# A Danish and Dano-Norwegian Grammar/Pronouns

The Pronouns.
I. THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
190. The personal pronouns have a nominative and an oblique case, and some of them also have a possessive case. The personal pronoun for the 3d person has separate forms for masculine and feminine.
| | | 1st person. | 2d person. | 3d person. | 3d person. |
| | | | | Masc. | Fem. |
| Sing. | Nom. | jeg | du | han | hun |
| | Poss. | – | – | hans | hendes |
| | Obl. | mig | dig | ham | hende |
| Plur. | Nom. | vi | | de | de |
| | Poss. | – (vores) | eders, (jers) | deres | deres |
| | Obl. | os | eder, jer | dem | dem |
(jeg pron. Dan. jai, jæ, Nor. jei; mig, dig pron. Dan. mai, dai, mæ, dæ, Nor. mei, dei.)
Note 1. jeg and du have no corresponding possessive forms; in their stead are used the possessive pronouns (see § 192). Instead of poss. vores (which is mostly colloquial Danish) the poss. pron. vor is usually employed, while eders is more common than the corresponding poss. pron. jer. An antiquated form is hannem for ham him. de they is originally a demonstrative pronoun corresponding to the singular den, det. Analogously with hannem is formed dennem for dem.
Note 2. Du and dig thou, you is only used between members of the same family or near relatives (1st or 2d cousins) or between intimate friends (schoolmates or people acquainted since childhood, or those who have drunk “dus”), thus entering into a kind of fraternity that places ​them upon a footing of intimacy. The act of drinking “dus’ is performed with certain ceremonies.
Note 3. Colloquially han and hun are often used referring to animals according to their natural gender, and in N. colloquially or rather vulgarly even to things according to thegender (masculine or feminine) which the noun in question has in colloquial Norwegian language.
II. THE REFLEXIVE AND RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS.
191a. The reflexive pronoun is sig (pronounce D, sai, N. sei), which can only be used in dependent functions, corresponding to a subject of 3d person, when the direct or indirect object is the same person or thing as the subject; Ex. han slog sig he hurt himself; N. de satte sig paa Bænkene they sat down upon the benches (but D. as a rule de satte dem, because in modern Danish sig is very rarely used referring to a subject of plural).
Sig is never used reflexively to De you: slog De Dem? did you hurt yourself?
Observe: hver for sig each for himself, separately.
191b. Reciprocal pronouns are hinanden and hverandre, one another each other. Hinanden should, according to the grammarians, be used referring to a subject consisting of two parties, hverandre to three or more. Ex.: Han og hun saa hinanden for förste Gang he and she saw each other for the first time. Alle faldt om Halsen paa hverandre they all threw themselves upon one another’s necks.
But this rule of the grammarians is rarely observed in the spoken language.
III. THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.
192. The possessive pronouns are:
| | 1st person sing. | 1st person sing. | 2d person sing. | 2d person sing. | 3d pers. refl. (sing. & pl.) | 3d pers. refl. (sing. & pl.) |
| | com. | neut. | com. | neut. | com. | neut. |
| Sing. | min | mit | din | dit | sin | sit |
| Plur. | mine | mine | dine | dine | sine | sine |
| | 1st person plur. | 1st person plur. | 2d person plur. | 2d person plur. |
| Sing. | vor | vort | jer | jert |
| Plur. | vore | vore | jere | jere |
In stead of jer, jert, jere the gen. of the pers. pronoun eders is usually employed.
193. sin, sit, sine is only in Norway used referring to a subject of plur. In Denmark it is a rule to say: Herrerne tog(e) deres Hatte the gentlemen took their hats; in Norway they say: Herrerne tog sine Hatte.
Sin may refer to another word than the subject in such combinations as: Giv hver sit give each one his due.
When there besides the predicate verb is another verb (infinitive or participle) in the sentence sin may refer to the subject of either of these verbal forms, thus causing some ambiguity: Hr. Pedersen bad Pigen hente sin Hat: Mr. P. asked the servant girl to fetch his hat. But Hr. Pedersen bad sin Ven tænde sin Cigar Mr. P. asked his friend to light his (whose?) cigar. Han fandt ham liggende i sin Seng he found him lying in his bed (whose?). Sin may also refer to the logical subject of a noun indicating action: hendes Kamp for sin Kongemagt her fight for her royal power.
