danish: an essential grammar - چرب زبان

d d d

DANISH AN ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR

Titles of related interest published by Routledge

Colloquial Danish A Complete Language CourseDanish DictionaryDanish A Comprehensive GrammarColloquial Norwegian A Complete Language CourseNorwegian DictionaryNorwegian An Essential GrammarColloquial Swedish The Complete Course for BeginnersSwedish DictionarySwedish A Comprehensive GrammarSwedish An Essential Grammar

DANISH AN ESSENTIALGRAMMAR

Robin AllanPhilip Holmes

Tom Lundskaeligr-Nielsen

London and New York

First published 2000by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EESimultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge29 West 35th Street New York NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor amp Francis GroupThis edition published in the Taylor amp Francis e-Library 2005

ldquoTo purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor amp Francis or Routledgersquos collection of thousands ofeBooks please go to wwweBookstoretandfcoukrdquo

copy 2000 Robin Allan Philip Holmes and Tom Lundskaeligr-NielsenAll rights reserved No part of this book may be reprintedor reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic

mechanical or other means now known or hereafterinvented including photocopying and recording or in any

information storage or retrieval system without permissionin writing from the publishers

British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0-203-97876-5 Master e-book ISBNISBN 0-415-20678-2 (hbk)ISBN 0-415-20679-0 (pbk)

CONTENTS

Preface xii

Symbols and abbreviations used in the text xiii

1 PRONUNCIATION 1

Vowel sounds

1 Vowels and their pronunciation 1

2 Vowel length and spelling 4

3 Diphthongs 5

Consonant sounds

4 Stops p t k 5

5 Stops b d g 6

6 s c sc x z 8

7 f h j sj sh ch 8

8 l n ng nk r v w 8

9 Syllable loss and vowel merger 9

10 Pronunciation of some frequent words 9

The glottal stop

11 The glottal stop (lsquostoslashdrsquo) 10

12 Inflected formsmdashlsquostoslashdrsquo variations 11

Stress

13 Stress 13

14 Stressed in the clause 13

15 Unstressed in the clause 14

16 Two-word stress 15

17 Stressed and unstressed syllables 16

18 Stressed prefixes 16

19 Stressed suffixes 17

20 Unstressed prefixes 17

21 Unstressed suffixes 17

2 NOUNS 19

Gender

22 Gender 19

23 Gender rules 19

Plurals

24 Plurals and declensions 22

25 Predicting plurals 22

26 Plurals in -(e)r (en gademdashgader et billedemdashbilleder) 23

27 Plurals in -e (en dagmdashdage et husmdashhuse) 24

28 Zero-plural (en skomdashsko et aringrmdasharingr) 25

29 Plurals with a vowel change (en tandmdashtaelignder) 25

30 Plurals of nouns in -el -en -er (en soslashstermdashsoslashstre) 26

31 Nouns doubling the final consonant 26

32 Plurals of loanwords 27

33 Count and non-count nouns 27

34 Nouns with no plural form 28

35 Nouns with no singular form 28

36 Differences in number 28

The genitive

37 Genitives 29

Articles

38 Articlesmdashform 30

39 Article usemdashintroduction 32

40 Article usemdashend article in Danish no article in English 32

41 Article usemdashno article in Danish definite article in English 33

42 Article usemdashno article in Danish indefinite article in English 33

43 Article usemdashend article in Danish possessive pronoun in English 34

3 ADJECTIVES 35

44 Adjectives in outline 35

vi

Indefinite declension

45 Indefinite formmdashregular 36

46 Indefinite formmdashneuter same as common gender 36

47 Variations in pluraldefinite 37

48 Indefinite formmdashspecial cases 37

49 Adjectives doubling the final consonant in the plural 38

50 Indeclinable adjectives 38

51 Indefinite constructions 39

52 Agreement and lack of agreement 40

Definite declension

53 Definite constructions 41

54 Adjectival nouns 42

55 lsquoThe Englishrsquo and other nationality words 44

Comparison

56 Comparisonmdashintroduction 44

57 Comparison with -ere -est 45

58 Comparison with vowel change and -(e)re -(e)st 46

59 Irregular comparison 46

60 Comparison with mere mest 46

61 Similarity dissimilarity and reinforcement 47

62 Inflexion of the superlative 48

63 The absolute comparative and absolute superlative 49

4 NUMERALS 51

64 Cardinal and ordinal numbers 51

65 Major uses of cardinal and ordinal numbers 53

66 Time by the clock 54

5 PRONOUNS 57

67 Personal and reflexive pronounsmdashform 57

68 Use of personal pronouns 58

69 Uses of det 58

70 Reflexive pronouns 60

71 Reciprocal pronouns 61

vii

72 Possessive pronouns 61

73 Non-reflexive and reflexive possessives hans or sin 63

74 Demonstrative pronouns 65

75 Relative pronouns 66

76 Der or som 68

77 Interrogative pronouns (hv- words) 69

78 Indefinite pronouns 70

6 VERBS 75

Verb forms

79 Verb forms in outline 75

80 First conjugation 76

81 Second conjugation 77

82 Third conjugation 78

83 Fourth conjugationmdashintroduction 78

84 Fourth conjugation stem vowel in -a- 79

85 Fourth conjugation stem vowel in -e- 79

86 Fourth conjugation stem vowel in -i- 79

87 Fourth conjugation stem vowel in -y- 81

88 Fourth conjugation stem vowel in -aelig- 82

89 Fourth conjugation stem vowel in -aring- 83

90 Fourth conjugation verbs with the same stem vowel in all forms 84

91 Infinitive 84

92 Past participle 86

93 Present participle 88

Tenses

94 Present tense 90

95 Past tense 91

96 Perfect tense 91

97 Past perfect tense 92

98 Future tense 93

99 Differences in the use of tenses 94

Mood

viii

100 Mood and modal verbs 94

101 Imperative 97

102 Subjunctive 97

Types of verb

103 Transitive intransitive copula and reflexive verbs 98

-s Verbs and the passive

104 -s forms deponent and reciprocal verbs 99

105 The passive 100

Compound verbs

106 Compound verbs 104

7 ADVERBS 107

107 Adverbsmdashform 107

108 Comparison of adverbs 108

109 Use of adverbs 109

110 Adverbs indicating location and motion 110

111 Some difficult adverbs 111

8 PREPOSITIONS 113

112 Prepositionsmdashintroduction 113

113 The most common Danish prepositions 116

114 af 119

115 efter 120

116 for 120

117 fra 122

118 i 122

119 med 123

120 mod 124

121 om 125

122 over 126

123 paring 127

124 til 127

125 under 128

126 ved 129

ix

127 Common English prepositions and their Danish equivalentsmdashsummary 130

128 Translating lsquoatrsquo lsquoinrsquo lsquoonrsquo etc as expressions of time 131

129 Translating lsquoatrsquo lsquoinrsquo lsquoonrsquo etc as expressions of place 132

130 Prepositions in expressions of timemdashsummary 134

131 Translating lsquoofrsquo 135

9 INTERJECTIONS 139

132 Interjections 139

10 CONJUNCTIONS 143

133 Coordinating conjunctions 143

134 Subordinating conjunctions 144

135 Other subordinators 146

136 Translating some difficult conjunctions 146

11 WORD ORDER AND CLAUSE STRUCTURE 151

137 Word classes and clause elements 151

138 Clause types 151

139 Main clause structure 152

140 Link position 154

141 Extra positions 154

142 Real subject and formal subject 155

143 Finite verb 155

144 Non-finite verb 156

145 Clausal adverbial 156

146 Other adverbials 156

147 Objects and complements 157

148 Passive agent 158

149 Topicalisation 159

150 Light elements 160

151 Position of ikke and negative elements 161

152 Passive transformation 162

153 Existential sentences 162

154 Subordinate clause as an element in the main clause 163

155 Main clause structuremdashan extended positional schema with examples 165

x

156 Subordinate clause structure 166

157 Independent clauses 168

158 Cleft sentences 168

159 Three types of subordinate clause with main clause structure 169

160 Major word order and clause structure problems mdashsummary 170

12 WORD FORMATION 173

161 Introduction 173

162 Compounding 173

163 Affixation 175

164 Abbreviation 179

165 List of common abbreviations 179

13 ORTHOGRAPHY 185

166 The alphabet 185

167 Aa Aring aa aring 185

168 Small or capital letters 185

169 Word division 186

14 PUNCTUATION 189

170 Punctuation marks 189

171 The comma 189

172 The full stop 191

173 The exclamation mark 191

174 Direct speech 191

175 The apostrophe 192

176 The hyphen 192

Linguistic terms 195

Danish Latin and English linguistic terms 199

Short bibliography 203

Index 205

xi

PREFACE

We have two aims with this book First we want to provide learners of Danish with a concisedescription of the structure of Danish phonology morphology and syntax as well as a brief account oforthography punctuation and word formation Second we try to describe in greater detail those areasof Danish structure that in our experience tend to pose special problems for learners whose firstlanguage is English To help learners most of the examples have been translated

The lsquonew commarsquo as recommended by the Danish National Language Council has been usedthroughout

The book is largely traditional in its approach and terminology but a number of the terms used areexplained in a separate glossary of lsquoLinguistic Termsrsquo at the end

The various tables and diagrams are intended to make the book easy to use in many cases it will bepossible for the learner to predict word forms and clause patterns from just a few rules The lsquoIndexrsquocontains paragraph references both to linguistic concepts and to some Danish and English keywordsand their uses and together with the lsquoContentsrsquo this should normally serve as a starting point for anysearch

Learners progressing to an intermediate level or simply wanting more thorough explanations ofspecific points may wish to consult our much more detailed Danish A Comprehensive GrammarRoutledge 1995 reprinted with changes in 1998

We would like to thank Henrik Galberg Jacobsen for his invaluable comments especially on thechapter on pronunciation and we are extremely grateful to Dinah Bechshoslashft at the Danish Ministry ofEducation for financial support in the preparation phase Other colleagues and students have providedhelpful suggestions but any errors are ours alone

The authors primarily responsible for the individual chapters of the book are as follows Chapters 12 3 4 (PH) Chapters 5 6 (TLN) Chapter 7 (RA) Chapters 8 9 (TLN) Chapters 10 11 (RA) Chapters12 13 14 (PH)

Robin Allan Philip Holmes andTom Lundskaeligr-Nielsen

November 1999

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THETEXT

[ ] phonetic script[i] long vowel

stressed syllable

2+syllables two or more syllableskolleg(a)er (at) letter syllable or word may be omittedringer stem ring plus ending -erdersom alternativesxrarry x becomes y eg when an ending is addedMC SC main clause subordinate clausehv-question question introduced by an interrogative pronoun or adverb (hv- word)pron pronunciationcons consonant

lsquoplus zerorsquo ie no ending is added to a word form incorrect form or ungrammatical constructionS subjectFS formal subjectRS real subjectInfS subject of an infinitiveSComp subject complementO objectDO direct objectIO indirect objectV verbFV finite verbintr intransitive verbtr transitive verbprep prepositionPrepComp prepositional complementsub conj subordinating conjunctiona clausal adverbial (position)

A other adverbial (position)F front positionk link position (conjunctions)X1 X2 extra positionsFE first element (in a compound)SE second element (in a compound)

xiv

1PRONUNCIATION

This brief account of Danish pronunciation uses a modified version of IPA (International PhoneticAlphabet)

VOWEL SOUNDS

1VOWELS AND THEIR PRONUNCIATION

1 Unrounded vowels

2 Rounded vowels(a) Rounded front vowels

(b) Rounded back vowels

Notes1 The pronunciation of the letters i o u y when representing short vowels is often more open thanis usually associated with these letters

finde bombe kul [karingl] skylle

2 Pronunciation of e aelig a oslash aring before and after r is more open than in other positions

long vowels ren traelig fare froslash goslashre faringr short vowels fred fraeligk fra var kroslashlle boslashrsteraringdhus

3 The position of Danish vowels

Unrounded vowels

Rounded vowels

2 DANISH AN ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR

4 Vowels by articulation

5 Approximate equivalent to pronunciation (here lsquoEnglishrsquo=British English)

Long i [i] ee in English lsquobeersquoShort i [i] i in English lsquosinrsquoLong e [e] No equivalent in English cf French lsquolesrsquoShort e [e] i in English lsquoifrsquoUnstressed e initial a in English lsquoagainrsquoLong aelig [ε] ai in English lsquosaidrsquoShort aelig [ε] e in English lsquopetrsquoLong a [a] a in English lsquobadrsquo but slightly more openShort a [a] a in English lsquohatrsquoLong (open) a [a] a in English lsquocardrsquoShort (open) a [a] ea in English lsquoheartrsquo but shorterLong y [y] No equivalent in English cf German uuml in lsquoBuumlhnersquoShort y [y] No equivalent in English cf German uuml in lsquoGluumlckrsquoLong oslash [oslash] No equivalent in English cf German ouml in lsquoschoumlnrsquoShort oslash [oslash] No equivalent in English cf French eux in lsquodeuxrsquoLong (open) oslash [œ] No equivalent in English cf French eu in lsquoleurrsquoShort (open) oslash [œ] No equivalent in English cf French eu in lsquoneufrsquoLong u [u] oo in English lsquoroomrsquoShort u [u] u in English lsquofullrsquoLong o [o] No equivalent in English cf German o in lsquofrohrsquoShort o [o] eau in French lsquobeaursquoLong aring [aring] No equivalent in English French or GermanShort aring [aring] No equivalent in English French or GermanLong (open) aring a in English lsquoallrsquoShort (open) aring o in English lsquohotrsquo

Note The pronunciation of e is very variable and difficult to predict In unstressed syllables theletter e is pronounced as schwa

gribe flue gammel billede vaeligrelse faeliglles

-er often merges and is pronounced sommer soslashster -re and -rer are pronounced laeligre laeligrer

For the loss of e in the pronunciation of some words see 9

PRONUNCIATION 3

2VOWEL LENGTH AND SPELLING

1 A double consonant or consonant group between two vowels usually indicates that the precedingvowel is short a single consonant that it is long (but see 22 below)

Long ShortVCV VCCVlaeligse laeligsselyse tyskekaeligle vaeligltesmile lillelune kunneskrabe krabbe

Exceptions1 Long vowel+double (long) consonant is found in some words in aelig- (which is long)aeliggmdashaeliggget aeligtmdashaeligtten some words in -dd -tt bredde vidde otte sjette and a few others hosteparingske2 Vowels before -gl -gn where the g is silent are long fugle ligne

2 The single final consonants b and n usually follow a long vowel reb gren But if the single finalconsonant is m p t k g (pronounced hard as [g]) f the preceding vowel is usually short lam krophat blik bryg stof It is not always possible to detect whether the vowel is long or short from thewritten form as one of the two consonants is usually dropped in final position in Danish This is especiallydifficult in the case of l s

Long Shortsal smalsol oslashlstil tilhus buslas glas

Only when these words are inflected (ie when a vowel is added after the consonant) can we determinefrom the single or double consonant what the vowel length is

Long Shortsalen smallesolen oslashllethuse busserlasen glasset

3 Final stressed vowels are usually long se sy tro garing


Exceptions These include some words usually unstressed in the sentence eg personal pronounsdu vi I de the adverbs nu saring and the interjection ja

3DIPHTHONGS

Danish diphthongs are of two kinds Notice the spelling of these sounds

bull Diphthongs with [i] as their second component

aj eg ej ig [ai] maj leg hej mig dig sigoslashg oslashj loslashg noslashgle hoslashj toslashj floslashjte

Rather rarely

uj [ui] huje

bull Diphthongs with [u] as their second component

iv [iu] ivrig livlig tvivlev [eu] blev hevev [εu] evne brevyv [yu] syv tyvoslashv [oslashu] oslashvre stoslashvoslashv [œu] stoslashvle vroslashvlov lov skovag [au] haglav [au] hav (sea)av [au] gavog [aringu] bog sprog

CONSONANT SOUNDS

4STOPS p t k

1 There are nine stops in Danish

2 p t and k in initial position before a full vowel are aspirated stops

p [p] passe pose

PRONUNCIATION 5

t [t] tand tilk [k] kirke komme

In all other positions (including after s- and when doubled) p t k are unaspirated stops and become [b][d] [g]

p [b] spille taeligppe stopt [d] stoslashj rotte katk [g] sko lokke tak

This produces homophones so that lappe and labbe are both pronounced as 3 Notice the following special pronunciations and spellings in loanwords

p- is silent in the group ps- psykolog pseudonymqu [k] enquete mannequin

[kv] quickstep quiz-t is silent in some French loans buffet debut filet-ti- [int] funktion information station

5STOPS b d g

1 The letter b is pronounced [b] in all positions bil briller dyb skaeligbne aringben2 The letter d is usually pronounced in one of three ways

(a) lsquohardrsquo d [d] initially and before a full vowel

dag dusin doslash djaeligrv drama soldat student heldig

(b) lsquosoftrsquo d [eth] after a vowel and when doubled

mad moslashde tredive smedje bedre soslashdme hedde sidde

Exceptions1d is [d] in addere bredde middag vidde2 moder mother fader father and broder brother are often abbreviated mor far bror in bothpronunciation and spelling but the d found in the plural forms of these words is pronounced [eth]moslashdre faeligdre broslashdre

(c) silent d

(i) d is silent in the combinations

-ld ild sild kildre melde-nd mand vind dundre kende

d is therefore silent in words ending in -ende spaeligndende soslashskende tyvende


-rd bord garingrd gaeligrde

Exceptions1 ld nd rd are pronounced [ld] [nd] [rd] respectively when they are followed by -ig -isk

heldig mandig vaeligrdig (cf silent d in held mand vaeligrd)heraldisk indisk nordisk (cf silent d in alder ind nord)

2 ld is pronounced [ld] in the following frequent words incorporating -ldr-

aldrig aeligldre foraeligldre skildre

3 nd is pronounced [nd] in many words incorporating -ndr-

andre hindre aeligndre

(ii) d is also silent in the combinations

-ds spids klods vidste-dt fedt godt skidt

3 The letter g is usually pronounced in one of the following four ways(a) lsquohardrsquo g [g]

before a full vowel gaeligst gade ligawhen doubled kigge laeligggebefore -t vigtigt vaeliggtfollowing a short vowel mug myg ryg(cf inflected forms muggen myggen ryggen)

(b) lsquosoftrsquo g [j] (or silent) after i e aelig a y oslash

krig steg (from the verb stege) laeligge dag syg soslashge

(c) silent g

(i) g is silent in the combinations -lg in some cases salg valg(ii) g is silent after u rug uge kugle

(iii) g becomes [u] after ra r o aring krage sorg bog taringge

Note Adjectives ending in -g do not have hard g in the neuter klogt [klaringud]

(d) Note also the following loanwords involving the letter g

g [dj] in some English loans gentleman managerg [dint] in some English loans image managementg [int] in some French loans aubergine logi regi

PRONUNCIATION 7

g [int] before e bagage budget garage genere ingenioslashr prestige-gn [nj] in some French loans champagne cognac

6s c sc x z

s [s] se sol spille glas vise

s is usually silent in French loans apropos en gros pommes frites succes-si- [int] division pensionc [s] before i e aelig y oslash cirkus praeligcis pjece caeligsar cykel coslashlibatc [k] in other cases and before a o u cafeacute computer curling picnicsc [s] before i e science fiction scene

[sg] in other cases scoop score mascara screenex [s] initially xenofobi xylofonx [gs] after a vowel sex taxaz [s] benzin jazz ozon zoologizz [ds] in some Italian loans pizza mezzosopran

7f h j sj sh ch

f [f] fem fisk kaffef is silent in aff [u] in af- affald afskedh [h] hest hotel hush is silent in hj- hv- hjem hjul hjaeliglpe hjoslashrne (15 words in all)

hvad hvem hvid hvis hvor hvordan (some 30 words in all)j [j] before a vowel jakke jord kjole stjaeliglej [int] in some French loans jalousi jargon journalistj [dj] in some English loans jazz jeans jeep job juicej is silent in vejrsj [int] sjov sjuske sjaeligldensh [int] in English loans shampoo shorts sherry finishch [int] chauffoslashr chef chok match

8l n ng nk r v w

l [l]often silent in

lille luft plante folkskal skulle til vil

n [n] nabo sne skinne venng [ŋ] seng bange finger syngeng [ŋg] stressed g or before a u o fungere tangent tangonk [ŋk] stressed k or before a consonant or a u o blanket Frankrig bankonk [ŋg] tank enke synke taelignke


Note

an [aŋ] in the following balance branche chance restauranten [aŋ] in the following engagere konkurrence pensionon in the following beton jargon kupon perron konkurrere

r [r] ravn ride roser in endings vowel+-r(e) -er vaeligre roser senderr is silent in French loans atelier foyerv [v] vask vise kvinde svare avisv [u] (see 3) haeligvn tavle sovsv is silent in the ending -lv selv soslashlv halv gulv tolv

Exceptionslv is pronounced [lv] in hvaeliglv ulv and in inflected forms selve halve

w [v] or [w] sweater weekend whiskyw [u] bowle cowboy show

9SYLLABLE LOSS AND VOWEL MERGER

1 Unstressed e in a medial syllable is often not pronounced

interessant elleve (or elve) maeligrkelig husene lugtede faldende cykelen [or cyklen]

This also occurs in the present tense of certain common verbs where a consonant+unstressed e is notpronounced

beder klaeligder tager [tarsquo] bliver giver siger bruger sposlashrger baeligrer skaeligrer roslashrer

2 In rapid speech unstressed e tends to merge (ie adopt the same pronunciation) as adjacentvowels

Normal tempo Rapid tempostue [sduu]pige [pii]

10PRONUNCIATION OF SOME FREQUENT WORDS

Some words of high frequency are not pronounced phonetically They include the following which areoften found in unstressed positions in the clause (see 13)

PRONUNCIATION 9

Pronouns

jeg [ja] De [di] de [di]mig [ma] dig [da] sig [sa]

Modal verbs

kan [ka] skal [sga] vil [ve]kunne [ku] skulle [sgu]

Verbs

have [ha] blive [bli] tage [ta]

Adverbs

ikke [eg]

Conjunctions etc

og at [ad] or [a]

Han laring og sovHun sagde at hun ville komme i dag

at as an infinitive marker

Glem ikke at skrive

Prepositions

med [mε] til [te] ved [ve]

THE GLOTTAL STOP

11THE GLOTTAL STOP (lsquoSTOslashDrsquo)

1 In Danish the glottal stop or lsquostoslashdrsquo (a sound like that found in Cockney lsquobottlersquo lsquowaterrsquo orlsquolittlersquo [lirsquol]) is a functional phoneme that is used to distinguish forms that are otherwise similar To showthis we list below some words with and without lsquostoslashdrsquo

No lsquostoslashdrsquo lsquoStoslashdrsquoman one mandrsquo manhun she hundrsquo dogmig me majrsquo Maymoslashller miller Moslashllrsquoer (surname)


No lsquostoslashdrsquo lsquoStoslashdrsquomaler painter marsquoler paintsbyger (plural of byge) showers byrsquoer (plural of by) towntanken (definite of tanke) the thought tanrsquoken (definite of tank) the tank

Notice that in the last two cases lsquostoslashdrsquo is used to indicate a monosyllabic stem (by tank) and distinguishit from a bisyllabic stem (byge tanke)

Note The lsquostoslashdrsquo is not found in some southern Danish dialects

2 General rules for lsquostoslashdrsquolsquoStoslashdrsquo can only be present

bull in stressed syllables (though not all stressed syllables)bull in voiced syllables

Only two syllable types can therefore have lsquostoslashdrsquo

bull syllables with a long vowel the long vowel then carries the lsquostoslashdrsquo

irsquos birsquol lirsquov bagerirsquo bersquon cafeacutersquo aeligrsquog hursquos nyrsquo baringrsquod

bull syllables with a short vowel+voiced consonant the voiced consonant then carries the lsquostoslashdrsquo (but lsquostoslashdrsquois not necessarily present in all cases)

lerrsquo mandrsquo kamrsquo skalrsquo bordrsquo groslashnrsquo

A word such as the adjective let can never therefore have lsquostoslashdrsquo as it has a short vowel and voicelessconsonant Nor can for example hat hest kop snaps

Notice that [b] [d] [g] are voiceless in Danish and do not take lsquostoslashdrsquo hoppe otte laeligggeIt is primarily monosyllables that have lsquostoslashdrsquo barnrsquo fremrsquo garingrsquo groslashnrsquo mundrsquo

12INFLECTED FORMSmdashlsquoSTOslashDrsquo VARIATIONS

The general rule is that inflexion does not alter the lsquostoslashdrsquo pattern in inflected forms

with lsquostoslashdrsquo hursquos hursquoset vejrsquo vejrsquoen borsquo borrsquowithout lsquostoslashdrsquo drage drager fare farer

In the summary below the focus is however on those cases where the pattern does change1 lsquoStoslashdrsquo in nounsPlural forms

-r plurals use is the same in the singular and the plural (either with or without lsquostoslashdrsquo throughout)

-er plurals lsquostoslashdrsquo is lost in the plural of nouns ending in -l -m -n -r +consonant en formrsquo former

PRONUNCIATION 11

lsquostoslashdrsquo is lost in the plural of nouns ending in -nd -rd where the d is silent en stundrsquostunderlsquostoslashdrsquo is lost in the plural of nouns ending in d [eth] en tidrsquo tider

-e plurals lsquostoslashdrsquo is often lost in the plural et hursquos huse

Zero plurals use is the same in the singular and the plural (either with or without lsquostoslashdrsquo throughout)mursquos mursquosNouns with end article

Nouns ending in a voiced consonant may add lsquostoslashdrsquo gulv gulrsquovet2 lsquoStoslashdrsquo in adjectivesNeuter form in -t most adjectives do not change

Adjectives ending in a stressed vowel lose lsquostoslashdrsquo when adding the neuter ending frirsquo fritAdjectives ending in d [eth] lose lsquostoslashdrsquo when adding the neuter ending doslashrsquod doslashdt

Plural forms in -eMonosyllables generally lose lsquostoslashdrsquo in the plural dumrsquo dumme

Comparatives and superlativesAdjectives with lsquostoslashdrsquo generally lose it in the comparative and superlative nemrsquo nemmere nemmest

sersquon senere senest3 lsquoStoslashdrsquo in verbsWeak verbs (Conjugations I II III) tend to lose lsquostoslashdrsquo in the past tense if they already possess it in theinfinitive or present tense

Strong verbs (Conjugation IV) those with lsquostoslashdrsquo in the infinitive or present tense tend to lose the lsquostoslashdrsquo inthe past participle

staringrsquo staringrrsquo stodrsquo staringet standfinde findrsquoer fandrsquot fundet find

-r stem verbs only have lsquostoslashdrsquo in the past tense

baeligre baeligrer barrsquo baringret carryfare farer forrsquo faret hurry

ImperativesIf the infinitive has a long vowel lsquostoslashdrsquo appears in the imperative koslashbe koslashrsquob

If the infinitive has a short vowel with a voiced consonant the consonant takes lsquostoslashdrsquo in theimperative kalde kaldrsquo


STRESS

13STRESS

In Danishmdashas in Englishmdashthere is an important distinction between words that have stress in theclause and those that do not All the words that are significant for the meaning of a clause are stressed(see 14) This is called clause stress But different syllables within these stressed words may also bestressed This is known as word stress The method shown for marking stress is illustrated here

Hun er og She is 19 years old and a student

What follows is a series of lists for reference

bull of those types of words in the clause which have clause stressbull of those types of words which are usually unstressedbull of phrases with two-word stressbull of stressed and unstressed syllables within wordsbull of stressed and unstressed prefixes and suffixes within words

14STRESSED IN THE CLAUSE

NounsNouns are usually stressed

har et Lis has bought a house et The house has a roof

ExceptionsNouns expressing quantity

et antal a number of children

Titles before proper nouns

direktoslashr Director Nielsen

VerbsSimple full verbs are usually stressed

og Eva eats and drinks all day en Eva is drinking a beer

But verbs are unstressed when followed by a subject complement

PRONUNCIATION 13

Hun blev She fell illSComp

Han er He is a policemanSComp

Note er is pronounced with a short

Expressions of manner place time (MPT-expressions)These expressions usually have stress

bor hun i Now she lives in SakskoslashbingMPT MPT

i Is the shop shutting early todayMPT MPT

15UNSTRESSED IN THE CLAUSE

Modal verbs and modal equivalents

vil vaeligre Svend wants to be a professor gider ikke skrive Hans canrsquot be bothered to write a letter

Pronouns and hv- words (interrogatives)jeg [ja] du han hun den det [de] vi I De de [di] (I you he she it it we you they)

Hvad du What did you say

mig [ma] dig [da] sig [sa] ham hende os jer Dem dem (me you himself etc him her us you them)

Exception When the object pronoun is in initial position or is contrasted it acquires stress

elsker jeg (men synes jeg ikke om) Him I love (but her I do not like)(Jeg ham I love him)

Possessive pronouns when used with a noun

min din sin hans hendes my your his etc his herdens dets vores jeres Deres deres its our your theirDet er Itrsquos our house


Conjunctions

og men at and but thatda naringr om hvis whensince when whether ifHan at han drak og He said that he drank gin and tonic

16TWO-WORD STRESS

Where two or more words belong together in one semantic unit the last word in the phrase is stressedPreposition+noun

(Kig) i (De kommer) i Look in the book Theyrsquore coming today

Indefinite article+noun

en et a car a house

Verb+particle

garing vende go out turn round

Verb1 +verb2

Jeg skal De var I must go They had arrived

Infinitive marker+verb

at at to go to come

Verb+complement

(Han) er (Hun) er He is tall She is slim

endsom +the word compared

(Han er hoslashjere) end (Han er lige saring ung) som He is taller than Ole He is just as young as she is

PRONUNCIATION 15

Pronoun+adverb

dette de this those

Time measurement

klokken (to) kopper three orsquoclock two cups of coffee

First name+surname

Anders

17STRESSED AND UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES

Many indigenous non-compounds with more than one syllable and all those with unstressede have stress on the first syllable and either secondary stress or no stress on the following syllables

Stress on the first syllable

Stress on another syllable

bull words with the prefixes beer- for- (account) (pay) (experience) (feeling)

bull words with the suffix -ere (park) (study)bull many foreign loans (restaurant) (revue) (university)bull words with foreign suffixes (stage manager) (gymnast) (musician)

Compounds (words made up of two (or more) words) usually have stress on the first syllable

Some problem wordsMany words that are familiar from English are however stressed differently from English

18STRESSED PREFIXES

These include amplifying negating and contrasting prefixesa- ante- anti- eks- hyper- mis- pseudo- semi- super- ultra- und- van- vice- aeligrke-


19STRESSED SUFFIXES

Many of these were originally loan suffixes

-abel -al -ance -ant -ast -at -ere -esse -graf -grafi -ik -isme -ist -sion -tet -oslashr -oslashs -oslashse

20UNSTRESSED PREFIXES

These include many loan prefixes

ab- be- de- er- for- ge- in- (il- im- ir-) intro- kom- kon- (kol- kor-) mono- pan- para- peri-poly- trans-

Exceptions

- to express negation - meaning lsquobeforersquo lsquofrontrsquo i

21UNSTRESSED SUFFIXES

-de -else -ig -(n)ing -isk -me -ske

PRONUNCIATION 17

18

2NOUNS

GENDER

22GENDER

Danish nouns are either common gender (en- words) or neuter (et- words) The corresponding indefinitearticle (see 38) is en or et lsquoa(n)rsquo About 75 per cent of nouns are en- words and 25 per cent et- words

Gender determines the form with end article (definite article) singular (see 38)

Gender also determines the form of the adjective and some pronouns as these agree in gender andnumber with nouns (see 44ndash4968 74)

en stor pige et stort husa big girl a big housepigen er stor huset er stortthe girl is big the house is big

23GENDER RULES

1 Common gender by meaningPersonal names and nouns denoting human beings animals plants trees festivals and months andnames of rivers are generally common gender

en dreng a boy en kone a wife en laeligrer a teacher en soslashster a sister en udlaelignding a foreigneren gas a goose en hund a dog en kat a cat en ko a cow en laks a salmon en rose a rose enbirk a birch en eg an oak i julen at Christmas Themsen the Thames

Gender in proper nouns is usually shown by congruence with other words

Bo er ung endnu Bo is still young (ung=common gender)Januar var kold January was cold (kold=common gender)cf alsoDanmark er ikke stort Denmark is not big (stort=neuter)

Exceptions et barn a child et bud a messenger et individ an individual et medlem a memberet menneske a human being et vidne a witness et dyr an animal et egern a squirrel et foslashl afoal et kid a kid et faringr a sheep et lam a lamb et moslashl a moth et svin a pig et aeligsel a donkeyet baeligr a berry et froslash a seed et traelig a tree compounds in -baeligr -froslash -traelig

2 Common gender by form in nouns with the following suffixes

-ance en ambulance an ambulance-ans en substans a substance-ant en repraeligsentant a representative-de en bredde a breadth en laeligngde a length-dom en ejendom a property en sygdom an illness-eacute en alleacute an avenue en cafeacute a cafeacute-else en bevaeliggelse a movement en skuffelse a disappointment

Exceptions et sposlashgelse a ghost et vaeligrelse a room

-en verbal nouns en formaringen an ability en kunnen a capacity en vaeligren (a) being en kommenog garingen coming and going

-ence en konference a conference-ens en frekvens a frequency-er en laeligrer a teacher-hed en lejlighed a flat en tavshed a silence-ik en grammatik a grammar-ing en regning a bill en slaeliggtning a relative en yndling a favourite-ion en diskussion a discussion en situation a situation-isme socialisme(n) socialism-oslashr en direktoslashr a director

For feminine suffixes see 237 below3 Neuter by meaningNouns denoting substances areas and localities letters of the alphabet and nouns formed from otherword classes (eg pronouns interjections) are generally neuter

(et) broslashd bread glas glass jern iron koslashd meat papir paper snavs dirt vand water etkontinent a continent et sogn a parish et torv a square et langt i a long i et ja a yes jeget theego


Exceptions en by a town en oslash an island verden the world

This also applies to proper names for geographical locations In the case of countries the word landet isassumed

Italien er dejligt om sommeren Italy is lovely in summer det lille Danmark little Denmark

Exceptions Notice that for towns the word byen is assumed (Byen) Koslashbenhavn er stor

4 Neuter by form in nouns with the following suffixes

-doslashmme et omdoslashmme a reputation-ed et hoved a head-ende et udseende an appearance et velbefindende a well-being

Exceptions These include people en garingende a pedestrian en studerende a student

-ri et bageri a bakery et batteri a battery-um et gymnasium a sixth-form college et museum a museum

5 Suffixes where gender varies include

-al en lineal a ruler BUT et ideal an ideal-ar en bibliotekar a librarian BUT et eksemplar a copy-at usually neuter et certifikat a certificate BUT (people) en demokrat a democrat-ent en konsulent a consultant BUT et departement a department-i en industri an industry BUT et parti a political party-sel en trussel a threat BUT et faeligngsel a prison-skab en egenskab a quality BUT et aeliggteskab a marriage

6 Compound nounsThese nearly always take the gender of the second element in the compound

en skole+et koslashkkenrarret skolekoslashkken a school kitchenet koslashkken+en knivrarren koslashkkenkniv a kitchen knife

Exceptions

et maringltid a meal cf en tid a time

et bogstav a letter of the alphabet cf en stav a stave

7 Masculines and femininesFemale suffixes include -esse -inde -ske -oslashse

NOUNS 21

Matrimonial feminines are now rare baronesse baroness grevinde countess Functional femininesin -inde -ske -trice etc have recently been curtailed as a result of political correctness eg laeligrer andlaeligrerinderarrlaeligrer teacher nabo and naboerskerarrnabo neighbour

Some gender-neutral terms have also been introduced recently folketingsmandrarrfolketingsmedlemMP

In a few cases where the gender is important these distinctions have been retainedelskermdashelskerinde lover samlevermdashsamleverske cohabitee venmdashveninde friend

PLURALS

24PLURALS AND DECLENSIONS

Danish nouns have three ways of forming regular plurals by adding one of the following endings-(e)r -e zero (ie no plural ending)About 75 per cent of nouns form the plural with -(e)r 15 per cent in -e and 10 per cent in zero Note

that nouns of both genders are found in all groupsNouns are grouped into the following three declensions according to their plural form

First declension Second declension-(e)r -een avis to aviser en laeligrer to laeligrerea newspaper two newspapers a teacher two teacherset vaeligrelse to vaeligrelser et land to landea room two rooms a country two countries

Third declensionzero pluralen fisk to fiska fish two fishet lys to lysa light two lights

25PREDICTING PLURALS

Most plural forms can be predicted accurately from the form of the singular 1 Structure and genderMonosyllabic common gender nouns ending in a consonant

add -e en hund to hunde


Polysyllabic common gender nouns ending in -e

add -r en pige to piger

Polysyllabic nouns ending in a consonant

add -er en regning to regninger

Polysyllabic nouns with stress on the last syllable

add -er en appelsin to appelsiner

2 Form of the final syllableNouns ending in -dom

add -me en ejendom to ejendomme

Nouns ending in unstressed -er

add -e en dansker to danskere

Nouns ending in -hed

add -er en nyhed to nyheder

Nouns ending in -i

add -er et vaskeri to vaskerier

Nouns ending in -ion

add -er en station to stationer

Nouns ending in -skab

add -er et venskab to venskaber

Nouns ending in -um drop -um and add -er

et museum to museer

26PLURALS IN -(E)R (EN GADEmdashGADER ET BILLEDE mdashBILLEDER)

This group (known as the first declension) includes1 Almost all words ending in a vowel including(a) Nouns ending in unstressed -e (which add -r in the plural)

NOUNS 23

en kronemdashkroner crown en lampemdashlamper lamp et menneskemdash mennesker human being etvinduemdashvinduer window

Exception et oslashjemdashoslashjne eye

(b) Nouns ending in a stressed vowel

en bymdashbyer town en skemdashskeer spoon et traeligmdashtraeliger tree en oslash mdashoslasher island en amdasharinger (small)river

Exception en skomdashsko shoe

2 Polysyllabic nouns especially derivatives and loanwords many of which have end stress

en avismdashaviser newspaper en hilsenmdashhils(e)ner greeting et koslashkkenmdashkoslashk(ke)ner kitchen enmaringnedmdashmaringneder month en paraplymdashparaplyer umbrella en tangentmdashtangenter tangent pianokey en telefonmdashtelefoner telephone en turistmdashturister tourist

