A Danish and Dano-Norwegian Grammar/Adjectives
THE ADJECTIVES.
I. Declension of Adjectives.
172. The adjectives have a stronger or indefinite and a weak or definite form.
173. The indefinite form has its neuter ending in t, its plural in -e. The definite form has the ending -e all through Paradigm: lang long.
| c. g. | neut. | plur. | |
| Indefinite | lang | langt | lange. |
| Definite | lange | lange | lange. |
Note. The definite form of the adjective may be used as a substantive and may then take the possessive ending -s; Ex.: De fattiges Glæder er(e) af en anden Art end de riges the pleasures of the poor are of another kind than those of the rich.
Note 2. A remnant of an old accusative singular m is found in poetical language: paa Höienloftssal in the high vaulted hall; i dyben Dal in the deep valley.
174. The following adjectives do not add any t in the neuter:
1) Adjectives ending in a distinctly derivative sk: Ex.: krigersk warlike, Norsk Norwegian. But rask quick, falsk false, frisk and fersk fresh add t: et raskt Löb a quick run.
2) Adjectives ending in a vowel; except aa: et sanddru Menneske a truthful person; et stille Vand a quiet lake; et öde Sted a desolate place. But el blaat Baand a blue ribbon. Exceptions are further: ny new, fri free, N. stö steady; neut. nyt, frit, stöt.
3) Adjectives ending in -t; Ex.: let easy; and some adjectives ending in -d: glad joyful, lad lazy, led loathsome, kaad wanton, ræd frightened, lærd learned, fremmed strange and foreign words such as absurd, nitid, solid, splendid.
4) Furthermore those ending in -es or -s with preceding consonant: fœlles common, afsides out of the way; and nymodens newfangled, stakkels poor, gjœngs current.
Note. With adjectives ending in -ig or -lig a t is added in neuter in writing, but neither g nor t is pronounced; see §§ (D.) 43 and (N.) 125.
175. A long vowel with or without a following d (Danish pron. ð, Norw. mute or pron. t) is shortened before the t of the neuter; Ex.: blaat of blaa blue, bli(d)t of blid (D. pr. blið, N. bli·) mild; blö(d)t of blöd (D. pr. bløð, N. bløt).
176. The following pronominal adjectives ending in -en drop their n before the t of the neuter: megen—meget much, mangen—mangt many, nogen some, ingen—intet none; anden—andet other, hvilken—hvilket which, en—et one, din—dit your, min—mit my, sin—sit his, her; N. liden—lidet. So also past participles ending in -en: skreven—skrevet written, egen—eget in the meaning of own; but in the meaning of peculiar egent: et egent Menneske a peculiar person; sœregen, sœreget and sœregent peculiar, voxen—voxent adult, and in the same manner other adjectives which were originally past prtcpls. but are now used as pure adjectives: et voxent Menneske a grown-up person; but han er voxet he has grown.
Note. The adjective liden is now obsolete in Danish, only occasionally used in poetry, while it still continues to be the regular form in Norwegian. In Danish they use the originally definite form lille both as definite and indefinite, both as neuter and common gender. As plural of D. lille N. liden is employed smaa.
177. Adjectives ending in -el, -en and -er drop the e of their last syllable before e of the plural or definite form: gammel—gamle old, mager—magre lean, hoven—hovne swollen.
Adjectives ending in an unstressed -et form their plural and definite form in -ede ; Ex.: stribet—stribede stripet, but let—lette light, violet—violette.
Note. In Norwegian colloquial language the adjectives ending in -et are often given the form of -ete, even in the indefinite form; Ex.: stripete striped, Veien er stenete the road is stony.
178. The following adjectives do not add any -e in plural or in the definite form:
1) Those ending in -e: stille quiet, ægte genuine, öde desolate.
2) Those ending in -es or -s with preceding consonant. Exception: tilfreds satisfied always takes the -e, and aflægs obsolete, dagligdags commonplace, and gammeldags old-fashioned may take it; Ex.: det altid tilfredse Barn the always satisfied child.
3) Most adjectives ending in a stressed vowel; Ex.: blaa blue, tro faithful, ædru sober, bly bashful; fri and ny may in D. be written and pronounced with or without -e, frie and nye or fri and ny; in Norwegian always with -e: nye, frie; so also N. stöe.
179. The following adjectives lack the definite form in -e: megen much, anden other, egen own (but egen peculiar, egne). N. liden has the definite form lille.
These adjectives also have irregular plurals: megen—mange, anden—andre; liden uses as plural smaa small; faa few occurs only in plural; smaa, however, may also occur in singular, mostly neuter with collective words: smaat Kvæg small cattle, den smaa the little one.
Note. In Norwegian colloquial language anden may take the definite form den andre in stead of den anden the other.
180. Indeclinable are, besides those adjectives ending in -e, -es or -s with preceding consonant mentioned in §§ 174, 4 and 178, 1 and 2, the following: idel sheer, lutter mere, nok sufficient, kvit rid of, alene alone (only used predicatively), var in the expression blive var to become aware of (but N. adj. var cautious, is declinable). Also lig like, equal may in mathematics and elsewhere be used unchanged: et Tal lig Summen of to andre a number equal to the sum of two others.
181. Use of the definite form of the adjectives: The definite form of the adjective is used 1) after the definite article: det store Hus the big house; 2) after a possessive pronoun or a genitive; Ex.: min nye Hat my new hat; min Kusines lyse Parasol my cousin's light parasol; 3) after a demonstrative pronoun and after the relative pronoun hvilken which; Ex.: dette höie Træ this high tree, hin sorte Kat that black cat. Han reddede med personlig Livsfare ti Menneskeliv, hvilken tapre Handling skaffede ham en Medalje he saved with danger for his own life ten human lives, which brave deed procured him a medal; 4) in expressions of address and in apposition to a personal pronoun: Kjære Ven Dear friend, jeg elendige Mand I miserable man.