194. The possessive pronouns replace the missing genitive forms of the personal pronouns and are used in the same meanings and ways as the genitive of the nouns (see § 164). Observe ​the idiomatic expressions: din Dumrian you fool! dit Fæ you ass! etc.
The possessive pronouns cannot be combined with the pre-positive definite article. But in Norwegian they can colloquially be combined with nouns that have the postpositive definite article, in which case the pronoun is placed behind; Ex.: Vennen min my friend.
IV. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS.
195. Demonstrative pronouns are: den that, denne this, hin that, yonder.
| | | C. G. | N. | C. G. | N. | C. G. | N. |
| Sing. | Nom. | den | det | denne | dette | hin | hint |
| | Gen. | dens | dets | dennes | dettes | hints | hints |
| Plur. | Nom. | de | de | disse | disse | hine | hine |
| | Gen. | deres | deres | dises | dises | hines | hines |
| | Obl. | dem | dem | | | | |
When these pronouns are used adjectively, they are only subject to inflection as to numbers; Ex.: Han valgte de Mænd he chose those men; disse Menneskers Öine er forblindede the eyes of those people are blinded. Hin that, yonder is mostly a literary word; colloquially it is as a rule replaced by den der that there. det is often used where the English language requires the adv. so: tror De det? do you think so.
Note. det is used without stress like the English it as subj. of impersonal verbs, or as an “indicator” if the real subject is another sentence: det regner it rains; det fortælles, at Kongen er död it is said that the king is dead; se efter, hvad det er, som staar paa look what it is, that is the matter.
​196. Among the demonstrative pronouns are as a rule, counted the pronominal adjectives slig such; saadan such; begge both; samme same; selv self. Slig has n. sligt, pi. slige, saadan, n. saadant, plur. saadanne. All these forms can take the gen. -s if the word is used substantively. begge and samme can take the genitive -s when used alone, but are otherwise indeclinable. selv is indeclinable, except that when used before a noun with the postpositive def. article it may add an -e: selve Manden the man himself. Observe that selv in Dano-Norwegian is used alone: jeg skal gjöre det selv I shal do it myself. The adv. saa may in some cases be used as a pronoun: i saa Tilfœlde in such a case, i saa Maade' in that respect, i saa Henseende in that respect.
V. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.
197. Interrogative pronouns are: hvo, hvem which, hvad what, hvilken which. (The initial -h is mute in all these pronouns, see §§ D. 58, N. 126). Hvo and hvem refers to persons and are only used substantively. They have the genitive hvis whose; hvo is becoming obsolete and is chiefly used in poetry and elevated style. Hvad when used substantively only refers to things; when used as an adjective it may qualify names of living beings as well as of things and irrespective of gender. Hvilken is used adjectively and has the neuter hvilket pi. hvilke. When the interrogative pronouns are ruled by a preposition, the latter can be placed before the pronoun or at the end of the sentence. Ex. Hvem er der who is there? Hvo ved, hvor nær mig er min Ende? who knows how near my end might be? Hvis Böger er det? whose books is it? Hvad siger De what do you say? Hvad Tjeneste kan jeg gjöre Dem ​what service can I do you? Hvilke Lande er(e) de rigeste? what countries are the richest? Hvilken Kjole har liun paa? what dress does she wear? Af hvem har De faaet Bogen? from whom did you get the book? or Hvem har De faaet Boqen af? Til hvem har han sagt det? To whom has he told it? or Hvem har han sagt det til?
Hvad for en what, neut. hvad for et, plur. hvad for is used adjectlvely. Hvad for en Hand er dette? what man is this? Hvad for et Hus er dette? or hvad er dette for et Hus? what house is this? Hvad for Kjör er dette? what cows are these? (Obs. the use of the neuter dette in all these queries.) Note: Hvilken may be used in exclamations: Hvilken Udsigt! what a view! Hvilken Skjönhed what a beauty. The same meaning may in Danish be expressed by: sikken, contraction for se hvilken see what a; Ex. sikken en nydelig Dame what a beautiful lady, and in Norwegian by for en: For en Sorg, what a grief! For en Dumrian du er! what a fool you are!