3 Polysyllabic nouns ending in -hed -skab

en enhedmdashenheder unit et landskabmdashlandskaber landscape

4 Many monosyllabic common gender nouns ending in a consonant

en blomstmdashblomster flower en flodmdashfloder river en slaeliggtmdashslaeliggter familyen venmdash venner friend

27PLURALS IN -E (EN DAGmdashDAGE ET HUSmdashHUSE)

This group (known as the second declension) includes1 Many monosyllabic common gender nouns ending in a consonant (cf 264 above)

en delmdashdele part en drengmdashdrenge boy en fuglmdashfugle bird en krigmdashkrigewar en loslashgnmdashloslashgne lie en stolmdashstole chair en vejmdashveje road

2 Some monosyllabic neuter nouns

et bordmdashborde table et brevmdashbreve letter et landmdashlande country

3 Nouns ending in unstressed -er (often denoting people)

en arbejdermdasharbejdere worker en kunstnermdashkunstnere artist en laeligrermdashlaeligrere teacher ensvenskermdashsvenskere Swede en AringrhusianermdashAringrhusianere inhabitant of Aringrhus


4 Nouns ending in -dom -(n)ing

en ejendommdashejendomme property en sygdommdashsygdomme illness en udlaeligndingmdashudlaeligndingeforeigner en slaeliggtningmdashslaeliggtninge relative

28ZERO-PLURAL (EN SKOmdashSKO ET AringRmdashAringR)

This group (known as the third declension) includes1 Many monosyllabic neuter nouns

et baeligrmdashbaeligr berry et dyrmdashdyr animal et glasmdashglas glass et kort mdashkort card etsprogmdashsprog language et talmdashtal number et aeliggmdash aeligg egg et aringrmdasharingr year

2 Some polysyllabic neuter nouns ending in a consonant

et forholdmdashforhold relationship et forsoslashgmdashforsoslashg attempt

3 Some monosyllabic common gender nouns

en fejlmdashfejl mistake en musmdashmus mouse en skomdashsko shoe en stenmdashstenstone en tingmdashting thing

4 Nouns (for temporary occupations) ending in -ende

en rejsendemdashrejsende traveller en studerendemdashstuderende student

29PLURALS WITH A VOWEL CHANGE (EN TANDmdashTAEligNDER)

1 Vowel change+er (first declension)

ArarrAEligen hovedstad hovedstaeligder capitalen kraft kraeligfter poweren nat naeligtter nighten tand taelignder toothOrarrOslashen bog boslashger booken bonde boslashnder farmeren fod foslashdder feeten ko koslasher cowAringrarrAEligen haringnd haelignder handen taring taeliger toe

NOUNS 25

2 Vowel change+e (second declension)

ArarrAEligen far (fader) faeligdre fatherArarrOslashen datter doslashtre daughterOrarrOslashen bror (broder) broslashdre brotheren mor (moder) moslashdre mother

3 Vowel change+zero (third declension)

ArarrAEligen mand maelignd manArarrOslashet barn boslashrn childAringrarrAEligen gas gaeligs goose

30PLURALS OF NOUNS IN -EL -EN -ER (EN SOslashSTERmdashSOslashSTRE)

Nouns ending in unstressed -e+-l -n -r often drop the stem -e- in the plural as well as the second partof any preceding double consonants1 -er plurals (first declension)

en aften aft(e)ner evening et eksempel eksempler exampleen kartoffel kartofler potato et koslashkken koslashk(ke)ner kitchen

2 -e plurals (second declension)

en kœlder kœldre cellar et nummer numre numberen soslashster soslashstre sister et register registre register

31NOUNS DOUBLING THE FINAL CONSONANT

Nouns ending in a short stressed vowel double the following consonant when adding the plural ending(or end article) (see also 2)

en bus busser busen butik butikker shopen hat hatte hatet hotel hoteller hotel

en ven venner friend


en vaeligg vaeliggge wallen sygdom sygdomme illness

32PLURALS OF LOANWORDS

1 Loanwords from Latin and ItalianThese tend to retain the plural form from their original language

et faktum fakta factet visum visa visa

But note the adaptation to Danish inflexions in

et drama dramaer dramaen kollega kolleg(a)er colleagueen cello celloer celloet konto kontikontoer accountet gymnasium gymnasier sixth-form collegeet museum museer museumet centrum centrercentrum(m)er centreet kursus kurserkursus course

2 Loans from English(a) Some loans retain their plural in -s at least as an alternative to the Danish plural form

en checkmdashcheck(s) en cowboymdashcowboyscowboyer en fanmdashfans et fotomdashfotosfotoer enet gagmdashgags en jumpermdashjumpers jumpere et partymdashpartiespartyer

(b) Notice however adaptation to Danish inflexion in

en babymdashbabyer en shopmdashshopper en weekendmdashweekender en computermdashcomputere ensweatermdashsweatere en filmmdashfilm et jobmdashjob et pointmdashpoint

(c) Some nouns occurring in the plural or collective only have a form in -s

conflakes jeans odds shorts

33COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS

1 Count nouns are nouns that have both a singular and a plural form They represent individualentities and can be preceded by an indefinite article and by numerals

en pige to piger en sko to skoa girl two girls a shoe two shoes

NOUNS 27

Count nouns are often words for concrete entities and creatures Some abstract nouns are count nounsevne ability sposlashrgsmaringl questionNon-count nouns are only found in the singular form

kaffe (-n) maeliglk (-en) vand (-et)coffee milk water

2 Non-count nouns are often words for materials and substancesMost abstract nouns are non-count nouns kedsomhed boredom lykke happiness

Note A few nouns have both a count plural and a collective plural form

Count plural Collective pluralen mand maelignd mandeg en gruppe paring 10 mand a group of ten menen oslashl oslashller (bottles of beer) oslashl (types of beer)eg Han kom med tre oslashller He arrived with three bottles of beer

34NOUNS WITH NO PLURAL FORM

These include

1 Verbal nouns ending in -en grublen brooding hensynstagen consideration See also 2322 Abstract nouns ansvar responsibility fattigdom poverty3 Substances and materials koslashd meat sne snow vand water

Note Plurals of nouns of this kind are used to indicate types or makes lsquokinds ofrsquo teer teas vinewines

4 Nouns indicating quantity fire kilo ost four kilos of cheesetre liter maeliglk three litres of milk

35NOUNS WITH NO SINGULAR FORM

These include

1 Articles of clothing bukser trousers trusser knickers toslashj clothes2 Other collectives briller glasses penge money soslashskende brothers and sisters

36DIFFERENCES IN NUMBER

1 Singular in English plural in Danish

kontanter cash moslashbler furniture oplysninger information penge money raringd advice


Notice moslashbler furnituremdashet moslashbel a piece of furniture nyheder news mdashen nyhed a piece of newsraringd advicemdashet raringd a piece of advice 2 Plural in English singular in Danish

indhold contents loslashn wages saks pair of scissors statistik (and others in -ik) statistics trappestairs

THE GENITIVE

37GENITIVES

1 The genitive ending -s is added to the indefinite or definite singular or to the indefinite or definiteplural form

en drengs hund drengens hunda boyrsquos dog the boyrsquos doget barns vaeligrelse barnets vaeligrelsea childrsquos room the childrsquos roomdrenges hunde drengenes hundeboysrsquo dogs the boysrsquo dogsboslashrns vaeligrelser boslashrnenes vaeligrelserchildrenrsquos rooms the childrenrsquos rooms

2 Proper nouns also take the genitive -s Torbens kat Torbenrsquos cat Grundtvigs salmer Grundtvigrsquoshymns Danmarks hovedstad the capital of Denmark3 If a noun ends in -s -x or -z in the singular several alternatives are possible

Jensrsquos lejlighed or Jensrsquo lejlighed or Jenses lejlighed (Jensrsquo flat)Marxrsquos or Marxrsquo boslashger (Marxrsquos books)

With inanimate nouns it is best to use a prepositional phrase instead

vores husrsquohusrsquos tagrarrtaget paring vores hus the roof of our house

4 Some old genitive case endings remain in set phrases after til

til havs by sea til sengs to bed See also 124

5 The genitive -s is placed on the last word of the noun phrase This is known as the lsquogroup genitiversquo

Herman Bangs romaner the novels of Herman Bangen af mine venners far the father of one of my friends

NOUNS 29

6 Notice the different use of the definite article in English and Danish

the end of winter larr rarr vinterens afslutning ie lit the winterrsquos enddefinite no article definite no articlearticle article

Nouns following a genitive never take an end article in Danish7 As in the last example the -s genitive often corresponds to English lsquoof-constructionsrsquo (see also 131)

garingrdens ejer the owner of the farmdronning Margrethes liv the life of Queen MargretheDanmarks statsminister the Prime Minister of Denmarkforaringrets foslashrste dag the first day of spring

8 The -s genitive has two special uses

bull in surnames denoting lsquofamilyrsquo hos Olsens at the Olsensrsquoor lsquoshoprsquo Vi koslashber fisk hos Hansens

We buy fish at Hansenrsquosbull as a genitive of measurement et fyrreminutters tv-program

a 40-minute TV programmeen 75 centiliters vinflaskea 75-centilitre wine bottle

ARTICLES

38ARTICLESmdashFORM

1 The indefinite article (corresponding to English lsquoarsquo lsquoanrsquo) is in Danish either en or et The end (definite)article (corresponding to English lsquothersquo) which may be -(e)n or -(e)t is added as a suffix to the end of thenoun either to its dictionary form or to its inflected form

SingularIndefinite (enet) Definite (end article) (-(e)n-(e)t)en mand a man manden the manen kvinde a woman kvinden the womanet hus a house huset the houseet aeligble an apple aeligblet the apple

Plural (both genders) (-(e)ne)-(e)r pluralaviser newspapers aviserne the newspapersaeligbler apples aeligblerne the apples


Plural (both genders) (-(e)ne)-e pluralheste horses hestene the horseszero pluralmaelignd men maeligndene the men

2 Rules for the end article singular(a) Add -n -t when the noun ends in unstressed -e

en ugemdashugen week et billedemdashbilledet picture

(b) When the noun ends in another vowel or stressed -e (-eacute) add -en -et

en bymdashbyen town et straringmdashstraringet strawen cafeacutemdashcafeen cafeacute et traeligmdashtraeliget tree

3 When the noun ends in a consonant (but cf 4 5) add -en -et

en haringndmdashharingnden hand et barnmdashbarnet child

4 When the noun ends in unstressed e +l n r drop the -e- of the stem and add -en -et

titelmdashtitlen title teatermdashteatret theatre

But many of these nouns possess alternative definite forms with or without the vowel

en aftenmdashaft(e)nen evening et koslashkkenmdashkoslashk(ke)net kitchen

5 Nouns in -um drop the -um before adding the end article

et museummdashmuseet museum

6 After a short stressed vowel the final consonant is doubled before adding the end article (see 2)

en venmdashvennen friend et hotelmdashhotellet hotel

7 The end article plural is usually -ne

byermdashbyerne towns stolemdashstolene chairsgadermdashgaderne streets bordemdashbordene tables

But notice that nouns in -ere drop the final -e danskeremdashdanskerne Danes8 If the noun has a zero plural the end article plural is -ene

boslashrnmdashboslashrnene children skomdashskoene shoesdyrmdashdyrene animals aringrmdasharingrene years

NOUNS 31

39ARTICLE USEmdashINTRODUCTION

1 In most cases the same principle applies to the use of articles in Danish as in English namely thatwhen a noun refers anaphorically to a previously mentioned occurrence (when it is a familiar idea orhas unique reference) it takes a definite (end) article whilst a noun for an entity or conceptnot previously mentioned (non-unique reference) takes an indefinite article In short the first time anoun appears it is likely to be in the indefinite form the next time it will be definite

De havde koslashbt et nyt hus Huset laring ved en so Soslashen var lille men dyb

They had bought a new house The house lay by a lake The lake was small but deep2 Concepts that are associated semantically with a previously mentioned noun (eg whole-part or type-example) and those that are obvious to everyone use the definite form

Han har en cykel men gearet virker ikke

He has a bike but the gear doesnrsquot work

Jeg koslashbte forskellige blomster men roserne visnede hurtigt

I bought different flowers but the roses withered quickly

Vejret var fint Solen skinnede Saring jeg vaskede bilenobvious obvious obviousThe weather was fine The sun was shining So I washed the car

3 However in some cases outlined in 40ndash43 below the languages differ in their use of the articles

40ARTICLE USEmdashEND ARTICLE IN DANISH NO ARTICLE IN ENGLISH

1 Abstract nouns and nouns in a generic sense

tilbage til naturen back to naturelivet efter doslashden life after deathDanskerne drikker meget oslashl Danes drink a lot of beer

This applies especially to nouns depicting human life and thought arbejdet work krigen warkaeligrligheden love2 Many proverbs


Historien gentager sig History repeats itselfSaringdan er livet Thatrsquos life

3 Some idiomatic phrases for location and time

Han er i byentager til byen Hersquos in towngoing to townBut Hun garingr i kirkei skoleparing arbejde She goes to churchschool workom vinterenmandagen in winteron Mondaysi julenparingsken at ChristmasEaster

41ARTICLE USEmdashNO ARTICLE IN DANISH DEFINITE ARTICLE IN ENGLISH

1 After certain words

Samme aften kom vi hjem The same evening we arrived homeNaeligste dag var vejret dejligt The next day the weather was beautifulDe bor paring oslashverste etage They live on the top floor

Note den naeligste maringned the following month det naeligste aringr the following year

2 In some idiomatic phrases

De hoslashrer radio They listen to the radioBodil spiller klaverviolin Bodil plays the pianoviolinMor laeligser avis Mother is reading the paperHun er datter af en praeligst She is the daughter of a vicar

3 With proper nouns

Vi spiste frokost hos Olsens We had lunch at the Olsensrsquo

42ARTICLE USEmdashNO ARTICLE IN DANISH INDEFINITE ARTICLE IN ENGLISH

With nouns denoting nationality profession religion or political beliefs

Marie er danskerlaeliggekatoliksocialistMarie is a Danea doctora Catholica socialist

Hun arbejder som laeliggelaeligser til laeligrerShe is working as a doctoris studying to become a teacher

Notice that if the noun is qualified by an attributive adjective or relative clause the indefinite articlemust be added

Hun er en dygtig laeligge She is a skilled doctor

NOUNS 33

Han er en dansker der elsker god mad He is a Dane who likes good food

In some cases a figurative use of the noun is indicated by the use of the indefinite article Compare

Coco var klovn Coco was a clown (literal=occupation)Soslashren var en klovn Soslashren was a clown (figurative=was a fool)

43ARTICLE USEmdashEND ARTICLE IN DANISH POSSESSIVE PRONOUN IN

ENGLISH

With nouns denoting parts of the body and clothing where possession is obvious Danish prefers the endarticle to the possessive pronoun

Jeg har ondt i armenbenetharingndenmavenI have a pain in my armleghandstomach

Erik stak haringnden i lommenErik put his hand in his pocket


3ADJECTIVES

44ADJECTIVES IN OUTLINE

Danish adjectives inflect In the indefinite declension they agree with the noun in gender (singular only)and number both attributively and predicatively They also add inflexional endings in the definitedeclension

INDEFINITE FORMSCommongender

Neuter Plural

Attributive en stor bil et stort hus store bilerhuse

a big car a big house big carshousesgod mad varmt vand smukke pigergood food hot water beautiful girls

Predicative bilen er stor huset er stort bilernehuseneer store

the car is big the house is big the carshouses are big

DEFINITE FORMSden store bil det store hus de store biler

husethe big car the big house the big cars

housesmin store bil mit store hus mine store

bilerhusemy big car my big house my big cars

houses

INDEFINITE DECLENSION

45INDEFINITE FORMmdashREGULAR

1 Main rule

Common gender Neuter Pluralzero ( ) +t +een fin have et fint hus fine haverhusea fine garden a fine house fine gardenshousesen rolig by et roligt sted rolige byerstedera quiet town a quiet place quiet townsplaces

2 Note that some monosyllabic adjectives with a long vowel+consonant in the common gender formshorten the vowel in the pronunciation of the neuter form god [gorsquoeth]mdashgodt

Other examples of neuter forms with a short vowel doslashdt dead hvidt white fedt fatty fladt flat roslashdtred soslashdt sweet varingdt wet3 Adjectives following the main rule include(a) many monosyllabic adjectives ending in a consonant or consonant group

dyb deep hoslashj high tall kold cold moslashrk dark varm hot warm

(b) polysyllabic adjectives ending in -al -bar -el -ig -iv -aeligr -(i)oslashs

social social dyrebar expensive kontroversiel controversial dygtig capable naiv naivevulgaeligr vulgar series serious

46INDEFINITE FORMmdashNEUTER SAME AS COMMON GENDER

In the following cases the neuter form has no special ending1 Adjectives ending in -(i)sk

Common gender Neuter Pluralen dansk forfatter et dansk skib danske forfattereskibea Danish writer a Danish ship Danish writersships

Other examples automatisk automatic elektrisk electrical fynsk of Fyn oslashkonomisk economicThis group includes most adjectives denoting nationality or geographical location amerikansk

American engelsk English fransk French tysk GermanIn some adjectives ending in -sk the neuter -t ending is optional besk(t) bitter fersk(t) fresh

2 Adjectives with stems already ending in -t

en sort kat et sort hul sorte kattehullera black cat a black hole black catsholes


Other examples flot posh kort short let light maeligt replete smart smart taeligt close(a) This group includes many polysyllabic loans ending in -t -at -ant -ent

abstrakt privat tolerant konsekvent

(b) A few adjectives ending in a vowel+d have no special neuter form fremmed foreign glad happyked bored lad lazy (c) A few adjectives ending in a consonant+d where the d is pronounced [d] have no special neuter formabsurd absurd laeligrd learned

47VARIATIONS IN PLURALDEFINITE

In the following cases the plural form varies from the main rule given in 44 above ie it does not simplyadd -e-1 Adjectives ending in -el -en -er drop the -e- of the stem before adding the plural or definite ending -e

Common gender Neuter Pluralen gammel kone et gammelt hus gamle konerhusean old woman an old house old womenhousesCompare the definite formsden gamle kone det gamle hus de gamle konerhusethe old woman the old house the old womenhouses

This group includes bitter bitter doven idle laeligkker delicious mager thin moden ripe rustenrusty sikker sure simpel simple voksen adult aeligdel noble aringben open

It also includes loanwords in -abel -ibel diskutabel debatable flexibel flexible2 Adjectives in -et change the -t to a -d before adding the pluraldefinite ending -e

en blomstret vest et blomstret forklaeligde blomstrede gardinera flowery waistcoat a flowery pinafore flowery curtains

This group includes broget multicoloured and many past participles eg elsket loved forlovetengaged malet painted pakket packed repareret repaired slukket extinguished ternet checked

48INDEFINITE FORMmdashSPECIAL CASES

1 The adjective lille

Common gender Neuter Pluralen lille pige et lille barn smaring pigerboslashrn

(no -t ending) (new stem in plural)a small girl a small child small girlschildren

Note also the definite forms

ADJECTIVES 37

den lille pige det lille barn de smaring pigerboslashrnthe small girl the small child the small girlschildren

2 Adjectives ending in -aring

en blaring (graring ) skjorte et blaringt (graringt ) halstoslashrklaeligde blaring (graring ) bukser(no -e in plural)

a blue (grey) shirt a blue (grey) scarf blue (grey) trousers

3 Adjectives ending in -v

en grov stemme et groft broslashd grove braeligdder(vrarrf)

a coarse voice a coarse loaf coarse boards

Also stivmdashstiftmdashstive stiff4 The past participle forms of some strong verbsmdashwhen used attributivelymdashare usually found in theneuter form even with common gender nouns en stjaringlet (or stjaringlen) cykel a stolen bike enmaskinskrevet (or maskinskreven) meddelelse a typewritten message The common gender form insuch cases is now considered formal

49ADJECTIVES DOUBLING THE FINAL CONSONANT IN THE PLURAL

Adjectives ending in a short stressed vowel plus a single consonant double the final consonant whenadding the pluraldefinite ending in -e

en tom aeligske et tomt hus tomme toslashnderan empty box an empty house empty barrels

Many adjectives do this eg flot posh grim ugly groslashn green let easy light maeligt replete slem nastysmuk pretty tom empty traeligt tired tyk fat toslashr dry

See also 31

50INDECLINABLE ADJECTIVES

Some adjectives add no endings for either neuter or plural These include the following groups1 Adjectives ending in -e

en moderne bil et moderne hus moderne menneskera modern car a modern house modern people

This group includes bange afraid lige equal stille calm oslashde deserted and includes some ordinalnumbers and present participles tredje third fjerde fourth glimrende brilliant irriterendeirritating rasende furious


2 Many adjectives ending in a stressed vowel

en snu mand et snu vidne snu forretningsmaelignda wily man a wily witness wily businessmen

This group includes kry cocky sky shy tro faithful aeligdru sober

Exceptions frimdashfritmdashfri(e) free nymdashnytmdashny(e) new

3 Adjectives ending in -s

en faeliglles sag et faeliglles projekt faeliglles vennera common cause a joint project mutual friends

This group includes afsides remote ens identical gammeldags old-fashioned indbyrdes mutualstakkels poor tilfreds contented

Exceptions Adjectives ending in a long vowel+s tavsmdashtavstmdashtavse silent Also loslashs loosenerves nervous

4 Some other adjectives often used only predicatively do not inflect

Det er forkertslut It is wrongfinishedDet er vaeligrd at laeliggge maeligrke til It is worth noticing

51INDEFINITE CONSTRUCTIONS

The indefinite noun phrase (in this case indefinite premodifier+adjective+noun eg en+ny+bil) usuallyexpresses something general and non-specific The following indefinite constructions are found

Common gender Neuter Pluralgod mad fint vejr lige veje (no premodifier)good food fine weather straight roadsen ny bil et nyt hus to nye bilerhusea new car a new house two new carshousesikke nogen sjov film noget varmt broslashd nogle saftige aeligblernot a funny film some hot bread some juicy applesikke nogen god ideacute ikke noget nyt forslag ikke nogen gode ideacuteerno good idea no new proposal no good ideassaringdan en dyr jakke saringdan et staeligrkt tov saringdan nogle store skoan expensive jacket like that a strong rope like that big shoes like thatsikken varme sikket vejr sikke farverwhat a heat what weather what colourssikke(n) en kold blaeligst sikken et fint vejr sikke nogle moslashrke skyerwhat a cold wind what beautiful weather what dark clouds

ADJECTIVES 39

Common gender Neuter Pluralhvilken ung mand hvilket stort slot hvilke nye moslashblerwhat young man what big castle what new furniturendash mange onde gerninger

many evil deedsndash ndash alle unge mennesker

all young people

52AGREEMENT AND LACK OF AGREEMENT

1 Usually adjectives agree with the noun they qualify

Common gender Neuter PluralBilen er stor Huset er stort AEligblerne er godeThe car is big The house is big The apples are good

2 Some abstract nouns formed from verbs do however require the neuter form of the adjective evenwhen they are common gender

Rygning er skadeligt (rygning-en) Det er skadeligt at rygeSmoking is harmful It is harmful to smokeSvoslashmning er dejligt (svoslashmning-en) Det er dejligt at svoslashmmeSwimming is lovely It is lovely to swim

This also applies to infinitive phrases that are used as subject

At svoslashmme er dejligt Swimming is lovely

3 Nouns used in a general abstract or collective sense normally require the neuter form of theadjective

Fisk er dyrt (fisk-en) Fish is expensiveFrugt er sundt (frugt-en) Fruit is healthy

Cf Det er dyrt at koslashbe fisk Det er sundt at spise frugtIt is expensive to buy fish Eating fruit is healthy

4 Past participle agreementPast participles after vaeligreblive usually agree with a plural subject

Bilerne er roslashde importerede The cars are redimportedADJECTIVEPAST PARTICIPLE

But past participles of some verbs only agree with the subject when depicting a state (adjectival) andtake the neuter form when used to emphasise an action (verbal) in which case they are less closelylinked to the subject (see also 923)


State ActionStolene er maled e Stolene er maletThe chairs are painted The chairs are (have been) painted(as opposed to lsquounpaintedrsquo) (Watch out for the wet paint)

Examples with a plural subject

Priserne er faldet Prices have fallenDe var draget bort They had leftSyv dage er garinget A week has passedTi demonstranter blev arresteret Ten demonstrators were arrestedAlle eleverne var samlet All the pupils had assembled

5 In a few cases the inherent sense of the subject (plural) may override the strict grammatical number(singular)

Man var uenige They had a difference of opinionBrudeparret var lykkelige lykkeligt The bridal couple were happy

DEFINITE DECLENSION

53DEFINITE CONSTRUCTIONS

There are three types of definite construction of adjective+noun

Common gender Neuter PluralTYPE 1 After the front articles den det de the demonstratives den det de and denne dette disseden roslashde doslashr det roslashde tag de roslashde vaeligggethe red door the red roof the red wallsdenne nye baringd dette nye skib disse nye faeligrgerthis new boat this new ship these new ferriesThese are the most frequent uses of the definite declensionTYPE 2 After genitives and possessive pronounsKarens store garingrd familiens fattige hjem pigens gamle skoKarenrsquos big farm the familyrsquos poor home the girlrsquos old shoesmin varme jakke mit varme toslashrklaeligde mine varme stroslashmpermy warm jacket my warm scarf my warm socksvores groslashnne vase vores hvide spisebord vores sorte stoleour green vase our white dining table our black chairs

Exception After a genitive or possessive pronoun the adjective egen is inflected according to theindefinite declension

ADJECTIVES 41

Mors egen lille Niels Mumrsquos own little NielsHan har sit eget hus He has his own house

TYPE 3 With no article preceding the adjective+noun

Kaeligre ven ovennaeligvnte brev omtalte forfattereDear friend the above-mentioned letter the aforementioned authors

Notes1 When an adjective is used before a noun in the definite the end (definite) article is replaced by afront article den det de

manden rarr den gamle mandthe man the old man

2 The definite form of the adjective is identical to the plural form in nearly all cases ie -e isadded to the basic form

en groslashn skov groslashnne skove den groslashnne skov de groslashnne skovea green forest green forests the green forest the green forests

3 Type 3 above is found in some names of people and places lille Erik Store Kongensgade GamleCarlsberg Vestre Faeligngsel and in officialeseIt is also found with the words foslashrste sidste forrige naeligste samme foslashrste gang the first timesidste forestilling the final performance forrige uge last week naeligste fredag next Friday sammealder the same age4 With the words hele and selve an end article is added to the noun hele tiden the whole time

Selve lejligheden er god men beliggenheden er daringrlig The flat itself is fine but its locationis poor

54ADJECTIVAL NOUNS

1 There are three cases in which adjectives are used as nouns(a) when the noun is omitted in order to avoid repetition

Han foretraeligkker dansk mad fremfor fremmed (mad)He prefers Danish food to foreign food

(b) when a noun that is not mentioned is understood (these are what are usually known as adjectivalnouns)

De unge forstaringr ikke de gamle (mennesker is understood after both unge and gamle)Young people do not understand old people


(c) independent use of the adjective with no noun understood

Valget stod mellem groslashnt og blaringtThe choice was between green and blue

2 Danish uses adjectival nouns in the definite plural in the same way as English

de arbejdsloslashse the unemployed de fattige the poor de rige the rich de syge the sick de saringredethe wounded de unges verden the world of the young

Notice from this last example that adjectival nouns have a (noun) genitive in -s

de retfaeligrdiges soslashvnthe sleep of the just

3 Danish also uses the common gender indefinite adjective as a noun

en fremmed a stranger en gal a madman en lille a little child en laeligrd a scholar en nyfoslashdt anew-born baby en sagkyndig an expert en voksen an adult

4 In a few cases Danish uses the neuter definite form of the adjective nominally

Det er det fine ved ham Thatrsquos the nice thing about himi det fri in the open air

Note This also applies to the superlative goslashre sit bedste do onersquos best

5 In many cases where Danish has a definite adjectival noun English has a count noun

den myrdede the murder victim den uskyldige the innocent person de kongelige the royals deoverlevende the survivors de rejsende the travellers

6 Neuter adjectival nouns in Danish may correspond to abstract nouns or concepts in English

det gode good(ness) det passende what is suitable

7 In a few cases Danish also uses the singular definite form of the adjective without an article as a nounto denote people and numbered entities (cf 53 Type 3)

elskede my love undertegnede the undersigned

Jeg bor paring fjerde (sal) I live on the fourth (floor)Frederik skal op i sjette (klasse) Frederik is going into the sixth class

ADJECTIVES 43

55lsquoTHE ENGLISHrsquo AND OTHER NATIONALITY WORDS

Whereas English often employs adjectival nouns such as lsquothe Englishrsquo lsquothe Frenchrsquo to expressnationality Danish prefers proper nouns eg englaelignderne franskmaeligndene Some frequent nationalitywords are listed below

Country Adjective InhabitantAmerika (De Forenede Stater) amerikansk amerikaner-eDanmark dansk dansker-eEngland (Storbritannien) engelsk (britisk) englaelignder-e (briter-e)Europa europaeligisk europaeliger-eFinland finsk finne-rFrankrig fransk franskmand -maeligndGraeligkenland graeligsk graeligker-eHolland hollandsk hollaelignder-eIrland irsk irer-e irlaelignder-eIsland islandsk islaelignding-eItalien italiensk italiener-eJapan japansk japaner-eKina kinesisk kineser-eLitauen litauisk litauer-eNorge norsk nordmand -maeligndRusland russisk russer-eSpanien spansk spanier-e spaniol-erSverige svensk svensker-eTyskland tysk tysker-e

COMPARISON

56COMPARISONmdashINTRODUCTION

The comparative form of the adjective in -(e)re is indeclinable ie the adjective has the same form fordefinite and indefinite Note however that the superlative in -(e)st has two forms (-(e)st-(e)ste see 62)1 Comparison implies that

bull two objects or circumstances are contrasted

Soslashren er hoslashjere end Erik Soslashren is taller than Erik

bull one object or circumstance is contrasted with itself at a different juncture

Det er mere overskyet i dag It is more overcast today

2 There are four different methods of comparison(a) Add -ere -est to the positive (basic) form


paelignmdashpaeligneremdashpaelignest See 57

(b) Change the stem vowel of the positive form and add -re -(e)st

ungmdashyngremdashyngst See 58

(c) Irregular comparison (change of stem)

godmdashbedremdashbedst See 59

(d) Comparison with mere mest and the positive form

snavsetmdashmere snavsetmdashmest snavset See 60

57COMPARISON WITH -ERE -EST

1 The most common method of showing comparison is to add -ere and -est to the adjective

Positive Comparative Superlativeglad gladere gladesthappy happier happiest

Most adjectives compare this way including dyb deep dyr expensive fin fine hoslashj high haringrd hardkold cold kort short lav low lys light moslashrk dark ny new paelign beautiful sjov fun tung heavytynd thin2 Adjectives ending in a short stressed vowel plus a consonant often double the final consonant beforeadding the comparative and superlative endings (cf 49)

smuk smukkere smukkestbeautiful more beautiful most beautiful

See also 313 Adjectives ending in -en -el -er drop the -e- of the stem before adding the comparative andsuperlative endings

sikker sikrere sikrestsafe safer safest

See also 304 Naeligr has deviant forms

naeligr naeligrmere naeligrmestclose closer closest

5 A few adjectives (often ending in -ig and -som) add -ere but -st (and not -est) to the positive form

ADJECTIVES 45

kedelig kedeligere kedeligstboring more boring most boringmorsom morsommere morsomstfunny funnier funniest

Others farlig dangerous fattig poor langsom slow voldsom violent

58COMPARISON WITH VOWEL CHANGE AND -(E)RE -(E)ST

Only four adjectives modify the root vowel before adding the comparative or superlative ending

Positive Comparative Superlativefaring faeligrre faeligrrest fewlang laeligngere laeligngst longstor stoslashrre stoslashrst bigung yngre yngst young

59IRREGULAR COMPARISON

1 The following adjectives change their stem in the comparative and superlative

Positive Comparative Superlativedaringrlig slem vaeligrre vaeligrst badgammel aeligldre aeligldst oldgod bedre bedst goodlidt lille mindre mindst smallmange flere flest manymeget (megen) mere mest much

2 Vaeligrre vaeligrst often indicate lsquomore of a bad qualityrsquo Hendes daringrlige ben er blevet vaeligrre Her bad leghas got worse (ie it was bad to begin with) whereas daringrligere daringrligest often indicate less of a goodquality Kartoflerne er blevet daringrligere i aringr The potatoes have got worse this year (ie they may havebeen good last year)3 Flere flest are plural forms used with count nouns Vi koslashbte flere boslashger We bought more bookswhereas mere mest are singular forms used with non-count nouns Vil du have mere oslashl Would youlike some more beer

For countnon-count nouns see 33

60COMPARISON WITH MERE MEST

This group includes a number of different types1 Present and past participles and most longer adjectives


Positive Comparative Superlativespaeligndende mere spaeligndende mest spaeligndendeexciting more exciting most excitingvelkendt mere velkendt mest velkendtwell-known more well-known most well-known

2 Adjectives ending in -et

interesseret mere interesseret mest interesseretinterested more interested most interested

Others forvirret confused skuffet disappointed snavset dirty tosset foolish3 All adjectives ending in -isk and most ending in -sk

praktisk mere praktisk mest praktiskpractical more practical most practical

Others dansk Danish fantastisk fantastic humoristisk humorous jordisk earthly musikalskmusical realistisk realistic

Exceptions barsk harsh besk bitter fersk fresh frisk fresh go according to the main rule withthe endings -ere -est

4 Some adjectives ending in -en

sulten mere sulten mest sultenhungry more hungry most hungry

Others voksen adult varinggen awake aringben open5 Some adjectives ending in unstressed -e and short adjectives ending in a vowel

bange mere bange mest bangeafraid more afraid most afraid

Others graring grey lige similar stille peaceful aeligdru sober6 Some loanwords

desperat mere desperat mest desperatdesperate more desperate most desperate

61SIMILARITY DISSIMILARITY AND REINFORCEMENT

There are a number of ways of expressing similarity dissimilarity and reinforcement other than byusing comparison (cf 57ndash60 above)

ADJECTIVES 47

1 Similarity

lige saring+adj+som Hun var lige saring venlig som hun var smukashellipas She was as friendly as she was beautifulsamme+noun+som De taler samme dialekt som osthe samehellipas They speak the same dialect as usligne Han ligner sin farbelook like He islooks like his father

2 Dissimilarity

ikke saring+adj+som Hun var ikke saring rig som Greta Garbonot ashellipas She wasnrsquot as rich as Greta Garbo

The particle end is often used with comparatives

Min bror er staeligrkere end din My brother is bigger than yours

The adjectives anden other different anderledes different and forskellig different dissimilar alsoexpress dissimilarity

De to soslashskende er meget forskellige The two siblings are very different

3 Reinforcement

stadig+comparative Kvaliteten blev stadig vaeligrreever The quality got ever worsealler-+superlative Han var min allerbedste venvery He was my very best friend

62INFLEXION OF THE SUPERLATIVE

In the same way as other adjectives in the positive form the superlative inflects in the definite addingan -e

Det er den kedeligste bog jeg har laeligstThat is the most boring book I have read

Det var en af de mest fantastiske forestillinger jeg nogensinde har setThat was one of the most fantastic performances Irsquove ever seen

Note The adjectives bedste foslashrste sidste are often used without a front article see 53 Type 3


63THE ABSOLUTE COMPARATIVE AND ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE

When the second part of the comparative or superlative is not stated the element of comparison maydisappear The comparative then often equates to English phrases with lsquoratherrsquo lsquofairlyrsquo etc

Min onkel er en aeligldre mand My uncle is an elderly manHan laringnte en stoslashrre sum penge He borrowed a rather large sum of money

Others en bedre middag a rather good dinner en laeligngere samtale quite a long conversationThe superlative often equates to English phrases with lsquoveryrsquo etc

med det venligste smil with a very friendly smilemed stoslashrste fornoslashjelse with very great pleasureJan og Marie er de bedste venner Jan and Marie are the best of friends

ADJECTIVES 49

50

4NUMERALS

64CARDINAL AND ORDINAL NUMBERS

1 Cardinal and ordinal numbers

Cardinal numbers Ordinal numbers0 nul1 enet foslashrste2 to anden andet3 tre tredje4 fire fjerde5 fem femte6 seks sjette7 syv syvende8 otte ottende9 ni niende10 ti tiende11 el(le)ve el(le)vte12 tolv tolvte13 tretten trettende14 fjorten fjortende15 femten femtende16 seksten sekstende17 sytten syttende18 atten attende19 nitten nittende20 tyve tyvende21 enogtyve enogtyvende22 toogtyve toogtyvende30 tred(i)ve tred(i)vte40 fyrre fyrretyvende

Cardinal numbers Ordinal numbers50 halvtreds halvtredsindstyvende60 tres tresindstyvende70 halvfjerds halvfjerdsindstyvende80 firs firsindstyvende90 halvfems halvfemsindstyvende100 (et) hundrede hundrede101 (et) hundred(e) og enet125 (et) hundred(e) og femogtyve 200 to hundrede1 000 (et) tusind(e) tusinde1 000 000 en million millionte1 000 000 000 en milliard milliardende

2 The units come before the tens in Danish and numerals under 100 are written as one word

seksogtyve twenty-six

3 The gap (or full stop) between the thousands in numbers written as figures corresponds to the Englishcomma

6 000 000 (6000000) 6000000

4 The numerals from 50 to 100 often cause confusion They are based on a system of scores (20s)

halvtredsindstyve usually abbreviated halvtreds means lsquo2frac12 times 20rsquo ie 50tresindstyve usually abbreviated tres means lsquo3 times 20rsquo ie 60halvfjerdsindstyve usually abbreviated halvfjerds means lsquo3frac12 times 20rsquo ie 70firsindstyve usually abbreviated firs means lsquo4 times 20rsquo ie 80halvfemsindstyve usually abbreviated halvfems means lsquo4frac12 times 20rsquo ie 90

In this system large numbers such as telephone numbers may at times prove opaque to learners 94 5771 82=fireoghalvfems syvoghalvtreds enoghalvfjerds toogfirs5 A simpler system for writing numerals is used by Danes in commerce and inter-Nordic contexts

