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

by E. C. Otté

Prepositions. (Forholdsord.)

The Danish prepositions usually govern the objective, but some, as fra, 'from;' i, 'in,' 'on;' til, 'to,' are associated with a genitive, in which we may trace a survival of the original inflexion of the Old Northern nouns. Thus, in the expressions of at gå fra Bords, 'to leave the table;' i Mandags, 'on (last) Monday;' at være til Års, 'to be up in years;' at gå til Sengs, 'to go to bed,' we have evidence of the early government of cases by prepositions.

When fra and til are thus used they convey a sense of motion. I, på, and om respectively indicate a past, a definite future, and a recurring period; as, min Broder rejste i Söndags, 'my brother left last Sunday;' han kommer hjem på Fredag, 'he is coming home next Friday;' vi tage på Landet om Lördag, 'we go into the country on the Saturdays.'

The prepositions ad and af, which through an inexact mode of pronunciation have lost their distinctive sounds, have in point of fact a totally different meaning—the former implying motion towards, or association, and the latter generally motion from, and disassociation; as, han vinker ad Barnet, 'he beckons to the child;' det er en Ven ad mig, 'it is a friend of mine;' hun går af Vejen, 'she goes off the road!' at tage sine Klæder af, 'to take off one's clothes.'

The last example affords an instance of the post position of a preposition, which is of common occurrence in Danish; as, Kommer De med? 'Are you coming (with)?' Luk Vinduet til, 'Shut the window (to);' Det var Drengen, hun gav Blommen til, 'It was the boy to whom she gave the plum;' Lægen gik ham forbi, 'The doctor passed him (by).'

Some prepositions, as bag, 'behind,' foran, 'before,' næst, 'next to,' samt, 'together with,' do not admit of this postposition, but must always precede the word which they govern.

Some prepositions, and most frequently for, over, om, med, til, ved, govern the present infinitive of verbs, preceded by at, 'to;' as, Hun kommer for at se mig, 'She comes (for) to see me;' Jeg glæder mig over at få den Bog, 'I am glad (over) to get that book;' Drengen har ikke Lyst til at rejse, 'The boy does not care to travel.'