VI. RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
198. Relative pronouns are: som, der, hvilken, hvem. Som and der are used substantively and are not inflected. As genitive is used hvis whose. Hvilken is used both adjectively and substantively and is inflected as the interrogative pronoun of the same form. Som is the general relative pronoun, which is used when there is no special reason to employ one of the others. It must always have the first place in the sentence and therefore when it should follow after a preposition this latter must be placed adverbially at the end of the sentence. der can only be used as subject and is chiefly employed when there is another som near by so as to avoid confusion and ​cacophony; Ex.: den Mand som var her the man who was here. Det saa ud, som om den Hand, der var her, var syg it looked as if the man who was here was sick. Det Synspunkt, som han saa Sagen fra, var ikke det rigtige the point of view from which he looked at the matter was not the right one.
hvem only refers to persons and can never be used as subject; Ex.: en Gjæst hvem fyrstelig Æresbevisning tilkommer a guest to whom princely honor is due.
hvilken refers to persons and things. The neuter hvilket sometines refers not to any single word in the preceding sentence, but to the whole sentence; Ex.: der blev en skarp Frost med haardt Veir, hvilket Hedningerne tilskrev Gudernes Vrede a piercing cold set in with rough weather, something that the heathen attributed to the wrath of the gods. With the same meaning may be used hvad what, a pronoun that otherwise only refers to the word alt all, everything; Ex.: alt, hvad jeg har, er dit everything I have is yours.
Note. The relative pronoun may be omitted except as subject; Ex.: den eneste Ko, han eiede, blev funden död the only cow he owned was found dead. In antiquated language and sometimes in poetry the relative may be omitted also as subject, but then the verb must be preceded by another word; Ex.: alle smaa Fugle, i Skoven var all the little birds that were in the wood; den Mand, her staar the man, who stands here.
199. hvo, hvem, hvad, may sometimes perform functions at the same time in the principal and in the subordinate proposition. They are then called indefinite relative pronouns. After these pronouns may sometimes be added som or der, in which case these indefinite relative pronouns to a certain extent act as demonstratives. Hvo som staar, se til, at han ikke falder whoever stands, see that he does not fall. Hvem der gjör det, skal miste sit Liv whoever does that, shall lose his life. Hvad dn liar gjort, er tilstrækkeligt what you ​have done, is sufficient. The indefinite meaning is emphasized in: hvemsomhelst som whoever, hvadsomhelst som whatever, hvilkensomhelst som whichever.
VII. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS.
200. Indefinite pronouns are: man, en, hver, enhver, enhversomhelst, hvilkensomhelst, hvemsomhelst, hvadsomhelst.
man corresponds to the French on, German man. English has no exact equivalent. It can only be used as subject; Ex.: man siger they say, it is said.
en is originally the numeral one; it has the same meaning as man, but is not in its use limited to being subject of the sentence; Ex.: det gjör en ondt at se saadanne Kræfter gaa tilspilde it pains a man to see such abilities wasted.
hver or enhver each, every; gen. hvers, enhvers; neut. hvert, ethvert; alle og enhver each and everyone; hver eneste every single one; enhversomhelst, hvemsomhelst everybody; hvilkensomhelst, neut. hvilketsomhelst, plur. hvilkesomhelst which(so)ever, any; hvadsomhelst what(so)ever, anything. These pronouns together with the relative som form indefinite relative pronouns (see § 199).
201. Among the indefinite pronouns are as a rule counted the indefinite numerals: nogen some one, mangen many a, ingen none, alle all, somme some, anden other.
nogen some one, neut. noget, gen. nogens, nogets, plur. nogle, gen. nogles. nogen also means any ; then it has plur. nogen (like singular). Har De nogen Penge? Have you any money? Ja, jeg har nogle Kroner. Yes, I have a few ​crowns. Instead of noget used substantively may be said nogenting something, anything.
Note. Colloquially the plur. is always nogen, in eastern Norway pron. non, nœn.
mangen many a, neut. mangt; usually occurring in plur. mange many, gen. mangens, mangts, manges. Jeg har mange Penge I have much money. Mangen en many a, neut. mangt et. ingen none, neut. intet, plur. ingen, gen. ingens, intets. Ingen may be connected with a noun in plur. or in singular; plural is used whenever in affirmative case a plural would have been expected; Ex.: der var ingen Mennesker der there were no people there; intet Menneske har set ham nobody has seen him. Emphasized ingensomhelst none whatever. Instead of intet used substantively may be said ingenting nothing.
anden other, neut. andet, plur. andre, gen. andres etc. nogle–andre some others, en–en anden one–another.
al all, neut. alt, plur. alle, gen, alts, alles; the common gender sing. can cot be used as a substantive and accordingly cannot take the gen. s; subst. alting everything, altsammen, allesammen all and every one.
somme some is a somewhat antiquated word; somme Kjærringer ere slige some women are that way.