20 toti 30 treti 40 firti 50 femti 60 seksti 70 syvti 80 otti 90 niti 25 totifem etc

6 The numeral eacuten lsquoonersquo is often given an accent to distinguish it from the indefinite article en a(n) andinflects according to the gender of the following noun eacutet aringr one year hundredeogeacutet aringr 101 yearsAgreement of eacuten does not occur in other compound numerals eacutenogtyve boslashrn 21 children7 The ordinal numbers et hundrede et tusind(e) usually have plurals in -r when used in the senselsquohundredsthousands ofrsquo

The ordinal numbers en million en milliard have plurals in -er

52 NUMERALS

65MAJOR USES OF CARDINAL AND ORDINAL NUMBERS

1 Telephone numbers (see also 644)These are given in pairs

52 19 77 tooghalvtredsmdashnittenmdashsyvoghalvfjerds

2 Dates

mandag dend 5 aprilor mandag den 54or den femte i fjerdeor 541993 nittenhundrede og treoghalvfems or nittentreoghalvfems

3 Temperature

Det fryser 10 graderDet er 10 graders frostkuldeDet er minus 10 grader

Itrsquos 10 degrees below zero

Det er 30 graders varmeDet er 30 grader varmt

Itrsquos 30 degrees

But

Han har 40 graders feber He has a temperature of 40 degreesHan har 40 i feber

4 Money

125 kr en krone og femogtyve or eacuten femogtyve25 kr femogtyve kroner150 kr halvanden krone250 kr to en halv (krone)675 kr seks (kroner og) femoghalvfjerds2595 kr femogtyve (kroner og) femoghalvfems16555 kr (et) hundrede og femogtres (kroner og) femoghalvtreds

en hundredkroneseddel a 100-kroner noteen tier a 10-kroner coinen femmer a 5-kroner coin

Note The nouns ending in -er (pl -e) are used to indicate number generally

Vi tager en toer til arbejdet We take a number two (bus) to work

DANISH AN ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR 53

5 Fractions decimalsThese are formed from ordinal numbers by adding -del(e)

frac12 en halv halvdelenfrac14 en fjerdedelkvart

tre femtedele⅛ en ottendedel

halv inflects en halv paeligre half a pear et halvt aeligble half an apple den halve tid half the time

Notice 1frac12=halvanden or eacuten og en halvA comma is used where English has a decimal point

045 nul komma fire femnul komma femogfyrre

6 Decades centuries

in the 1800s (nineteenth century) i det nittende (19) aringrhundrede (i 1800-tallet)in the 1900s (twentieth century) i det tyvende (20) aringrhundrede (i 1900-tallet)in the 1880s i 1880rsquoerne (i attenhundrede og firserne)in the 90s i 90rsquoerne (i halvfemserne)a woman in her fifties en kvinde i halvtredserne

7 Others

et syvtal a figure 7 en halv snes 10et par a pair en snes 20et dusin a dozen en gang to gange once twice

66TIME BY THE CLOCK

54 NUMERALS

Hvad er klokken Whatrsquos the timeDenKlokken er (praeligcis) ti Itrsquos (exactly) ten orsquoclock

DenKlokken er ti minutter over tre Itrsquos ten past threeDenKlokken er syv minutter i fem Itrsquos seven minutes to fiveDenKlokken er et kvarter iover tolv Itrsquos a quarter topast twelveDenKlokken er halv syv Itrsquos half past sixDenKlokken er fem minutter i halv syv Itrsquos twenty-five past sixDenKlokken er fem minutter over halv syv Itrsquos twenty-five to sevenDenKlokken er mange Itrsquos lateHvadHvilken tid koslashrer toget What time does the train leave1300 (tretten nul nul) thirteen hundred hours ie 1 pm


56

5PRONOUNS

67PERSONAL AND REFLEXIVE PRONOUNSmdashFORM

Subject pronouns Object pronouns Reflexive pronounsSingular1 jeg I mig me mig me myself2 du you dig you dig you(rself)

De you Dem you Dem you(rself)3 han he ham him sig him(self)

hun she hende her sig her(self)den it den it sig it(self)det it det it sig it(self)

Plural1 vi we os us os us ourselves2 I you jer you jer you(rselves)

De you Dem you Dem you(rselves)3 de they dem them sig them(selves)

Notes1 Pronunciation

jeg [jai] De de [di] det [de]mig [mai] dig [dai] sig [sai]

2 Unlike English lsquoIrsquo jeg does not have a capital letter except at the beginning of a sentence3 De and Dem the polite forms always have capital initial letters as does I4 I is the plural of du the familiar form

68USE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS

1duDe these are used to address people Most people now use the familiar du notably at school workin the family and among friends De is used to strangers in formal situations such as officialcommunications to elderly people and when surnames are used to address people (eg Undskyld hrfru Hansen har De set min kat Excuse me MrMrs Hansen have you seen my cat) Note also thefollowing idiomatic expressions

Du kan du lige holde mit glasHey you could you just hold my glass

Kaeligre du vil du ikke hjaeliglpe migMy dear will you please help me

The polite form De is both singular and plural2 hanhun these are not used to refer to so-called lsquohigher animalsrsquo or countries unlike English Noticethat countries are neuter (to agree with et land) Danmark er dyrt men dejligt Denmark is expensivebut lovely3 dendetde in addition to serving as personal pronouns these words are also used as front articles (see38) and as demonstrative pronouns (see 74)but den is never used to refer to a person When referring toneuter nouns denoting people such as et barn or et menneske han or hun is used

Examples of usage

Knud har koslashbt en ny bil Den er meget storKnud has bought a new car Itrsquos very bigKnud har koslashbt et nyt hus Det er meget stortKnud has bought a new house Itrsquos very bigKnud har to hunde De er meget storeKnud has two dogs They are very bigKnud har et barn Hun hedder SonjaKnud has a child She is called Sonja

4 The object form is used as subject complement in the following cases

Hvem er det Det er mig Who is it Itrsquos meDet er ham der er den aeligldste It is he who is the eldest

69USES OF DET

In addition to serving as a pronoun referring back to a previously mentioned noun det has a number ofidiomatic usages1 As the subject of vaeligreblive when the verb is followed by a noun a pronoun or an adjectiveirrespective of gender or number

Hvem er hun Det er min mor Whorsquos she Itrsquos my mother

Hvad blev det Det blev en pige What was it It was a girl (of a birth)


Hvem er stoslashrst Det er Viggo Who is the tallest Viggo is

2 As the formal subject of an infinitive (phrase)

Det er svaeligrt at laeligre dansk Itrsquos hard to learn Danish

Note however that der is also used as a formal subject in certain cases notably with the passive andwith indefinite real subjects (see 142)

Der drikkes meget oslashl i Danmark A lot of beer is drunk in DenmarkDer haelignger et billede paring vaeligggen A painting is hanging on the wall

Danish uses der+an intransitive verb in this way while English generally uses only lsquotherersquo+the verb lsquotobersquo

Der bor mange indvandrere her There are a lot of immigrants here

3 As an impersonal subject

Det blaeligserhaglerregnersner It is windyhailingrainingsnowingDet ringerbanker paring doslashren Therersquos a ring on the door bell a knock at the doorDet ser ud til at han er syg It looks as if hersquos illHvordan garingr det Det garingr fint How are youHow are things Fine

4 As an object of verbs meaning lsquobelieversquo lsquofearrsquo lsquohopersquo lsquosayrsquo lsquothinkrsquo etc (cf English lsquosorsquo)

Fik han jobbet Det frygterharingbersigertror deDid he get the job They fearhopesaybelieve so

Note also

Per er dansker og det er Pia ogsaring Per is a Dane and so is Pia

5 In answer to questions without an English equivalent as a complement of vaeligreblive or as an objectof other auxiliary verbs

Er du traeligt Nej det er jeg ikke Are you tired No Irsquom notKan du tale dansk Ja det kan jeg Do you speak Danish Yes I doKommer de i aften Ja det goslashr de Are they coming tonight Yes they are

Note also

Hun ser venlig ud og det er hun ogsaringShe looks kind and so she is

PRONOUNS 59

6 When referring back to a whole clause

Han haeligvder at han bor i Amerika men det goslashr han ikkeHe claims that he lives in America but he doesnrsquot

70REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

See also reflexive verbs 1035The reflexive pronoun is used as directindirect object or prepositional complement when it is

identical in meaning to the subject Reflexive forms are identical to object forms in the first and secondperson but in the third person (singular and plural) sig is used

Jeg faldt og slog mig I fell and hurt myselfDu skal lukke doslashren efter dig You must close the door behind youHun har lige vasket sig She has just washed (herself)Vi morede os meget i aftes We enjoyed ourselves a lot last nightSkynd jer Hurry upDe havde ingen penge paring sig They had no money on them

It is important that the reflexive forms are used correctly There is a lot of difference in meaningbetween Han skoslashd ham He shot him (ie someone else) and Han skoslashd sig He shot himself

There is one notable exception to the main rule After a verb followed by an object+infinitiveconstruction a reflexive pronoun refers to the object of the main verb (ie the subject of the infinitivemdashhere Peter) but a personal pronoun to the subject of the main clause (here Jens)

Jens (S) bad Peter (O) vaske sig (reflexive pronoun)Jens asked Peter to wash (himself) (ie Peter to be washed)

Jens (S) bad Peter (O) vaske ham (personal pronoun)Jens asked Peter to wash him (ie Jens to be washed)

The reflexive pronouns are used with a number of verbs in Danish (see 1035) where the reflexive ideais absent in English barbere sig shave gifte sig get married glaeligde sig look forward kede sig bebored laeliggge saeligtte sig liesit down opfoslashre sig behave rejse sig getstand up aeligrgre sigbefeel annoyed oslashve sig practise etc

Reflexive pronouns are always unstressed If emphasis is needed for example to indicate a contrastor lack of assistance the word selv is added to the reflexive pronoun Note that English often uses lsquoownrsquo

Kan han vaske sig selv Can he wash himselfHun redte sig selv She combed her own hairDe laeligrte at sminke sig selv They learnt to do their own make-up

Selv can also function more independently referring to nouns or pronouns Like sig it is gender-neutraland it is always stressed

Per skrev artiklen selv Per wrote the article himselfDu kan selv vaeliglge menuen You can choose the menu yourself


Selv har jeg aldrig set ham I myself have never seen himDet var hende selv der sagde det It was she herself who said it

71RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS

Modern Danish has in effect only one reciprocal pronoun hinanden lsquoeach otherrsquo Unlike the reflexivepronouns which are used in connection with a simple actionstate hinanden implies a mutual actionstate between two or more individuals or things Hinanden refers back to a plural subject and can neveritself be the subject of the clause It has a genitive form hinandens

De elsker hinanden They love each otherVi gav hinanden haringnden We shook handsStoler I paring hinanden Do you trust each otherDe har moslashdt hinandens boslashrn They have met each otherrsquos children

Until recently hverandre was used to refer to more than two It is now very formal and old-fashioned

72POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Possessive pronouns have the same form irrespective of position Unlike English there is thus noformal distinction between attributive and predicative use

Det er min bog It is my bookBogen er min The book is mine

First and second person possessives agree in form with the noun

Det er din bil dit hus og dine pengeCf en bil et hus penge (pl)It is your car your house and your money

Third person possessives ending in -s do not inflect

Det er hanshendes bil hanshendes hus og hanshendes pengeIt is hisher car hisher house and hisher money

The reflexive forms sin sit sine are explained more fully in 73

Common gender Neuter PluralSingular1 min mit mine my mine2 familiar din dit dine your yours

formal Deres Deres Deres your yours3 masculine hanssin hanssit hanssine his

PRONOUNS 61

Common gender Neuter Pluralfeminine hendessin hendessit hendessine her hersnon-human denssin detssit densdetssine its

Common gender Neuter PluralPlural1 vores vores vores our ours

(vor) (vort) (vore)2 familiar jeres jeres jeres your yours

(jer) (jert) (jere)formal Deres Deres Deres your yours

3 deres deres deres their theirs

Notes1 Possessive pronouns have genitive meaning and therefore no separate genitive form

dine foraeligldres boslashger your parentsrsquo booksdine boslashger your books

2 The second person forms din dit dine correspond to du jeres corresponds to I Deres correspondsto De but jer jert jere are now obsolete3 The third person form deres corresponds to de4 The form vores is found in modern everyday Danish vor vort vore tend to be found in formalDanish and fixed expressions

Vores boslashrn er voksne nu Our children are adults nowVores have er dejlig om sommeren Our garden is lovely in summer

But often

vor dronning vort modersmaringl vore forfaeligdre our Queenmother tongueancestors

Note also i vor tidi vore dage in our time nowadays Vor HerreVorherre Our Lord5 dens dets are used of animals and inanimate objects

Hunden er saringret Dens ben bloslashder The dog is injured Its leg is bleedingHuset er gammelt men dets tag er nyt The house is old but its roof is new

6 English possessive pronouns modifying words for parts of the body or articles of clothing areusually rendered by the definite article in Danish if there is no doubt about the ownership

Han har braeligkket armen He has broken his armTag skoene af Take off your shoes


73NON-REFLEXIVE AND REFLEXIVE POSSESSIVES HANS OR SIN

1 The reflexive forms sinsitsine modify an object or a prepositional complement and refer to the subjectof the clause with which it is identical in meaning

Han elsker sin kone sit barn og sine foraeligldre

He loves his wife his child and his parents

Notice that sinsitsine cannot be used to refer to a plural subject

De elsker deres mor They love their motherDe har glemt deres penge They have forgotten their money

Sinsitsine cannot be used to modify the subject of the clause ie it cannot be part of it hans (etc) isused instead

Hans datter hentede ham His daughter fetched himS

2 The non-reflexive forms do not refer back to the subject of the clause they appear in heresinsitsine must be used

Compare

ReflexiveSvend tog paring ferie med sin koneSSvend went on holiday with his (own) wifeNon-reflexiveOle er sur fordi Svend tog paring ferie med hans koneS SC SOle is in a bad mood because Svend went on holiday with his (ie Olersquos) wife

The non-reflexive third person possessive pronouns hans hendes dens dets deres may modify thesubject (S) the subject complement (SComp) the object (O) or a prepositional complement(PrepComp)

Hans kone er laeligrer His wife is a teacherS

Bageren var hendes soslashn The baker was her son(SComp)

PRONOUNS 63

Jeg moslashdte hendes mand i byen I met her husband in townO

De er glade for deres boslashrn They are fond of their children(PrepComp)

There are two simple ways of testing which form to use in the third person singular(a) Draw an arrow to the referent of the pronoun (which the pronoun must not modify) Is the referentthe subject of that clause If so use a form of sinsitsine if not then use a non-reflexive form (b) Can you insert the word lsquoownrsquo before the modified noun in English If so use a form of sinsitsine ifnot then use a non-reflexive form3 A problem arises when there is more than one clause in the sentence

She thinks that her son is lovely Hun synes at hendes soslashn er dejligS SC S

Here lsquoherrsquo is not in the same clause as lsquoshersquo (the subject of the main clause) but modifies lsquosonrsquo as part ofthe subject of the subordinate clause (lsquoher sonrsquo) Therefore use hendes

Cf Hun elsker sin soslashn She loves her sonS O

4 The main rule also applies when the possessive precedes the subject

Til sin foslashdselsdag fik hun et ur For her birthday she got a watchS

5 In object+infinitive constructions sinsitsine may refer to the subject of the infinitive (InfS)

Lone heard her call her husband Lone hoslashrte hende kalde paring sin mand(ie not Lonersquos husband) S InfS PrepCompJohn saw him kick his dog John saring ham sparke sin hund(ie not Johnrsquos dog) S InfS O

To test this expand the ellipted clause into a full clause and apply the main rule

Jeg saring at han sparkede sin hundS SC S O

6 Sinsitsine may also have general reference

Det er ikke let at elske sin naeligste Loving your neighbour is not easyAt betale sine regninger er vigtigt To pay onersquos bills is important

7 Note the use of sinsitsine in abbreviated comparisons

Han er hoslashjere end sin kone He is taller than his wifeCf Han er hoslashjere end hans kone er He is taller than his wife is


8 Note the use of sinsitsine in expressions with hver sin etc However here the appropriate pluralpronoun is increasingly used ie hver vores jeresderes

Vi fik hver sinevores moslashbler We each got our own furnitureI kan vaeliglge hver sinjeres menu You may each choose your own menu

Pigerne sov i hver sitderes vaeligrelse Each of the girls slept in hertheir own room

Notice that hver is indeclinable in such phrases and that the choice of sinsitsine is determined by thegendernumber of the noun modified

74DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

Common gender Neuter PlurallsquoNearrsquo denne (her) den her dette (her) det her disse (her) de her

this this theselsquoDistantrsquo den (der) det (der) de (der)

that that those

1 The main difference between the two sets of demonstratives (dennedettedisse vs dendetde ) is oneof proximity or distance (in space or time) from the speaker This may be emphasised by the addition ofher (nearby) or der (further away) Demonstratives are always stressed and often have an identifying orlsquopointingrsquo function

Denne vase er meget gammel This vase is very oldDen (der) paring bordet er ganske ny The one on the table is quite new

2 The addition of herder makes the demonstrative much more colloquial especially when preceding anoun They are therefore mostly used when the noun is omitted

Jeg mener denne bog ikke den der I mean this book not that one

3 As in English the demonstratives may be used attributively or predicatively (ie independently of anoun) They then take the numbergender of the noun to which they refer

Hvad koster de bananer What do those bananas costEr de billigere end de her Are they cheaper than theseDette er noget nyt This is something newJeg tager dette kort ikke det der Irsquoll take this card not that one

4 The demonstrative is often used in Danish to direct attention to a following restrictive (ie necessary)relative clause In these cases it replaces the usual end article but younger Danes increasingly use theend article in these cases

Den elev som fik de hoslashjeste karakterer er min nabo(Or Elevenhellip)

PRONOUNS 65

The pupil who got the highest marks is my neighbour

Det baeliglte hun koslashbte i garingr passer ikke til hendes nye kjole(Or Baeligltethellip)

The belt she bought yesterday does go with her new dress

If the relative clause is non-restrictive (ie not strictly necessary) only an end article is possible

Traeligerne som i oslashvrigt snart skal faeligldes skygger for udsigtenThe trees which incidentally will be cut down soon are blocking the view

5 The demonstrative is also used to refer to a following at- clause

Vi traf den beslutning at firmaet maringtte lukkeWe took the decision that the firm had to close down

6 When referring to people the genitive forms dennes disses may be found in formal Danish

DennesDisses udtalelser var interessanteThis personrsquosThese peoplersquos statements were interesting

7 Dennes (ds) also means lsquoinstrsquo (this month)

Jvf vores brev af den 10 dennes (ds) Cf our letter of the 10th inst

8 Den is used independently of a person in proverbs etc

Den der ler sidst ler bedst He who laughs last laughs longest

9 Note that the object form of de (when not followed by a noun) is dem

De sko Nej dem har jeg aldrig set forThose shoes No Irsquove never seen those before

10 Note also the following idiomatic phrases

den og den persondato (etc) such and such a persondate (etc)paring det og det tidspunkt at such and such a time

75RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Relative pronouns introduce a subordinate relative clause and usually refer back to a correlative (corr)in the main clause


Jeg har en vensom er laeligge I have a friend who is a doctorcorr

Relative pronouns include

der who which thatsom who(m) which thathvis whosehvem who(m)hvad what whichhvilkenhvilkethvilke (who(m)) which

Note that hvor (where) is a relative adverbThere are two types of relative clause restrictive and non-restrictive A restrictive relative clause is

necessary in order to identify the correlative and therefore cannot be omitted In anon-restrictive (or parenthetical) relative clause the correlative is known so the relative clause merelyprovides extra information and can be omitted Compare

RestrictiveMin kollega som bor paring Amager tager bussen til arbejdeMy colleague who lives on (the island of) Amager takes the bus to work (one of several)

Non-restrictiveMin mor som nu er meget gammel bor paring plejehjemMy mother who is now very old lives in a nursing home (identity not in doubt)

According to the rules of the lsquonew commarsquo (see 171) there is no comma before a restrictive clauseExamples of use

1 Kan du se den dreng der leger derhenne (Or drengenhellip)Can you see the boy who is playing over there

2 Det hus som ligger paring hjoslashrnet har roslashde mursten (Or Husethellip)The house that stands on the corner has red bricks

3 Den film (som) vi saring i garingr var meget morsom (Or Filmenhellip)The film (that) we saw yesterday was very funny

4 Vores boslashrn som I vist ikke har set garingr i skole nuOur children who(m) you havenrsquot seen I suppose now go to school

5 Den vej (som) hun bor paring garingr forbi kirken (Or Vejenhellip)The road (that) she lives in goes past the church

6 Kirsten hvis datter skal giftes er alvorligt sygKirsten whose daughter is getting married is seriously ill

7 Hanne kommer fra den by hvis navn jeg ikke kan udtaleHanne comes from the town whose name I canrsquot pronounce

8 Hun er den kvinde med hvem jeg helst vil rejse til RomShe is the woman with whom I most want to go to Rome

9 Han spiser med fingrene hvad der ikke ser paelignt udHe eats with his fingers which doesnrsquot look very nice

10 Han oslashnsker selv reparere taget hvad han ikke kan

PRONOUNS 67

He wants to repair the roof himself which he canrsquot do11 Goslashr hvad du vil

Do what you want12 Det er det hus i hvilket Per boede

That is the house in which Per lived13 Helle siger at Palle ikke kan svoslashmme hvilket er noget sludder

Helle says that Palle canrsquot swim which is nonsense

Notes1 der is only used as subject (example 1) See 762 som may be omitted from a restrictive relative clause when it is not the subject (examples 3 5)See 763 A preposition cannot appear in the same clause directly before som but may be placed at theend of the clause whether som is omitted or not (example 5) See 764 A preposition may precede hvem and hvilken in formal Danish (examples 8 12)5 hvis is found mainly in written Danish and refers to both animate and inanimate nouns(examples 6 7)6 hvem can only refer to humans (example 8) hvad and (largely) hvilken refer to non-humans(examples 9ndash13)7 In a non-restrictive clause hvad and hvilken can refer back to the whole of the previous clause(examples 9 10 13)8 When hvad is the subject of the relative clause it must be followed by der (example 9)9 hvad can also refer to some following information (cataphoric reference)

Men hvad han ikke fortalte os var at han skal opereresBut what he didnrsquot tell us was that he is going to have an operation

10 Note the frequent construction alt hvad (all that)

Hun gjorde alt hvad hun kunne She did all that she could

11 hvilken is the only relative pronoun that inflects for gendernumber It is only used in formalwritten language hvilken (common gender sing) hvilket (neuter sing) hvilke (plural)12 Note that hvem hvad hvilken hvis are also interrogative pronouns See 77

76DER OR SOM

Both words have uses other than that of a relative pronoun der can function as a formal subject (Dersidder en fugl paring min cykel Therersquos a bird sitting on my bike) and as an adverb of place (Hun star ligeder She is standing just there) while som may be a conjunction (Svend er lige saring stor som sin soslashsterSvend is just as tall as his sister) See 107 134 142

Der can only be the subject in a relative clause In this function either der or som may be used thoughder is more common in spoken Danish They can introduce both restrictive and non-restrictive clauses

RestrictiveSaring du den kamp dersom blev vist i fjernsynet i aftesDid you watch the match that was shown on TV last night


Non-restrictiveMin bedste ven dersom lige har faringet et nyt job har koslashbt husMy best friend who has just got a new job has bought a house

However when there are two coordinated relative clauses der cannot be used in the second one

Det er en vin dersom kan drikkes nu men som ogsaring kan gemmesThis is a wine that can be drunk now but which may also be laid down

Som can function as subject directindirect object or prepositional complement in the relative clauseWhen it is a prepositional complement the preposition cannot precede som but must come after theverb Som cannot be omitted when it introduces a non-restrictive clause

Jeg har en veninde som er utrolig soslashd (subject)I have a girlfriend who is incredibly niceJeg har en veninde som jeg besoslashger hver maringned (direct object)I have a girlfriend whom I visit every monthJeg har en veninde som jeg giver mange gaver (indirect object)I have a girlfriend whom I give many presents toJeg har en veninde som jeg ofte skriver til (PrepComp)I have a girlfriend whom I often write to

In a restricted clause when it is not the subject som may (optionally) be left out

Den bog (som) jeg koslashbte i fredags er blevet vaeligk (direct object)The book (that) I bought on Friday has gone missingHar du set de bure (som) de holder loslashver i (PrepComp)Have you seen the cages (which) they keep lions in

77INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS (HV- WORDS)

Interrogative pronouns introduce a direct or indirect questionInterrogative pronouns (hv- words) include

Common gender Neuter Plural Genitivehvem hvad hvem hviswho(m) what who(m) whosehvilken hvilket hvilkewhatwhich whatwhich whatwhichhvad for en hvad for et hvad for noglewhich (kindone) which (kindone) which (kindsones)

Note that hvor where hvordan how hvorfor why and hvornaringr when are interrogative adverbsExamples of use

Hvem er det Who is itHvem talte du med Who(m) did you talk to

PRONOUNS 69

Hun spurgte hvem der ringede She asked who phonedHvad er klokken Whatrsquos the timeKan du se hvad Dorte laver Can you see what Dorte is doingHvad for en bog vil De have What kind ofWhich book do you wantHvad for nogle boslashrn har de What kind of children do they haveHvilken skole garingr Deres soslashn i Which school does your son go toHvis hat er det Whose hat is itDe vidste ikke hvis (hat) det var They didnrsquot know whose (hat) it was

Notes1 hvilken (etc) is mostly found in written Danish hvad for en (etc) in colloquial language2 hvem and hvad must add der when they are the subject in a subordinate clause (indirectquestion)

Jeg hoslashrte ikke hvem der vandt I didnrsquot hear who wonHan spurgte hvad der var sket He asked what had happened

3 For emphasis hvem hvad hvilken may add som helst

Hvem som helst kan komme til festen Anyone may come to the party

78INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

Indefinite pronouns include the following

Common gender Neuter Pluralal alt alting alle all everything everyone

begge both(en)hver hvert each every(one)ingen intet ingenting ingen no none no one nothing

lidt faring little fewman one you theymegen meget meget mange much very manynogen noget nogle (nogen) someany something anything someone anyone

1 Al alt alle(a) Al is only used with non-count nouns al den snakstoslashj all that talknoise(b) Alt lsquoallrsquo lsquoeverythingrsquo is very common while alting is used for emphasis

Fortaeligl mig alt Tell me everythingHvor er alt mit toslashj Where are all my clothesAlting er forbi Everything is at an end

Note also i alt in all alt i alt all in all alt for too alt hvad all that alt vel everything OK frem foralt above all trods alt despite everything


(c) Alle lsquoallrsquo lsquoeverybodyrsquo lsquoeveryonersquo can appear attributively nominally and in the genitive

Alle boslashrn garingr i skole All children go to schoolAlle kom til tiden Everybody arrived on timeNu skal vi alle hjem og spise We are all going home to eat nowDet er ikke alles yndlingsmusik Itrsquos not everyonersquos favourite music

Note also alle og enhver all and sundry alle sammen one and all alle stedervegne everywhere alletiders fantastic of all time en gang for alle once and for all2 BeggeBegge is used both attributively and nominally in nominal use it is sometimes but not always followedby to (two) It also has a genitive form begges

Begge foraeligldre(ne) garingr paring arbejde Both parents go to workHun kan lide begge dele She likes bothJeg saring begge forestillinger(ne) I saw both (the) performancesDe er begge (to) meget venlige They are both very kindBegge (to) gav deres samtykke Both gave their consentDe er voksne begge to They are both adultsBegges formue gik tabt The fortune of both was lost

NB lsquobothhellipandrsquo corresponds to baringdehellipog

Charlotte kan baringde laeligse og skrive Charlotte can both read and write

3 Hver hvert enhverHverhvert is used both attributively and nominally enhver has greater emphasis

hver timedagugemaringned every hourdayweekmonth hvert minutaringr every minuteyear hveranden gang every second time hver isaeligr each one

Hver (person) fik en gave Each (person) got a presentDe fik en gave hver They got a present eachDe fik hver en gave They each got a presentDet kan enhver forstaring Anyone can understand thatDer er noget for enhver (smag) There is something for every(onersquos) tasteHver mandEnhver sin lyst Everyone to his taste

4 Ingen intet ingenting(a) Ingen is used with common gender and plural nouns intet with neuter nouns both can have nominalfunction Ingen intet are often replaced by ikke nogennoget in spoken Danish

De har ingen boslashrnpenge They have no childrenmoneyIntet nyt er godt nyt No news is good newsJeg moslashdte ikke nogen (mennesker) I didnrsquot meet anyoneany peopleVi har ikke noget at spise We have nothing to eatIngen har set ham i dag No one has seen him today

PRONOUNS 71

(b) Ingenting is colloquial and more emphatic than intetikke noget It is only used nominally

Jeg hoslashrte ingenting I heard nothingDer er ingenting i vejen Therersquos nothing wrongDet goslashr ingenting It doesnrsquot matter

5 Lidt faring(a) Lidt denotes a small quantity and may appear with either common gender or neuter non-countnouns or before adjectives but it can also be used nominally It has positive connotations (=Englishlsquosomersquo) to make it more negative it may be preceded by kun or meget For comparison see 59

Har du lidt maeliglk Have you got some milkJeg blev lidt sur I became a little bad temperedDer er kun lidt tilbage i flasken Therersquos only a little left in the bottleHun spiser meget lidt She eats very littleVil du have lidt mere Do you want a little moreDer er tre soslashm for lidt There are three nails too few

Note also BlivVent lidt StayWait a little lidt efter lidt little by little om lidt in a moment(b) Faring denotes a small number and is used with plural nouns or nominally It has negative connotations(=English lsquo(very) fewrsquo) which may be emphasised by adding kun or meget If nogle is added it sounds morepositive For comparison see 59

Der var faring mennesker til stede There were few people presentDer er kun faring aeligbler paring traeliget There are few apples on the treeMeget faring moslashdte op Very few turned upDer er nogle faring billetter tilbage There are a few tickets leftStykket er afgjort kun for de faring The play is definitely only for the few

6 ManMan is third person singular and has general reference to humans (cf French lsquoonrsquo and German lsquomanrsquo)There is no single English equivalent but depending on the context lsquoyoursquo lsquoonersquo lsquowersquo lsquotheyrsquo or a passiveconstruction may translate it Outside the subject case other forms are used

Subject Object Possessive Reflexiveman eacuten ens sinsitsine sig

Man koslashrer bare ligeud You just drive straight onMan ved aldrig hvad der kan ske You never know what might happenMan kan ikke vide alt One canrsquot know everythingI Italien spiser man meget pasta In Italy they eat a lot of pastaMan fangede tyven The thief was caughtKan man mon stole paring det Is that reliable I wonderDet giver eacuten chancen for at vinde It gives one the chance to winEacutens handlinger kan misforstarings Onersquos actions may be misunderstoodMan maring goslashre sit bedste One must do onersquos bestMan kan vente sig meget af ham One can expect a lot from him


As subject man and eacuten can be used in an affected and mock ironic way to replace duDe and jegrespectively

Man er nok i habit i dag So one is wearing a suit todayEacuten foslashler sig lidt utilpas One feels a little unwell

7 Megen meget mange(a) Megen as the common gender form with non-count nouns is now increasingly being replaced bymeget It is still found in formal language

Der var megen omtale af sagen There was much talk about the case

(b) Meget is the general form in the singular and is used to modify non-count nouns or adjectives or itmay have nominal function For comparison see 59

Der er meget varmt i stuen Itrsquos very hot in the living roomDet var en meget daringrlig praeligstation It was a very bad performanceEr der meget kaffe i kanden Is there a lot of coffee in the potDer er meget at goslashre Therersquos much to doHvor meget koster det How much is itHvor meget er klokken Whatrsquos the time

Note that with some common adjectives (eg god paelign soslashd) meget can sometimes in spoken Danish actas a downtoner rather than an uptoner If so it receives stress and the adjectiveadverb is part of arising intonation

Hvordan gik det Det gik meget godtHow did it go It went all right (but no more)

Er det ikke paelignt Jo det er meget paeligntIsnrsquot it nice Yes it is quite nice (buthellip)

Before comparative forms meget corresponds to lsquomuchrsquo

Deres have er meget stoslashrre end minTheir garden is much bigger than mine

Note also Det er lige meget It doesnrsquot matter mangt og meget a great many things(c) Mange is used with plural nouns to indicate an unspecified but substantial number It can haveattributive and nominal function For comparison see 59

Der var mange mennesker i byen There were a lot of people in townVi hoslashrte mange gode forslag We heard a lot of good proposalsHar hun mange penge Has she got a lot of moneyKom der mange til foredraget Did many come to the talkDer er for mange fattige There are too many poor people

PRONOUNS 73

Note also mange gange many times Klokken er mange Itrsquos late8 Nogen noget nogle(a) Nogen has both attributive and nominal function It may appear with common gender non-countnouns in the singular and with plural nouns when it has negative (or non-assertive) connotations(=English lsquoany(one)rsquo) It therefore often appears with plural nouns in questions and after a negation Ithas the genitive form nogens

Det tog nogen tid at goslashre det It took some time to do itHar du nogen cigaretter Have you got any cigarettesDer er ikke nogen hjemme There is no one at homeEr der nogen der vil have mere kaffe Would anyone like more coffeeJeg kender ikke nogen der kan flyve I donrsquot know anyone who can flyEr det nogens frakke Is that anyonersquos coat

(b) Noget has also attributive and nominal function and may correspond to both lsquosomethingrsquo andlsquoanythingrsquo It can modify non-count nouns (including common gender ones) and adjectives

Har du noget mad (Cf maden) Have you got any foodDer er sket noget alvorligt Something serious has happenedEr der noget i vejen Is somethinganything the matterJeg har faringet noget i oslashjet Irsquove got something in my eye

Note that ikke nogennoget is often used for ingenintet in spoken Danish see 784(c) Nogle (often pronounced like nogen) is due to the conflation in pronunciation largely restricted to thewritten language Here it has positive (or assertive) connotations (=English lsquosome(one)rsquo)

Her ligger nogle aviser There are some newspapers hereNogle mennesker bliver aldrig klogere Some people never get any wiserNogle af boslashrnene kom for sent Some of the children were lateDer er nogle der snyder There are some (people) who cheatEfter nogles mening er det forkert In some peoplersquos view itrsquos wrong

Note that in attributive use nogen often has stress whereas nogle is unstressed

Har du Have you got any stamps (non-assertive)Har du nogle Have you got some stamps (assertive)


6VERBS

VERBS FORMS

79VERB FORMS IN OUTLINE

In modern Danish there is only one form for all persons singular and plural in each of the varioustenses of the verb

Danish has no continuous form of the verb (cf 94) and like English employs auxiliary verbs to helpform the perfect past perfect and future tenses (cf96ff) For learning purposes it is a convenientsimplification to consider the formation of the different verb forms as the addition of an ending to thebasic part of the verbmdashthe stem (see below)

There are four principal conjugations of Danish verbs Conjugations I II and III are weak conjugationswhich form their past tense by means of an ending that adds another syllable to the word ConjugationIV contains strong verbs which form their past tense either without an ending (but often by changingthe stem vowel) or by the ending -t which does not add an extra syllable Below is a table summarisingthe endings for each conjugation and verb form (note that vowel stems have no infinitive -e ending)

Conjugation Imperative=stem

Infinitive=stem +ezero

Present tense=stem+(e)r

WeakI lev leve lever live be alive

tro tro tror believe thinkII spis spise spiser eatIII laeligg laeliggge laeliggger lay putStrongIV drik drikke drikker drink

loslashb loslashbe loslashber runskriv skrive skriver writevind vinde vinder win

Conjugation Past tense Past participle Present participleWeak stem+edetede stem+(e)t stem+endeI levede levet levende

troede troet troendeII spiste spist spisendeIII lagde lagt laeligggendeStrong stem (often with vowel change)

+zerotstem (often with vowel change)+et

IV drak drukket drikkendeloslashb loslashbet loslashbendeskrev skrevet skrivendevandt vundet vindedce

80FIRST CONJUGATION

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaning+ezero +(e)r +ede +etarbejde arbejder arbejdede arbejdet workstudere studerer studerede studeret studytro tror troede troet believe think

More than 80 per cent of weak verbs and all new verbs eg jobbe work lifte hitchhike belong to thisconjugation including those ending in -ere nationalisere nationalise parkere parkExamples of frequent verbs in Conjugation I

arbejde work bygge build elske love forklare explain hade hate handle act shop hentefetch huske remember lave do make lege play lukke close pakke pack proslashve try snakkechat talk spille play vaske wash vente wait aringbne open

Verbs ending in stressed -e -o -aelig -oslash -aring in the infinitive add -r in the present

snemdashsner snow bomdashbor live stay toslashmdashtoslashr thaw naringmdashnaringr reach

Verbs ending in stressed -i -u -y in the infinitive add -(e)r in the present

frimdashfri(e)r propose dumdashdu(e)r be (any) good symdashsy(e)r sew


81SECOND CONJUGATION

Infinitive Present Past Past Participle Meaning+e +er +te +tkende kender kendte kendt knowkoslashre koslashrer koslashrte koslashrt drivespise spiser spiste spist eat

About 10 per cent of Danish weak verbs belong to Conjugation II They include1 Some verbs with stems ending in a long vowel (or a diphthong)+-b soft d soft g -l -n -r -s

koslashbe buy raringbe shout tabe lose bloslashde bleed brede spread foslashde give birth bruge use stegefry soslashge seek dele divide share foslashle feel tale talk laringne borrow lend mene mean thinkhoslashre hear laeligre learn teach laeligse read laringse lock rejse go travel vise show

2 Some verbs with a short vowel and a stem ending in -l(d) -m -nd -ng

bestille do order skille separate fylde fill kalde call glemme forget ramme hit begyndebegin kende know haelignge hang traelignge need push

