The definite article is, on the other hand, sometimes used where it would not be in Modern E., as in se mann = 'man' (men in general).
The indefinite article is often not expressed at all:—þæt dyde unhold mann (an enemy did that); hē be·stealcode on land swā swā wulf (he stole to land like a wolf). Or it is expressed by sum: on þǣm lande wæs sum mann, Lēofrīċ ġe·hāten (in that country was a man called L.). Or by ān, as in Modern English:—ān wulf wearþ ā·sęnd tō be·węrienne þæt hēafod wiþ þā ōþru dēor (a wolf was sent to protect the head against the other wild beasts).
PRONOUNS.
Hwæt is used interrogatively of persons where we should use 'who':—hē nyste hwæt hīe wǣron (he did not know who they were).
VERBS.
Number.
After ǣlc þāra þe (each of-those-who) the verb is put in the sing., agreeing not with þāra þe but with ǣlc:—ǣlc þāra þe þās mīn word ġe·hīerþ (each of those who hear these my words).
When þæt or þis is connected with a plural predicate by means of the verb 'to be,' the verb is put in the plural:—þæt wǣron þā ǣrestan sċipu Dęniscra manna þe Angel-cynnes land ġe·sōhton (those were the first ships of Danish men which came to the land of the English race).
Impersonal verbs take an accusative of the person, sometimes also with a genitive of the thing.