FAST TRACK DANISH

Modul 1
Grammatik
Grammatik, modul 1 Fast Track Danish

Danish Nouns
In Danish, there are two genders for nouns: N- words and T-words.

N-words, which is the largest group (app. 75% of all nouns), have the article en in front of the
noun when it is singular indefinite - and en after the noun when it is the singular definite form:

Singular indefinite Singular definite

En lærer – a teacher lærer + en – the teacher

En kursist – a student taking a course kursist + en – the student taking a course

En by – a town/a city by + en – the town/ the city

The same goes for the T-words:

Singular indefinite Singular definite

Et land – a country land + et – the country

Et modersmål – a mother tongue modersmål + et – the mother tongue

Et sprog – a language sprog + et – the language

In the plural indefinite, the nouns can have four different endings:
er, r, e, or no ending at all:

Sing. indefinite Sing. definite Plural indefinite

En by byen by + er (towns/cities)
en familie familien familie + r (families)
Et land landet land + e (countries)
Et sprog sproget sprog (languages)

In the plural definite, the nouns can have three different endings: erne, rne, or ene:

Sing. indef. Sing. def. Plural indef. Plural def.

En by byen byer by + erne (the towns)

En familie familien familier familie + rne (the families)
Et sprog sproget sprog sprog + ene the languages)

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Word order in Danish

The word order in Danish is fixed. That means, that the subject, the verb, the object, etc. have a
fixed position in the sentence where they belong.

The different languages in the world, can be classified in roughly three different groups according
to their word order:

S V O (subject – verb – object) is the structure which characterizes Danish, English, Chinese,
Spanish, and a lot more.

S O V (subject – object – verb) characterizes among others: Japanese, Farsi, Hindi, and
Turkish.

V S O (verb – subject – object) characterizes among others: Arabic and Irish.

O S V (object – subject – verb) is mostly spoken by Yoda from Star Wars.

The simplified word order of a Danish main clause looks like this:

Focus Verb Subject Central adverb Object Place Time

V S a N A A

Focus: this position is special, because it can be occupied by subject, central adverb,
object/predicate, place, time, or a subordinate clause – or simply be empty.

Verb (V): Danish can also be characterized as a language where the verb always has the 2 nd
position. No matter what you put in the focus position, the verb always comes next.

Exception: when you ask a question without using a question word, you start with the verb:

Kommer (are coming) du (you) ?

V S
“Are you coming?”

Subject (S): in a standard main clause, the subject would normally be in the focus position. Then,
the word order would look like this:

subject – verb – central adverb – object – place – time

Jeg spiser ikke pizza om mandagen

(I) (eat) (not) (on Mondays)

Focus: S V a O A (place) A (time)

“I do not eat pizza on Mondays.”

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But if the speaker chooses to put time in the focus position, the subject returns to the 3 rd position
as described above:

Om mandagen spiser jeg ikke pizza

(On Mondays) (eat) (I) (not)

Focus: time V S a O A (place)

When the speaker is able to choose what to put in the focus position, it’s possible for the speaker
to get the listener to focus on what is most important in the sentence.
Usually, the subject will be the most important, but sometimes time or place or other things are
more important than the subject.

When the focus position is not taken by the subject, it’s called inversion.

Central adverbs (a): this is a diverse group. Here the focus is on central adverbs with only
1 possible position (S V A or V S A):

aldrig never
altid always
gerne -
godt -
ikke not
også also
tit often

This group can never be placed in the focus position.

Object (N): this position is reserved the object or the predicate. The object can also be placed in
the focus position.

Place (A): this position is reserved adverbial expressions related to place. The expression in
Place can sometimes also be moved to the focus position.

Time (A): this position is reserved adverbial expressions related to time. The expression in Time
can also be moved to the focus position.

- To be continued -

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How to ask questions in Danish

There are two ways of asking questions in Danish.

Yes/no-questions: As mentioned above, you can ask a question by putting the verb first:

Kommer (are coming) du (you) ?

V S
“Are you coming?”

This question type is known as a yes/no-question because you answer yes or no when being
asked this question.

Hv-word questions: the question words in Danish all start with hv- and therefore, question words
in Danish are often referred to as hv-words. The question word is placed in the focus position:

Hvornår kommer du?

(when) (are coming) (you)?

Focus: Hv-word V S

“When are you coming?”