3 A few verbs with a short vowel and a stem vowel in -ls -nk

frelse save hilse greet taelignke think

4 Very few verbs with a vowel stem

ske happen

5 A number of verbs with vowel change in the past tense

Infinitive Present Past Past Participle Meaningdoslashlge doslashlger dulgte dulgt concealfortaeliglle fortaeligller fortalte fortalt tellfoslashlge foslashlger fulgte fulgt followraeligkke raeligkker rakte rakt passsmoslashre smoslashrer smurte smurt smearsposlashrge sposlashrger spurgte spurgt askstraeligkke straeligkker strakte strakt stretchsaeliglge saeliglger solgte solgt sellsaeligtte saeligtter satte sat placetraeligde traeligder traringdte traringdt steptaeliglle taeligller talte talt countvaeliglge vaeliglger valgte valgt choose

VERBS 77

The g in -lg and -rg is dropped in the pronunciation of the past tense of the following verbs

foslashlgemdashfulgte saeliglgemdashsolgte vaeliglgemdashvalgte sposlashrgemdashspurgte

6 Two irregular verbs

bringe bringer bragte bragt bringvide ved vidste vidst know

7 Some verbs have vowel shortening in the past tense eg

brugermdashbrugte use koslashbermdashkoslashbte buy traeligdemdashtraringdte step

82THIRD CONJUGATION

1 A small group of verbs add the ending -de in the past tense

Infinitive Present Past Past Participle Meaningdoslash doslashr doslashde doslashd diehave har havde haft have

2 The following have both -de and vowel change

goslashre goslashre gjorde gjort dolaeliggge laeliggger lagde lagt lay putsige siger sagde sagt say

3 Two modal verbs are included here

burde boslashr burde burdet ought toturde toslashr turde turdet dare

83FOURTH CONJUGATIONmdashINTRODUCTION

This conjugation includes about 120 strong verbs ie those whose past tense is monosyllabic (except incompound verbs) and formed either by zero-ending and (usually) vowel change or (in a few verbs) byadding the ending -t to the stem with or without vowel change The vowel change often (but notalways) applies to the past participle too which may thus have (i) the stem vowel (ii) the vowel of thepast tense or (iii) a vowel different from both the stem and the past tense

Infinitive Present Past Past participle-ezero -e(r) zero-t (+minusvowel change) +e(t) (+minusvowel change)drikke drikker drak drukket drinkfalde falder faldt faldet fall


Strong verbs are best learnt individually but many follow the same vowel change sequence Thesegradation series are shown below in alphabetical order Weak alternative forms are given in bracketsnote that these sometimes have a different meaning

84FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -a-

Gradation series a-o-a

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningdrage drager drog draget drag gofare farer for (farede) faret hurryjage jager jog (jagede) jaget hurry thrust hunt chaselade lader lod (ladede) ladetladt (ladet) let loadtage tager tog taget take

85FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -e-

1 Gradation series e-a-e

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningbede beder bad bedt ask pray

2 Gradation series e-o-e

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningle ler lo le(e)t laugh

3 Gradation series e-aring-e

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningse ser saring set see look

86FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -i-

Strong verbs with the stem vowel -i- make up the larg gest group They comprise five gradation series1 Gradation series i-a-i

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningbriste brister brast (bristede) bristet break burstgide gider gad gidet feel likegive giver gav givet give

VERBS 79

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningklinge klinger klang (klingede) klinget ring soundsidde sidder sad siddet sitstinke stinker stank stinket stinktie tier tav (tiede) tiet be silent

2 Gradation series i-a-u

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningbinde binder bandt bundet bind tiedrikke drikker drak drukket drinkfinde finder fandt fundet findrinde rinder randt rundet (rindet) pass roll byslippe slipper slap sluppet give up let gospinde spinder spandt spundet spin weavespringe springer sprang sprunget jump springstikke stikker stak stukket prick sticksvinde svinder svandt svundet decreasesvinge svinger svang (svingede) svunget (svinget) swingtvinde tvinder tvandt tvundet twine twisttvinge tvinger tvang tvunget forcevinde vinder vandt vundet win

3 Gradation series i-e-e

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningblive bliver blev blevet be becomedrive driver drev drevet drive idleglide glider gled gledet glide slidegnide gnider gned gnedet rubgribe griber greb grebet catch seizehive hiver hev hevet heave pullknibe kniber kneb knebet pinchpibe piber peb pebet squeakride rider red redet riderive river rev revet scratchskride skrider skred skredet slip walk outskrige skriger skreg skreget cry shoutskrive skriver skrev skrevet writeslibe sliber sleb slebet grindsnige sniger sneg sneget sneak


Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningstige stiger steg steget risesvide svider sved svedet burn singesvige sviger sveg sveget betrayvige viger veg veget retreat yieldvride vrider vred vredet wring

4 Gradation series i-e-i

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningbide bider bed bidt bitelide lider led lidt sufferskide skider sked skidt shitslide slider sled slidt toil wearsmide smider smed smidt throwstride strider stred stridt struggle

5 Gradation series i-aring-iNotice that the stem consonant -g- is dropped in the past tense

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningligge ligger laring ligget lie (position)

87FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -y-

Strong verbs with the stem vowel -y- make up the second largest group They comprise five gradationseries four of which change the vowel to -oslash- in the past tense1 Gradation series y-a-u

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningsynge synger sang sunget singsynke synker sank sunket sink

2 Gradation series y-oslash-o

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningfryse fryser froslashs frosset freeze

VERBS 81

3 Gradation series y-oslash-u

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningbryde bryder broslashd brudt breakbyde byder boslashd budt bid offerfortryde fortryder fortroslashd fortrudt regretskyde skyder skoslashd skudt shoot

4 Gradation series y-oslash-y

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningbetyde betyder betoslashd betydet meanflyde flyder floslashd flydt flowgyde gyder goslashd gydt pour spawngyse gyser goslashs (gyste) gyst shiverlyde lyder loslashd lydt soundnyde nyder noslashd nydt enjoynyse nyser noslashs (nyste) nyst sneezeskryde skryder skroslashd (skrydede) skrydet brag braysnyde snyder snoslashd snydt cheat

5 Gradation series y-oslash-oslash Note the chang ge of consonant in floslashjfloslashjet and loslashjloslashjet

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningflyve flyver floslashj floslashjet flyfyge fyger foslashg foslashget drift sweepkrybe kryber kroslashb kroslashbet crawl creeplyve lyver loslashj loslashjet lie (deceive)ryge ryger roslashg roslashget smokesmyge smyger smoslashg (smygede) smoslashget (smyget) slide slipstryge stryger stroslashg stroslashget cancel iron stroke

88FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -aelig-

Strong verbs with the stem vowel -aelig- comprise six gradation series but each series has very fewmembers1 Gradation series aelig-a-a

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaninggaeliglde gaeliglder gjaldt gjaldt (gaeligldt) apply be valid


2 Gradation series aelig-a-u

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaninghjaeliglpe hjaeliglper hjalp hjulpet helpspraeligkke spraeligkker sprak (spraeligkkede) sprukket (spraeligkket) cracktraeligffe traeligffer traf truffet hit meettraeligkke traeligkker trak trukket draw pull

3 Gradation series aelig-a-aeligThis gradation series has three members note that lsquointrrsquo=intransitive lsquotrrsquo=transitive (cf 103) Kvaeligde isnow old-fashioned and very rare Vaeligre has an irregular present tense form

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaninghaelignge haelignger hang (intr)

(haeligngte) (tr)haeligngt hang

kvaeligde kvaeligder kvad kvaeligdet chant singvaeligre er var vaeligret be exist

4 Gradation series aelig-a-aring

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningbaeligre baeligrer bar baringret bear carryskaeligre skaeligrer skar skaringret cut slicestjaeligle stjaeligler stjal stjaringlet steal

5 Gradation series aelig-o-aelig

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningsvaeligrge svaeligrger svor (svaeligrgede) svoret (svaeligrget) swear

6 Gradation series aelig-aring-aelig

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningaeligde aeligder aringd aeligdt eat gobble

89FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -aring-

Strong verbs with the stem vowel -a- comprise two gradation series each with two members All fourverbs are vowel stems1 Gradation series aring-i-aring

VERBS 83

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningfaring faringr fik faringet get havegaring garingr gik garinget go walk

2 Gradation series aring-o-aring

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningslaring slaringr slog slaringet beat hitstaring star stod staringet stand

90FOURTH CONJUGATION VERBS WITH THE SAME STEM VOWEL IN ALL

FORMS

Seven strong verbs have the same stem vowel in all their forms However they belong to the fourthconjugation since they have a monosyllabic past tense form There are five different stem vowels andtwo of the verbs add -t in the past tense

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaning1 Stem vowel -a-falde falder faldt faldet fall2 Stem vowel -e-hedde hedder hed heddet be called3 Stem vowel -o-holde holder holdt holdt holdkomme kommer kom kommet comesove sover sov sovet sleep4 Stem vowel -aelig-graeligde graeligder graeligd graeligdt cry weep5 Stem vowel -oslash-loslashbe loslashber loslashb loslashbet run

91INFINITIVE

1 FormThe infinitive is formed in one of two ways

Stem InfinitiveConsonant stems stem+-e leg lege playVowel stems stem+zero doslash doslash die


The infinitive form is usually preceded by the infinitive marker at except after modal verbs verbs ofperception and the verbs lade bede2 Use of the infinite without at(a) After the modal auxiliaries burde kunne maringtte skulle ville

Han kan ikke svoslashmme He canrsquot swimJeg skal garing om to minutter I have to go in two minutes

(b) After bede foslashle here lade se often in object+infinitive constructions

Vi hoslashrte ham skrige We heard him cry outJeg saring hende ankomme I saw her arrive

(c) Before the second of two coordinated infinitives

Hun lovede at komme og hjaeliglpe migShe promised to come and help me

(d) In a few idiomatic expressions after faring

Nu faringr vi se Wersquoll see about that

(e) Colloquially in prohibitions or warnings especially to children

Ikke kiggeroslashrepille naeligse Donrsquot looktouchpick your nose

(f) After the (semi-)modals behoslashve gide turde usage may vary

Du behoslashver ikke (at) garing You donrsquot have to goHan gider ikke (at) rydde op He cannot be bothered to tidy upJeg toslashr godt (at) springe ned I dare jump down

3 Use of the infinite with at(a) In two-verb constructions (verb+at+infinitive) with verbs such as

begynde begin beslutte decide forstaring understand forsoslashge try haringbe hope lykkes succeedpleje usually do synes think vaeliglge choose oslashnske want wish

Jeg forsoslashgte at aringbne doslashren I tried to open the doorHun valgte at blive hjemme She chose to stay at home

(b) When the infinitive acts as subject subject complement object or prepositional complement notethat English often uses the gerund (ie lsquo-ingrsquo form) in such cases

At here musik er afslappende Listening to music is relaxingS

Lykken er at spise godt Happiness is to eat well

VERBS 85

SCompJeg laeligrte at tale dansk i skolen I learnt to speak Danish at school

OHan taelignkte paring at garing i teatret He thought of going to the theatre

PrepComp

(c) When the infinitive is the complement of a noun or adjective

Vil du have lidt vand at drikke Would you like some water to drinkDenne bog er svaeligr at forstaring This book is difficult to understand

(d) for at+infinitive indicates intention

Hun gik ind for at hente en bog She went in to fetch a bookHan kom for at tale med os He came to speak to us

NB Danish does not allow a split infinitive ie nothing can stand between at and the infinitive

92PAST PARTICIPLE

1 Form

Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaning-et

I gro gror groede groet growvente venter ventede ventet wait

-tII hoslashre hoslashrer hoslashrte hoslashrt hear

sposlashrge sposlashrger spurgte spurgt ask-t (some exceptions)

III laeliggge laeliggger lagde lagt lay put-et

IV hjaeliglpe hjaeliglper hjalp hjulpet helpvinde vinder vandt vundet win

Mostly -t after -d -tflyde flyder floslashd flydt flow

Notice that in Conjugation IV (strong verbs) the vowel in the past participle may be different from thatin the past tense

When used as an attributive adjective the past participle adds an -e in the definite andor plural formPast participles ending in -et usually end in -ede in the definite andor plural form

en oslashnsket gave a desired present dende oslashnskede gave(r) the desired present(s)


2 Verbal useThe auxiliaries have (harhavde) or vaeligre (ervar)+the past participle form composite tenses

(cf 96ndash97 )

Susanne har skrevet en bog Susanne has written a bookDe havde set filmen They had seen the filmJeg er begyndt at laeligre fransk I have begun to learn FrenchDe var taget til Aarhus They had gone to Aringrhus

The past participle is also used with blive to form one of the passive constructions (cf 105)

Bilen blev standset af politiet The car was stopped by the police

3 Adjectival useAfter the auxiliary vaeligre and in attributive position before a noun the past participle may function as

an adjective (cf 524

Huset er lejet The house is renteddet lejede hus the rented house

Bogen var udvalgt The book was selectedden udvalgte bog the selected bookStillingen er opslaringet The position is advertisedden opslaringede stilling the advertised position

When the past participle is in predicative position and has a plural subject there can be some uncertaintyabout whether it should be inflected(a) Weak verbsmdashuninflected or -ede-e

The uninflected forms with the ending -(e)t inflect in the following ways

Conjugation I -et rarr -ede eg lejet rarr lejede ventet rarr ventedeConjugation II+III -t rarr -te eg kendt rarr kendte vedlagt rarr vedlagte

Both forms are found when denoting a state of affairs but modern Danish increasingly prefers theuninflected form

Husene er lejetlejede The houses are rentedSpillerne er kendtkendte The players are (well-)knownCheckene er vedlagtvedlagte The cheques are enclosed

When the participle is a complement after verbs other than vaeligre the uninflected form is also generallypreferred

De loslashb forskraeligkket(forskraeligkkede) bortThey ran away frightened

(b) Strong verbsmdashuninflected or -en-neIn Conjugation IV the uninflected forms inflect in the following ways

VERBS 87

Singular form ending in -en -en rarr -ne eg stjaringlen rarr stjaringlneSingular form ending in -et -et rarr -ne-ede eg tvunget rarr tvungne opslaringet rarr opslaringedeSingular form ending in -t -t rarr -te eg afbrudt rarr afbrudte

Here too both forms are usually possible but again with a growing preference for the uninflected form

Bilen er stjaringlet (stjaringlen) The car is stolenCf en stjaringlet (stjaringlen) bil a stolen car

den stjaringlne bil the stolen carStillingerne er opslaringet(opslaringede) The positions are advertisedCf en opslaringet stilling an advertised position

den opslaringede stilling the advertised positionForhandlingerne er afbrudt (afbrudte) The negotiations are interruptedCf en afbrudt forhandling an interrupted negotiation

den afbrudte forhandling the interrupted negotiation

(c) Only the uninflected form is used in the passive

Husene er blevet lejetBilerne er blevet stjaringletStillingerne er blevet opslaringet

93PRESENT PARTICIPLE

1 FormThe present participle is formed by adding -ende to the verb stem

I boende II koslashrende III doslashende IV liggendelevende spisende sigende ridende

2 Verbal useThe present participle is used much less as a verbal form in Danish than is the corresponding form withlsquo-ingrsquo in English It occurs mainly(a) In verbs of motion eg cykle cycle garing walk koslashre drive loslashbe run springe jump etc or verbs ofexpression eg bande swear graeligde cry weep le laugh raringbe shout smile smile etc when theyfollow verbs of motion like garing walk komme come loslashbe run etc

Han gik bandendesmilende bort He walked away swearingsmilingDe kom garingendekoslashrendeloslashbende They came walkingdrivingrunningBoslashrnene loslashb graeligdende hjem The children ran home crying


(b) In verbs of position eg haelignge hang ligge lie sidde sit staring stand etc when they follow blive

Hun blev liggendesiddendestaringendeShe remained lyingsittingstanding

(c) In verbs of position eg haelignge hang ligge lie sidde sit staring stand etc when they follow have+object

Han har sin frakke haeligngende i entreenHe has his coat hanging in the hall

Jeg havde min cykel staringende i skuretI had my bike standing in the shed

Note that Danish has no formal equivalent to the English continuous forms (cf941)

She is reading the paper Hun laeligser avisenOR Hun liggersidderstaringr og laeligser avisen

3 Other usesThe present participle can also function as one of the following word classes(a) An adjective

This is by far the most frequent use of the present participle It can occur in both attributive andpredicative position

AttributiveDet var en rammende bemaeligrkning It was an incisive remarkVi star over for et stigende problem We are faced with a growing problemPredicativeHun er charmerendeirriterende She is charmingirritatingHan blev efterharingnden traeligttende He gradually became tiresome

(b) A noun (see also 54)This is especially common when the participle denotes people characterised by some activity Someparticiples can even appear with the indefinite (as well as the definite) article which is very rare inEnglish eg en doslashende a dying person en logerende a lodger en rejsende a traveller en studerende astudent etc

But there are far more examples with the definite article both in the singular and in the plural eg de(n) ankommende the arriving person(s) de(n) besoslashgende the visitor(s) de(n) dansende the dancer(s)de(n) garingende the walking person(s) de(n) paringroslashrende the relative(s) de(n) ventende the waiting person(s) etc

Den besoslashgende var en ung dame The visitor was a young womanDe paringroslashrende blev underrettet The relatives were informed

The present participle can also appear in the genitive

de rejsendes baggage the travellersrsquo luggage

VERBS 89

There are a few examples of neuter nouns

et anliggende a (business) matter et indestaringende a bank balance etc

(c) An adverbAs an adverb the present participle usually acts as an amplifier (cf 1092) for an adjective

Hans taelignder er blaeligndende hvide His teeth are dazzlingly whiteDet var braeligndende varmt i solen It was burning hot in the sunHun sang imponerende godt She sang impressively well

Very few present participle forms are adverbs proper eg udelukkende exclusively

TENSES

94PRESENT TENSE

The present tense expresses1 What is happening here and now (instantaneous present) (see also 932(c))

Hvad laver du Lise Whatrsquore you doing LiseJeg sidder og skriver Irsquom (sitting) writing

Danish has no exact equivalent to the English continuous forms but apart from the present tense certainconstructions are used to indicate an ongoing state or action eg

Jeg er i faeligrdgang med at skrive Irsquom writingJeg er ved at lave mad Irsquom cooking

2 Statements of general facts (timeless present)

Jorden kredser rundt om solen The Earth orbits the SunKoslashbenhavn ligger paring Sjaeliglland Copenhagen is situated on Zealand

3 What is often repeated (habitual present)

Om mandagen begynder vi kl 8 On Mondays we begin at 8 orsquoclockHvert aringr rejser vi til Frankrig Every year we go to France

4 Events in the (near) future

I morgen rejser vi til England Tomorrow we are going to EnglandJeg kommer snart tilbage Irsquoll soon be back


5 Events in the past that are dramatised (historic or dramatic present)

I 1914 udbryder 1 verdenskrig In 1914 World War I breaks out

95PAST TENSE

The past tense expresses1 An action at a definite point in the past (without reference to lsquonowrsquo)(a) Past tense only

Vi plantede et traelig i haven We planted a tree in the garden

(b) Often with a time marker

For ti aringr siden boede jeg i Danmark Ten years ago I lived in DenmarkVi kom sent hjem i aftes We came home late last night

2 What was often repeated in the past

Vi gik tit paring pub i England We often went to the pub in England

This is often rendered by plejede at used to

Vi plejede at garing ud om loslashrdagen We used to go out on Saturdays

96PERFECT TENSE

Transitive verbs plus intransitive verbs not expressing motion (including have and vaeligre) use har+thepast participle to form the perfect tense

Jeg har slaringet graeligsset I have cut the grassHan har haft mange gaeligster He has had many guestsVi har vaeligret paring Madeira We have been to Madeira

Some intransitive verbs primarily those expressing motion or change use er+the past participle

Kufferten er forsvundet The suitcase has disappearedHun er kommet hjem She has come homeHvad er der sket What has happenedJohn er blevet sagfoslashrer John has become a lawyer

Intransitive verbs expressing motion may occasionally express either an action or a state of affairs

Action Han har garinget hele vejen He has walked all the wayState Nu er han garinget Now he has leftAction Har du flyttet sofaen Have you moved the sofa

VERBS 91

State De er flyttet til England They have moved to England

The perfect tense establishes a link between the past and the present This may take the followingforms1 An action at an indeterminate time in the past but seen from the present

Hun har besoslashgt sin bror i Kina She has visited her brother in ChinaHan er begyndt at ryge igen He has started smoking again

2 An action in the past that has consequences for the present

Det har sneet hele natten It has snowed all night (Itrsquos still white)Der har vaeligret indbrud There has been a burglary (Things are missing)

3 An action repeated in the past but seen from the present

Jeg har vaeligret i Sverige flere gangeI have been in Sweden several times

Vi har set mange film i aringrWe have seen many films this year

4 An action continuing from the past into the presentmdashwith a time adverbial

Jeg har boet i Birkeroslashd i ti aringr (og bor der endnu)I have lived in Birkeroslashd for ten years (and still live there)Cf Jeg har boet i Birkeroslashd (paring et tidspunkt men bor der ikke laeligngere)

I lived in Birkeroslashd (at some stage but donrsquot live there any longer)

5 An action in the (near) future expressed in a subordinate clause that will be completed before theaction expressed in the main clause

Naringr jeg har afsluttet bogen tager vi paring ferieWhen I have finished the book wersquoll go on holiday

97PAST PERFECT TENSE

The past perfect (or pluperfect) tense is formed with havdevar+the past participle (cf the perfect tensein 96)

Han havde spist da du ringede He had eaten when you phonedMoslashdet var begyndt da vi kom The meeting had started when we came

The past perfect is used to express an action in the past that took place before another action indicatedby the past tense


Da jeg naringede derhen var bussen koslashrtWhen I got there the bus had gone

Poul fortalte os at han havde vaeligret sygPoul told us that he had been ill

The past perfect may also be used to describe hypothetical events

Hvis du ikke havde drukket saring meget kunne du have koslashrt hjemIf you hadnrsquot drunk so much you could have driven home (But you have)

Hun ville have hjulpet dig hvis du havde bedt hende om detShe would have helped you if you had asked her (But you havenrsquot)

98FUTURE TENSE

Although there is no formal future tense in Danish (as there is in French for example) the combinationof vil+infinitive is the nearest equivalent and the most neutral way of expressing future reference

Hvad vil der ske What will happenI naeligste uge vil det vaeligre for sent Next week will be too late

However the future may be expressed in other ways too notably the following1 skal+infinitive implies an arrangement or a promise A directional adverbial may replace theinfinitive to denote an arrangement Note that a promise usually has a first person subject and oftenincludes the modal adverb nok as an extra assurance

Vi skal modes i biografen We are meeting at the cinemaHan skal til Falster paring soslashndag Hersquos going to Falster on SundayJeg skal nok sende pengene i dag Irsquoll send the money today

2 Present tense with time adverbialIt is more common in Danish than in English to use the present tense with future meaning This oftenbut not always refers to the near future

Vi tager til Bornholm i naeligste uge We are going to Bornholm next weekOm tre aringr garingr han paring pension In three years hersquoll retire

3 Present tense of blive faring komme often without a time adverbial

Tror du det bliver kedeligt Do you think it will be boringVi faringr godt vejr Itrsquos going to be nice weatherDer kommer mange til festen A lot of people are coming to the party

VERBS 93

99DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF TENSES

1 Present tense in Danishmdashpast tense in EnglishIn passive constructions when an action is completed but the result remains

Bogen er skrevet i 1949 The book was written in 1949Slottet er bygget i 1500-tallet The castle was built in the sixteenth centuryHun er foslashdt i Nyborg She was born in Nyborg

2 Present tense in Danishmdashperfect tense in English

Er det foslashrste gang du er her Is it the first time you have been here

3 Simple present tense in Danishmdashpresent continuous form in English

Hvad laver boslashrnene What are the children doingDe (sidder og) ser fjernsyn They are (sitting) watching TV

4 Past tense in Danishmdashpresent tense in EnglishEspecially to express spontaneous feelings (emotive past tense)

Det var synd for dig Thatrsquos a pity for youDet var paelignt af dig Thatrsquos really nice of youVar der mere Is there anything else

5 Perfect tense in Danishmdashpast tense in EnglishWith emphasis on the result rather than the action

Branner har skrevet Rytteren Branner wrote The Riding MasterDin mor har ringet Your mother rangHvor har du laeligrt dansk Where did you learn Danish

MOOD

100MOOD AND MODAL VERBS

1 The attitude of the speaker to the activity expressed in the verb is indicated by

Modal verb Vi maring loslashbe We must runImperative Sov godt Sleep wellSubjunctive Frederik laelignge leve Long live Frederik

2 Modal verbs have irregular forms in particular the present tense


Infinitive Present Past Past participle Meaningburde boslashr burde burdet should ought tokunne kan kunne kunnet canmaringtte maring maringtte maringttet may mustskulle skal skulle skullet must shallturde toslashr turde turdet dareville vil ville villet will want to

3 Modal verbs also differ from other verbs in that

bull whereas other verbs only denote timetense (pastpresentfuture) the modals also express thespeakerrsquos own commitment or attitude to what is said

bull modal verbs are used as auxiliary verbs in two-verb constructions with a main verb in the infinitive

Jeg kan ikke loslashbe laeligngere I canrsquot run any further (ability)Det maring vaeligre det rigtige hus It must be the right house (logical necessity)

However modals may also combine with a directional adverbial without an infinitive

Naring jeg maring hjem nu Well Irsquoll have to go home nowDe skal i biografen i aften They are going to the cinema tonight

4 Use of the modal verbs(a) burde

probabilityOrdet burde findes i ordbogen The word ought to be in the dictionarystrong recommendationDu boslashrburde se den forestilling You ought to see that performancemoral obligationMan boslashr ikke lyve One ought not to lie

(b) kunne

possibility probabilityHun kan vaeligre faret vild She may have got lostProjektet kunne udfoslashres The project could be carried outpermission prohibitionHan kan (ikke) laringne min bil He cancanrsquot borrow my carabilityHan kan ikke cykle He canrsquot (ie is not able to) ride a bike

(c) maringtte

logical necessityHun maring have glemt tasken der She must have left her bag there

VERBS 95

hopeMaring han dog snart faring fred May he soon be at peacepermission prohibitionGraeligsset maring (ikke) betraeligdes You maymust notwalk on the grasscommandNu maring du altsaring garing You really must go now

(d) skulle

rumourDe skal vaeligre rejst til Spanien They are said to have gone to Spainfuture in the pastDet skulle blive endnu vaeligrre Worse was to comearrangementVi skal moslashdes kl 16 We are going to meet at 4 pmpromiseDet skal jeg nok soslashrge for Irsquoll see to thatcommandDu skal goslashre hvad jeg siger You must do what I tell youhypotheticalHvis han skulle sposlashrge dighellip If he were to ask youhellipuncertaintyHvad skal jeg goslashre What shall I do

Note also

Vi skal lige til at spise We are about to eatTak skal du have Thank you

(e) turde

idiomatic useDet toslashr anses for sikkert athellip It may safely be assumed thathellipbravery (=dare)Han toslashr ikke sige sandheden He dare not tell the truth

(f) ville

futureHan vil vaeligre her om en halv time He will be here in half an hourvolitionJeg vil have en is I want an ice creamJeg vil ikke baeligre tasken I wonrsquot carry the baghypotheticalEn gratis billet ville vaeligre dejligt A free ticket would be nice

Note that vil(le) gerne corresponds to English lsquowould like torsquo and vil(le) hellere to lsquowould ratherrsquo


101IMPERATIVE

1 Form the imperative has the same form as the stem

Infinitive Imperativevowel stem garing Garingconsonant stem standse Standswith double consonant komme Kom

2 Use(a) The imperative is used to express a command a request a wish or a piece of advice

Stop StopHent avisen Fetch the newspaperHjaeliglp mig et oslashjeblik Help me a momentKoslashr hellere lidt langsommere Better drive a little more slowlySov godt Sleep well

(b) All imperatives are technically second person but the subject pronoun (du De or I) is onlyoccasionally made explicit notably to express a contrast and in reflexive forms

Sid du der saring laver jeg kaffe You sit there and Irsquoll make the coffeeSkynd digjer Hurry up

(c) A command etc may be softened by adding adverbs such as bare lige etc

with bare Goslashr du bare det You just do thatwith lige Giv mig lige bogen Just hand me the book please

102SUBJUNCTIVE

The present subjunctive form is identical to the form of the infinitive It is rarely used nowadays andthen only in a few fixed expressions

Wishes Gud velsigne dig May God bless youUlrik laelignge leve Long live Ulrik

Curses Fanden tage ham May the Devil take himConcessions takket vaeligre hende thanks to her

koste hvad det vil whatever the cost

The subjunctive in unreal situations is often expressed by the use of bare or gid with the past tense

Bare der snart skete noget If only something would happen soonGid det var saring vel If only it were like that

VERBS 97

Notice that English lsquowerersquo subjunctive is often the equivalent of Danish var indicative

Hvis jeg var dighellip If I were youhellip

TYPES OF VERB

103TRANSITIVE INTRANSITIVE COPULA AND REFLEXIVE VERBS

1 Transitive verbs have a direct object (DO)

Jakob koslashbte en computer Jakob bought a computerDO

Other transitive verbs gribe catch huske remember sige say tage take vide know etcDitransitive verbs have both an indirect object (IO) and a direct object

Pia gav Helle en gave Pia gave Helle a presentIO DO

Other ditransitive verbs fortaeliglle tell love promise laringne lend meddele inform sende send etc2 Intransitive verbs cannot have a direct object

Den lille sover The baby is asleep

Other intransitive verbs doslash die graeligde weep fryse be cold freeze lyve tell a lie etcNote however that some transitive verbs can be used intransitively the object being latent

Vi spiser [X] kl 19 (eg middag) We are eating [X] at 7 pm (eg dinner)Sposlashrg [X] hvis du ikke forstaringr det Ask [X] if you donrsquot understand it

Other latent transitive verbs drikke drink hjaeliglpe help tabe lose vaske wash vinde win etc3 Some transitiveintransitive verbs in Danish exist in pairs

Transitive Intransitivefaeliglde fell falde falllaeliggge lay place ligge liestille place (upright) staring standsaelignke sink (eg a ship) synke sink (eg in the water)saeligtte set place sidde sit

Note that in these pairs transitive verbs are usually weak and intransitive verbs strong In one caseboth verbs are weak

vaeligkke wake (someone) up varinggne wake up (of onersquos own accord)


4 Copula verbs are empty verbs that require a subject complement (adjective or noun) rather than anobject to complete their meaning The most common examples are blive and vaeligre

Knud blev ingenioslashr Knud became an engineerDe er meget venlige They are very kind

Other copulas forblive remain forekomme seem lyde sound sehellipud appear synes seem etc5 Reflexive verbs consist of verb+the appropriate reflexive pronoun the latter functions as the objectand agrees in form and meaning with the subject (cf 6770)

Sonja gemte sig Sonja hid (herself) (Reflexive)Cf Sonja gemte pakken Sonja hid the parcel (Object)

Other reflexive verbs barbere sig shave bevaeligge sig move glaeligde sig til look forward to opfoslashre sigbehave rede sig comb onersquos hair skynde sig hurry vaske sig wash (oneself) vende sig turn aroundetc(a) Many reflexive verbs in Danish are non-reflexive in English

Du har forandret dig You have changedDe giftede sig They (got) marriedJeg kedede mig I was boredHun satte sig She sat downParret viste sig paring balkonen The couple appear on the balcony

(b) Many reflexive verbs express movement

begive sig set offbevaeligge sig moveboslashje sig bendlaeliggge sig lie downrejse sig get upsaeligtte sig sit downvende sig turn (round)

(c) The reflexive pronoun usually comes in the subject position (n) in the clause but it follows anysubject pronoun in that position (cf 150)

Gaeligsterne morede sig meget The guests enjoyed themselves a lotI aftes morede de sig ikke Last night they didnrsquot enjoy themselves

-s VERBS AND THE PASSIVE

104-s FORMS DEPONENT AND RECIPROCAL VERBS

1 Forms of -s verbs (for passive forms see 105)

VERBS 99

Infinitive Present Past Past participle MeaningI mindes mindes mindedes mindedes recallII synes synes syntes syntes thinkIV slarings slarings sloges sloges fight

2 UsesThere are three distinct uses

bull Deponent Det lykkedes ham at komme ind i husetHe succeeded in getting into the house

bull Reciprocal Vi moslashdes ved raringdhusetWersquoll meet at the town hall

bull Passive Middagen serveres kl 19 (See 105)Dinner is served at 7 pm

3 Deponent verbsDeponent verbs are verbs that have passive form (ie -s form) but active meaning Deponent verbs donot usually have a form without -s unlike verbs in the passive

Deponent verbs include

fattes be lacking findes be exist faeligrdes move travel laelignges long lykkes succeed mindesrecall mislykkes fail omgarings mix with synes seem trives do well aeligldes age etc

4 Reciprocal verbsReciprocal verbs usually (but not always) have a plural subject and the individuals denoted by thesubject each carry out the action simultaneously Reciprocal action may also be expressed by using thereciprocal pronoun hinanden each other (cf 71)

Vi ses i morgen Wersquoll meet tomorrowDe skiltes som gode venner They parted as good friendsHan slarings ofte med sin bror He often fights with his brother

Reciprocal verbs include

brydes wrestle enes agree foslashlges (ad) accompany (each other) hjaeliglpes ad help (each other)moslashdes meet samles gather ses meet skiftes take turns skilles part separate skaeligndesquarrel slarings fight tales ved talk traeligffes meet traeligttes quarrel etc

105THE PASSIVE

1 Form of the -s passive

Infinitive Present Past Past participle MeaningI cons ventes ventes ventedes ndash be expectedI vowel ros ros roedes ndash be rowed (of a boat)


Infinitive Present Past Past participle MeaningII bruges bruges brugtes ndash be usedIII goslashres goslashres gjordes ndash be doneIV ses ses sarings ndash be seen

Note that the -s passive does not normally have a past participle form composite tenses are formed withthe blive passive (see below)2 Compare the following sentences

Active clause Drengensubject (agent)

griberactive verb

boldenobject (patient)

The boy catches the ball

Passive clause Boldensubject (patient)

gribespassive verb

af drengenprep phrase (agent)

The ball is caught by the boy

The transformation from an active to a passive clause involves three changes

Active Passiveobject rarr subjectsubject rarr (af+) prepositional complementactive verb form rarr passive verb form

However the semantic roles of agent and patient remain unchanged though the focus changes fromagent to patient in the passive clause Note that the passive transformation usually requires atransitive verb but see (7) below

The agent is often omitted in passive clauses when the person carrying out the action is eitherunknown or unimportant in the context

Doslashrene aringbnes kl 20 The doors open at 8 pmOrdet udtales med lsquostoslashdrsquo The word is pronounced with a glottal stopMiddagen serveredes i spisesalen Dinner was served in the dining hallMoslashdet blev holdt for lukkede doslashre The meeting was held behind closed doorsMin bil er blevet stjaringlet My car has been stolen

There are two main types of passive

bull -s passive Huset males The house is (being) paintedbull blive passive Huset bliver malet The house is (being) painted

A third type also exists however (expressing a state or result)

bull vaeligre passive Huset er malet The house is (now) painted

VERBS 101

3 Forms of the passive for male (paint)

-s passive blive passiveInfinitive (at) males (at) blive maletPresent males bliver maletPast maledes blev maletPerfect ndash er blevet maletPast perfect ndash var blevet malet

4 The -s passiveThis is far less common than the blive passive It is quite rare in the past tense and is virtually non-existent in the past participle It is mainly used

bull in the infinitive with modal verbs that express notions such as obligation permission prohibitionvolition etc

Svaret boslashr sendes til kontoret The answer should be sent to the officeDer maring spises nu You may start eating nowGraeligsset maring ikke betraeligdes Do not walk on the grassKlagen skal undersoslashges The complaint has to be investigatedHan vil klippes lige nu He wants to have his hair cut right now

bull in the present tense to express a habitual or repeated action (but see (5) below)

Lysene taeligndes kl 21 The lights go on at 9 pmVarerne bringes ud om fredagen The goods are delivered on Fridays

Some verbs can only form the passive using -s eg behoslashve need eje own have have skylde owe videknow

bull the -s passive can also occur in the past tense but this use is very limited

De ventedes foslashrst hjem kl 21 They were not expected home till 9 pmHan sarings ofte paring galopbanen He was often seen at the racecourse

5 The blive passiveThis is more common than the -s passive and is the only option in the composite tenses It is normallyused

bull After modal verbs expressing possibility or future promise

Per kan blive udtaget til holdetPer may be picked for the team (It may happen)

Cf Per kan udtages til holdetPer can be picked for the team (Nothing prevents it)


Bilen skal blive vasket i dagThe car will be washed today (I promise it will be)

Cf Bilen skal vaskes i dagThe car is to be washed today (It has been arranged)

Hun vil blive forfremmetShe will be promoted (Itrsquos certain)

Cf Hun vil forfremmesShe wants to be promoted (Itrsquos her wish)

bull To express a single action

Min soslashn er blevet inviteret ud My son has been invited outCf Min soslashn inviteres tit ud My son is often invited outNu blev lysene taeligndt Now the lights came onCf Lysene taeligndes hver aften The lights come on every evening

Either the -s passive or the blive passive may be used to indicate a recurrent activity

Der stjaeligles biler hver dagDer bliver stjaringlet biler hver dagCars are stolen every day

6 The vaeligre passive(a) The participle is a verbUsually vaeligre+past participle indicates the result of an action ie a state rather than an action

Bilen er vasket STATERESULT The car is washedBilen er blevet vasket ACTION The car has been washed

In the plural the past participle form often remains unchanged (cf 92)

Bilerne er vasket(vaskede) The cars are washed

(b) The participle is an adjectiveThe participle remains in the -t form in the singular irrespective of the gender of the noun but inflectsin the plural

Pigen er forelsket The girl is in lovePigerne er forelskede The girls are in loveFordelen er begraelignset The advantage is limitedFordelene er begraelignsede The advantages are limited

7 Impersonal passive constructions can unlike all others have either a transitive or an intransitiveverb

VERBS 103

Der spises meget flaeligskekoslashd i DanmarkA lot of pork is eaten in Denmark

Der blev talt meget om planenThey talked much about the plan

Der blev danset hele nattenThere was dancing all night

COMPOUND VERBS

106COMPOUND VERBS

1 There are two kinds of compound verb

bull Inseparable compounds in which the first element forms an integral part of the verb

Compare tale speak with bagtale slander betale pay indtale record overtale persuade

bull Separable compounds in which the prefix may separate from the verb

(a) Where there is little or no difference in meaning between the compounded and separated forms

underskrivemdashskrive under sign

(b) Where there is a difference in meaning between the compounded and separated forms

udtale pronounce tale ud finish speaking

2 Inseparable compounds include verbs compounded with

nouns kaeligderyge chain smoke stoslashvsuge vacuum cleanadjectives dybfryse deep-freeze renskrive make a fair copy

verbs sultestrejke be on hunger strike oslashsregne pour with rainnumerals fir(e)doble quadrupleunstressed prefixes bedoslashmme judge forblive remainstressed prefixes anbefale recommend undslippe escape

3 Separable compounds include verbs compounded with


stressed particles rejse bort go awaysvare igen answer backstige ned descendgoslashre om repeatlukke op open unlockarbejde over work overtimesehellipud look

The particles are often prepositions or adverbs Note that the stress is on the particle4 Some compound verbs exist in both the compounded and the separated form(a) With (virtually) the same meaning the compounded form tends to be more formal

afskaeligremdashskaeligre af cut offdeltagemdashtage del take partfastgoslashremdashgoslashre fast securefremrykkemdashrykke frem advanceindsendemdashsende ind send innedrivemdashrive ned demolishopgivemdashgive op give upudvaeliglgemdashvaeliglge ud select

(b) With different meaning where the compounded form tends to have figurativeabstract meaning andthe separated form literal meaning

afsaeligtte remove depose saeligtte af set down take offindse realise se ind look intooversaeligtte translate saeligtte over jump over put (eg the kettle) onunderstrege emphasise strege under underline

VERBS 105

106

7ADVERBS

107ADVERBSmdashFORM

Adverbs form a heterogeneous group but the following are the major types1 Simple adverb

aldrig never da then der there dog however her here ikke not jo you know just exactlykun only lidt somewhat a little meget much very netop exactly nok probably nu nownaeligppe scarcely naeligsten almost ofte often straks immediately vel I suppose

2 Adverbs derived from other word classesMany adverbs derive from adjectives by adding the ending -t to the common gender singular form

+t dejligt daringrligt fint godt hoslashjt langt smuktdelightfully badly nicely well loudly far beautifully

The neuter singular form of the adjective is then identical with the adverb

Hun gav et hoslashjt skrig fra sig Hun skriger hoslashjt She gave a loud shriek She shrieks loudly

adjective adverb

Other adverbs are derived from adjectives and other word classes through the addition of a variety ofsuffixes

+deles aldeles completely fremdeles still saeligrdeles extremely+ledes anderledes different saringledes thus+maeligssig(t) forholdsmaeligssig(t) proportionately lovmaeligssig(t) legally regelmaeligssig(t) regularly+s dels partly ellers otherwise indendoslashrs indoors udendoslashrs out of doors+sinde ingensinde never nogensinde ever+steds andetsteds somewhere else intetsteds nowhere nogetsteds anywhere+vis heldigvis luckily muligvis possibly naturligvis naturally sandsynligvis probably

Both present and past participles (cf 91f) may also be used as adverbs

forbavsende amazingly overbevisende convincingly begejstret enthusiastically

Notes1 Adverbs derived from adjectives that do not take -t in their neuter singular form (cf 46 48) donot add -t nor do the adverbs listed above ending in -deles -ledes -s -sinde -steds -vis and thosederived from participles For adverbs ending in -maeligssig the -t is optional but is normally added2 Adverbs derived from adjectives in -(l)ig add -t when modifying a verb (ie when used as adverbsof manner) but do not normally add -t when modifying other word classes (see amplifiers anddiminishers in 109 below)

Hun spiller dejligt Det var en dejlig varm sommerShe plays delightfully It was a delightfully hot summer

3 Compound adverb

alligevel nevertheless altid always bagefter afterwards derfor therefore efterharingndengradually endnu still hidtil so far igen again maringske perhaps ogsaring also rigtignok certainlysimpelthen simply stadigvaeligk still vistnok probably

108COMPARISON OF ADVERBS

1 Adverbs derived from adjectives have the same comparative and superlative forms as their adjectivalcounterparts be they regular or irregular

Positive Comparative Superlativedaringrligt daringrligerevaeligrre daringrligstvaeligrst badlygodt bedre bedst welllangt laeligngere laeligngst far (of distance)sent senere senest latetidligt tidligere tidligst early

2 A few other adverbs compare as follows

gerne hellere helst willinglylaelignge laelignger(e) laeligngst for a long timeofte oftere oftest oftentit tiere tiest oftenvel bedre bedst well

3 Adverbs ending in -maeligssig and -vis do not normally compare4 Adverbs derived from present and past participles compare with mere mest meremestoverbevisende moremost convincingly


109USE OF ADVERBS

1 Adverbs may modify

bull a verb Han loslashber hurtigtHe runs fast

bull an adjective Damen er utrolig rigThe lady is incredibly rich

bull an adverb Hun loslashber forbavsende hurtigtShe runs amazingly fast

bull a clause Han er ofte hjemme(see 145) Hersquos often at home

2 AmplifiersThese are adverbs especially those denoting degree or kind that are used to amplify or strengthen themeaning of an adjective or another adverb

alt for far too ganske absolutely quite meget very ret rather

Det er ganske rigtigtThatrsquos perfectly correct

Han synger meget bedre end sin soslashsterHe sings much better than his sister

Adverbs derived from adjectives are frequently used as amplifiers

Det var en frygtelig kedelig filmIt was a dreadfully boring film

Hun er en ualmindelig begavet studerendeShersquos an unusually gifted student

3 DiminishersBy contrast these are adverbs that are used to lessen or weaken the meaning of an adjective or anotheradverb

dels partly lidt (a) little nok enough naeligsten almost slet ikke not at all temmelig fairlyrather

Kan du koslashre lidt langsommereCan you drive a little more slowly

Han var slet ikke glad for at vaeligre derHe wasnrsquot at all happy to be there

ADVERBS 109

110ADVERBS INDICATING LOCATION AND MOTION

1 Danish adverbs of place show a distinction between motion and location which is now no longer foundin English One form (the shorter form) is found with verbs indicating motion towards a place andanother (the longer form) with verbs indicating location at a place Compound adverbial formsexpressing this distinction are also possible

MOTION TOWARDSHun kom hjem She came homeLOCATIONHun er hjemme She is at homeMOTION TOWARDSHan garingr ud i haven Hersquos going out into the gardenLOCATIONHan garingr ude i haven Hersquos walking in the garden

2 The adverbs which have two forms in this way are

Motion towards Location Compounds(Where to) (Where)rarrbull bullbort (away) borte (away)frem (forward) fremme (forward)hjem (tohome) hjemme (athome) herhjem derhjem

herhjemme derhjemme(herethereat home)

ind (in) inde (in(side)) herind derindherinde derinde

(in herethere)

ud (out) ude (out(side)) herud derudherude derude

(out herethere)

op (up) oppe (up) herop deropheroppe deroppe

(up herethere)

ned (down) nede (down) herned dernedhernede dernede

(down herethere)

hen (over) henne (over) herhen derhenherhenne derhenne

(over herethere)

om (over) omme (over) herom deromheromme deromme

(over herethere)

over (over) ovre (over) herover deroverherovre derovre

(over herethere)

Examples of use

Hvornaringr er vi fremme i Aringrhus When will we get to AringrhusHvornaringr naringr vi frem til Aringrhus When will we get to AringrhusBogen laring henne paring bordet The book lay over on the tableLaeligreren gik hen til bordet The teacher went over to the table


Der er en have omme bag huset There is a garden behind the houseDe gik om bag huset They went behind the house

111SOME DIFFICULT ADVERBS

1 gerne lsquowillinglyrsquo etc

Jeg goslashr det gerne Irsquoll willingly do itJeg vil gerne have en oslashl I would like a beer pleaseHan laeligser gerne romaner He is fond of reading novelsDet tror jeg gerne Irsquom fully prepared to believe it

2 ikke lsquonotrsquo lsquonorsquo

Jeg kender ham ikke I donrsquot know himHan er ikke stoslashrre end sin soslashster Hersquos no bigger than his sister

Ikke is also used either on its own or together with ogsaring or sandt as a lsquoquestion tagrsquo following positivestatements

Vejret er koldt ikke (ogsaringsandt) The weatherrsquos cold isnrsquot it

After negative statements vel is used for this purpose instead

Vejret var ikke koldt vel The weather wasnrsquot cold was it

3 langt laeligngeBoth words originally derive from lang but have different meanings

langt far laelignge for a long timeEr der langt til byen Har I boet her laeligngeIs it far to town Have you lived here long

4 da dog jo lige nemlig nok nu sgu skam vel vistThese are unstressed modal adverbs expressing the speakerrsquos attitude to what (s)he is saying and it isdifficult to give exact rules for their idiomatic use Notice the following examples

Det var da godt du kom Du har da faringet pengeneIrsquom very glad that yoursquove come You have received the money I hopeHvor er Karen dog rar Hvorfor gjorde hun dog detKaren really is a nice girl Why on earth did she do thatHun er jo syg i dag Vil du lige holde mit glasShersquos ill today as you know Would you just hold my glass pleaseHan var nemlig meget rig Han havde to biler nemlig en Jaguar og en BMWHe was very rich you see He had two cars a Jaguar and a BMW

ADVERBS 111

Jeg tror nok vi vinder Det maring du nok sigeI think wersquoll probably win You can say that againDet er nu ikke rigtigt Det ved jeg sgu ikkeThatrsquos not right you know How the hell should I knowTom er skam i Odense Du har vel ikke et lommetoslashrklaeligdeTomrsquos in Odense to be sure You havenrsquot got a handkerchief by any chanceDet mener du vel ikke Jeg var vist fuld i aftesYou donrsquot really mean that do you I guess I was drunk last night


8PREPOSITIONS

112PREPOSITIONSmdashINTRODUCTION

Prepositions are indeclinable words ie they always have the same form Prepositions usually govern acomplement and preposition+complement is called a prepositional phrase1 Types of prepositionAccording to form there are four types of preposition(a) Simple prepositionsThese consist of a single indivisible word and include the most common prepositions such as af efterfra i med paring til ved(b) Compound prepositionsThe preposition i may be prefixed to four other independent prepositions (blandt gennem mellem mod)to form the compound prepositions iblandt igennem imellem imod which are more formal variants ofthe simple ones Note that ifoslashlge (according to) is composed of a preposition+a noun(c) Complex prepositions

These are made up of two or more words including at least one preposition which in terms of meaningform a unit There are four main types(i) Adverb+prepositionTogether this combination indicates different types of direction or location Note that some of theadverbs have a short form for directionmotion eg hen ind ned op ud and a long form for locationeg henne inde nede oppe ude (see also 110) Thus

MotionTina gik ud i haven Tina went into the gardenLocationTina gik ude i haven Tina walked (around) in the garden

(ii) Preposition+noun+prepositionAs in English there are numerous examples of this construction eg af frygt for for fear of i stedet forinstead of med hensyn til as regards paring grund af because of ved hjaeliglp af by means of etc (iii) Preposition+og+prepositionThese are most often opposites in meaning and thus contrastive such as (staring) af og paring (bussen) (get) onand off (the bus) for og imod (forslaget) for and against (the proposal) til og fra (arbejde) to and from(work) etc

A few examples with med (with) as the second element can have a reinforcing effect eg fra og med(torsdag) from and including (Thursday) til og med (i morgen) up to and including (tomorrow) etcNote also i og med athellip lsquogiven the fact thathelliprsquo(iv) Discontinuous prepositionsIn some cases the complement is surrounded or bracketed by two prepositions and the three elementsform a prepositional phrase ie the second preposition does not have a separate complement (unlike theexamples in (ii) above) Examples ad (helvede) til like hell (lit towards hell) for (mange aringr) siden(many years) ago fra (nu) af from (now) onwards etc2 Types of prepositional complement

bull a noun (phrase)

De tog paring en lang ferie med boslashrneneThey went on a long holiday with the children

Vi gik rundt i den dejlige lille byWe walked around in the lovely little town

bull an object pronoun

Jeg boede hos dem i en uge I stayed with them for a week

Notice that after a preposition the pronoun in Danish as in English must be in the object form

bull an infinitive (phrase)

Han gik uden at sige nogetHe left without saying anything

Hun er bange for at garing ud aleneShersquos afraid of going out alone

bull a subordinate clause introduced by at or an interrogative word (a hv-word)

Hun var sikker paring at hun havde retShe was sure that she was right

Hun er bange for hvad der vil skeShersquos afraid of what will happen

Notice that in English a preposition cannot govern a lsquothatrsquo clause in this way

bull a prepositional phrase

Billetter kan bestilles fra i dagTickets may be booked from today


og de kan afhentes indtil paring fredagand they can be collected until Friday

3 The position of prepositionsPrepositions may adopt three different positions relative to the complement

bull before the complement (the vast majority of Danish prepositions do this)

fra hans mor from his motheri stuen in the living roommed en kniv with a knifetil Danmark to Denmark

bull after the complement (very few prepositions do this)

dagen igennem throughout the dayHan blev natten over He stayed overnightthe night

bull bracketing the complement (lsquodiscontinuousrsquo) (see 112(c)(iv)

for ti aringr siden ten years ago

On rare occasions a preposition forms a bracketing expression together with a noun

for din skyld for your sakeparing firmaets vegne on behalf of the firm

Notice that in Danish the preposition may be placed as the last element in a clause

bull in hv- questions (See 77)

Hvad taelignker du paring What are you thinking about

bull in relative clauses (See 75ndash76158)

Det er hende (som) jeg droslashmmer omShe is the one that I dream of

bull when the prepositional complement occupies the topic position (149)

Ham kan man ikke stole paring Hersquos not to be relied on(Cf Man kan ikke stole paring ham)

bull in infinitive phrases

Her er noget at staring paring Herersquos something to stand on

PREPOSITIONS 115

4 Stressed and unstressed prepositionsThe most common monosyllabic prepositions (ad af for fra hos i med om paring til ved) are unstressedwhen their complement is stressed but stressed when their complement (usually a pronoun) isunstressed

Stressed complement Unstressed complementDet var paelignt af din at skrive Det var paelignt ham at skriveIt was nice of your friend to write It was nice of him to writeJeg har ikke hoslashrt fra min Jeg har ikke hoslashrt hendeI havenrsquot heard from my aunt I havenrsquot heard from her

Another group of prepositions (bag efter foran forbi foslashr (i)gennem (i)mod (i)mellem inden indtillangs omkring over siden uden under) most of them having more than one syllable are eitherstressed or unstressed when their complement is stressed but stressed when their complement isunstressed

Stressed complement Unstressed complement Bag stod der et stort traelig det stod der et stort traelig

Behind the house was a big tree Behind it was a big tree Under loslashb en aring den loslashb en aring

Under the bridge ran a stream Under it ran a stream

Prepositions placed after the complement and coordinated prepositions are always stressed

Hun arbejdede natten She worked throughout the night og i dag er skolen lukket From today the school is closed

Prepositions are stressed when their complement is omitted

Han stod [bussen] paring hjoslashrnet He got off [the bus] at the corner

113THE MOST COMMON DANISH PREPOSITIONS

Below is a list of frequent Danish prepositions Examples of common ways in which the twelve mostfrequent prepositions (asterisked) are used are given in paragraphs 114ndash26 The remaining prepositionsare used in much the same way as their English equivalents


ad by at med with byaf of with by om (a)round about inbag(ved) behind omkring (a)roundblandt among over over above acrossefter after for paring on in forfor before in front of

at forsiden since

foran in front of til until to forforbi past trods in spite offorhellipsiden ago uden withoutfra from uden for outsidefoslashr before under under below

duringhos at (the home of) ved by aroundi in on for(i)gennem through by(i)mellem between(i)mod to(wards) againstlangs along

Notes1 ad is used

bull together with an adverb to express directionmotion

De gik hen ad gaden They walked along the streetBoslashrnene loslashb op ad trappen The children ran up the stairs

bull with the meaning lsquoin that directionrsquo

De floslashjtedelo ad hende They whistledlaughed at her

bull with the meaning lsquothrough an openingrsquo

Jens kiggede ud ad vinduet Jens looked out of the window

bull with the meaning lsquotowardsrsquo+time

Hen ad aften gik vi hjem Towards evening we went homeNotice also ento ad gangen onetwo at a time

PREPOSITIONS 117

2 forbi means lsquopastrsquo in a spatial sense

Vi koslashrte forbi den nye bygning We drove past the new buildingHan smuttede forbi vagten He slipped past the guard

3 forhellipsiden corresponds to lsquoagorsquo and brackets the complement

Vi moslashdtes for to aringr siden We met two years ago

4 hos often corresponds to French chez and German bei (=at the placehomework of)

Vi bor hos mine foraeligldre Wersquore staying with my parentsHan er hos tandlaeliggen Hersquos at the dentistrsquosVi koslashber koslashd hos slagteren og frugt hosgroslashnthandleren

We buy meat at the butcherrsquos and fruit atthe greengrocerrsquos

bull as part of a lifestyle or culture

Det er en gammel skik hos de indfoslashdte Itrsquos an old custom among the natives

bull as part of someonersquos character or work(s) of art

Der er noget hos ham jeg ikke kan lideTherersquos something about him I donrsquot like

Det er et hyppigt tema hos Carl NielsenItrsquos a frequent theme in Carl Nielsen

5 omkring means lsquoaboutrsquo lsquo(a)roundrsquo lsquocircarsquo and is used in both a spatial and a temporal sense

Der er en voldgrav omkring slottet Therersquos a moat around the castleVi kommer omkring kl 18 Wersquoll be there around 6 pmDer var omkring 50000 tilskuere There were approximately 50000 spectators

6 siden lsquosincersquo (see also forhellipsiden in (3) above)

Jeg har ikke set ham siden jul I havenrsquot seen him since Christmas

7 trods

Trods sin alder spiller han godt Despite his age he plays well

Notice also trods alt lsquoafter allrsquo lsquodespite everythingrsquo


114AF

Af often denotes origin or source (though see also fra in 117) and is used to indicate the passive agent(see 105)

Agent Material Cause Direction Measure Possessionby of fromof with fromofoff of of

BY

Huset blev koslashbt af en svensker The house was bought by a Swedeen roman (skrevet) af Herman Bang a novel (written) by Herman BangMusen blev fanget af katten The mouse was caught by the cat

FROM

Huset er bygget af traelig The house is built (out) of woodHan tog kammen op af lommen He took his comb out of his pocketdoslash af sorg die of griefingennoglede flestehalvdelen af dem nonesomemosthalf of themejeren af bilen the owner of the car

FROM

Hun led af kraeligft She suffered from cancerJeg koslashbte computeren af ham I bought the computer from him

WITH

Hun graeligd af glaeligdeskraeligksmerte She cried with joyfearpain

OFF

Han stodsprang af bussen He gotjumped off the bus

Notice also

Pigen loslashb ud af huset The girl ran out of the houseManden stod op af sengen The man got out of bedfuldtraeligt af fulltired ofked af bored with sorry about

PREPOSITIONS 119

115EFTER

Locationdirection Time Desire Succession Referenceafterbehind after for afterby according to

AFTER

Hunden loslashb efter boslashrnene The dog ran after the childrenEfter lang tid kom brevet After a long time the letter arrivedKom efter kl 16 Come after 4 pmden ene efter den anden one after the other

BEHIND

Luk doslashren efter dig Close the door behind youDe stod efter os i keen They stood behind us in the queue

BY

en efter en one by onespille efter gehoslashrreglerne play by earthe rules

FOR

Vi maring ringe efter en taxa Wersquoll have to ring for a taxiDamen spurgte efter Lise The lady asked for Liseledelaelignges efter noget looklong for something

ACCORDING TO

efter dansk lovgivning according to Danish lawklaeligde sig efter aringrstiden dress according to the seasonDet garingr efter planen It is going according to plan

Notice also

hoslashre efter listenpay attention toledese efter look for

116FOR

For corresponds to English lsquoforrsquo in a wide range of senses but is only occasionally used with timeexpressions (but see forhellipsiden in 1123 113 Note 3)


Intentionpurpose Indirect object Causemeans Placefor to for before

FOR

et program for boslashrn a programme for childrenJeg gjorde det for digfor din skyld I did it for youfor your sakeTak for kortetmad Thank you for your cardthe foodHan er beroslashmt for det He is renownedfamous for thatVi koslashbte fjernsynet for 4000 kr We bought the TV for 4000 DKrHvad er det danske ord for lsquogoalrsquo Whatrsquos the Danish word for lsquogoalrsquofor foslashrste gang for the first time

TO

beskriveforklare noget for nogen describeexplain something to someoneHun laeligste brevet hoslashjt for mig She read the letter aloud to meDet er nyt for mig Thatrsquos news to me

BEFORE

Vi har hele dagen for os We have the whole day before usSagen kom for retten The case came before the court

Note also

for oslashjeblikket at the momentHun er bange for edderkopper Shersquos afraid of spiders

Han interesserer sig for musik Hersquos interested in musicaringr for aringr year by yearfor det foslashrsteandet etc in the firstsecond place etcchefen for firmaet the manager of the firm

and the following complex prepositions expressing position

indenuden for doslashren insideoutside the doorovenneden for trappen abovebelow the stairs

for at+infinitive expresses intention

Han tog til Norge for at staring paring ski He went to Norway to go skiing

PREPOSITIONS 121

117FRA

Fra is used to suggest origin of space and time as well as distance from a point

Location Originsource Timefrom from from

FROM

Traeliget star en meter fra vejen The tree is a metre from the roadtoget fra Odense the train from OdenseHvornaringr flyttede du fra Aringlborg When did you move from AringlborgBrevet er fra Dinah The letter is from Dinahfra september til december from September to Decemberfra kl 8 til kl 12 from 8 till 12 am

Note also

traeligkke gardinerne fra draw back the curtainsbortset fra apart from

118I

I is the most frequently occurring preposition and the second most frequent word in Danish with manyidiomatic uses beyond its basic meaning lsquoinrsquo With public buildings and places of work or entertainmentEnglish lsquoinrsquo is often rendered by Danish paring (see 123 129) For the uses of i with expressions of time see128

Locationmotion Material Time when Time duration State Frequencyatininto in atin for in aper

AT

Pia er i boslashrnehavekirkeskole Pia is at kindergartenchurch schoolToget standser i Roskilde The train stops at Roskildei begyndelsenstartenslutningen af maj at the beginningstartend of Mayi fuld fart at full speed

IN

Han arbejder i Paris Hersquos working in Parisen statue i bronze a statue in bronzeDet skete i aprili 1998 It happened in Aprilin 1998i bilenbaringdenglassethusettoget in the carboatglasshousetrainvaeligre i formi tvivl be fitin doubt


INTO (Motion is usually expressed by a directional adverb+i see 110)

Han gik ind i koslashkkenet He went into the kitchenHun loslashb ud i haven She ran into the gardenGolfbolden trillede ned i hullet The golf ball rolled into the hole

FOR

De blev der i fem uger They stayed there for five weeksJeg har kendt ham i 30 aringr Irsquove known him for 30 years

TO

Skal du i biografenteatret Are you going to the cinema theatreKlokken er fem minutter i ti Itrsquos five minutes to ten

APER

en gang i minuttettimen once a minutean hour90 kilometer i timen 90 kilometres per hour

Notice alsowith parts of the body

Jeg har ondt i hovedetmaven I have a headachestomach acheHan vaskede sig i ansigtet He washed his face

others

Hun underviser i dansk She teaches DanishGlasset gik i stykker The glass broke

119MED

Med may be used to render most of the meanings of English lsquowithrsquo

Accompaniment Manner Means Possessionwith byinwith with with

WITH

Han rejste til Mallorca med Lene He went to Majorca with LeneJeg drikker altid kaffe med floslashde I always drink coffee with creamHun sagde det med et smil She said it with a smileSpis ikke med fingrene Donrsquot eat with your fingersHvordan garingr det med dig How are things with you

PREPOSITIONS 123

en mand med skaeliggsort haringr a man with a beardblack hair

BY

De rejste med busflytog They travelled by busplanetrainVi sender en check med posten We will send a cheque by postAktierne faldtsteg med 5 procent Shares fellrose by 5 per cent

IN

tale med lav stemme speak in a low voiceSkriv ordet med store bogstaver Write the word in capital letters

TO

Maring jeg tale med chefen May I speak to the boss

Note also

Hun giftede sig med Anders She married AndersLad vaeligre med at afbryde Stop interruptingAf med toslashjetUd med sproget Off with your clothesOut with it

120MOD

Direction Location Time Opposition Comparisonto(wards) against towards against againstcompared to

TO(WARDS)

Familien koslashrte mod Esbjerg The family drove towards EsbjergToget mod Fyn er forsinket The train tofor Funen is delayedmod nordsydoslashstvest to(wards) the northsoutheastwestmod julparingskepinse towards ChristmasEasterWhitsun

AGAINST

Han stod laelignet mod traeliget He stood leaning against the tree

med ryggen mod muren with onersquos back against the wallDe protesterede mod planen They protested against the planDanmark skal spille mod Italien Denmark are playing against Italymod mine princippermin vilje against my principleswill


(COMPARED) TO

ti danskere mod seks finner ten Danes compared to six Finnstolv stemmer mod fem twelve votes to five

121OM

Om is used in a great many idiomatic senses perhaps most frequently in certain expressions indicatingfuture time (see 1282 Note 1130)

Location surrounding Habitual time Future time when Subject matter Frequency(a)round inon in abouton aper

(A)ROUND

Hun havde et toslashrklaeligde om halsen She had a scarf round her neckDe gik rundt om huset They walked round the house

IN

om morgeneneftermiddagen aftenen in the morningsafternoons eveningsom sommerenvinteren in summerwinterDe kommer om en uge Theyrsquore coming in a weekOm to aringr flytter vi til Spanien In two years wersquoll move to SpainDer er noget om snakken There is something in that

ON

Vi spiser fisk om fredagen We eat fish on Fridaysen afhandling om Holberg a dissertation on Holberg

ABOUT

De snakker altid om toslashj They always talk about clothesBogen handler om et mord The book is about a murder

APER

tre gange om dagenugenaringret three times aper dayweekyear

In certain instances primarily with parts of the body om is used colloquially without an Englishequivalent

Han er koldsnavset om haelignderne His hands are colddirty

PREPOSITIONS 125

Notice also

Vi bad om en oslashl We asked for a beer

122OVER

Location Motion Time Measure Listabove over across via over past above over of

ABOVE

30 meter over havets overflade 30 metres above sea levelLampen haelignger over bordet The lamp hangs above the tableTemperaturen er over frysepunktet The temperature is above zero

ACROSS

De cyklede over broen They cycled across the bridge

OVER

Helikopteren floslashj over byen The helicopter flew over the townover en femaringrs periode over a five-year periodOver 40000 saring kampen Over 40000 watched the match

PAST

Klokken er ti minutter over tre Itrsquos ten past threeDet er over midnat Itrsquos past midnight

OF

et kort over England a map of Englanden liste over ansoslashgerne a list of the applicants

Notice also

Toget til Aarhus koslashrer over Soroslash The train to Aarhus goes via Soroslashbekymretoverrasketvred over worried aboutsurprisedangry atklagevinde over complain aboutwin against


123PAring

Paring is used in many idiomatic senses in addition to the basic meaning of lsquoon (top of)rsquo Paring is often used torender English lsquoinrsquo in connection with public buildings and places of work or entertainment (see 129)For uses of paring with expressions of time see 128

Location Direction Time when Time duration Measure Possessiononatin to on in of of

ON

Bladet ligger paring bordetgulvet The magazine is on the tablefloorVi tager til stranden i dag We are going to the seaside today

AT

Vi moslashdtes paring banegaringrden biblioteket We met at the stationlibraryHun arbejder paring universitetet She works at the universityparing bundenhjoslashrnettoppen at the bottomcornertop

IN

Festen blev holdt paring et hotelen kro The party was held in a hotelpubparing gadenhimlenmarken in the streetskyfieldMan kan goslashre meget paring kort tid You can do a lot in a short time

TO

Jeg skal paring kontorettoilettet Irsquom going to the officetoilet

OF

et barn paring fire aringr a child of fournavnet paring byen the name of the townprisen paring benzin the price of petrol

Notice also

paring danskengelsk in DanishEnglishparing denne made in this waytrotaelignkevente paring believe (in)think ofwait forirriteretsurvred paring irritatedannoyedangry with

124TIL

Til often denotes motion towards a target but it has several other uses eg with the indirect object

PREPOSITIONS 127

Motion Time when Indirect object Possession lsquoIntended forrsquoto tilluntil forto of for

TO

Han rejser snart til Amerika Hersquos going to America soonfra ni til fem from nine to fiveHvad sagde han til de andre What did he say to the othersJeg gav blomsterne til mor I gave the flowers to mum

TILLUNTIL

Kan du ikke blive her til mandag Canrsquot you stay here until MondayDet maring vente til naeligste uge Itrsquoll have to wait till next week

FOR

Vi spiste fisk til frokost We had fish for lunchHan koslashbte en bil til mig He bought a car for meHvad brugte du hammeren til What did you use the hammer for

OF

Han er forfatter til mange boslashger He is the author of many booksdoslashren til sovevaeligrelset the door of the bedroom

Remnants of old genitive endings in -s and -e are still found on nouns in some set phrases after til

til bords atto the table til fods on foot til sengs to bed til soslashs atto sea vaeligre til stede bepresent

Notice also

til sidstslut finallyoversaeligtte til translate (in)tovant til used to

125UNDER

Basically under corresponds to ideas expressed by English lsquobelowrsquo lsquounder(neath)rsquo etc but it is also usedto render English lsquoduringrsquo in certain time expressions

Location Motion Time duration Measure Mannerunderbelow beneath under during belowunder beneathunder


UNDER

Katten sidder under bordet The cat is sitting under the tableBilen koslashrte under broen The car drove under the bridgeboslashrn under femten (aringr) children under 15 (years old)under ingendisse omstaeligndigheder under nothese circumstancesHan gjorde det under protest He did it under protest

BELOW

Temperaturen er under frysepunktet The temperature is below zeroDet var et slag under baeligltestedet That was hitting below the belt

BENEATH

Det er under min vaeligrdighed Itrsquos beneath my dignity

DURING (when used about a certain activity)

Der skete meget under krigen A lot happened during the warJeg kedede mig under hans tale I was bored during his speech

Notice also

Under 20 personer moslashdte op Fewer than 20 people turned upunder den forudsaeligtning at on condition that

126VED

Ved suggests adjacency or proximity

Location Time whenatbynear aboutaroundat

AT

De sad ved bordet They sat at the tableved brylluppetfesten at the weddingpartyved solopgangsolnedgang at sunrisesunsetkaeligrlighed ved foslashrste blik love at first sight

BY

Vi har et sommerhus ved kysten We have a cottage by the coastHun sidder ved vinduet She is sitting by the window

PREPOSITIONS 129

NEAR

Louisiana ligger ved Humlebaeligk Louisiana is near Humlebaeligk

ABOUTAROUND

ved syvtiden around seven (orsquoclock)

Notice also

ved ankomstenafrejsen on arrivalon departureslaget ved Hastings the battle of HastingsDer er noget maeligrkeligt ved hende Therersquos something odd about her

127COMMON ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS AND THEIR DANISH EQUIVALENTSmdash

SUMMARY

When translating English prepositional phrases into Danish you may find the table below of help inchoosing a suitable Danish equivalent


128TRANSLATING lsquoATrsquo lsquoINrsquo lsquoONrsquo ETC AS EXPRESSIONS OF TIME

Because of the idiomatic nature of Danish prepositional expressions of time it is impossible to formulaterules which are both concise and one hundred per cent reliable For the sake of brevity some variationshave been deliberately omitted from what follows The aim here is to present a scheme of basicconventions that applies in the majority of instances 1 lsquoAtrsquo+expressions of time

lsquoAtrsquo+ Festival Clockpast sidste jul klokken 10 (ti)habitual i julen klokken 10 (ti)present i julen klokken 10 (ti)future til jul klokken 10 (ti)

Notes1 Sidste jul i julen and til jul render English lsquoat Christmasrsquo=lsquolast Christmasrsquo lsquothis Christmasrsquoand lsquonext Christmasrsquo respectively2 With year date expressions Danish has either optional i plus end article (past) or til withoutarticle (future)

Det begyndte (i) julen 1998 og slutter til nytaringr 2008It began at Christmas 1998 and will end at New Year 2008

2 lsquoInrsquo+expressions of time

lsquoInrsquo+ Year Decadecentury Month Seasonpast i 1864 i 60rsquoernei 1800-tallet i april i foraringrethabitual ndash ndash i april om foraringretpresent ndash i 90rsquoerne i april i foraringretfuture (i) aringr 2020 i (20)20rsquoerne til april til foraringret

Notes1 The preposition om (English lsquoinrsquo) answers the question lsquoWhenrsquo to express future action

De rejser om en timeom en uge om etpar aringr

Theyrsquore leaving in an hourin a week in acouple of years

2 The preposition paring (English lsquoinrsquo) answers the question lsquoHow long does itwill it takersquo

De kan koslashre til Moslashn paring en time They can drive to Moslashn in an hour ORItrsquoll take them an hour to drive to Moslashn

I foraringrettil foraringret etc renders English lsquoin springrsquo etc=lsquolastthisnext springrsquo etc

3 lsquoOnrsquo+expressions of time

PREPOSITIONS 131

lsquoOnrsquo+ Weekday Datepast i soslashndags den 1foslashrste julihabitual om soslashndagen den 1foslashrste julipresent (i dag) den 1foslashrste julifuture paring soslashndag den 1foslashrste juli

Notes1 I soslashndags and paring soslashndag etc render English lsquoon Sundayrsquo=lsquolast Sundayrsquo and lsquothisnext Sundayrsquoetc respectively 2 For weekday+calendar date expressions Danish usually has the weekday without the articleand no preposition

Han ankom torsdag den 1 april og rejser igen loslashrdag den 8 majHe arrived on Thursday 1 April and will leave again on Saturday 8 May

4 lsquoForrsquo+durationDanish i+expression of time

De har boet her i tre aringr Theyrsquove lived here for three yearsJeg har ikke set hende i otte aringr i lang tid I havenrsquot seen her for eight years for a long time

5 lsquoDuringrsquo=under (when the noun denotes an activity)

Han var pilot under krigen He was a pilot during the warHun fortalte os det under middagen She told us during dinner

129TRANSLATING lsquoATrsquo lsquoINrsquo lsquoONrsquo ETC AS EXPRESSIONS OF PLACE

1 Because of the idiomatic usages of i and paring translation of lsquoatrsquo lsquoinrsquo lsquoonrsquo etc when expressing placerelationships is not always straightforward The most common instances of Danish usage (to whichthere are exceptions) are set out below

Paring (indicating lsquoon a surfacersquo) I (indicating lsquoinsidersquo)billedet paring vaeligggen et hul i vaeligggenthe picture on the wall a hole in the walldugen paring bordet dugen i skuffenthe cloth on the table the cloth in the draweret saringr paring laeligben et saringr i mundena sore on the lip a sore in the mouthHun sidder paring en stol Hun sidder i en stolShersquos sitting on a(n upright) chair Shersquos sitting in a(n arm)chairparing Roskildevej i Bredgadeskiven paring telefonen tale i telefonthe dial on the telephone speak on the telephoneknappen paring radioenfjernsynet et program i radioenfjernsynetthe button on the radioTV a programme on radioTV


2 Other uses of paring and i to indicate location are

rooms (dwellings) rooms (spaces)Han er oppe paring vaeligrelset Han kiggede ind i vaeligrelset

houses housesDer star nr 12 paring huset Der er mange mennesker i husetIt says no 12 on the house There are many people in the houseareas of towns townsparing Vesterbro i Mariboislands and small peninsulas larger peninsulasparing SjaeligllandDjursland i Jyllandislands (non-independent countries) countries (independent)paring FaeligroslasherneGroslashnland i IrlandTysklandcontinents (of one only) continentsparing Antarktis i AfrikaAmerikaAsienEuropainstitutions institutionsparing biblioteket i boslashrnehave(n)paring hospitalet i kirke(n)paring universitetet i skole(n)places of workparing arbejde(t)paring kontoretplaces of entertainment places of entertainmentparing diskoteket i biografenparing restaurant i teatretothers othersparing stationen i bankenparing toilettet i BrugsenIllum (=stores)

3 Other Danish prepositions of location are(a) hos=at someonersquos house certain places of work

Hun bor hos sine foraeligldre She lives with her parentshos bagerentandlaeliggen at the bakerrsquosdentistrsquos

(b) ved=at by

Damen sad ved skrivebordetvinduetThe woman sat at the deskby the window

=by on (with things extending lengthwise)

Familien bor ved flodenkystenOslashresundThe family live byon the rivercoastthe Sound

=near

PREPOSITIONS 133

Hotellet ligger ved jernbanestationenThe hotel is near the railway station

=of (with battles)

slaget ved Waterloothe battle of Waterloo

130PREPOSITIONS IN EXPRESSIONS OF TIMEmdashSUMMARY

Past Habitual Present FutureSeasonsforaringr sommerefteraringr vinter

sidste foraringr om foraringret i foraringret til foraringret

last spring in (the) spring this spring next springi sommervinterlast summerwinter

Festivalsjul paringske pinse sidste jul i julen i julen til jul

last Xmas at Xmas this Xmas next XmasDayssoslashndag mandagetc

i garingr i dag i morgen

yesterday today tomorrowi soslashndags om soslashndagen i dag soslashndag paringnaeligste soslashndaglast Sunday on Sundays today Sunday next Sunday

Parts of the daymorgen formiddag i morges om morgenen hernu til morgen i morgen tidlig

i formiddags om formiddagen (her) i formiddag i morgenformiddag

(earlier) thismorning

in the mornings this morning tomorrow morning

eftermiddag i eftermiddags om eftermiddag (nu) i eftermiddag i morgeneftermiddag

(earlier) thisafternooon

in the afternoon(s) this afternoon tomorrowafternoon

aften i aftes om aftenen (nu) i aften i morgen aftenlast night evening in the evening(s) this evening tomorrow evening

nat i nat om natten (her) i nat i morgen natlast nightduringthe night

at night tonight tomorrow night


Past Habitual Present FutureYears monthsaringr sidste aringr om aringret i aringr (til) naeligste aringr

last year per year this year next yearjanuar etc isidste januar i januar i januar til januar

last January in January this January next January

131TRANSLATING lsquoOFrsquo

The English preposition lsquoofrsquo may be rendered in a great many ways in Danish What follows is by nomeans a complete account but it will provide guidance on how to translate lsquoofrsquo in the most commoninstances1 Possessive lsquoofrsquo(a) English possessive lsquoofrsquo is commonly rendered by Danish -s genitive (cf 37)

the owner of the car bilens ejerthe roof of the church kirkens tagthe top of the tree traeligets top

