[3], [4], (see also for lists of nouns)
Dated and archaic forms
edit- Modern Danish makes no distinction for person or number in the present. The older plural forms of the indicative present, indicative past, subjunctive present, subjunctive past as well as the plural form of the imperative are considered archaic in the contemporary standard language, although some forms survived longer into the modern period than others.[1] Jessen(da) reports that the past subjunctive (Da. imperfektums konjunktiv, præteritum konjunktiv), which was only distinct in the singular, fell out of use sometime after the Reformation.[2] The present subjunctive (Da. konjunktiv) or optative (Da. ønskemåde) has been largely replaced by periphrastic modal constructions outside of set phrases (see below).[3] On the other hand, many other forms survived at least in the official written language until the reforms of 1900 which finally removed the distinction between singular and plural.[4]
- These forms ultimately displayed remarkable syncretism (merging of historically distinct forms) before themselves being subsumed:[5][6]
- Present indicative singular and plural imperative: stem + -(e)r
- The (bare) infinitive, present indicative plural and subjunctive present plural: Consonant stems: stem + -e; vowel stems: bare stem (Exception: være, present plural ere)
- Formerly the strong verbs had an identical form in the imperfect (simple past) indicative plural and past subjunctive plural: imperfect stem + -e
- The present subjunctive or optative forms (identical with the bare infinitive) are equally no longer in active use, but traces survive in certain set phrases such as "Dronningen længe leve!" ("Long live the queen").[7] These forms can also be seen in the below excerpt from the Lord's prayer (Da. Herrens bøn), where vorde, komme and ske are all in the optative.
- "Vor Fader, du som er i himlene, helliget vorde dit navn, komme dit rige, ske din vilje..."
- "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done..."
Conjugation of Danish verbs
editMost verbs are conjugated as follows:
conjugation | stem type | infinitive | present indicative singular |
past indicative singular |
past participle |
distribution |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Consonant | (at) elske | elsker | elskede | elsket | ~85% of weak verbs[8] |
1 | Vowel | (at) bo | bor | boede | boet | ~25[9] |
2 | Consonant | (at) spise | spiser | spiste | spist | 10-15% of weak verbs[10] |
2 | Vowel | (at) ske | sker | skete | sket | 1[11] |
The following table contains most verbs which have irregular forms in the modern language including those belonging to the mixed (also referred to as 3rd conjugation) or strong (or fourth) conjugation groups.[12][13][14][15] Four are additionally irregular in the present tense: gør - gør, have - har, vide - ved and være - er.
Content: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z, Æ, Ø, Å
Key: | adj. = adjective | arch. = archaic | coll. = colloquial | dial. = dialect | hum. = humourous |
---|
References
edit- ^ Haugen, E. (1976) The Scandinavian Languages: an introduction to their history, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 308
- ^ Jessen, E. (1891) Dansk Grammatik [Danish Grammar], Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel (F. Hegel & Søn), page 123
- ^ Christensen, L. H., Christensen, R. Z. (2005) Dansk Grammatik [Danish Grammar], 3rd edition, Viborg, Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, published 2014, →ISBN, page 117
- ^ Lundskær-Nielsen, T., Holmes, P. (1995) Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge, published 2010, →ISBN, pages 282-291
- ^ Lundskær-Nielsen, T., Holmes, P. (1995) Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge, published 2010, →ISBN, page 336
- ^ Jessen, E. (1891) Dansk Grammatik [Danish Grammar], Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel (F. Hegel & Søn), pages 121-123
- ^ Lundskær-Nielsen, T., Holmes, P. (1995) Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge, published 2010, →ISBN, page 338
- ^ Lundskær-Nielsen, T., Holmes, P. (1995) Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge, published 2010, →ISBN, page 274
- ^ Lundskær-Nielsen, T., Holmes, P. (1995) Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge, published 2010, →ISBN, page 274
- ^ Lundskær-Nielsen, T., Holmes, P. (1995) Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge, published 2010, →ISBN, page 278
- ^ Lundskær-Nielsen, T., Holmes, P. (1995) Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge, published 2010, →ISBN, page 278
- ^ Lundskær-Nielsen, T., Holmes, P. (1995) Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar, 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge, published 2010, →ISBN, pages 282-291
- ^ Krymova, N. I., Emzina, A. Ja., Novakovič, A. S. (2000) Большой датско-русский словарь [Large Dano-Russian Dictionary], 5th edition, Moscow: Živoj jazyk, →ISBN, pages 891-896
- ^ Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab (1915-1957, 1992) Ordbog over det danske Sprog[1] (in Danish), Copenhagen: Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab
- ^ Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab (2003-2005) Den Danske Ordbog[2] (in Danish), Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab