Danish memo

Metadata

tags: danish learning language

Pronunciation

Æ Ø Å

Æ is pronounced like [ai] (lait)

Ø is pronounced like [eu] (heureux)

Å is pronounced like [o] (bol)

Soft D

When to use the soft d :

A vowel followed by -d or -dd
A word ends with -et

Exceptions :

A single syllable containing a vowel followed by -ds : the d become silent
A single syllable containing a vowel followed by -dt : the d become silent

Here's a pretty good video to help with the pronunciation.

Grammar

Grammatical gender

en : common gender

et : neutral gender

Group	Singular indefinite	Singular definite	Plural indefinite	Plural definite
1	en bil	bilen	biler	bilerne
2	en dame	damen	damer	damerne
3	et hus	huset	huse	husene
4	en film	filmen	film-	filmene

Possessive pronouns

Person	Singular common gender	Singular neutral gender	Plural
jeg	min bil	mit hus	mine biler/huse
du	din bil	dit hus	dine biler/huse
han/hun	sin bil	sit hus	sine biler/huse
han	hans bil	hans hus	hans biler/huse
hun	hendes bil	hendes hus	hendes biler/huse
vi	vores bil	vores hus	vores biler/huse
i	jeres bil	jeres hus	jeres biler/huse
de	deres bil	deres hus	deres biler/huse

When to use hans and hendes :

The possessive pronoun is alos the subject of the sentence (or part of the subject) : Hans børn kommer i morgen - His children come tomorrow.
When the subject is not the owner : Lisbeth kører hendes bil - Lisbeth drive her car (in this case the car of someone else).

Attributive adjective

Gender	Attributive adjective	Example	Translation
Singular common	Base form	vinen er god	the wine is good
Singular neutral	Base form + -t	teaterstykket er godt	the theatre piece is good
Plural common/neutral	Base form + -e	teaterstykkerne er gode	the wines are good

Doubling last consonants

A name finishing by a brief vowel followed by a consonant will double the consonant in singular definite and plural forms.

Group	Singular indefinite	Singular definite	Plural indefinite	Plural definite
1	en søn	sønnen	sønner	sønnerne
2	en bus	bussen	busser	busserne
3	en nat	natten	nætter	nætterne
4	en kop	koppen	kopper	kopperne

Short answers

Used to avoid answering a question by Yes or No only.

If the question contains a modal verb (vil, skal, må, kan) or an auxiliary verb : the verb is reused in the answer.

Construction :

Ja + det + verb + subject.
Nej + det + verb + subject + ikke.

Example : Har du en kæreste? Ja, det har jeg. - Do you have a girlfriend? Yes, I do.

If the question doesn't contain such verb : the verb gør is used instead.

Construction :

Ja + det + gør + subject.
Nej + det + gør + subject + ikke.

Example : Arbejder du i weekenden? Je det gør jeg. - Are you working on the weekend? Yes, I do.

Subject inversion

There are three scenarios for wich the subject is inverted :

When asking a question (see Conjugation section below).
When starting a sentence with a complement or adverb : I weekenden arbejder jeg. - On weekends I work.
When starting a sentence with a subordinate proposal : Når jeg arbejder, drikker jeg meget kaffe. - When I work, I drink a lot of coffee.

Dynamic and static prepositions

When there's an idea of movement the preposition to use is til : Jeg skal til Århus på lørdag. - I go to Århus saturday.
When there's an idea of staticity the preposition to use is i : Lisa er I Berlin - Lisa is in Berlin.

Vocabulary

Short sentences

Ja, det gør jeg : Yes, I do

Vi ses senere : See you later

Hvor skal du hen ? : Where are you going ? hen is an adverb that indicates movement

Hvor arbejder du henne ? : Where are you working ? henne is an adverb that indicates immobility

Hvornår kommer du hjem ? : When are you coming home ? hjem is an adverb that indicates movement

Er du hjemme ? : Are you home? hjemme is an adverb that indicates immobility

Om en halv time : In hal an hour

Nogle : Some

I weekenden : The weekend

Jeg er 28 år : I'm 28

Hvad et der galt : What's wrong?

Interrogative words

Danish	English
Hvor	Where
Hvem	Who
Hvad	What
Hvornår	When
Hvofor	Why
Hvordan	How
Hvilken	Which
Hvad for en	Which one
Hvor mange	How many
Hvor længe	How long
Hvor gammel	How old
Hvis	Whose
Hvor lang tid	How much time

Useful words

Mange : Many

Meget : Much

Altid : Always

Normalt : Usually

Tit : Often

Nogle gang : Sometimes

Ikke så tit : Not so often

Aldrig : Never

Numbers

Number	Danish	Cardinal
1	en /et	første
2	to	anden
3	tre	tredje
4	fire	fjerde
5	fem	femte
6	seks	sjette
7	syv	syvende
8	otte	ottende
9	ni	niende
10	ti	tiende
11	elleve	ellevte
12	tolv	tolvte
13	tretten	trettende
14	fjorten	fjortende
15	femten	femtende
16	seksten	sekstende
17	sytten	syttende
18	atten	attende
19	nitten	nittende
20	tyve	tyvende

Days

Danish	English
Mandag	Monday
Tirsdag	Tuesday
Onsdag	Wednesday
Torsdag	Thursday
Fredag	Friday
Lørdag	Saturday
Søndag	Sunday

Conjugation

Personal pronouns

Danish	English
jeg	I
du	you
han / hun / den / det	he / she / it
vi	we
i	you
de	they

Infinitive

Most of the time finishing with -e and preceded by at.

Example : at komme.

Present

Most of the time finishing with -r.

Example : jeg kommer.

Questions

To ask a question, invert subject and verb position in the sentence.

Negation

To use the negation use ikke after the verb.

Negative questions

Construction : Verb + subject + ikke.

At skulle (should) :

Can be used to express the future.

Construction : Present form of at skulle + infinitive of main verb.

Example : Jeg skal arbejde i weekenden - I will work this weekend.

At kunne (could/know) :

Is used to express possibility and knowledge.

Example for possibility : Jeg kan ikke komme i dag - I can't come today.

Example for knowledge : Jeg kan tale dansk - I can talk danish.

At måtte (to be allowed to) :

Is used for :

Ask for a permission.

Construction : Må + subject + infinitive of the verb + object

Example : Må jegryge en cigaret ? - Can i smoke a cigarette ?

Express a logical obligation.

Example : Det regner så jeg må tage bilen. - It's raining therefor I need to take the car.

At burde (should) :

Is used to give advices.

Construction : Present form of at burde + infinitive of main verb

Example : Du bør arbejde mindre. - You should work less.