(b) In many cases Danish prefers a compound noun

the owner of the carcar owner bilejerenthe roof of the churchchurch roof kirketagetthe top of the treetree top traeligtoppen

2 lsquoThe city of Roskildersquo etcWhen English lsquoofrsquo may be replaced by commas indicating apposition it is rendered without a prepositionin Danish

the city of Roskilde byen Roskildethe kingdom of Norway kongeriget Norgethe Republic of Ireland republikken Irlandthe month of May maj maringned

3 lsquoA cup of tearsquo etcExpressions with lsquoofrsquo denoting measure are usually rendered without a preposition in Danish

a cup of tea en kop tea pair of shoes et par sko5 kilos of potatoes 5 kilo kartoflera large number of Danes et stort antal danskere

Notes1 lsquohalf ofrsquolsquopart ofrsquolsquosome ofrsquolsquothe majority ofrsquo

PREPOSITIONS 135

half ofsome of the book halvdelen afen delnoget af bogensomethe majority of the voters nogleflertallet af vaeliglgerne

2 Danish usually has paring corresponding to English lsquoofrsquo when it is followed by a number

a salary of 300000 kroner en loslashn paring 300000 kronera woman of forty en kvinde paring fyrre aringr

4 DatesDanish has no preposition for lsquoofrsquo when it is used in dates

the 1stfirst of January den 1foslashrste januarin May of 1956 i maj 1956

5 lsquoA heart of stonersquo etclsquoOfrsquo indicating material is rendered by af in Danish (cf 114)

a heart of stone et hjerte af stena statue of marble en statue af marmor

6 lsquoThe Queen of Denmarkrsquo etclsquoOfrsquo denoting representation or origin may be rendered by Danish af or fra (The sense of geographicalorigin is stronger with fra)

the Queen of Denmark dronningen af Danmark(=Danmarks dronning)

a young man of Jutland en ung mand fra Jylland(=en ung jyde)

Notice that where lsquoofrsquo=lsquoinrsquo Danish has i

the mayor of Helsingoslashr borgmesteren i HelsingoslashrThe Merchant of Venice Koslashbmanden i Venedig

7 lsquoNorth ofrsquo etclsquoOfrsquo with compass points=for

north of Skagen nord for Skagen

Note the north of England Nordengland

8 lsquoA map of Greenlandrsquo etcWith maps lists and directories over is often used

a map of Greenland et kort over Groslashnland


a list of telephone numbers en liste over telefonnumrea survey of Danish towns en oversigt over danske byer

9 lsquoA professor of lawrsquo etcWith job titles i is normally used

a professor of law en professor i jura(=en juraprofessor)

a teacher of English en laeligrer i engelsk(=en engelsklaeligrer)

PREPOSITIONS 137

138

9INTERJECTIONS

132INTERJECTIONS

1 IntroductionThere are two types of interjection both of which chiefly belong to the spoken language They usuallyappear at the beginning of a sentence and are separated from the rest of it by a comma Type 1 includesexclamations and spontaneous expressions of feelings (eg discomfort joy etc) without any referenceand imitations of sounds while Type 2 consists of formulaic words and expressions used in conventionalsituations (eg affirmations denials greetings etc)

Type 12 Exclamations expressions of feelings(a) Positive feelingsDelight satisfaction ih aringh

Ih hvor er hun soslashd Oh isnrsquot she sweetAringh hvor er det dejligt Oh isnrsquot it lovely

Praise joy excitement bravo hurra juhu

Bravo det var flot klaret Bravo well doneHurra vi har vundet i tips Hurrah wersquove won the poolsJuhu vi skal i Tivoli i aften Yippee we are going to Tivoli tonight

Surprise hovsa ih nej naring

Hovsa jeg havde ikke set dig Whoops I hadnrsquot seen youIhNej sikke en overraskelse Oh what a surpriseNaring jeg troede det var i morgen Oh I thought it was tomorrow

(b) Negative feelingsAnnoyance aringrh

Aringrh nu gik det lige saring godt Oh no and it was going so well

Oslashv hvorfor maring jeg ikke det Oh why canrsquot I do that

Disapproval disgust discomfort fy foslashj puh(a)

Fy hvor skulle du skamme dig Shame on youFoslashj hvor ser den aeligkel ud Ugh doesnrsquot it look nastyPuh hvor er det varmt Phew itrsquos hotPuha hvor her lugter Pooh it smells in here

Fear ih nej uh(a)

IhNejUh hvor blev jeg bange Oh I was really scaredUha hvor er her moslashrkt Gosh isnrsquot it dark in here

Hesitation oslashh

Oslashh det ved jeg faktisk ikke Er I donrsquot really know

Pain av

Av hvor goslashr det ondt Ow it hurts

3 Imitations of sounds (onomatopoeia)Sounds of animals miav (cat) muh (cow) maeligh (sheep) pruh (horse) vov (dog) oslashf (pig)Sounds of objects bang (door gun) ding-dong (bell) plask (into water) tik-tak (clock)4 Commands to animals and people (a mixture of Type 1 and Type 2)Animals to dogs Daeligk Down to horses Hyp Prr Gee up WhoahPeople to children Hys Ssh Hush Ssh to soldiers Giv agt Ready Ret Attention

Type 25 Affirmations ja jo and their compound forms(a) Ja jo (jo is used in the answer when the question contains a negation)

Har du set min nye bil JaJa det har jegHave you seen my new car YesYes I haveEr du ikke traeligt JoJo det er jegArenrsquot you tired YesYes I amHar du aldrig vaeligret i New York Jo to gangeHave you never been to New York Yes twice

(b) Javist jovist (stronger affirmation greater assurance)

Tror du at han stadig elsker mig Javist goslashr han detDo you think he still loves me Of course he does

Har du ikke vandet blomsterne Jovist har jeg saringHavenrsquot you watered the flowers Yes I certainly have


(c) Jamen (expresses mild protest or sympathy)

De skal snart giftes Jamen de er da alt for ungeThey are getting married soon But they are far too youngJamen dog har du slaringet dig Oh dear have you hurt yourself

(d) Jasaring (signals surprise and often disapproval)

Hun er begyndt at arbejde igen Jasaring det havde jeg nu ikke ventetShe has started to work again Really I hadnrsquot expected thatJeg har glemt at koslashbe loslashg Jasaring saring maring vi jo klare os udenI have forgotten to buy onions Well then wersquoll have to do without

(e) Javel (denotes acceptance of a statement or an order)

Hun kommer ikke til moslashdet Javel det skal jeg notereShersquos not coming to the meeting OK Irsquoll make a note of thatTi stille naringr jeg taler Javel hr sergeantShut up when Irsquom talking Yes sir (ie a sergeant)

6 Denials(a) Nej (clear denial or refusal)

Kunne du lide filmen Nej jeg syntes den var kedeligDid you like the film No I thought it was boringHar du tid et oslashjeblik NejNej det har jeg ikkeHave you got a moment NoNo I havenrsquot

(b) Naelig(h) (implies doubt or hesitation)

Tror du han tog pengene Naeligh men man ved jo aldrigDo you think he took the money Well no but you never know

7 Uncertainty Tja(h) (somewhere in between lsquoyesrsquo and lsquonorsquo)

Tror du vi vinder i aften Tjah maringske vi har da en chanceDo you think wersquoll win tonight Well perhaps wersquove got a chance

8 Greetings and exhortations(a) On meeting dav(s) godaften goddag goddav(s) godmorgen hej(b) On parting farvel hej paring gensyn(c) Seasonal glaeligdelig jul Merry Christmas godt nytaringr Happy New Year god paringske Happy Easter tillykketillykke med foslashdselsdagen happy birthday (d) Thanks (mange) tak (many) thanks tak for madsidst thanks for the foodthe last time we metselv taktak i lige made thank you (in return)(e) Apologies and responses om forladelse sorry undskyld excuse mesorry aringh jeg bersquoringen aringrsagdetvar saring lidt not at alldonrsquot mention it(f) Others skaringl cheers vaeligrsgo here you are

INTERJECTIONS 141

9 Expletives (mostly names for God the Devil diseases and excrement)

fandenshelvedessatans (ogsaring) for fandenhelvedesatan kraftedeme lort pis sateme sgu skidskide- (as a prefix used for extra emphasis eg skidegod skidesoslashd etc) ved gud

Euphemisms for kattenpokkersoslashren pokkers skam soslashreme


10CONJUNCTIONS

133COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

1 These join clauses or elements of the same kind and are always found between the words or groups ofwords that they link (see 140) They do not affect the word order within the groups of words that theylink

Coordination (linking) oftwo subjects Tom og Jannie taler med boslashrnene

Tom and Jannie are talking to the childrentwo verbs De sidder og leger

They are sitting playingtwo main clauses Jeg holder af Anders og han holder af mig(straight word order) Irsquom fond of Anders and hersquos fond of metwo main clauses Ham kan jeg godt lide og det kan hun ogsaring(inverted word order) I like him and she does tootwo subordinate clauses Jeg haringber at han vinder og at han saeligtter ny rekord

I hope that he wins and that he sets a new record

2 Coordinating conjunctions include

og Garing hjem og sov andGo home and go to sleep

eller Pengene eller livet orYour money or your life

for Han loslashb hurtigt for han havde travlt for becauseHe ran quickly for he was in a hurry

men Jeg vasker op men min kone soslashrger for maden butI do the washing up but my wife does the cooking

saring Hun plaskede i vandet saring alle blev varingde soShe splashed in the water so they all got wet

134SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

1 These link main clauses (MC) and subordinate clauses (SC) Subordinate clauses may follow or precedethe main clause

Cf De sover naringr de er traeligtte They sleep when theyrsquore tiredMC sub+SC

conjNaringr de er traeligtte sover de When theyrsquore tired they sleepsub+SC MCconj

2 Subordinating conjunctions and other words (listed below) which introduce subordinate clauses willoccupy the first position in the subordinate clause and may affect the word order in those clauses (see156159) Such words are of two main types(a) General subordinators

These words introduce indirect speech (at=that) and indirect yesno questions (om=whether if) butimpart no meaning to the clause unlike other subordinating conjunctions in 2(b) below Just as inEnglish at may sometimes be omitted

at Hun sagde (at) hun arbejdede for haringrdt thatShe said (that) she was working too hard(Cf direct speech Hun sagde lsquoJeg arbejder for haringrdtrsquo)

om Jeg spurgte om hun arbejdede for haringrdt whether ifI asked whether she was working too hard(Cf direct question Jeg spurgte lsquoArbejder du for haringrdtrsquo)

(b) Other subordinating conjunctionsThese words introduce different kinds of adverbial clause (cf 156159)(i) Time

Naringr du faringr tid kan du slaring graeligsset whenWhen you get the time you can cut the grassNaringr vi var hjemme plejede far at garing ud when(ever)Whenever we were at home Dad used to go outDa vi kom hjem var han garinget ud whenWhen we came home hersquod gone outJeg er blevet professor siden vi sidst sarings sinceIrsquove become a professor since we last metMe(de)ns jeg henter flasken kan du finde nogle glas whileWhile I get the bottle you can find some glassesInden jeg naringede frem var det for sent beforeBefore I got there it was too late

Note Naringr (when) is used to introduce clauses describing present and future events and forrepeated actions in the past (=whenever) Da (when) is used about a single event or occasion whichtook place in the past


(ii) Cause

Han kommer ikke i dag fordi han er syg becauseHersquos not coming today because hersquos illEftersom det er paringskedag holder butikkerne lukket becauseBecause itrsquos Easter Sunday the shops are closedVi kom sent hjem da toget var forsinket asWe got home late as the train was delayedSiden du sposlashrger saring paelignt skal du faring svar sinceSince you ask so nicely yoursquoll get an answer

(iii) Condition

Hvis det bliver ved med at sne kan vi staring paring ski ifIf it carries on snowing we can go skiingJeg kommer hvis jeg faringr tid ifIrsquoll come if I get the timeBare jeg ser et glas vand bliver jeg soslashsyg if onlyjustIf I just see a glass of water I get seasick

(iv) Concession

Hun froslashs selvom hun havde frakke paring (al)thoughShe was cold even though she was wearing a coat even thoughHan sagde nej skoslashnt han mente jo (al)thoughHe said no though he meant yes even though

(v) Intention

De gjorde meget for at han skulle foslashle sig hjemme (in order) toThey did a lot to make him feel at homeHan gemte sig saring (at) de ikke ville faring oslashje paring ham so thatHe hid so that they wouldnrsquot see him

(vi) Result

Det var saring koldt at soslashen froslashs til sohellipthatIt was so cold that the lake froze over

(vii) Comparison

Anna er lige saring stor som sin soslashstersom hendes soslashster er ashellipashellipAnna is just as big as her sisteras her sister isSoslashren er stoslashrre end sin brorend hans bror er thanSoslashren is bigger than his brotherthan his brother isJo mere det sner jo gladere bliver boslashrnene thehellipthehellipThe more it snows the happier are the childrenJo laeligngere vi venter desto svaeligrere bliver det at faring det sagt thehellipthehellip

CONJUNCTIONS 145

The longer we wait the harder it becomes to say it

135OTHER SUBORDINATORS

These are words which are not conjunctions but nevertheless introduce subordinate clauses1 Interrogative pronouns (hv- words) and adverbs (cf 77107) These words introduce indirecthv- questions (cf 138ndash39)

Ved du hvad han gjorde Do you know what he didKan du sige mig hvem hun er Can you tell me who she isVed du hvordan han har det og hvornaringr hankommer

Do you know how he is and when hersquos coming

When hvad and hvem are the subject of a subordinate clause der is introduced as a subject marker

Han vidste ikke hvem der havde gjort detHe didnrsquot know who had done it

Hun kunne ikke fortaeliglle mig hvad der var sketShe couldnrsquot tell me what had happened

2 Relative pronouns and adverbs (cf 75ndash76107)These words introduce relative clauses (cf 1542) which usually form attributes to subjects objects orcomplements

Vi har faringet en ny laeligrer der er meget dygtigWe have got a teacher whorsquos very good

Der er noget som jeg maring tale med dig omTherersquos something I need to talk to you about

136TRANSLATING SOME DIFFICULT CONJUNCTIONS

1 lsquoAfterrsquo is a preposition adverb and conjunction in English Efter is an adverb and a preposition butnot a conjunction (though it is increasingly being perceived as such in modern Danish) and thereforecannot normally introduce a subordinate clause unless it is followed by at

The house burnt down shortly after they leftHuset braeligndte kort efter at de var rejst

2 lsquoAsrsquo=lsquoforrsquo=for

He handed in his notice as he couldnrsquot take the pressureHan sagde op for han kunne ikke klare presset

=lsquowhilersquo=mens (medens) idet


As he was talking he went red in the faceMens han talte blev han roslashd i hovedet

=lsquobecausersquo=fordi (in written language also da eftersom)

We went home again straightaway because the weather was badVi tog straks hjem igen fordi vejret var daringrligt

3 lsquoAshellipasrsquo in comparisons=(lige) saringhellipsom

He is as tall as his fatheras his father isHan er (lige) saring hoslashj som sin farsom hans far er

4 lsquoBeforersquo=inden foslashr

Irsquod like to be told before you leaveJeg vil gerne have besked foslashr inden du rejser

As a conjunction after a negative main clause=foslashrend

Hans had hardly got home before the telephone rangHans var naeligppe kommet hjem foslashrend telefonen ringede

As an adverb=lsquoearlierrsquo lsquopreviouslyrsquo=foslashr

Two days before we had met her in townTo dage foslashr havde vi truffet hende i byen

As a preposition=foslashrinden

That was before my timeDet var for min tid

Before long spring will be hereInden laelignge bliver det foraringr

5 lsquoBothrsquoAs a conjunction (lsquoboth A and Brsquo)=baringdehellipog

Both Kitty and Jean are foreignersBaringde Kitty og Jean er udlaeligndinge

As a pronoun (lsquoboth Xsrsquo)=begge (to)

They both studied FaroeseDe studerede begge (to) faeligroslashsk

CONJUNCTIONS 147

6 lsquoButrsquoAs a conjunction=men

He worked hard but he didnrsquot earn muchHan arbejdede haringrdt men han tjente ikke meget

As a preposition (=lsquoexceptrsquo)=undtagenuden

All the students but one have passedAlle de studerende undtagen eacuten har bestaringet

No one but my wife knowsIngen uden min kone ved det

7 lsquoIfrsquoAs a general subordinator (=lsquowhetherrsquo=om)

I asked her if she would like to danceJeg spurgte hende om hun oslashnskede at danse

As a conjunction introducing a conditional clause=hvis

If you donrsquot do your homework then your parents will be angryHvis du ikke laeligser dine lektier bliver dine foraeligldre vrede

8 lsquoThatrsquoAs a subordinating conjunction=at

They say (that) they havenrsquot got the timeDe siger (at) de ikke har tid

As a relative pronoun (=lsquowhichrsquo lsquowhomrsquo) when object=som

He dropped the bottle that he had just boughtHan tabte flasken som han lige havde koslashbt

As a relative pronoun (=lsquowhichrsquo lsquowhomrsquo) when subject=either der or som

There are eleven countries that have applied for membership of the EUDer er elleve lande dersom har soslashgt om medlemskab af EU

In cleft sentences (see 158)=either dersom or atdersom is used when the correlative is a non-adverbial noun phrase

It was a dictionary (that) Niels sent me last weekDet var en ordbog (som) Niels sendte mig i sidste uge


at is used when the correlative is an adverbial of time or place

It was in 1985 (that) we graduatedDet var i 1985 (at) vi tog vores eksamen

It was in Odense (that) he learnt to speak DanishDet var i Odense (at) han laeligrte at tale dansk

In the expression lsquonow thatrsquo=nu da

Now that the weather is warmer we can bathe in the lakeNu da vejret er blevet varmere kan vi bade i soslashen

As a demonstrative (see 74)

That girl is really prettyDen pige er virkelig smuk

CONJUNCTIONS 149

150

11WORD ORDER AND CLAUSE STRUCTURE

137WORD CLASSES AND CLAUSE ELEMENTS

Elsewhere in this book we examine word classes (or parts of speech) ie words grouped according to theirform or meaning eg nouns verbs etc In this section of the book we examine clause elements iewords and groups of words and their function and position within the clause These two approaches areillustrated by the following main clause example

Several clause elements (ie any word or group of words) can be moved to the beginning of a clause(main clause statement)

I aften har vi ikke set Peter This evening we havenrsquotPeter har vi ikke set i aften Peter we havenrsquothellip

138CLAUSE TYPES

Most clauses possess both a subject (see 142) and a finite verb (see 143)1 In describing clauses we often use the terms FV1-clause and FV2-clause

In FV1-clauses the finite verb comes first in the clauseIn FV2-clauses the finite verb comes second after some other element

2 The five sentence types and the relative positions of the subject finite verb and other elements in Danishare shown in the table below Under the Word order column the designation straight = subject - finiteverb and the designation inverted = finite verb - subject

Notes1 hv- questions are so called because they begin with an interrogative pronounadverb or hv- word(see 77)2 Yesno questions are so called because the answer to them is lsquoyesrsquo or lsquonorsquo3 Notice the difference in structure between hv- questions (FV2) and yesno questions (FV1)

139MAIN CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Many main clauses possess other elements not detailed in 138 above These are included in the schemabelow which may be used to explain and analyse most main clauses in Danish Note the symbols F v na V N A which will be used from now on for each of the seven positions


Notice that

1 Main clauses always have a finite verb and usually a subject2 All positions except that occupied by the finite verb (v) may be left vacant3 The subject usually occupies positions 1 (F) or 3 (n)4 The front position (F) is always occupied in statements and hv- questions but is vacant in yesno

questions

WORD ORDER AND CLAUSE STRUCTURE 153

5 Only one clause element can usually occupy the front position (F) at any time6 There may be more than one clausal adverbial (a) non-finite verb (V) object complement (N) or

other adverbial (A)

140LINK POSITION

The link position (k) is an additional position necessary before the front position (F) in order toaccommodate conjunctions

k F v n a V N AHan kommer men han bliver ndash ikke ndash ndash laelignge(He is coming but he wonrsquot stay long)Venter du eller ndash garingr du ndash ndash ndash nu(Are you waiting or are you going now)

141EXTRA POSITIONS

The extra positions (X1 X2) are additional positions necessary both before the F-position and after the A-position to accommodate elements of various kinds outside the clause These elements often duplicateelements within the clause proper

X1 F v n a V N A X2

1 Tom han er ndash jo ndash syg i dag2 Paris det er ndash vel nok ndash en dejlig by3 I Esbjerg der vil jeg gerne bo4 Da vi kom hjem saring lavede vi ndash ndash en kop kaffe5 Det er ndash ikke ndash sandt ndash at tiden laeligger alle saringr6 Det er ndash ndash ndash sjovt ndash at spille tennis

Translations 1 Tom hersquos ill today 2 Paris thatrsquos really a lovely city 3 In Esbjerg I would like to livethere 4 When we got home (then) we made a cup of coffee 5 Itrsquos not true that time heals all wounds 6Itrsquos fun playing tennis

If there is also a link position (k) the order is

k X1 F etcmen Svend han er morsomhellip(but Svend hersquos amusinghellip)


142REAL SUBJECT AND FORMAL SUBJECT

The subject may be

bull a noun (phrase) Drengen elsker rejer The boy loves prawnsKaren star paring ski Karen is skiingDen grimme aeliglling kom ikke hjemigen

The ugly duckling did not comehome again

bull a pronoun Han skriver et brev Hersquos writing a letterbull an adjective Roslashdt er da smukt Red is beautiful isnrsquot itbull an infinitive (phrase) At lyve er slemt Lying is bad

At flyve til Billund er meget billigt Flying to Billund is very cheapbull a subordinate clause At vi tabte kampen er forstaringeligt That we lost the match is

understandable

The formal subject (FS) der must be inserted when there is a postponed or real subject (RS) that is anoun (phrase)

Der (FS) sidder en politibetjent (RS) i dagligstuenTherersquos a policeman sitting in the living room(Cf En politibetjent sidder i dagligstuen)

If the real subject is an infinitive (phrase) then the formal subject used is det

Det (FS) er svaeligrt at laeligre dansk (RS)Itrsquos difficult to learn Danish

Similarly formal subjects may be used in questions

Sidder der en politibetjenthellip Er det svaeligrt at laeligre dansk

143FINITE VERB

The finite verb is the verb which carries the tense ie which indicates present or past time The finiteforms are therefore the simple present and past and the imperative and subjunctive forms

Han loslashber hurtigt He runs fastHan loslashb hurtigt He ran fastLoslashb hurtigere Run fasterFormanden laelignge leve Three cheers for the chairman

In two-verb constructions the finite verb is often an auxiliary verb

Han har laeligst tre romaner i dag He has read three novels todayHan kan laeligse meget hurtigt He can read very quickly


144NON-FINITE VERB

Non-finite verb forms usually occur only together with a finite verb (143) The non-finite forms are theinfinitive present participle and past participle

Han kan loslashbe hurtigt He can run fastHan kom loslashbende ned ad gaden He came running down the streetHan har loslashbet hele vejen He has run the whole way

145CLAUSAL ADVERBIAL

1 The clausal adverbial usually modifies the sense of the clause as a whole It is often a simple adverb(see also 107151)

F v n a etcVi rejser ndash aldrig til Danmark om sommeren never

altid alwaysgerne willinglyikke notjo of courseofte often

Cf the comparable word order in the English main clause

(a) (v)We never go to Denmark in the summer

2 Notice the relative order when there are several clausal adverbials

(a) Short modal adverbs da jo nok nu vel(b) Short pronominal and conjunctional adverbs altsaring derfor dog(c) Longer modal adverbs egentlig muligvis(d) Negations aldrig ikke

De har nu (1) altsaring (2) egentlig (3) aldrig (4) vaeligret i Koslashbenhavn(So in fact they have never been to Copenhagen you knowLit They have you know so in fact never been in Copenhagen)

146OTHER ADVERBIALS

Other adverbials comprise expressions of manner place time condition cause etc They are sometimescalled MPT-adverbials for this reason and often consist of a prepositional phrase or of a subordinateclause


Vi rejser med toget Vi rejser til Aringrhus Vi rejser paring torsdagA-manner A-place A-time

(Wersquore going by trainhellipto Aringrhushellipon Thursday)Vi kommer hvis vi faringr tid Vi garingr nu fordi vi har travlt

A-condition A-cause(Wersquoll come if we have time) (Wersquoll go now because wersquore in a hurry)

Notice that the relative order of other adverbials is usually (but not always)

Vi rejser med toget (manner) til Aringrhus (place) paring torsdag (time) hvis vi faringr tid (condition)

Some simple adverbs also function as other adverbials vi gik bortnedud These usually come at theend of the clause The stressed verb particle also occupies the final adverbial (A) position See alsocompound verbs 106

1 2 3 4 5 6 7F v n a V N AJeg skal ndash jo klaeligde boslashrnene (I have to dress the children you know)Vi maringtte ndash ndash skrive det hele (We had to write it all down)

147OBJECTS AND COMPLEMENTS

Transitive verbs (103) take a direct object

Niels spiser en kage Niels is eating a cake

Intransitive verbs (103) take no object

Niels sidder i sofaen Niels is sitting on the sofa

The direct object (DO)mdashwhich goes in the object (N) positionmdashmay comprise

bull a noun (phrase) Hun har stjaringlet hans bil She has stolen his car

bull a pronoun Anna har hjulpet hamAnna has helped him

bull a subordinate clause Jeg ved at han er der I know hersquos there

For pronouns see also light elements 150


Ditransitive verbs take both a direct and an indirect object (see 103) The indirect object (IO) is usuallya person or thing for whose sake an action is undertaken

Jeg gav Jens min bog Jeg gav min bog til JensIO DO DO IO

I gave Jens my book I gave my book to Jens

Notice that the order of the objects is usually as in English ie a preposition-less object precedes anobject with a preposition

Han laringnte bogen til Nielsminusprep +prep

(He lent the book to Niels)

If neither object has a preposition the indirect object precedes the direct object

Han laringnte Niels bogenIO DO

(He lent Niels the book)

The predicative complement occupies the same position as the object (N) and is found in sentences withcopula verbs like blive goslashrehelliptilhellip hedde kaldes sehellipud synes virke vaeligre The complement agreeswith the subject or object

Ole og Marie er studerende (=Subject complement)Ole and Marie are studentsDe virker meget intelligenteThey seem very intelligent

When there is an object the complement follows it and relates to it

Det gjorde ham glad (=Object complement)That made him happyDe kaldte deres hund BobThey called their dog Bob

148PASSIVE AGENT

See passive 105 The passive agent usually occupies the final (other) adverbial position (A) and willnormally come immediately before any other adverbial expression

F v n a V N ADe gamle boslashr ndash bestemt hjaeliglpes ndash af kommunen(Old people should certainly be helped by the local authority)


F v n a V N APeter blev ndash ndash klippet ndash af sin kone i garingr(Peter had his hair cut by his wife yesterday)

149TOPICALISATION

1 The subject most frequently occupies the front position (F) but it may be replaced by moving to thefront almost any other clause element This is often done when one wishes to emphasise a particularclause element or for stylistic reasons and is known as topicalisation When the subject is not in the F-position it follows the finite verb (n-position)

F v n a V N ABasic clause Han vil ndash alligevel saeliglge huset i aringr(Hersquoll sell the house this year anyway)1 (A to F) I aringr vil han alligevel saeliglge huset larr2 (N to F) Huset vil han alligevel saeliglge larr i aringr3 (a to F) Alligevel vil han larr saeliglge huset i aringr

When the non-finite verb is moved to F the elements governed by it will normally also be movedwith it

F v n a V N A4 (V+N to F) Saeliglge huset vil han alligevel larr larr i aringr5 (V+N+A to F) Saeliglge huset i aringr vil han alligevel larr larr larr

Topicalisation of adverbials which usually occupy the other adverbial position (A) especially of time andplace (including her der) is by far the most frequent type

Vi tog til Moslashn i foraringret rarr I foraringret tog vi til MoslashnWe went to Moslashn last spring rarr Last spring we went to MoslashnHans drak Guinness i Dublin rarr I Dublin drak Hans GuinnessHans drank Guinness in Dublin rarr In Dublin Hans drank Guinness

Hun har aldrig vaeligret herder rarr HerDer har hun aldrig vaeligretShe has never been herethere She has never been herethere

In the F-position it is common to find a subordinate clause which would otherwise be in the otheradverbial position

Vi tog til Moslashn da vi kom hjem fra FrankrigWe went to Moslashn when we got back from Francerarr Da vi kom hjem fra Frankrig tog vi til Moslashn

When we got back from France we went to Moslashn


Proper nouns and object pronouns are also commonly topicalised

Ulla har vi ikke set laelignge Hende har vi ikke set laeligngeWe havenrsquot seen Ulla for a long time We havenrsquot seen her for a long time

It is possible to topicalise direct speech

lsquoFy dogrsquo sagde han lsquoShame on yoursquo he said

The subject complement may also occasionally be topicalised

Hoslashflig har han aldrig vaeligretHersquos never been polite

2 Natural topicsMost natural topics are unstressed and represent familiar information or are used to link sentencestogether

Vi traeligngte til en ferie saring i september koslashrte vi til Jylland Der traf vi nogle gamle venner De ejeren stor villa Den har ti vaeligrelser Vi boede der i 14 dage Saring maringtte vi desvaeligrre vende hjem igenWe needed a holiday so in September we drove to Jutland There we met some old friends Theyown a large house It has ten rooms We stayed there for a fortnight Then unfortunately we hadto come home again

3 Emphatic topicsThese are rarer and often represent new information The following emphatic topics are either stylisticallymarked or used for contrast

Rart var det nu ikke But it wasnrsquot very niceEn avis koslashbte vi ogsaring A newspaper we bought tooDet kan jeg ikke tro That I cannot believeLoslashbe efter piger kan han men studere vil hanikke

Run after girls that he can do but study he willnot

150LIGHT ELEMENTS

lsquoLightrsquo elements are short unstressed clause elements eg object pronouns and reflexive pronouns Inclauses without a non-finite verb (ie the V-position is empty) they always move leftwards into thesubject position (n) after the finite verb An indirect object (IO) with no preposition will neverthelessalways precede the direct object (DO)

F v n a V N AJeg kender ham ikke

(light DO)Jeg har ndash aldrig kendt hamJeg kender ndash ikke ham


F v n a V N A(stressed DO)

Hun gav mig ikke ndash bogen(light DO)

Hun har ndash ndash givet mig bogen(IO+DO)

Hun gav mig den ikke(light IO+DO)

Hun gav ndash ikke ndash mig den(stressed IO)

Henrik vasker sig ikkeHenrik har ndash ikke vasket sig i dag

Translations I donrsquot know himI have never known himI donrsquot know him She didnrsquot give me the bookShe has given me the bookShe didnrsquot give me itShe didnrsquot give me it Henrik doesnrsquot washHenrikhasnrsquot washed today

Similarly the adverbs her lsquoherersquo and der lsquotherersquo move leftwards to occupy the n-position when they areunstressed and the V-position is vacant

Hun var herder ikke (=unstressed)Hun var ikke herder (=stressed)

But

Hun har ikke vaeligret herder She has not been herethere

151POSITION OF IKKE AND NEGATIVE ELEMENTS

The position of ikke lsquonotrsquo and other negative adverbials eg aldrig lsquoneverrsquo etc can vary When theynegate the entire clause they occupy the clausal adverbial a-position immediately after the finite verb orsubject (see 139ff)

Peter kommer ikke i dag I dag kommer Peter ikke I dag er Peter ikke kommet Peter vil aldriggoslashre detPeter isnrsquot coming today Today Peter isnrsquot coming Today Peter hasnrsquot come Peter will never doit

Occasionally for contrast the negative may come between the finite verb and the subject in invertedstatements

I dag kommer ikke kun Peter men ogsaring hans familieToday itrsquos not only Peter who is coming but also his family

Pronominal or noun phrase objects containing a negation are also attracted to the a-position


Jeg havde ikke gjort nogetI hadnrsquot done anything

But

Jeg havde ingenting gjort

Katten har ikke faringet noget mad i dagThe cat hasnrsquot had any food today

But

Katten har ingen mad faringet i dag

Preben har ikke set nogetPreben hasnrsquot seen anything

But

Preben har intet set

For the position of negative elements in subordinate clauses see 156

152PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION

By transforming the active verb into a passive form some of the other elements change position withinthe clause (see 105)

Active verb Andersen (=subject) ejer hele huset (=object)Andersen owns the whole house

Passive verb Hele huset (=subject) ejes af Andersen (=PrepComp)The whole house is owned by Andersen

Passive transformation can be used in both main or subordinate clauses For the position of elements inthe passive sentence see 148

153EXISTENTIAL SENTENCES

If we do not wish to introduce a subject at the beginning of a clause we can postpone it (ie move itrightwards) but must then fill the front position (F) with a formal subject (place-holder subject) thepostponed subject is known as the real subject (cf 142)

En betjent sidder inde i koslashkkenet rarr Der sidder en betjent inde i koslashkkenet


Subject Formal subject Real subjectA policeman is sitting in the kitchen Therersquos a policeman sitting in the kitchenAt holde op med at ryge er svaeligrt rarr Det er svaeligrt at holde op med at rygeSubject FS RSStopping smoking is hard Itrsquos hard to stop smoking

(1) Type 1 When the real subject is an indefinite noun phrase (like en betjent) then it occupies the N-position

F v n a V N ADer findes ndash ndash ndash ingen bjerge i DanmarkDer sidder ndash ofte ndash en betjent inde i koslashkkenetndash Sidder der ofte ndash en betjent inde i koslashkkenet

Translations There are no mountains in Denmark Therersquos often a policeman sitting in the kitchen Isthere often a policeman sitting in the kitchen

The verb in Danish existential sentences is always intransitive and usually expresses

bull existence findesbull non-existence mangle savnebull location ligge sidde staring vaeligrebull motion garing komme

In English the only corresponding constructions are lsquothere is (are) -ingrsquo Note that in this case theformal subject is der=lsquotherersquo(2) Type 2 When the real subject is an infinitive phrase (like at holde op med at ryge) then it occupiesthe X2 position (see also 141f 156)

F v n a V N A X 2Det er ndash ndash ndash dejligt ndash at svoslashmmeDet er ndash altid ndash svaeligrt ndash at vaeligre en god taber

Translations Itrsquos lovely to swim Itrsquos always hard to be a good loser Note that in this case the formal subject is det=lsquoitrsquo

154SUBORDINATE CLAUSE AS AN ELEMENT IN THE MAIN CLAUSE

1 Subordinate clauses usually constitute the subject object or other adverbial in a main clause sentenceAs such they may occupy several different positions

F v n a V N A X 2Subject clauseAt du er rask glaeligder mig ndash ndash ndash meget


F v n a V N A X 2Det glaeligder mig ndash ndash ndash meget at du er rask Object clauseHan sagde ndash ikke ndash ndash i garingr at han skal giftes paring loslashrdag At han skal giftes paring loslashrdag sagde han ikke ndash ndash i garingrAdverbial clauseVi garingr ndash ndash ndash ndash naringr han kommer Naringr han kommer garingr vi

Translations That you are well makes me very glad I am very glad that you are well He didnrsquot sayyesterday that he was getting married on Saturday That he was getting married on Saturday he didnot say yesterday We will go when he comes When he comes we will go

Notice that

bull Subject and object clauses occupy the F or X2 positionsbull Most adverbial clauses (time condition cause) occupy the F or A positionsbull Some adverbial clauses (intention result) can only occupy the A position

F v n a V N AVi maring ndash ndash stoslashtte ham for at han ikke skal falde Jeg blev ndash ndash ndash saring vred at jeg straks gik hjem

Translations We have to support him so that he doesnrsquot fall I got so angry that I went home right away2 A relative clause usually functions as an attribute to the correlative usually a noun

Han kiggede paring de piger som sad paring graeligsset He looked at the girls who were sitting on the grass

Den film (som) vi saring i garingr var fantastiskThe film we saw yesterday was fantastic

Den dreng der var uartig fik ikke lov at komme med til festenThe boy who was naughty was not allowed to go to the party


155MAIN CLAUSE STRUCTUREmdashAN EXTENDED POSITIONAL SCHEMA WITH

EXAMPLES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7k X1 F v n a V N A X2

1 Han havde ndash ikke pakket kufferten

i morges

2 I morges havde han ikke pakket kufferten

3 Vi giver ndash ndash ndash Ole engave

i aften

4 Siden blev de desvaeligrre

ndash syge

5 Det gjorde ndash ndash ndash hamglad

6 Der er ndash allerede kommet tobetjente

7 Og ndash det er ndash da ndash saring sjovt ndash at spilletennis

8 Henrik ville ndash jo altid kysse os ndash Marie ogmig

9 men Niels han er ndash nu ikke ndash saring tosset10 Bilen blev ndash ndash reparere

tndash i garingr

11 Jeg blev ndash ndash hentet ndash af Liseparingbanegaringrden igaringr

12 Katten er ndash ndash loslashbet ndash bort13 Jeg skal ndash jo klaeligde boslashrnene paring14 Hun kan ndash ndash laeligse ndash meget

hurtigt15 I garingr kedede han sig ikke16 De har ndash aldrig giftet sig17 Vi kender ham ikke18 Saeliglge

husetvil han alligevel

ikkendash ndash i aringr

19 Kom

Translations 1 He had not packed the case this morning 2 This morning he had not packed his case 3We are giving Ole a present this evening 4 Then unfortunately they became ill 5 It made him happy 6Two policemen have already come 7 And itrsquos such fun of course playing tennis 8 Henrik always wantedto kiss us you know Marie and me 9 But Niels hersquos not that stupid as a matter of fact 10 The carwas repaired yesterday 111 was met by Lise at the railway station yesterday 12 The cat has run away


