig,me; dig, thee; ham, him; hende, her;

den, det, it.

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