A Simplified Grammar of the Danish Language/Part I/Adjectives

A Simplified Grammar of the Danish Language (1883)
by E. C. Otté
Adjectives
1393355A Simplified Grammar of the Danish Language — Adjectives1883E. C. Otté

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.

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.'

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.'

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;' , 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—

positive. comparative. superlative.
1. rig, rich, rigere, rigest.
2. ringe, slight, ringere, ringest.
2. stor, large, större, störst.
3. broget, variegated. mere broget, mest broget.

Some adjectives are wholly irregular; as—

god, good, bedre, best.
ond, bad, værre, værst.
lille, little, mindre, mindst.
gammel, old, ældre, ældst.