13 I have to dress the children you know 14 She can read very quickly 15 Yesterday he wasnrsquot bored16 They have never got married 17 We donrsquot know him 18 He wonrsquot sell the house this year anyway19 Come

KEY to the above schema For details see paragraphk=link position (conjunction) 140X1 =extra position ndash duplicates elements in the clause 141F=front position ndash any clause element except the finite

verb Normally there is only oneelement in this position

139 153 154

v=finite verb ndash present or past tense or imperative 143n=nominals ndash subject (if not in F) reflexive pronoun

unstressed pronominal object (lsquolightrsquo)elements

139 150

a=clausal adverb(ial) ndash short modal adverb shortconjunctionalpronominal adverblonger modal adverb negation

145 151

V=non-finite verb ndash infinitive present or past participle 144N=nominals ndash real subject subject complement

indirect object direct object objectcomplement

147 153 154

A=other adverbial ndash verb particle passive agent manneradverbial place adverbial timeadverbial long adverbials

146 148

X2 =extra position ndash duplicates elements in the sentencesubject and object clauses

141 154

156SUBORDINATE CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Subordinate clauses (which as we have seen above may simply be considered as elements in mainclauses) also possess an internal structure of their own which differs from that of main clauses asfollows

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Context Conjunctio

nSubj Clausal

adverbialFinite verb Non-finite

verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial

k n a v V N AVi rejser naringr han ndash kommerVispurgte

om han ndash havde pakket kufferten

ndash Eftersom de ikke havde sagt et ord ndash vidste viintet

Hunsagde

(at) det ikke var ndash morsomt laeligngere



nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial

k n a v V N AHvis vi erstille

og hvis vi ikke er ndash uartige ndash maring vi seTV iaften

Translations We will leave when he comes We asked whether he had packed the case As they hadnrsquotsaid a word we knew nothing She said it wasnrsquot funny any more If wersquore quiet and wersquore not naughtywersquoll be allowed to watch TV tonight

Notice the following characteristics of the subordinate clause1 There is no F-position in the subordinate clause the order is always conjunctionmdashsubjectmdashclausaladverbialmdashfinite verb ie

bull The clause always begins with a subordinating conjunction or other subordinator except for certainuses of at and som (see 75ndash761563)

bull The clausal adverbial comes immediately before the finite verbbull The word order is straight ie the subject comes before the finite verb

2 The subject position (n) is always occupied If there is both a formal and a real subject the latter ispostponed to the object position (N)3 The conjunction at (that) may sometimes be omitted

Frederik lovede (at) han ikke ville sige nogetFrederik promised (that) he wouldnrsquot say anything

Jeg haringber (at) jeg snart kan traeligffe dig igenI hope (that) I can meet you again soon

4 The guidelines and rules concerning main clause word order outlined earlier apply equally tosubordinate clauses with the exception of the following(a) lsquoLightrsquo or unstressed pronouns whether as direct or indirect objects and her and der do not moveleftwards to the n-position but remain in the N-position

hellipselvom han ikke gav mig dethellipalthough he didnrsquot give me it

hellipskoslashnt jeg aldrig er derhellipeven though Irsquom never there

(b) There is no initial extra position in subordinate clauses any other elements will appear at the end ofthe clause in the same way as in main clauses

hellipfordi han var enormt beruset den fyrhellipbecause he was extremely drunk that chap


(c) The subject will appear first in most subordinate clauses ie the topicalisation of other elementscannot normally happen (but see 159)(d) The k-position is used here to indicate a subordinating conjunction should there also be acoordinating conjunction introducing the subordinate clause this is placed in the same positionimmediately preceding the subordinating conjunction eghellip og fordihellip(hellip and becausehellip)

157INDEPENDENT CLAUSES

An independent clause is a subordinate clause which stands alone as a sentence and does not thereforeform part of a larger sentence It is usually an exclamation or a wish and has the same structure asother subordinate clauses

k n a v V N AHvis du bare vidste ndash det hele(If you only knew everything)At I ikke bliver ndash traeligtte(That you donrsquot get tired)

Clauses beginning with the words bare blot gid mon have subordinate clause word order

Gid hun ikke var saring sygIf only she werenrsquot so ill

Mon han nogensinde finder sig en koneI wonder if hersquoll ever find a wife

158CLEFT SENTENCES

In order to emphasise an element together with the action of the verb that element (X) may beextracted from the sentence and inserted into the construction

Det ervar X somderhellip It iswas X whothathellip

The remainder of the original sentence is downgraded and relegated to a subordinate clause added ontothe end Notice that der and som are used to refer to a non-adverbial noun phrase or pronoun and at(unless omitted) is used to refer to a time or place adverbial

Cf Klaus sendte mig en bog i sidste ugeKlaus sent me a book last week

rarr Det var en bog (som) Klaus sendte mig i sidste ugeIt was a book that Klaushellip

rarr Det var Klaus der sendte mig en bog i sidste ugeIt was Klaus whohellip

rarr Det var i sidste uge (at) Klaus sendte mig en bogIt was last week that Klaushellip


The cleft sentence is also very common in questions

Var det oppositionslederen der kritiserede regeringenWas it the leader of the opposition who criticised the government(Cf Kritiserede oppositionslederen regeringen)

Er det dig der bestemmer herIs it you who decides here

Er det oslashl han drikkerIs it beer he drinks

159THREE TYPES OF SUBORDINATE CLAUSE WITH MAIN CLAUSE STRUCTURE

These are all exceptions in different ways to 156 above in that the subordinate clause forms part of asentence (cf 154) but has a word order structure that can be the same as that of the main clause (see139155)1 At- clauses with a lsquotopicrsquoSubordinate clauses which are reported speech usually have subordinate clause word order yet inspoken and informal written language it is increasingly common for an element to follow theconjunction as a kind of topic When a non-subject comes immediately after the conjunction at the finiteverb and subject are inverted (ie main clause word order)

Frederik sagde at i garingr var hele familien i TivoliFrederik said that yesterday the whole family went to Tivoli

2 At- clauses with finite verbmdashclausal adverb order In some cases the clausal adverbial adopts thesame position as in the main clause ie after the finite verb rather than its usual subordinate clauseposition before the finite verb

Frederik sagde at han skulle ikke paring arbejde i dagFrederik said that he wasnrsquot going to work today

This is only found in spoken Danish and should never be written Write

Frederik sagde at han ikke skulle paring arbejde i dag

An explanation for this order is that the at- clause is regarded as a statement in direct speech ie as amain clause cf

Frederik sagde lsquoJeg s kal ikke paring arbejde i dagrsquoFrederik said lsquoIrsquom not going to work todayrsquo

The conjunction at functions therefore in almost the same way as a colon3 Conditional clauses with yesno question orderConditional clauses are usually introduced by hvis


Hvis du ikke skriver til mor bliver hun ked af detIf you donrsquot write to Mother shersquoll feel sad

But conditional clauses may have no subordinating conjunction and rely on inverted word order (finiteverbmdashsubject) to indicate condition

Skriver du ikke til mor bliver hun ked af det (Conditional)Cf Skriver du ikke til mor (Yesno question)

Clauses of this type also occur in English

Had I known you were arriving I would have waitedWere you to agree to this it would be disastrous

160MAJOR WORD ORDER AND CLAUSE STRUCTURE PROBLEMSmdashSUMMARY

A number of aspects of word order are similar in Danish and English This summary concentrates onlyon some of the major differences

Key S = subjectO = objectV = finite verbAdvl = clausal adverbialT = clause element (non-subject) which may come

first in the clause

1 Main clausemdashinversion ( 138149155)

Danish EnglishSndashVndashT SndashVndashTHan sover nu He is asleep now In Danish non-subjects often come first in the main clause and this

causes inversion of subject and finite verb In English the order isalways subject-verb

TndashVndashS TndashSndashVNu sover han Now he is asleep


2 Main clausemdashadverb(ial)s (eg ikke aldrig) (145151155)

SndashVndashAdvl SndashAdvlndashVDe leger aldrig They never play In main clauses in Danish the clausal adverbial (adverb) usually

comes immediately after the finite verb In English it usuallycomes immediately before the finite verb

3 Subordinate clausemdashadverb(ial)s (eg ikke aldrig) (156159)

S-Advl-V S-V-AdvlDe sagde at de ikke havdeskrevet

They said that they had notwritten

In subordinate clauses in Danishthe clausal adverbial (adverb)always comes immediatelybefore the finite verb In Englishthe order varies

S-Advl-VDe ved at jeg aldrig drikker They know that I never drink

Remember subjectmdashikkemdashverb in Danish4 Objects etc with and without stress ( 150)

S-V-Advl-O S-V-Advl-OJeg kender ikke ham I donrsquot know him When object pronouns lose their stress in Danish they

move left in the sentence In English stress is usedS-V-O-AdvlJeg kender ham ikke I donrsquot know him


172

12WORD FORMATION

161INTRODUCTION

The vocabulary of Danish is constantly being altered by five main processes1 Borrowing from other languages

English lsquoa strikersquo rarren strejke strike

2 Compounding of existing stems

en cykel+en hjelm rarren cykelhjelm cycle helmet

3 Affixation

u-+ven rarr uven (lit lsquoun-friendrsquo) enemy

4 Abbreviation

praeligventiv-pille rarr p-pille contraceptive pill

5 Change of form meaning or word class

et veto (noun) rarrat vetoe (verb)

Borrowing from other languages normally involves the eventual assimilation of a loanword into theDanish system of orthography pronunciation and inflexion

162COMPOUNDING

1 The first element of a compound may be a noun adjective verb pronoun numeral adverbpreposition or word group while the second element is usually a noun adjective or verb

Noun+noun sommer|ferie (summer holiday)Noun+verb kaeligde|ryge (chain smoke)

Noun+adjective kul|sort (black as coal)Verb+noun skrive|bord (writing desk)Verb+adjective koslashre|klar (ready to drive away)Verb+verb oslashs|regne (rain cats and dogs)

For separable and inseparable compound verbs see 106 2 Compound nouns may be formed by three main methods

bull noun+noun pige|skole (girlsrsquo school)bull noun+link -e-+noun jul|e|dag (Christmas Day)bull noun+link -s-+noun forsikring|s|praeligmie (insurance premium)

Notice that the second element in compounds determines the gender and inflexion of the compound

en skole+et koslashkkenrarret skole|koslashkken a school kitchen

Whether or not -s- is used as a link between nouns depends to some extent on the form of the elements(first element=FE in what follows)

An s- link is usual in nouns that

bull have an FE ending in -dom -else -hed -(n)ing -sel -skab

kristendom|s|undervisning ledelse|s|struktur sundhed|s|farlig landing|s|bane foslashdsel|s|kontrol redskab|s|skur

bull have an FE ending in one of the borrowed Romance suffixes -ion -tion -tet -um

opinion|s|maringling navigation|s|skole pietet|s|foslashlelse petroleum|s|kamin

bull have an FE which is itself a compound

roslashd|vin|s|glas cf vin|glasskrive|bord|s|skuffe cf bord|skuffe

An e- link is found in some compound nouns which derives from either an original genitive (natt|e|leje) or a plural (engl|e|skare) but it also occurs in the following cases

bull when the FE ends in a consonant and the SE (second element) begins with a consonant

ost|e|mad sogn|e|praeligst

bull when the FE is a word for a living being and ends in the suffix -ing

viking|e|flaringde yngling|e|alder


3 First element forms(a) When they are FE nouns are usually found in their singular (uninflected) form bil|saeligde

Exceptions blomster|bed boslashrne|have

(b) When they are FE adjectives are found in their basic form graringt vejrrarrgraring|vejr

Exceptions nyt|aringr smaring|boslashrn

(c) When they are FE verbs are found in their infinitive form skrive|maskine spille mand

Exceptions Verb stems occasionally form the FE brus|hane byg|mester

163AFFIXATION

1 Affixation involves adding a prefix to the beginning or a suffix to the end of a stem Whilst prefixes donot alter the word class or inflexion of the stem suffixes are often employed precisely to form words of adifferent class

Prefix

u- + ven rarr uvennegative prefix noun noun

friend enemy

Suffix

venlig + -hed rarr venlighedadjective noun suffix nounfriendly friendlinesstank + -e rarr tankenoun verb suffix verbtank to fill up the tank

2 The same basic meaning may be expressed by several different prefixes eg the words dis harmoniikke -vold in tolerant non konformisme and u lykkelig all have negative prefixes The same is true ofsome suffixes udvandrer emigrant inspektor and inspektoslashr all have suffixes meaning lsquoa personcarrying out a specific taskrsquo Generally speaking prefixes and suffixes are much vaguer in meaning thanthe stems they modify3 Productive and non-productive affixes

Productive affixes are those still being used to form derivatives whose meaning can be predicted fromthe form

-agtig=like as in friskfyragtig sparky like Jack the Lad-bar=possible to as in baeligrbar possible to carry portable

WORD FORMATION 175

4 Prefixesmdashthe following is a list of some frequent examples


5 Suffixesmdashthe following is a list of some frequent examples

WORD FORMATION 177


Non-productive affixes are those no longer used to form derivatives

-dom in fattigdom sygdom ungdom etc

Non-productive affixes may have been borrowed in many loanwords but have never been used to formany new indigenous derivatives eg Latin kon- konflikt konsonant

164ABBREVIATION

Abbreviation involves the loss of a morpheme or part of a morpheme Abbreviations arise from threedifferent processes1 Clippingmdashreduction at the beginning or end of a word

Whole morpheme lost Part morpheme lostInitial reduction (bi)cykel bicycle (frika)delle meatballFinal reduction kilo(gram) kilogramme krimi(nalroman) detective novel

2 Blend (or telescope reduction)mdashthe middle of a word is removed

m(ervaeligrdi)oms(aeligtningsafgift) (=moms) value added tax

3 Acronymmdashonly an initial letter or letters remain after reduction Acronyms are of three kinds(a) Alphabetismsmdashthe initials are pronounced as letters of the alphabet LO (Danish Trades

Union Congress) bh bra(ssiere)(b) Acronyms pronounced as words Nato Saab [sab](c) Hybrid forms p-plads (parkeringsplads) car park u-baringd (undervandsbaringd) submarine

165LIST OF COMMON ABBREVIATIONS

What follows is not a full list but a number of dictionaries of abbreviations are currently available

adb automatisk art 1 artikeldatabehandling 2 artium eg magart

adr adresse AS as aktieselskabAF arbejdsformidlingen ass assistentafd 1 afdeling ATP arbejdsmarkedets

2 afdoslashde tillaeliggspensionafg afgang aug augustafs afsender att attention (til)alm almindelig aut 1 automatiskamba andelsselskab med 2 autoriseret

begraelignset ansvar bd bindang angaringende bla blandt andetandre

WORD FORMATION 179

ank ankomst C Celsiusanm 1 anmeldelse c cent

2 anmaeligrkning ca cirkaapr april cand candidatusApS anpartsselskab cc carbon copy (kopi til)cf confer (jaeligvnfoslashr) 3 foslashdtciviling civilingenioslashr 4 foslashlgende (side)d 1 den feb februar

2 doslashd ff foslashlgende (sider)dat dateret fa firma(et)dav davaeligrende fakt fakturadd dags dato feks for eksempelde det er (det vil sige) fhv forhenvaeligrendedec december fk faeliglleskoslashndir 1 direkte fKr foslashr Kristus

2 direktorat fl flaske3 direktoslashr flg foslashlgende4 dirigent flt flertal

div 1 diverse fm 1 formiddag2 division 2 fuldmaeliggtig

DM danmarksmesterskab fm foregaringende maringneddo ditto fmd formanddr 1 doctor eg drphil fom fra og med

2 doktor forb 1 forbindelse3 drenge 2 forbud

ds 1 dendetde samme foreg foregaringende2 dennes forf forfatter

dss det samme som fork forkortelse forkortetdvs det vil sige forsk forskelligdy den yngre forts fortsaeligttelse fortsaeligttesdaelig den aeligldre FP foslashrtidspensiondaring dette aringr fr 1 fredagedb elektronisk 2 fru froslashken

databehandling frk froslashkeneftf efterfoslashlger ft for tidenegl egentlig fvt foslashr vor tidsregningeKr efter Kristus fx for eksempeleks eksempel faring foregaringende aringrekskl eksklusive g 1 gramekspl eksemplar 2 gymnasieklasseel eller lignende g gg gang(e)


enk enkelt gl 1 gammelEM europamesterskab 2 glasem eftermiddag gm gift medetc etcetera gnsn gennemsnitevt eventuel (-t -le) gr 1 gradf 1 femininum 2 gruppe

2 for GS gs gensidigt selskabGT Gamle Testamente KS ks kommanditselskabha hektar kt kontohenv 1 henvendelse kv kvinde(lig)

2 henvisning l literhf hoslashjere l linie linje

forberedelseseksamen lbnr loslashbenummerhhv henholdsvis lejl lejlighedhk hestekraft lign lignendeHKH HansHendes Kongelige Ll Lille (in place names)

lok 1 lokal(nummer)Hoslashjhed 2 lokale

hpl holdeplads loslash loslashrdaghr herre m medi alm i almindelighed ma mandagib indbundet mao med andre ordif ifoslashlge mc 1 motorcykeli henh til i henhold til 2 musikkassetteiht i henhold til md maringnedindb 1 indbundet mdl 1 mandlig

2 indbygger 2 maringnedliging ingenioslashr mdtl mundligtinkl inklusive medd meddelelseinstr 1 instruktion medflg medfoslashlgende

instruktoslashr medl medlem2 instrument MF medlem af Folketinget

IS is interessentselskab mfl mfl med flereistf i st for i stedet for mgl mangler manglende

mhp mhp med henblik paringitk intetkoslashnjan januar mht mht med hensyn tiljf (jvf) jaeligvnfoslashr mia milliard(er)j nr journalnummer mio million(er)kap kapitel mk mand(lig)kvinde(lig)kat 1 katalog ml mellem

WORD FORMATION 181

2 katolsk mm med merekbh koslashbenhavnsk modsv modsvarendekgl kongelig modt modtagerkl 1 klasse mv mv med videre

2 klokken N nordkld kaeliglder n neutrumkmt kilometer i timen ndf nedenforKr Kirke (in place names) ned nederstkr krone(r) nedenst nedenstaringendeNM nordisk mesterskab par paragrafNN nomen nescio (=I do not know the

name)pbv paring bestyrelsens vegne

pct procentpga pga paring grund af

nord nordisk pk pakkenov november pkt punktNr Noslashrre (in place names) Pl Plads (in place names)

pl plur pluralisnr nummer PampT post- ogNT Ny Testamente telegrafvaeligsenetnto netto pr pernuv nuvaeligrende pt patiento omkring pt pro tempore (for the time being)oa og andetandreobl obligatorisk phellipv paringhellips vegneobs observer paring gr af paring grund afoff 1 offentlig R rekommanderet (letters)

2 officielofl ofl og flere rad radikalog lign og lignende red redaktion redaktoslashrokt oktober redigeret (af)OL Olympiske Lege regn regningol og lignende repr repraeligsentantom omdrejninger per resp respektive

minut S sydoma og mange andre og s sekund

meget andet s sideomg 1 omgang sa samme

2 omgaringende sd se denne (dette disse)omkr omkring Sdr Soslashnder Soslashndre (in place names)omr omraringdeomtr omtrent sept september


ons onsdag Sg singularisopg opgang sh sort-hvidopl 1 oplag sing singularis

2 oplysning Skt Sanktopr 1 oprettet sm samme maringned

2 oprindelig sml sammenlignovenn ovennaeligvnte sn sognovenst ovenstaringende spec specieltovf ovenfor spm sposlashrgsmaringlp- parkerings- spsk spiseskefuld

praeligventiv(pille) St Store (in place names)st 1 station uafh uafhaeligngig

2 stuen (etage) udb udbet udbetaling3 stoslashrrelse udg udgave udgivet (af)

stk styk(ke) uds udsendelsesu svar udbedes undt undtagensaeligdv saeligdvanlig(vis) uaring uden aringrsoslashn soslashndag V vestsaring samme aringr V Vester (in place names)t tont time v vedtdl toslashnde(r) land vedr vedroslashrendeteks til eksempel vejl vejledningth th til hoslashjre VM verdensmesterskabtidl tidligere vvs varme ventilationtilh tilhoslashrende sanitettilsv tilsvarende vaeligr vaeligrelsetirs tirsdag Oslash oslashsttlf telefon Oslash Oslashster (in place names)tors torsdag oslashv oslashversttom til og med oslashvr oslashvrigetsk teskefuld aringrg aringrgangtv tv til venstre aringrh aringrhundredeu 1 uden aringrl aringrlig

2 under

WORD FORMATION 183

184

13ORTHOGRAPHY

166THE ALPHABET

The Danish alphabet contains the same letters as the English alphabet but after z come threeadditional letters AEligaelig Oslashoslash and Aringaring in that order The letters c q w and x are less commonly used inDanish and are usually found only in loanwords The spelling reform of 1948 saw three importantchanges

1 The letter Aringaring was introduced2 The capital letter at the beginning of nouns (as in German) was abolished3 The modals kunde skulde vilde became kunne skulle ville (could should would)

167Aa Aring aa aring

When in 1948 Denmark officially replaced the spelling Aa and aa with the letters Aring and aring in mostwords words such as aaben and paastaa became aringben (open) and paringstaring (claim) This change in spellingdid not affect pronunciation

This reform brought Danish spelling into line with spelling in Norway and Sweden There wasinitially resistance on the part of some towns institutions and individuals so that spellings such asAabenraa or Aage Skovgaard are still found Individuals may retain the older spelling whilst localauthorities legally have to use the new ones Strangely the position of this new letter in the alphabetwas not officially determined until 1955 In fact it moved from the beginning to the end of the Danishalphabet (which now begins with A and ends with Aring) causing a lot of work for lexicographers

168SMALL OR CAPITAL LETTERS

1 Where English has a capital letter at the beginning of words in many cases Danish has a small lettersuch as

bull Days of the week months and festivals

tirsdag Tuesday juni June paringske Easter

bull Nationality words (both nouns and adjectives)

dansk Danish engelsk English finsk Finnish en amerikaner an American en franskmand aFrenchman en tysker a German

2 Proper nouns (names) constituting a single word have a capital letter

Var Diderichsen dansker Was Diderichsen a Dane

3 In compound names the first element of the compound has a capital letter but the second elementloses its capital

Stor|koslashbenhavn Greater Copenhagen cf Koslashbenhavn Copenhagen

Note that in some compounds which have become fixed expressions the first element may lose itscapital letter

et danmark|s|kort a map of Denmark cf Danmark Denmark or et Danmark|s|kort

4 In name phrases the first and other significant words tend to have capital letters

Forenede Nationer the United Nations Gorm den Gamle King Gorm the Old Dansk Kirke iUdlandet the Danish Church in Foreign Ports

If the name is introduced by a definite article the article may or may not have a capital letter

Detdet Kongelige Teater The Royal Theatre Dede Kanariske Oslasher The Canary Islands also withan addition Detdet nye Kongelige Bibliotek The new Royal Library

169WORD DIVISION

Sometimes it is necessary to divide words at the end of lines and this word division (or hyphenation) inDanish follows some basic principles1 Compounds are divided into their separate elements

moslashbel-fabrik garing-gade halv-aringr

2 Derivatives may be divided according to prefix or suffix

u-vane af-folke musik-ant arbejd-som

3 Inflexional endings that constitute a syllable can be divided from the stem

huse-ne lav-ere svare-de


4 There must be at least one vowel on each line Thus a single syllable word cannot be divided eg blomstmindst strengt 5 Words which are neither compounds nor derivatives divide according to the number of consonantsinvolved(a) One or two consonantsmdashone consonant goes on the new line

bo-gen bus-sen

(b) A consonant group may move to the new line if it can begin a Danish word

bis-pen or bi-spen tas-ke or ta-ske

(c) Consonants in the same syllable cannot be separated

kno-gle BUT knog-lete-knik BUT tek-nik

ORTHOGRAPHY 187

188

14PUNCTUATION

170PUNCTUATION MARKS

The names of the principal punctuation marks (skilletegn) used in Danish are

punktum komma kolon semikolon sposlashrgsmaringlstegn udraringbstegn skraringstreg- bindestregndash tankestregrsquo apostrofhellip prikker( ) parentes[ ] firkantet parentes klammerldquo ldquobdquo ldquolsquo lsquoraquo laquo anfoslashrselstegn

171THE COMMA

For some time Danish has had two different systems of using the comma One called the lsquotraditionalcommarsquo was clause-based and was applied mechanically to the text the other known as the lsquopausecommarsquo was used to indicate natural pauses in the text

In 1996 Dansk Sprognaeligvn (the Danish National Language Council) attempted to combine the twosystems However the outcome was (i) that the lsquotraditional commarsquo was preserved but renamed thelsquogrammatical commarsquo and (ii) that a new system the lsquonew commarsquo was devised which is closer to theprevious lsquopause commarsquo

But although there are thus still two acceptable comma systems in Danish Dansk Sprognaeligvn itselfstrongly recommends the use of the lsquonew commarsquo and therefore this is the system outlined below 1 The comma is used(a) Between two coordinated clauses

Det sner og det er koldt It is snowing and it is cold

(b) Between a subordinate clause and a following main clause

Da vi havde spist gik vi i byen When we had eaten we went into town

(c) Around a non-restrictive relative clause (cf 75) or another parenthetical expression

Min far som nu er meget gammel bor paring FalsterMy father who is now very old lives on Falster

(d) After (but not before) a restrictive relative clause (cf 75)

Folk der kommer for sent maring vente udenforPeople who are late must wait outside

(e) To mark a parenthetical apposition

Danmarks nordligste punkt Grenen ligger ved SkagenThe northernmost point in Denmark Grenen is near Skagen

(f) To mark elements in the extra position (cf 141)

Peter ham kan du godt stole paring Peter him you can trust

(g) To mark off interjections (cf 132)

Ja det har du ret i Yes you are right there

(h) To mark enumerations though not the last one after og

Han koslashbte koslashd frugt broslashd og vin He bought meat fruit bread and wine

(i) Before men

Vi laeligser avis men hoslashrer ikke radioWe read the paper but donrsquot listen to the radio

2 There is no comma(a) Between a main clause and a following subordinate clause

Hun sagde at hun var traeligt She said she was tired

(b) Before a restrictive relative clause (cf 75)

Jeg laeligste den bog som du gav mig I read the book that you gave me


(c) Around non-parenthetic apposition

Den beroslashmte danske romanforfatter Peter Hoslasheg taler her i dagThe famous Danish novelist Peter Hoslasheg is speaking here today

In 2 (a) and (b) the lsquogrammatical commarsquo system would have required a comma (a) before at (b) beforesom

172THE FULL STOP

The full stop is found1 At the end of a sentence

Kampen blev udsat til den foslashlgende soslashndagThe match was postponed until the following Sunday

2 In some abbreviations (cf 165)

bla inter alia feks eg mm etc

3 In mathematical expressions (cf 65)

1000000 kr 1000000 kroner

Note that Danish uses a decimal comma where English has a decimal point (655)

75 l 75 litres

173THE EXCLAMATION MARK

The exclamation mark is used when addressing people directly and after exclamations and rhetoricalquestions

Mine damer og herrer Ladies and gentlemenHej HiParing gensyn Helle See you soon HelleDu er komplet aringndssvag You are completely insane

174DIRECT SPEECH

Several different typographical conventions are used to indicate dialogue

(a) dash (tankestreg) mdashHvad hedder du spurgte hanlsquoWhatrsquos your namersquo he asked

(b) inverted commas ldquoEr der noget paring faeligrderdquo spurgte hun

PUNCTUATION 191

lsquoIs something wrongrsquo she asked(c) guillemet raquoHvor er du Peterlaquo kaldte hans mor

lsquoWhere are you Peterrsquo his mother called

175THE APOSTROPHE

1 Unlike in English the apostrophe is not normally used to indicate a possessor (ie to mark agenitive)

kattens hale the catrsquos tailGretes onkel Gretersquos uncle

2 Note however that the apostrophe is found indicating a genitive after proper nouns endingin -s -x -z (see also 373)

Larsrsquo(s) kusiner Larsrsquos cousinsMarxrsquo(s) skrifter Marxrsquos writings

3 The apostrophe is sometimes used to mark an inflexional ending(a) In abbreviations without a full stop

pcrsquoen the PC (personal computer) tvrsquoet the TV set wcrsquoer toilets

(b) After numerals

1990rsquoerne the 1990s

176THE HYPHEN

The hyphen is used1 to replace og

engelsk-dansk ordbog English-Danish dictionary

2 To replace (fra)helliptil

Butikken er aringben 9ndash18 The shop is open 9 to 6


3 To avoid repetition of the second element of a compound

rug- eller franskbroslashd rye bread or French bread(larr rugbroslashd eller franskbroslashd)

4 Where the first element of a compound is an abbreviation or a number

p-plads parking place 2000-tallet the 21st century

PUNCTUATION 193

194

LINGUISTIC TERMS

This list comprises terms that may not be familiar to a student of languages as well as those that arenot already explained in the text Users should also consult the Index for references in the text

ABSTRACT NOUNS refer to unobservable notions eg musik music paringstand assertion vanskeligheddifficulty

ABSTRACT SENSE is when the literal sense is no longer transparent Compare the meaning of theverb in Hun satte kartoflerne over She put the potatoes on (literal sense) with Hun oversattebogen She translated the book (abstract sense) (cf FIGURATIVE SENSE)

ADJECTIVE PHRASES consist of an adjective or a participle with one or more modifiers eg Han erutrolig energisk He is incredibly energetic

ADVERB PHRASES consist of an adverb with one or more modifiers eg Han koslashrte temmelig hurtigtHe drove quite fast

ADVERBIALS (see CLAUSAL ADVERBS) are words phrases or clauses that function as adverbsAdverbs noun phrases prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses can all be adverbials ofdifferent kinds (manner place time condition etc) eg Hun sang smukt (adverb manner) Shesang beautifully Hun sang hele aftenen (noun phrase time) She sang the whole evening Hunsang i Det Kongelige Teater (prep phrase place) She sang in the Royal TheatreHun sang kun hvis hun havde lyst (sub clause condition) She only sang when she felt like it

AFFIX is a prefix added to the beginning or a suffix added to the end of a word eg ulykkelig unhappygodhed goodness

AGENT is the person or thing carrying out the action in both active and passive constructions egDrengen stjaeligler bilen The boy steals the car Bilen stjaeligles af drengen The car is stolen by the boy

AGREEMENT is a way of showing that two grammatical units have a certain feature in common egmine hunde my dogs Slottet er stort The castle is big

APPOSITION is where two consecutive noun phrases separated only by a comma describe the sameentity eg Per min bror er rig Per my brother is rich

ATTRIBUTIVE is used to describe adjectives or pronouns that precede a noun and modify it eget stort hus a big house min bil my car

BLENDS are new words formed by omitting part of an existing word eg mervaerdiomsaeligtningsafgift rarrmoms VAT

CLAUSAL ADVERBS are adverbs that modify the sense of the clause as a whole eg Han er ikke dumHersquos not stupid De er altid ude They are always out

CLAUSE is a syntactic unit that usually consists of at least a finite verb and a subject (though thesubject may be understood as in most imperative clauses eg Hent lige avisen Do fetch thepaper please) There are two major types of clause main clauses (MC) and subordinate clauses(SC) eg Middagen stod paring bordet (MC) da jeg kom hjem (SC) The dinner was on the table when Igot home (cf SENTENCE)

CLIPPINGS are new words formed by omitting the beginning or end of a word egautomobil rarr bil car biograf rarr bio cinema

COLLECTIVE NOUNS are nouns whose singular form denotes a group eg familie family hold teamkvaeligg cattle

COMMON NOUNS are all nouns that are not PROPER NOUNS eg en hund a dog to borde twotables

COMPLEMENTS express a meaning that adds to (or complements) that of the subject or object Theycan be either an ADJECTIVE (PHRASE) or a NOUN (PHRASE) eg Dorthe og Sven er intelligenteDe er gode venner Dorthe and Sven are intelligent They are good friends De slog ham bevidstloslashsThey knocked him unconscious (For lsquoprepositional complementrsquo see PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE)

COMPLEX VERBS have two or more parts Jeg har spist snegle I have eaten snailsCyklen er blevet stjaringlet The bike has been stolen

COMPOUND VERBS are verbs consisting of a STEM and a prefix or particle which may be inseparableor separable from the stem eg betale pay but deltagetage del take part

CONJUGATION denotes the way a verb is inflected ie its pattern of endings and the grouping ofverbs according to their endings eg past tense forms in Conj I levemdashlevede live Conj II spisemdashspiste eat

COPULAS are verbs linking a subject complement to the subject eg Pia er dansker Pia is a DaneSoslashren blev sur Soslashren became bad-tempered

CORRELATIVE is the word or phrase that a pronoun replaces or refers to eg Den tale is replaced bysom in Den tale som han holdt var kedelig The speech that he made was boring

COUNT NOUNS are nouns that denote individual countable entities and therefore usually have aplural form (including zero-ending) eg bogmdash boslashger book-s drengmdashdrenge boy-s aeliggmdashaeligg egg-s

DECLENSION denotes the different ways of INFLECTING count nouns in the plural eg biler krigeflag cars wars flags It also denotes adjective inflexion eg en roslashd bil a red car et roslashdt hus a redhouse den roslashde bil the red car

DEFINITE refers to a specified entity cf Tyven har stjaringlet cyklen The thief has stolen the bikeIndefinite refers to a non-specified entity eg En tyv har stjaringlet cyklen A thief has stolen the bike

DERIVATIVE refers to a word derived from a STEM usually by the addition of an AFFIX eg angaringconcern foregaring take place and overgaring surpass are all derivatives of the verb garing go

DIRECT OBJECT denotes a noun phrase a pronoun or a clause governed by a (transitive) verb egDrengen hentede boldenden The boy fetched the ballit Hun sagde at hun var traeligt She said thatshe was tired

DUPLICATION involves the repetition of a subject object or adverbial usually in the form of a pronounor adverb eg Jens han er ikke dum Jens he isnrsquot stupid

ELLIPSIS involves the omission of a word or word group in the sentence eg Maring jeg faring en isNej du maring ikke faring en is Can I have an ice cream No you canrsquothave an ice cream

FIGURATIVE SENSE is when the literal sense has been extended but is still somehow transparenteg Han fulgte i sin faders fodspor He followed in his fatherrsquos footsteps (cf ABSTRACT SENSE)

FINITE VERB is a verb form which in itself shows tense (and sometimes mood andor voice) There arethree finite verb forms in Danish the present tense the past tense and the imperative eg Jegventer Jeg ventede Vent Irsquom waiting I waited Wait (cf NON-FINITE VERB)

FORMAL SUBJECT is der or det in cases when the REAL SUBJECT is postponed egDer (FS) sidder en gammel mand (RS) paring baelignken Therersquos an old man sitting on the benchDet (FS) er synd at du ikke kan komme til festen (RS) Itrsquos a pity that you canrsquot come to the party

FRONT is the position at the beginning of a main clause It is usually occupied by the subject eg Vi ersultne We are hungry But non-subjects especially ADVERBIAL expressions of time or place oftenoccupy the front position eg I morgen skal jeg spille fodbold Tomorrow Irsquom playing football


GENDER may indicate sex drengenmdashhan pigenmdashhun the boymdashhe the girlmdashshe or grammaticalgender et barn a child et hus a house en stol a chair

IDIOM(ATIC) indicates a traditional usage that is not readily explicable from the grammar or from theindividual elements

IMPERATIVE is a finite verb form identical in Danish with the stem of the verb expressing acommand warning direction or the like eg Kom Come on Vend om Turn round

IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS do not involve a person but usually det or der eg Det sner Itrsquossnowing Der snydes meget Therersquos a lot of cheating

INDECLINABLE describes words that do not INFLECT eg the adjectives moderne good faeligllescommon mutual which take no endings for gender or plural et moderne hus a modern housefaeliglles venner mutual friends Whole word classes may be indeclinable eg conjunctions andprepositions

INDEFINITE (see DEFINITE)INDIRECT OBJECT usually denotes a person or an animal benefitingfrom an action (ie the recipient) eg Vi gav ham pengene We gave him the money

INFINITIVE PHRASE is a phrase consisting of an infinitive accompanied by one or more modifiers egat skrive et brev to write a letter

INFLECT means to change the form of a word by means of endings vowel changes or in other wayseg the verb skrive write inflects skriv skrive skriver skrev skrevet etc

INFLEXION (see INFLECT)INTERROGATIVE is used of questions eg interrogative pronouns and adverbs introduce a question

Hvem var det Who was that Hvorfor kom du ikke Why didnrsquot you comeINVERTED word order denotes verbmdashsubject order eg I dag rejser vi Today we are leavingMATRIX is that part of a complex sentence that remains when the subordinate clause is removed eg

Birthe lovede at hun ville skrive til os Birthe promised that she would write to usMORPHEME is the smallest part of a word expressing meaning in the word bilerne the cars there are

three morphemes bil car er (plural morpheme) ne (definite plural morpheme)MUTATED VOWEL is one that changes when a word is inflected eg o rarr oslash in fodmdashfoslashdder footmdashfeet u

rarr y in ungmdashyngre youngmdashyoungerNOMINAL means a word or phrase functioning as a noun eg Bogen er interessant The book is

interesting At laeligse er interessant Reading is interestingNON-COUNT NOUNS are nouns that cannot describe individual countable entities They may be

either singular words with no plural form usually denoting substances (mass-words) eg luft airmel flour sand sand or they may be plural words with no equivalent singular form eg klaeligderclothes penge money shorts shorts

NON-FINITE VERB forms are those not showing tense namely the infinitive and the participles eg(at) loslashbe (to) run loslashbende running loslashbet run

NOUN PHRASES consist of a noun accompanied by one or more modifiers which may precede or followthe noun eg en dejlig dag a lovely day en dag som jeg aldrig vil glemme a day I shall neverforget

NUMBER is a collective term for singular and plural The plural form is usually marked by aninflexional ending eg en blyant a pencil to blyanter two pencils

PART OF SPEECH means word class eg noun adjective verb conjunction etcPARTICLE is a stressed adverb or preposition appearing together with a verb to form a single unit of

meaning eg ned in skrive ned write down ud in skaeliglde ud tell offPARTITIVE denotes a part of a whole or of a substance eg en del af pengene some of the money en

flaske vin a bottle of wine et kilo kartofler a kilo of potatoesPEJORATIVE means deprecating eg dit fjols you idiot