Examples of hv-words:

hvad what
hvem who
hvor where
hvordan how
hvornår when

In Danish, we use hvor when we combine question word and adjective or adverb:

Hvor gammel how old

Hvor længe how long
Hvor mange how many
Hvor meget how much
Hvor tit how often
Hvor stor how big

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Ikke / vel

Ikke and vel can be used at the end of a sentence to elicit an answer from the other person.

A: “Der er meget fokus på udtale, ikke?” ”There’s a lot of focus on pronunciation, right?

B: ”Jo, det er der.” ”Yes, there is.”

A: “Der er ikke meget fokus på udtale, vel?” ”There isn’t a lot of focus on pronunciation, right?”

B: “Nej, det er der ikke.” ”No, there isn’t.”

Even though it is a question, the verb doesn’t start the sentence.

The ikke and the vel turn the sentence into a question.

In order to elicit a YES, In order to elicit a NO,

use IKKE after a positive use VEL after a negative

sentence sentence

1. Du kommer fra Tyskland, ___________ ?

2. Marie taler ikke dansk, ___________ ?

3. Du cykler ikke på arbejde, __________ ?

4. Du arbejder altid om lørdagen, ________?

5. Han underviser ikke i engelsk, _________ ?

6. Hun læser ikke fransk på Københavns universitet, _________?

7. Clavis ligger ikke på Østerbro, _________?

8. Du er ikke 30 endnu, _________?

9. Han er single, _________?

10. Du har fødselsdag på fredag, ___________?

11. Du holder ikke en fødselsdagsfest, _________?

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Short answers in Danish
In English, we often use the short answer: Yes, I do / No, I don’t.

In Danish, we also use short answers, but it’s a bit more complicated than in English, because the
verb in the short answer has to correspond to the verb in the question being asked.

The structure in Danish is as follows:

Ja, det V S

Nej, det V S ikke (a)

A: Er du kursist?
V S

B: Ja, det er jeg. / Nej, det er jeg ikke.

V S V S

When there’s har or er in the question, it’s repeated in the answer as well as the subject from the
question:

Question Short answer

har + subject har + subject

er + subject er + subject

For all other verbs, use gør and the subject from the question:

A: Kommer du fra Irak? A: Hedder du Maryam?

V S V S

B: Ja, det gør jeg. B: Ja, det gør jeg.

V S V S

Question Short answer

hedder + subject gør + subject

kommer + subject gør + subject

to be continued …….

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Personal pronouns

Singular Subject in the Not subject in the sentence

sentence

1. person jeg (I) mig (me)

2. person du (you) dig (you)

De (formal form of Dem (formal form of dig)
du)

3. person han (he) ham (him)

hun (she) hende (her)
man (you, one) én (one)
den (it) – things/animals den (it)
det (it) – things/animals det (it)

Plural Subject in the Not subject in the sentence

sentence

1. person vi (we) os (us)

2. person I (you) jer (you)

De (= formal form of I) Dem (= formal form of jer)

3. person de (they) dem (them)

Not subject in the sentence:

Object (o) Han elsker hende.

s v o

Indirect object (io): Jeg giver dig en bog.

s v io o

After a preposition: Hun ser på ham.

Predicate: Det er mig, der bor her

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Possessive pronouns

Singular Subject in the Possessive pronouns

sentence

1. person jeg min (my/mine (N-word)

mit (my/mine (T-word)
mine (my/mine) (plural)

2. person du din (your/yours) (N-word)

dit (your/yours) (T-word)
dine (your/yours) (plural)

De (formal) Deres (your/yours) (formal)

3. person han (he) hans (his)

hun (she) hendes (her/hers)
man (you, one) ens (ones)
den (it) – things/animals dens (its)
det (it) – things/animals dets (its)

Plural Subject in the Possessive pronouns

sentence

1. person vi (we) vores (our/ours)

2. person I (you) jeres (your/yours)

De (= du = formal) Deres (= din = formal)

3. person de (they) deres (their/theirs)

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Dummy subjects vs real subjects

Clauses must have a subject. In most clauses, the subject is a real subject. But sometimes we
need to use a ‘dummy’ or ‘empty’ or ‘artificial’ subject when there is no subject attached to the
verb, and where the real subject is somewhere else in the clause. It and there are the two dummy
subjects used in English. Danish is very similar to English with respect to the use of dummy
subjects. In Danish, it becomes det, and there becomes der. Here are some examples:

DANISH ENGLISH
det used as dummy subject it used as dummy subject
Det er en Christianiacykel. It is a Christiania bike.
ds v rs ds v rs

