A Simplified Grammar of the Danish Language/Part II/Conjunctions

by E. C. Otté

Conjunctions. (Bindeord.)

The conjunctions at, 'that,' dersom, hvis, 'if,' når, 'when,' så, 'so,' may be omitted before the final clauses of a sentence; as, Generalen så han slå soldaten, 'The General saw (that) he struck the soldier;' Kommer hun her (så understood), går jeg bort, 'If she comes here, I shall go away.'

Certain proportional conjunctions, as jo, vary in accordance with the character of the sentence; thus, in a simple statement of comparative proportion, jo must be followed by jo, while in a compound sentence, jo must be followed by desto or des; as, jo oftere, jo bedre, 'the oftener the better;' Jo oftere han så hende, og lagde Mærke til hendes store Elskværdighed, desto mere agtede han hende, 'The oftener he saw her, and observed her great amiability the more he esteemed her.'

In statements of comparison, for which the word end, 'than,' is used, the predicate verb need not be repeated; as, Min Broder er större end jeg, 'My brother is taller than I (am).' The same rule applies to som, 'as,' and to ligesom, 'as,' 'like;' as, Min Broder er så stor som jeg, 'My brother is as big as I (am);' Min Broder er Jurist ligesom jeg, 'My brother is a lawyer, as I am.'