Note. For examples of the definite form of the adjective used with the postpositive article see § 153, Note 1.
182. Agreement of the adjective with its noun. The adjective must agree with its noun in gender and number both as attribute, apposition and predicate. Et stort Hus a big house, store Huse big houses; Huset, et stort rödmalet the house, a big red one, Huset er stort the house is big. Vore Ansigter er(e) solbrændte our faces are sunburnt. (As for the superlative forming an exception as predicate see § 189.)
II. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.
183. The adjectives form their comparatives in -ere (-re), superlative in -est (-st).
| glad–glad | gladere | gladest. |
| rig–rich | rigere | rigest. |
Adjectives ending in -e add only -re and -st.
| ringe–slight | ringere | ringest. |
Adjectives ending in an unaccented -ig (-lig) -som add in superlative only -st:
| fattig–poor | fattigere | fattigst. |
| nöisom–easily contented | nöisommere | nöisomst. |
Adjectives ending in a single consonant with preceding short vowel double their final consonant before the comparative and superlative terminations:
| smuk–nice | smukkere | smukkest. |
Adjectives ending in an unstressed -el, -en, (see § 187, 1) -er drop the -e before the comp. and superl. endings:
| ædel–noble | ædlere | ædlest. |
| fager–fair | fagrere | fagrest. |
| fuldkommen–perfect | fuldkomnere | fuldkomnest. |
184. The following adjectives form their comparative and superlative by adding -re (-ere) and -st and at the same time modifying the radical vowel by mutation:
| ung–young. | yngre | yngst. |
| stor–great | större | störst. |
| tung–heavy | tyngre | tyngst |
| or | tungere | tungest. |
| lang–long | længere | længst. |
and irregularly:
| faa–few | færre | færrest. |
185. The following adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives of a different stem from the positive:
| gammel–old | ældre | ældest. |
| god–good | bedre | bedst. |
| lille (liden)–little | mindre | mindst. |
| mange–many | flere | flest. |
| meget | mere | mest. |
| ond–bad | værre | værst. |
The adjective (and adv.) nær near forms its comparative and superlative by adding -mere, -mest: nærmere nærmest. In the same manner the adj. fjern far in Danish forms the comp. fjærmer, but only in the meaning of the off (horse).
186. The following comparatives and superlatives have no corresponding adjectives as positive (but there are corresponding adverbs):
| (nede–down) | nedre–lower | nederst. |
| (oven–above) | övre–upper | överst. |
| (ude–without) | ydre–outer | yderst (N. also pr. ytterst). |
| (bag–behind) | N. bagre–hind | bagerst–hindmost. |
| (inde–within) | indre–inner | inderst. |
| (midt–middle) | midtre | midterst. |
| (frem–forward) | fremmere (or fremre) | fremmest (or fremst). |
The following adjectives occur only in the comparative: nordre northern, söndre southern, östre eastern, vestre western.
In the superlative alone occur: næst next, först first, forrest foremost, sidst last, ypperst supreme, mellemst middle.
187. The following adjectives do not form any comparative and superlative. To denote the comparative and superlative meaning mere more and mest most are placed before the positive:
1) Most adjectives derived in -sk (-isk) -en and -et: mere krigersk more warlike, mest morderisk most murderous. (But friskere fresher, raskere quicker, hadskere more rancorous, glubskere more ferocious, harskere more rancid.) Vaagen–awake, mere vaagen, mest vaagen. (But modnere more mature.) 2) Adjectives ending in -es or -s with preceding consonant: mere, mest afsides, more, most out-of-the way; mere, mest gjængs, more, most current; also mere fremmed most strange. 3) Participles: mere forslaaet more beaten, et mere vindende Væsen a more prepossessing manner. (But a few participles which have come to be used completely as adjectives may form comparative and superlative: lærdere more learned; fuldkomnere more perfect).
Some adjectives do not form any comparative and superlative on account of their signification; such are evig eternal, udödelig immortal etc.
INFLECTION AND USE OF THE COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE.
188. The comparative has only the form ending in -e: den bedre Del the better part; et större Hus a larger house. When used as a substantive it may take the genitive -s: det gode er det bedres Fiende the good is the enemy of the better.
Note. Observe the use of the comparative to denote a pretty high degree. En ældre Herre an elderly gentleman; et större Forretningshus quite a large business house; mindre less is used as a less emphatic negative than ikke not, or a negative prefix. Det var en mindre smuk Fremgangsmaade that was not a very nice way of doing.
189. The superlative has as a rule the definite form when connected with a noun: Den bedste Mand the best man. Det smukkeste Töi the nicest cloth. But it occurs also in the indefinite form: jeg har störst Lyst til ikke at gjöre det I feel most inclined not to do it [but: jeg har den störste Lyst (af Verden) til ikke at gjöre det I have the greatest mind not do it]. When used as a predicate the superlative as a rule is in-declinable, but may also take the definite article, and accordingly the definite form. Dette Hus er störst this house is largest. Disse Bær er bedst these berries are the best. But also: dette Hus er det störste this house is the largest.
Note. The superlative may be emphasized by aller placed before the superlative: allerbedst best of all; allerstörst largest of all. This aller is an old gen. plur. (O. N. allra of allr all).