Det er min kones cykel. It is my wife’s bike.

ds v rs ds v rs

Det er spændende at lære et nyt sprog. It’s exciting to learn a new language.
ds v rs

vs vs

At lære et nyt sprog er spændende Learning a new language is exciting.

s v s v

der used as dummy subject there used as dummy subject

Der er mange turister i København. There are many tourists in Copenhagen.
ds v rs Adv ds v rs Adv
Der er et supermarked rundt om hjørnet. There is a supermarket around the corner.
ds v rs Adv ds v rs Adv

IMPORTANT: The dummy subject is also the grammatic subject of the clause. When we use short
answers, we use the dummy subject as subject in our short answer. Here are some examples:

Er det din cykel (bike)? - Nej, det er det ikke. Det er min kones cykel.
v ds rs v s a ds v rs

Er det dit ur (watch)? - Nej, det er det ikke. Det er min søns ur.
v ds rs v s a ds v rs

Er det dine briller (glasses)? - Nej, det er det ikke. Det er min kones briller.
v ds rs v s a ds v rs

Er der mange turister i København? - Ja, det er der. Der er virkelig mange.
v ds rs Adv v s ds v a rs

Er der et supermarked i nærheden? - Ja, det er der. Der er ét rundt om hjørnet.

v ds rs Adv v s ds v rs Adv

Er det en Netto? - Nej, det er det ikke. Det er en Føtex.

v ds rs v s a ds v rs
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The many functions of DET:

In front of adjective: Pronoun:

Det røde hus Jeg har et ur.
(The red house) Det er dyrt.

Short answer:
Ja, det har jeg. Dummy subject:
Det er min kones
DET cykel

Dét hus er mit.

(That house is
mine.)

Det der hus Det her hus

(That house (This house
over there) here)

Use det together with adjective + verb in the infinitive:

Det er spændende at bo i Kbh.

(it’s interesting to live in CPH.)

Det er spændende at lære dansk.

(it’s interesting to learn Danish.)

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Demonstratives: This, that, these, those

Informal – close
to the speaker

Den her + N-noun This (here) + N-noun

Det her + T-noun This (here) + T-noun
De her + noun in the plural These (here) + noun in the plural

Informal – further
away from the
speaker

Den der + N-noun That (over there) + N-noun

Det der + T-noun That (over there) + T-noun
De der + noun in the plural Those (over there) + noun in the plural

Formal

Denne + N-noun This + N-noun

Dette + T-noun This + T-noun
Disse + noun in the plural These + noun in the plural

Den her kop er min! (This cup (here) is mine!)

De her sko er søde. (These shoes (here) are sweet.)

Min ven bor i det der hus./ Min ven bor i det hus dér.

(My friend lives in that house over there.)

Lesson 3 Exercise
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Præpositioner: i / på

Jeg bor i:

En gade Jeg bor på

En by Sveasvej
Europa, A’sien Jeg bor i
Et la’nd Danmark
Nordvest, Indre by Jeg bor i
En lejlighe’d, et hu’s Nørregade
Et kvarte’r (a neighborhood)

Jeg bor på:

En ve’j, en bouleva’rd, en allé

Nørrebro, Østerbro, Vesterbro, Frederiksbe’rg
Nørrebrogade, Østerbrogade, Vesterbrogade
En ø: Sjælla’nd, Ama’ger, Bornho’lm
En sa’l/ en eta’ge (a floor)
Jeg bor på
Amager
Jeg arbejder på:

Jeg bor i Jeg bor

Et universite’t
på 1. sal
Et hospita’l København
Et kontor (an office)
En fabrik (a factory)
En skole
En café, en restaurant, en bar

Jeg arbejder
Jeg arbejder i:
på
Københavns
En bank Jeg bor på
Et firma/en virksomhe’d Nørrebro universitet

Han arbejder i
Danske Bank Hun arbejder i et
IT-firma/virksomhed

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Adjectives

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns and reflect the gender of both noun and pronoun.
Personal pronouns are considered N – words.

RULE NUMBER 1

sød N - word en sød pige

sødt T - word et sødt hus

søde Plural to søde piger

Samtale
The adjective can be part of a The adjective can also be the
noun phrase (adjective – noun): predicate (it stands alone):
Hjemme- arbejde?
Jeg har en rød cykel (object) Cyklen er rød
Min klaslære dansk?
Der står en rød cykel dér (real subject) Hun er sød

Fransk rødvin er dyrt (subject) Børnene er søde

The adjective ”lille”

(small) is irregular:

lille
lille
små (plural)

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RULE NUMBER 2 OVERRULES RULE NUMBER 1

A
Rule number 2:
Transport til/fra skole?
Always add - e - to the N-word form of the adjective, if there’s a defining
word right in front of the adjective. The rule applies in the singular as well
Samtale
as the plural form:

Den søde pige = the sweet girl (N-form = sød)

Det nye husarbejde?

Hjemme- = the new house (N-form = ny)

De søde piger = the sweet girls (N-form_sød)

Min store taske = my red bag (N-form = stor)

Peters røde cykel = Peter’s red bike (N-form = rød)

Dén der røde sofa= That red sofa ndre s

over there (N-form = rød)

Defining words:

Definite articles: den / det / de

Possessive names and pronouns:

min, din, hans, hendes, dens, dets, vores,
jeres, Peters, Alex’

Demonstrative pronouns:
dén her, det her, de her,
dén der, det der, de der

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Adjective or adverb?

In English, we add a- ly to the adjective to create an adverb, which can describe an

action/a verb:

He walks slowly

He eats quickly

In Danish, we add a -t to the adjective to create an adverb and use the same word
order as in English: the adverb follows the verb / the action it describes:

Han går langsomt

Han spiser hurtigt

Rule of thumb (with a few exceptions):

Always add an
adjective when you
use:
Add an adverb
”være” (to be)
when you use
other verbs
”blive” (to become)

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Danish verbs

Danish verbs can be divided into three groups:

Group 1 Group 2 group 3

infintive -e -e -e
present -r -r -r
past tense - ede - te ?
perfect har - et har - t har - et

New verbs which are imported into Danish follow the same pattern as group 1 verbs:

at email+e jeg email+er jeg email+ede jeg har email+et

There are approximately 110 verbs in group 2:

at spis+e jeg spis+er jeg spis+te jeg har spis+t

and approximately 100 verbs in group 3:

at drikke jeg drikker jeg drak jeg har drukket

The shortest possible form of the verb is the imperative form. You get it by deleting the -e- from
the infinitive form:

Email! Spis! Drik!

You use it for orders, instructions, requests, and the like.

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The imperative form

In Danish as well as in English, the imperative form is used for instructions, orders but also when
you wish something for somebody like: “Have a nice day”.

Furthermore, the imperative form can also be used when you encourage someone to do
something like “Try again!”

The imperative form in Danish is reached by deleting the -e- from the infinitive form of the verb:

Infinitiv Imperativ

at spise spis
at have hav
at komme kom

When you use the imperative form, there’s no subject in the sentence because the subject is the
person you’re addressing.

Frequent expressions with the imperative form in Danish:

Sov godt Sleep weel

Drøm sødt Sweet dreams
Hold op! Stop (it)!
Lad være! Stop (it)!

Hav en god dag Have a nice day

Hils din familie Greet your family (from me)
Skriv snart Write soon
Kør forsigtigt Drive carefully

Ring til mig Call me

Ti stille! Be quiet!
Pas på! Watch out!

Hjælp! Help!
Vent lige lidt Wait a minute
Vent venligst Please hold

Kom godt hjem Get home safe

Kom indenfor Please come in
Kom og besøg mig Come and visit me

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The past and the (present) perfect tense

Præteritum og perfektum

The focus of the past tense is to give information about what took place at a specific
time, a specific date, a specific year, a specific and limited period of your life:

Hvornår kom du til København? When did you come to Copenhagen?

Jeg kom til KBH i 2018 I came to CPH in 2018.

Past tense - Focus:

Specific and limited time in the past.

Gives an answer to the question

WHEN

The focus of the perfect tense is to give information about a continuing period of
time or give information about the past where time is not essential.

A: Hvor længe har du boet her? A: How long have you been living
here?
B: Jeg har boet her i 3 måneder B: I’ve been living here for 3 months.

A: Har du spist? A: Have you eaten?

B: Nej, det har jeg ikke B: No, I haven’t.

Perfect tense- Focus:

1. An ongoing period of time

2. Time is not essential

Often gives an answer to the question

HOW LONG

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Direction/location adverbs

If you ask a question with WHERE you get information about either LOCATION or
the DIRECTION something/someone is moving:

Location: Direction/
Movement:
Where are
you? Where are
you going?

In Danish, you show this difference with the direction/location adverbs:

Hvor er du Hvor skal du

henne? hen?

The direction/location adverbs are divided in two groups:

Location: Direction/
Movement:
Henne
Oppe Hen
Nede Op
Ude Ned
Inde Ud
hjemme Ind
hjem

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In Danish, you use the direction/location adverbs more frequently than in English.
You can often leave out the location adverb but usually not the direction adverb.

Location:

Jeg er hjemme I’m home.

Jeg spiser ude hos min mor om fredagen I eat at my mum’s place on Fridays.
Hvor bor dine forældre henne? Where do your parents live?

Direction / Movement:

Jeg rejser hjem til jul I’m going home for Xmas.
Jeg skal ud og spise i aften I’m going out for dinner tonight.
Jeg skal op på 4. sal I’m going to the 4th floor.

Direction/ Location:
Movement:
Hunden løber ude i haven
Hunden løber ud i haven (the dog runs in the
(the dog runs out into the garden)
garden)
Han går rundt inde i stuen
Han går ind i stuen
(He walks around in the
(he goes into the living
living room)
room)

The direction/location adverb is placed after the verb and is always stressed when
spoken in a sentence.

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How to express to go in Danish

In English, the verb to go covers different actions: you can go to Spain or go to your
friend’s place = you can go long and short distances.
In Danish, at gå simply means to walk. If you want to express the abovementioned
examples in Danish, you need to use:

skal
tager + destination
prepo
vil (gerne) sition

Jeg skal til Polen i morgen I’m going to Poland tomorrow.

Jeg tager til Polen i morgen I’m going to Poland tomorrow.
Jeg vil gerne til Polen I would like to go to Poland.

Jeg skal hjem nu. I’m going home now.

Jeg tager hjem nu I’m going home now.
Jeg vil gerne hjem nu I would like to go home now.

A: Tager du til Peters fest? A: Are you going to Peter’s party?

B: Ja, det gør jeg B: Yes, I do.

Furthermore, Skal + verb in the infinitive form indicates a fixed plan:

Skal +
verb in the infinitive minus at
=
A fixed plan in the future

A: Hvad skal I på lørdag? A: What are your plans Saturday?

B: Jeg skal arbejde B: I’m working.
C: Jeg skal besøge min mor C: I’m going to visit my mum.

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Tidsudtryk/ Time expressions

Om + noun in the definite form = every/general

Om vinteren er det koldt i København. In the winter it’s cold in CPH.

Tid! V S

Om sommeren er det dejligt. In the summer it’s lovely.

Jeg går til dansk om mandagen. I go to Danish on Mondays.

Om aftenen går jeg til yoga. In the evenings I go to yoga.

OBS!

I weekenden er jeg sammen med min kone. In the weekends I’m with my wife.

noun, indefinite form,

Hver + no article = every (single)

Jeg rejser til Island hver vinter. I travel to Iceland every winter.

Jeg går til dansk hver mandag. I go to Danish every Monday.

Jeg går til yoga hver aften. I go to yoga every evening.

På + Week day = this coming …….

På fredag skal jeg til yoga. This Friday I’m going to yoga.

Jeg skal til dansk på mandag. I’m going to Danish this Monday.

noun, indefinite form,

Om + article = in a + noun

Min bror kommer om en uge. My brother is coming in a week.

Min fødselsdag er om en måned. My birthday is in a month.

Er det sommer om to måneder? Is it summer in two months?

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Tak!

Velbekomme

Bruger man, når nogen siger tak for gaver, mad eller tjenester (= favours):

A: Tak for mad! B: Velbekomme.

A: Tak for hjælpen! B: Velbekomme / Det var så lidt (= Don’t mention it. / It was nothing.)

Tak i lige måde / The same to you

A: God ferie! (Enjoy your vacation!) B: Tak i lige måde.

A: Hav det godt! (Take care!) B: Tak i lige måde.

A: God weekend! B: Tak i lige måde.

Selv tak

A: Tak for dansen! (Thanks for the dance!) B: Selv tak!

A: Tak for julegaven! (Thank you for the Xmas present) B: Selv tak!

Ellers tak

= Tak, men nej tak.

Tak for sidst

Thank you for (the) last (time) = Tak, det var dejligt at være sammen med dig den anden dag.

På forhånd tak

= Thank you in advance.

Tak / Tak skal du have / Tak for det / Mange tak / Tusind tak

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