LINGUISTIC TERMS 197

PREDICATE is the central part of the clause excluding the subject The predicate comprises the verbplus any object complement or adverbial Han spiller (klaver hver dag) He plays (the piano everyday)

PREDICATIVE indicates the position after a copula verb Skuespillet er svaeligrt The play is difficult Debliver gamle Theyrsquore growing old

PREDICATIVE COMPLEMENT is a noun (phrase) or adjective (phrase) in the PREDICATEcomplementing (ie filling out) the subject or object Leo er min bror Han er seks aringr gammel Leo ismy brother He is six years old

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE consists of a preposition plus a prepositional complement (a noun (phrase)a pronoun an infinitive (phrase) or a clause) eg pigen med det lange haringr the girl with the longhair pigen taelignkte paring ham the girl thought of him pigen gik uden at sige farvel the girl leftwithout saying goodbye pigen soslashrgede for at bordet blev daeligkket the girl saw to it that the tablewas set

PRODUCTIVE implies that a word class or method of word formation can still produce new words egthe suffix -bar in vaskbar washable

PROPER NOUNS are names of specific people places occasions events books etc egJoslashrgen Randers Loslashgneren

REAL SUBJECT is the postponed subject eg Det er dejligt at drikke vin Itrsquos nice to drink wine(cf FORMAL SUBJECT)

RECIPROCAL indicates a mutual activity expressed either in the pronoun eg De elsker hinandenThey love each other or in the verb eg Vi ses i morgen See you tomorrow

SEMANTIC denotes the meaning of words phrases etcSENTENCE is a syntactic unit that contains a complete meaning and consists of one or more clauses

(cf CLAUSE) Thus the following three examples are all sentences Se der Look there Hun tagerbussen naringr det regner She takes the bus when it rainsHvis du tror at jeg kan huske hvad han sagde da vi besoslashgte ham i sidste uge tager du fejl If youthink that I can remember what he said when we visited him last week yoursquore wrong

SIMPLE VERBS consist of one word only (a FINITE VERB) eg Hjaeliglp Help (han) sover (he) sleeps(han) gik (he) went

STATEMENT is a sentence or clause conveying information as distinct from a question exclamation orcommand

STEM is the part of the verb onto which inflexional endings are added eg danse danser dansededanset

SYLLABLE consists of a vowel and usually one or more consonants eg oslash doslash roslashr roslashdtin-du-stri-ar-bej-de-re

TAG QUESTION is a phrase attached to the end of a statement which turns it into a questionHan kan lide laks ikke sandt He likes salmon doesnrsquot he

VERB PHRASES consist of a FINITE VERB form (optionally) accompanied by one or more NON-FINITE VERB forms in a chain eg Han sover He is sleeping Han maring kunne loslashbe He must beable to run


DANISH LATIN AND ENGLISH LINGUISTICTERMS

In many Danish grammars and works on language Danish linguistic terms are used in preference tothe more international Latin-based terms This list shows equivalents

Danish Latin EnglishSelvlyd Vokal VowelMedlyd Konsonant ConsonantNavneord Substantiv NounEgennavn Proprium Proper nounKendeord Artikel ArticleTillaeliggsord Adjektiv AdjectiveStedord Pronomen PronounPersonligt stedord Personligt pronomen Personal pronounEjestedord Possessivt pronomen Possessive pronounTilbagevisende stedord Refleksivt pronomen Reflexive pronounGensidigt stedord Reciprokt pronomen Reciprocal pronounParingpegende stedord Demonstrativt pronomen Demonstrative pronounSposlashrgende stedord Interrogativt pronomen Interrogative pronounHenfoslashrende stedord Relativt pronomen Relative pronounUbestemt stedord Indefinit pronomen Indefinite pronoun

Talord Numerale NumeralMaeligngdetal Kardinaltal Cardinal numberOrdenstal Ordinaltal Ordinal number

Udsagnsord Verbum VerbMaringdesudsagnsord Modalverbum Modal verb

Biord Adverbium AdverbBindeord Konjunktion ConjunctionForholdsord Praeligposition PrepositionYtringsord Interjektion InterjectionFald Kasus CaseGrundledsfald Nominativ NominativeGenstandsfald Akkusativdativ AccusativedativeTillaeliggsfald Genitiv Genitive

Danish Latin EnglishTal Numerus Number

Ental Singular SingularFlertal Pluralis Plural

Koslashn Genus GenderFaeliglleskoslashn Commune (maskulinumfemininum) Common gender (masculinefeminine)Intetkoslashn Neutrum Neuter

Gradboslashjning Komparation Comparison1 grad Positiv Positive2 grad Komparativ Comparative3 grad Superlativ Superlative

Maringde Modus MoodFortaeligllemaringde Indikativ IndicativeBydemaringde Imperativ ImperativeOslashnskemaringde Konjunktiv Subjunctive

Tid Tempus TenseArt Diatese=aktivpassiv activepassive voiceNavneform Infinitiv InfinitiveTillaeliggsform Participium ParticipleForstavelse Praeligfiks Prefix(Aflednings)endelse Suffiks SuffixNavnesamstilling Apposition AppositionUdsagnsled Verbal(led) (Finite) VerbGrundled Subjekt SubjectGenstandsled Objekt ObjectOmsagnsled Praeligdikativ ComplementBiled Adverbial AdverbialSideordning Paratakse ParataxisUnderordning Hypotakse HypotaxisSamordning Neksus Nexus

Supplementary terms

A Saeligtningsdannende verbalformer Finitte verbalformer Finite verb forms1 Nutidsform Praeligsens Present tense2 Datidsform Imperfektum Praeligteritum Past tense3 Bydeform Imperativ Imperative4 Oslashnskeform Konjunktiv Subjunctive

B Ikke-saeligtningsdannende verbalformer Infinitte verbalformer Non-finite verb forms1 Navneform Infinitiv Infinitive


2 Tillaeliggsform Participium Participlea Nutids tillaeliggsform Praeligsens participium Present participleb Datids tillaeliggsform PerfektumPraeligteritum participium Past participleUboslashjet Verbalt participium Verbal participleBoslashjelig Adjektivisk participium Adjectival participle

DANISH LATIN AND ENGLISH LINGUISTIC TERMS 201

202

SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Unless otherwise stated works are published in Copenhagen

Afzelius Otto et al Dansk grammatik for udlaeligndinge 8th ed Special-paeligdagogisk Forlag Herning1986

Allan Robin Philip Holmes and Tom Lundskaeligr-Nielsen Danish A Comprehensive GrammarRoutledge London 1995 [1998]

Becker-Christensen Christian and Peter Widell Politikens Nudansk Grammatik Politikens Forlag1995

Brink Lars et al Den Store Danske Udtaleordbog Munksgaard 1991Dansk Sprognaeligvn Danske Dobbeltformer Valgfri former i retskrivningen ed HGalberg Jacobsen

Munksgaard 1992Diderichsen Paul Elementaeligr dansk grammatik 3rd ed Gyldendal 1962Eriksen Joslashrgen and Arne Hamburger Forkortelser i hverdagen Gyldendal 1988Fischer-Hansen Barbara and Ann Kledal Grammatikkenmdashharingndbog i dansk grammatik for

udlaeligndinge Special-paeligdagogisk Forlag Herning 1994Groslashnnum Nina Fonetik og Fonologi Almen og Dansk Akademisk Forlag 1998Hansen Erik Skrift stavning og retstavning 2nd ed Hans Reitzel 1991Hansen Erik Rigtigt dansk 2nd ed Hans Reitzel 1993Hansen Erik Daeligmonernes Port Stoslashttemateriale til undervisningen i nydansk4th ed Hans Reitzel

1997Hansen Aage Moderne dansk I-III Grafisk Forlag 1967Jacobsen Henrik Galberg Erhvervsdansk Opslagsbog Schoslashnberg 1990Jacobsen Henrik Galberg Saeligt nyt komma Regler grammatik genveje og oslashvelser

Dansklaeligrerforeningen 1996Jacobsen Henrik Galberg and Peder Skyum-Nielsen Erhvervsdansk Grundbog Schoslashnberg 1990Jacobsen Henrik Galberg and Peder Skyum-Nielsen Dansk sprog En grundbog Schoslashnberg 1996Jacobsen Henrik Galberg and Peter Stray Joslashrgensen Politikens Basisbog om Dansk Sprogbrug

Politikens Forlag 1996Jacobsen Henrik Galberg and Peter Stray Joslashrgensen Haringndbog i Nudansk 3rd ed Politikens Forlag

1997Jarvad Pia Nye ordmdashhvorfor og hvordan Gyldendal 1995Jones WGlyn and Kirsten Gade Danish A Grammar Gyldendal 1981Lomholt Joslashrgen Le Danois Contemporain Akademisk Forlag 1982Nordentoft Annelise Munck Hovedtraeligk af dansk grammatik Ordklasser 2nd ed Gyldendal 1972Nordentoft Annelise Munck Hovedtraeligk af dansk grammatik Syntaks 3rd ed Gyldendal 1982Petersen Pia Riber Nye ord i dansk 1955ndash1975 Gyldendal 1984Politikens Store Nye Nudansk Ordbog Politikens Forlag 1996Retskrivningsordbogen 2nd ed Aschehoug 1996Soslashrensen Knud Engelsk i dansk Er det et must Munksgaard 1995Vinterberg Hermann and CABodelsen Dansk-Engelsk Ordbog 4th ed ed VHjoslashrnager Pedersen

Gyldendal 1998

204

INDEX

Figures refer to paragraphs and sub-paragraphs Words in bold are Danish Words in italics are EnglishAAaa 166fabbreviation 164fabout 127above 127abstract nouns 34acronym 1643active verb 105ad 113adjectival noun 54 933(b)adjective 44ndash63adjective agreement 44 51fadverb 107ndash11adverbial see Clausal adverbial Other adverbialsadverbial clause 154adverbs of location and motion 110af 114affix 163affixation 163after 127against 127agent 1052 148 152 155agreement 44 51fal (alt alle) 78aldrig 1603altid 1073amplifier 113anden (andet andre) 641apostrophe 175article 38article use 39ndash43as 1362ashellipas 1363ask 815 851at 127ffat (conjunction) 1342(a) 1358 1563at (infinitive marker) 912

at- clause with a lsquotopicrsquo 1591at- clause with FV-CA word order 1592auxiliary verb 922 143

bare 1342(b)barn 281 293be 883before 127 1364begge 1355below 127blend 1642blive (bliver blev blevet) 10 863blive passive 1055blaring 482borrowing 1611bort 1102borte 1102both 1365burde (boslashr burde) 100but 1366by 127baringdehellipog 1354

can 100capital letter 168cardinal number 64fcentury 656clausal adverbial 107 145 151 1561 1602 1603clause element 137clause stress 14fclause structure 137ndash60clause types 138cleft sentence 158clipping 1641clock 66collective 332n 35

205

come 903comma 171command 1012 1382 139common abbreviations 165common prepositions 113comparison of adjectives 56ndash63comparison of adverbs 108complement 923 147compound adverb 1073compound name 168compound noun 236 1311(b) 162compound preposition 1121(b)compound verb 106compounding 162conditional clause 1593conjugation 79ndash90conjunction 133ndash6 140consonant 4ndash8context 157coordinating conjunction 133 1564(d)copula verb 1034count noun 34

da 1114 1342(b)dash 174date 652 1314de 10 67fDe 10 67fdecades 656 1723decimals 655definite declension of the adjective 53definite form of the adjective 44 53fdefinite form of the noun 22 38dem 67demonstrative pronoun 53 74den 67fdenne (dette disse) 74deponent verb 1043der (adverb) 158der (pronoun) 75f 1352 1358 142 1564(c)det 67f 142 153difficult adverbs 111difficult conjunctions 136dig 10 67 70diphthong 3direct object 1031 147direct speech 1491 174do 822dog 1114

du 67fduring 127 1285daringrlig 591daringrligt (adv) 108

efter 115eftersom 1342(b)eller 133emphatic topic 1493en (article) 22 38eacuten (numeral) 646end 612 1342(b)et (article) 22 38eacutet (numeral) 646exclamation mark 173existential sentence 153expletive 1329extra positions 141 1718

female suffixes 237festival 168finite verb 138 143 149first conjugation 80first element 162flere 593flest 593for 127for (conj) 133 1362for (prep) 115 116for at 913 1342(b)forbi 113fordi 1342(b)formal subject 672 142 153forrige 53nforskellig 612fourth conjugation 83fra 117fractions 655frem 1102fremme 1102from 127front article 53full stop 172future tense 98FV1 clause 1381FV2 clause 1381foslashr 1353foslashrste 53n 62nfaring (adj) 58

206 INDEX

faring (pronoun) 78faring (verb) 891

gammel 591ganske 1222gender 22fgender rules 23general subordinator 1342(a)genitive 37 131 175gerne 108 1111glottal stop (lsquostoslashdrsquo) 11go 891god 452godt (adv) 108gradation series 83ndash90greetings 132grov 483grow 921graring 482guillemet 174garing 891

han 67fhave 821have (har havde haft) 821 96fhen 1102henne 1102her 1564(a)hinanden 71hjem 1102hjemme 1102hos 113 1293hun 67fhv- question 77 1382 139hv- word 75 77 135hvad 75 77 135hvem 75 77 1351hver(t) 78hverandre 71hvilken 75 77hvis 75 133(b) 1357 1593hvordan 1351hyphen 176

i 118if 1367ikke 1071 1112 151 1603imitation 132imperative 101

impersonal passive 1057impersonal subject 693in 127ffind 1102inde 1102indeclinable adjective 50indefinite adjective 45ndash51indefinite adjective constructions 51indefinite article 22 38indefinite form of the noun 22 28indefinite pronoun 78inden 1342(b) 1354independent clause 157indirect object 147indirect question 1342(a) 1351indirect speech 133(a)infinitive 91 144infinitive marker 912infinitive phrase 153inflexion of superlative 62ingen (intet ingen) 78ingenting 78inseparable compound verb 106interjection 132interrogative pronoun 77into 127intransitive verb 96 103 153inversion 1382 1601inverted commas 174inverted word order 1382it 67f

ja 1325jasaring 1325javel 1325javist 1325jo 1114 1325johellipdesto 1342(b)johellipjohellip 1342(b)jovist 1325

know 81komme 903kunne (kan kunne) 10 100

lang(t) 58langt (adv) 108 1113lige 1114ligehellipsomhellip 1363

INDEX 207

ligehellipsaring 611ligge 865light elements 150 1564(a)ligne 611lille 481 591link position 140live 79loanwords 32laelignge 108 1113

main clause 139ndash53man 78mange 591masculine suffixes 237may 100 1021med 119me(de)ns 1342(b)meget (megen) 551 78mellem 127men 1332 1356mere 59fmest 59fmig 10 70mod 120modal auxiliary verb 912 100 143money 654month 168mood 100ndash3MPT-adverbial 146must 100maringtte (maring maringtte) 100

nationality words 42 55natural topic 1492ned 1102nede 1102negative element 160negative prefix 1634nej 1326nemlig 1114no 1326no (pronoun) 78nogen (noget nogle) 78nok 1114non-count noun 33non-finite verb 144noun 22ndash43noun declensions 24ndash28noun plurals 24ndash32

noun with end article 22 35fnu 1114nu da 1358number 36numerals 64fnaringr 1342(b)

object 147 1604object complement 147object pronoun 150of 377 127 131ofte 108og 12om (adverb) 1102om (prep) 121omkring 111omme 1102on 127ffond 591op 1102oppe 1102ordinal number 64forthography 166ndash68other adverbials 146ought to 100over 122over

particle 106partitive genitive 1313passive 1041 105 152passive agent 105 146 152past participle 92 143past perfect tense 97past tense 75 95 99 143patient 1052perfect tense 96 99personal pronoun 67fplural forms of loanwords 32plural forms of nouns 24ndash32possessive pronoun 43 72fpredicting plurals 25prefix 1632 1634preposition 112ndash26preposition place 130preposition time 128ndash30prepositional complement 1122present participle 93 144present tense 94 99 143

208 INDEX

prohibition 912pronoun 67ndash78pronunciation 1ndash10punctuation 170ndash76punctuation marks 170put 822paring 123

real subject 142 153reciprocal pronoun 71reciprocal verb 1044reflexive possessive pronoun 73reflexive pronoun 70 150reflexive verb 1035relative clause 75f 1542 1711relative pronoun 75restrictive relative clause 75f

-s form of the verb 104-s genitive 37-s passive 1042 1054s- link 1622say 822second conjugation 81see 853selv 70selvom 1342(b)separable compound verb 106sgu 1114shall 98 100should 98 100siden (conj) 1342(b)siden (prep) 113sidste 53 63nsig 10 70sikke(n) (sikket sikke) 51similarity 61sin (sit sine) 72fskam 1114skulle (skal) 10 98 100skoslashnt 1342(b)som 77f 1358 158spelling 166ndash68spelling reform 166statement 1382 139stiv 483stop 4ndash5stor 58straight word order 1382

stress 13ndash21stressed affixes 18fstressed syllables 17strong verb 83ndash90stoslashd 11fstaringsubject 138 140 149 1562subject complement 147subject pronoun 67fsubjunctive 102subordinate clause 154 156ndash60 170subordinating conjunction 134 1564(d)suffix 1632 1635syllable loss 91syllable stress 17saring 1342(b)saringhellipat 1342(b)saringhellipsom 1342(b)

tage 10 84take 84-tal 656 657telephone number 651telescope reduction 1642temperature 653tense 94ndash99that (conjunction) 1368that (demonstrative) 74that (relative pronoun) 75The English etc 55think 79third conjugation 82this 74through 127til 124til+genitive 462time by the clock 66tit 108to 127topicalisation 149transitive verb 96 103trods 113turde (toslashr turde) 100two-verb constructions 913

ud 1102ude 1102uden 1356under 127

INDEX 209

under 125undtagen 1356ung 58unstressed e 15n 9unstressed object 1564(a)uses of tenses 99

var 10ved 126 1293vel (stressed) 108vel (unstressed) 1114verb 79ndash106verb forms 79ndash92verb particle 106verb tenses 94ndash99ville (vil ville) 100vist 1114vowel 1ndash3vowel changes in nouns 29vowel length 2vowel merger 92vaeligre (er var vaeligret) 883 96fvaeligre passive 1056vaeligrre vaeligrst 592

want to 100weak verb 79ndash82weekday 168will 100wish 1012 102 1382 139with 127word class 137word formation 161ndash65word order 137ndash60word stress 17

yes 1325yesno question 1382 139Aringaring 166f

210 INDEX

BOOK COVER

HALF-TITLE

TITLE

COPYRIGHT

CONTENTS

PREFACE

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE TEXT

1 PRONUNCIATION

VOWEL SOUNDS

1 VOWELS AND THEIR PRONUNCIATION

2 VOWEL LENGTH AND SPELLING

3 DIPHTHONGS

CONSONANT SOUNDS

4 STOPS p t k

5 STOPS b d g

6 s c sc x z

7 f h j sj sh ch

8 l n ng nk r v w

9 SYLLABLE LOSS AND VOWEL MERGER

10 PRONUNCIATION OF SOME FREQUENT WORDS

THE GLOTTAL STOP

11 THE GLOTTAL STOP (lsquoSTOslashDrsquo)

12 INFLECTED FORMSmdashlsquoSTOslashDrsquo VARIATIONS

STRESS

13 STRESS

14 STRESSED IN THE CLAUSE

15 UNSTRESSED IN THE CLAUSE

16 TWO-WORD STRESS

17 STRESSED AND UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES

18 STRESSED PREFIXES

19 STRESSED SUFFIXES

20 UNSTRESSED PREFIXES

21 UNSTRESSED SUFFIXES

2 NOUNS

GENDER

22 GENDER

23 GENDER RULES

PLURALS

24 PLURALS AND DECLENSIONS

25 PREDICTING PLURALS

26 PLURALS IN -(E)R (EN GADEmdashGADER ET BILLEDE mdashBILLEDER)

27 PLURALS IN -E (EN DAGmdashDAGE ET HUSmdashHUSE)

28 ZERO-PLURAL (EN SKOmdashSKO ET AringRmdashAringR)

29 PLURALS WITH A VOWEL CHANGE (EN TANDmdashTAEligNDER)

30 PLURALS OF NOUNS IN -EL -EN -ER (EN SOslashSTERmdashSOslashSTRE)

31 NOUNS DOUBLING THE FINAL CONSONANT

32 PLURALS OF LOANWORDS

33 COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS

34 NOUNS WITH NO PLURAL FORM

35 NOUNS WITH NO SINGULAR FORM

36 DIFFERENCES IN NUMBER

THE GENITIVE

37 GENITIVES

ARTICLES

38 ARTICLESmdashFORM

39 ARTICLE USEmdashINTRODUCTION

40 ARTICLE USEmdashEND ARTICLE IN DANISH NO ARTICLE IN ENGLISH

41 ARTICLE USEmdashNO ARTICLE IN DANISH DEFINITE ARTICLE IN ENGLISH

42 ARTICLE USEmdashNO ARTICLE IN DANISH INDEFINITE ARTICLE IN ENGLISH

43 ARTICLE USEmdashEND ARTICLE IN DANISH POSSESSIVE PRONOUN IN ENGLISH

3 ADJECTIVES


45 INDEFINITE FORMmdashREGULAR

46 INDEFINITE FORMmdashNEUTER SAME AS COMMON GENDER

47 VARIATIONS IN PLURALDEFINITE

48 INDEFINITE FORMmdashSPECIAL CASES

49 ADJECTIVES DOUBLING THE FINAL CONSONANT IN THE PLURAL

50 INDECLINABLE ADJECTIVES

51 INDEFINITE CONSTRUCTIONS

52 AGREEMENT AND LACK OF AGREEMENT

DEFINITE DECLENSION

53 DEFINITE CONSTRUCTIONS

54 ADJECTIVAL NOUNS

55 lsquoTHE ENGLISHrsquo AND OTHER NATIONALITY WORDS

COMPARISON

56 COMPARISONmdashINTRODUCTION

57 COMPARISON WITH -ERE -EST

58 COMPARISON WITH VOWEL CHANGE AND -(E)RE -(E)ST

59 IRREGULAR COMPARISON

60 COMPARISON WITH MERE MEST

61 SIMILARITY DISSIMILARITY AND REINFORCEMENT

62 INFLEXION OF THE SUPERLATIVE

63 THE ABSOLUTE COMPARATIVE AND ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE

4 NUMERALS

5 PRONOUNS

6 VERBS

VERBS FORMS

79 VERB FORMS IN OUTLINE

80 FIRST CONJUGATION

81 SECOND CONJUGATION

82 THIRD CONJUGATION

83 FOURTH CONJUGATIONmdashINTRODUCTION

84 FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -a-

85 FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -e-

86 FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -i-

87 FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -y-

88 FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -aelig-

89 FOURTH CONJUGATION STEM VOWEL IN -aring-

90 FOURTH CONJUGATION VERBS WITH THE SAME STEM VOWEL IN ALL FORMS

91 INFINITIVE

92 PAST PARTICIPLE

93 PRESENT PARTICIPLE

TENSES

94 PRESENT TENSE

95 PAST TENSE

96 PERFECT TENSE

97 PAST PERFECT TENSE

98 FUTURE TENSE

99 DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF TENSES

MOOD

100 MOOD AND MODAL VERBS

101 IMPERATIVE

102 SUBJUNCTIVE

TYPES OF VERB

103 TRANSITIVE INTRANSITIVE COPULA AND REFLEXIVE VERBS


104 -s FORMS DEPONENT AND RECIPROCAL VERBS

105 THE PASSIVE

COMPOUND VERBS

106 COMPOUND VERBS

7 ADVERBS

8 PREPOSITIONS

9 INTERJECTIONS

10 CONJUNCTIONS

11 WORD ORDER AND CLAUSE STRUCTURE

12 WORD FORMATION

13 ORTHOGRAPHY

14 PUNCTUATION

LINGUISTIC TERMS

DANISH LATIN AND ENGLISH LINGUISTIC TERMS

SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

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DANISH AN ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR






London and New York












CONTENTS

Preface xii


1 PRONUNCIATION 1

Vowel sounds



3 Diphthongs 5

Consonant sounds

4 Stops p t k 5

5 Stops b d g 6

6 s c sc x z 8

7 f h j sj sh ch 8

8 l n ng nk r v w 8



The glottal stop



Stress

13 Stress 13









2 NOUNS 19

Gender

22 Gender 19

23 Gender rules 19

Plurals














The genitive

37 Genitives 29

Articles







3 ADJECTIVES 35


vi










Definite declension




Comparison









4 NUMERALS 51




5 PRONOUNS 57



69 Uses of det 58



vii





76 Der or som 68



6 VERBS 75

Verb forms













91 Infinitive 84



Tenses

94 Present tense 90

95 Past tense 91

96 Perfect tense 91


98 Future tense 93


Mood

viii


101 Imperative 97

102 Subjunctive 97

Types of verb




105 The passive 100

Compound verbs


7 ADVERBS 107






8 PREPOSITIONS 113



114 af 119

115 efter 120

116 for 120

117 fra 122

118 i 122

119 med 123

120 mod 124

121 om 125

122 over 126

123 paring 127

124 til 127

125 under 128

126 ved 129

ix






9 INTERJECTIONS 139


10 CONJUNCTIONS 143












143 Finite verb 155













x








162 Compounding 173

163 Affixation 175



13 ORTHOGRAPHY 185





14 PUNCTUATION 189


171 The comma 189





176 The hyphen 192




Index 205

xi

PREFACE









November 1999



stressed syllable




xiv

1PRONUNCIATION


VOWEL SOUNDS


1 Unrounded vowels








Unrounded vowels

Rounded vowels









PRONUNCIATION 3












3DIPHTHONGS




Rather rarely

uj [ui] huje



CONSONANT SOUNDS

4STOPS p t k



p [p] passe pose

PRONUNCIATION 5







5STOPS b d g







(c) silent d


















(c) silent g






PRONUNCIATION 7


6s c sc x z




7f h j sj sh ch



8l n ng nk r v w





Note














PRONUNCIATION 9

Pronouns


Modal verbs


Verbs


Adverbs

ikke [eg]

Conjunctions etc

og at [ad] or [a]



Glem ikke at skrive

Prepositions


THE GLOTTAL STOP























PRONUNCIATION 11
















STRESS

13STRESS















PRONUNCIATION 13


















Conjunctions


16TWO-WORD STRESS




en et a car a house

Verb+particle


Verb1 +verb2



at at to go to come

Verb+complement




PRONUNCIATION 15

Pronoun+adverb

dette de this those

Time measurement


First name+surname

Anders









18STRESSED PREFIXES



19STRESSED SUFFIXES






Exceptions




PRONUNCIATION 17

18

2NOUNS

GENDER

22GENDER





23GENDER RULES


























Exceptions




NOUNS 21




PLURALS






















Nouns ending in -i







et museum to museer



NOUNS 23


































NOUNS 25






























NOUNS 27







These include





These include








THE GENITIVE

37GENITIVES











NOUNS 29









ARTICLES

38ARTICLESmdashFORM
























NOUNS 31

























3 With proper nouns








NOUNS 33





ENGLISH





3ADJECTIVES




Neuter Plural









houses



1 Main rule






























ADJECTIVES 37













See also 31



















ADJECTIVES 39



all young people




















DEFINITE DECLENSION





ADJECTIVES 41










54ADJECTIVAL NOUNS
























ADJECTIVES 43




COMPARISON


























ADJECTIVES 45





























ADJECTIVES 47

1 Similarity


2 Dissimilarity






3 Reinforcement













ADJECTIVES 49

50

4NUMERALS








6 000 000 (6000000) 6000000







52 NUMERALS




2 Dates


3 Temperature




Itrsquos 30 degrees

But


4 Money












6 Decades centuries


7 Others


66TIME BY THE CLOCK

54 NUMERALS




56

5PRONOUNS















Examples of usage




69USES OF DET
















Note also




Note also


PRONOUNS 59
































PRONOUNS 61










But often
















Compare





PRONOUNS 63

























that that those









PRONOUNS 65


















75RELATIVE PRONOUNS





















PRONOUNS 67










76DER OR SOM

















PRONOUNS 69


























PRONOUNS 71
























PRONOUNS 73










6VERBS

VERBS FORMS















80FIRST CONJUGATION


















ske happen



VERBS 77







82THIRD CONJUGATION

























VERBS 79

















VERBS 81

























VERBS 83





FORMS



91INFINITIVE






















VERBS 85



PrepComp






92PAST PARTICIPLE

1 Form













(cf 96ndash97 )
















VERBS 87






























VERBS 89






TENSES

94PRESENT TENSE














95PAST TENSE









96PERFECT TENSE







VERBS 91
























98FUTURE TENSE









VERBS 93












MOOD















(b) kunne


(c) maringtte


VERBS 95


(d) skulle


Note also


(e) turde


(f) ville




101IMPERATIVE









102SUBJUNCTIVE







VERBS 97



TYPES OF VERB




























VERBS 99













105THE PASSIVE







griberactive verb




gribespassive verb












VERBS 101































VERBS 103




COMPOUND VERBS

106COMPOUND VERBS



















VERBS 105

106

7ADVERBS

107ADVERBSmdashFORM







adjective adverb







3 Compound adverb









109USE OF ADVERBS

















ADVERBS 109








(in herethere)


(out herethere)


(up herethere)


(down herethere)


(over herethere)


(over herethere)


(over herethere)

Examples of use

















ADVERBS 111



8PREPOSITIONS










































PREPOSITIONS 115















at forsiden since



Notes1 ad is used









PREPOSITIONS 117

















7 trods




114AF



BY


FROM


FROM


WITH


OFF


Notice also


PREPOSITIONS 119

115EFTER


AFTER


BEHIND


BY


FOR


ACCORDING TO


Notice also


116FOR




FOR


TO


BEFORE


Note also







PREPOSITIONS 121

117FRA



FROM


Note also


118I



AT


IN





FOR


TO


APER




others


119MED



WITH


PREPOSITIONS 123


BY


IN


TO


Note also


120MOD


TO(WARDS)


AGAINST




(COMPARED) TO


121OM



(A)ROUND


IN


ON


ABOUT


APER




PREPOSITIONS 125

Notice also


122OVER


ABOVE


ACROSS


OVER


PAST


OF


Notice also



123PAring



ON


AT


IN


TO


OF


Notice also


124TIL


PREPOSITIONS 127


TO


TILLUNTIL


FOR


OF




Notice also


125UNDER




UNDER


BELOW


BENEATH




Notice also


126VED



AT


BY


PREPOSITIONS 129

NEAR


ABOUTAROUND


Notice also



SUMMARY

















PREPOSITIONS 131

















(b) ved=at by




=near

PREPOSITIONS 133


=of (with battles)


































PREPOSITIONS 135























PREPOSITIONS 137

138

9INTERJECTIONS

132INTERJECTIONS













Fear ih nej uh(a)


Hesitation oslashh


Pain av






















INTERJECTIONS 141





10CONJUNCTIONS

























(ii) Cause


(iii) Condition


(iv) Concession


(v) Intention


(vi) Result


(vii) Comparison


CONJUNCTIONS 145





































CONJUNCTIONS 147


























CONJUNCTIONS 149

150






138CLAUSE TYPES








Notice that


questions



other adverbial (A)

140LINK POSITION



141EXTRA POSITIONS


X1 F v n a V N A X2







The subject may be





understandable







143FINITE VERB






144NON-FINITE VERB












146OTHER ADVERBIALS


































148PASSIVE AGENT





149TOPICALISATION























150LIGHT ELEMENTS














But










But



But



But



























Notice that









EXAMPLES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7k X1 F v n a V N A X2


i morges



i aften


ndash syge






tndash i garingr






19 Kom






139 153 154



139 150


145 151



147 153 154


146 148


141 154




nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial




Hunsagde




nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial























158CLEFT SENTENCES
































first in the clause


















172

12WORD FORMATION

161INTRODUCTION





3 Affixation


4 Abbreviation





162COMPOUNDING




























163AFFIXATION


Prefix


friend enemy

Suffix





WORD FORMATION 175




WORD FORMATION 177





164ABBREVIATION













WORD FORMATION 179






















WORD FORMATION 181


















2 under

WORD FORMATION 183

184

13ORTHOGRAPHY

166THE ALPHABET






















169WORD DIVISION









bo-gen bus-sen





ORTHOGRAPHY 187

188

14PUNCTUATION




171THE COMMA



















(i) Before men










172THE FULL STOP






1000000 kr 1000000 kroner


75 l 75 litres




174DIRECT SPEECH




PUNCTUATION 191



175THE APOSTROPHE







(b) After numerals


176THE HYPHEN










PUNCTUATION 193

194

LINGUISTIC TERMS























































































Supplementary terms






202

SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY












Gyldendal 1998

204

INDEX





205






206 INDEX









INDEX 207







208 INDEX







INDEX 209





210 INDEX

BOOK COVER

HALF-TITLE

TITLE

COPYRIGHT

CONTENTS

PREFACE


1 PRONUNCIATION

VOWEL SOUNDS



3 DIPHTHONGS

CONSONANT SOUNDS

4 STOPS p t k

5 STOPS b d g

6 s c sc x z

7 f h j sj sh ch

8 l n ng nk r v w



THE GLOTTAL STOP



STRESS

13 STRESS



16 TWO-WORD STRESS






2 NOUNS

GENDER

22 GENDER

23 GENDER RULES

PLURALS














THE GENITIVE

37 GENITIVES

ARTICLES







3 ADJECTIVES










DEFINITE DECLENSION


54 ADJECTIVAL NOUNS


COMPARISON









4 NUMERALS

5 PRONOUNS

6 VERBS

VERBS FORMS













91 INFINITIVE

92 PAST PARTICIPLE


TENSES

94 PRESENT TENSE

95 PAST TENSE

96 PERFECT TENSE


98 FUTURE TENSE


MOOD


101 IMPERATIVE

102 SUBJUNCTIVE

TYPES OF VERB




105 THE PASSIVE

COMPOUND VERBS

106 COMPOUND VERBS

7 ADVERBS

8 PREPOSITIONS

9 INTERJECTIONS

10 CONJUNCTIONS


12 WORD FORMATION

13 ORTHOGRAPHY

14 PUNCTUATION

LINGUISTIC TERMS


SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

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London and New York












CONTENTS

Preface xii


1 PRONUNCIATION 1

Vowel sounds



3 Diphthongs 5

Consonant sounds

4 Stops p t k 5

5 Stops b d g 6

6 s c sc x z 8

7 f h j sj sh ch 8

8 l n ng nk r v w 8



The glottal stop



Stress

13 Stress 13









2 NOUNS 19

Gender

22 Gender 19

23 Gender rules 19

Plurals














The genitive

37 Genitives 29

Articles







3 ADJECTIVES 35


vi










Definite declension




Comparison









4 NUMERALS 51




5 PRONOUNS 57



69 Uses of det 58



vii





76 Der or som 68



6 VERBS 75

Verb forms













91 Infinitive 84



Tenses

94 Present tense 90

95 Past tense 91

96 Perfect tense 91


98 Future tense 93


Mood

viii


101 Imperative 97

102 Subjunctive 97

Types of verb




105 The passive 100

Compound verbs


7 ADVERBS 107






8 PREPOSITIONS 113



114 af 119

115 efter 120

116 for 120

117 fra 122

118 i 122

119 med 123

120 mod 124

121 om 125

122 over 126

123 paring 127

124 til 127

125 under 128

126 ved 129

ix






9 INTERJECTIONS 139


10 CONJUNCTIONS 143












143 Finite verb 155













x








162 Compounding 173

163 Affixation 175



13 ORTHOGRAPHY 185





14 PUNCTUATION 189


171 The comma 189





176 The hyphen 192




Index 205

xi

PREFACE









November 1999



stressed syllable




xiv

1PRONUNCIATION


VOWEL SOUNDS


1 Unrounded vowels








Unrounded vowels

Rounded vowels









PRONUNCIATION 3












3DIPHTHONGS




Rather rarely

uj [ui] huje



CONSONANT SOUNDS

4STOPS p t k



p [p] passe pose

PRONUNCIATION 5







5STOPS b d g







(c) silent d


















(c) silent g






PRONUNCIATION 7


6s c sc x z




7f h j sj sh ch



8l n ng nk r v w





Note














PRONUNCIATION 9

Pronouns


Modal verbs


Verbs


Adverbs

ikke [eg]

Conjunctions etc

og at [ad] or [a]



Glem ikke at skrive

Prepositions


THE GLOTTAL STOP























PRONUNCIATION 11
















STRESS

13STRESS















PRONUNCIATION 13


















Conjunctions


16TWO-WORD STRESS




en et a car a house

Verb+particle


Verb1 +verb2



at at to go to come

Verb+complement




PRONUNCIATION 15

Pronoun+adverb

dette de this those

Time measurement


First name+surname

Anders









18STRESSED PREFIXES



19STRESSED SUFFIXES






Exceptions




PRONUNCIATION 17

18

2NOUNS

GENDER

22GENDER





23GENDER RULES


























Exceptions




NOUNS 21




PLURALS






















Nouns ending in -i







et museum to museer



NOUNS 23


































NOUNS 25






























NOUNS 27







These include





These include








THE GENITIVE

37GENITIVES











NOUNS 29









ARTICLES

38ARTICLESmdashFORM
























NOUNS 31

























3 With proper nouns








NOUNS 33





ENGLISH





3ADJECTIVES




Neuter Plural









houses



1 Main rule






























ADJECTIVES 37













See also 31



















ADJECTIVES 39



all young people




















DEFINITE DECLENSION





ADJECTIVES 41










54ADJECTIVAL NOUNS
























ADJECTIVES 43




COMPARISON


























ADJECTIVES 45





























ADJECTIVES 47

1 Similarity


2 Dissimilarity






3 Reinforcement













ADJECTIVES 49

50

4NUMERALS








6 000 000 (6000000) 6000000







52 NUMERALS




2 Dates


3 Temperature




Itrsquos 30 degrees

But


4 Money












6 Decades centuries


7 Others


66TIME BY THE CLOCK

54 NUMERALS




56

5PRONOUNS















Examples of usage




69USES OF DET
















Note also




Note also


PRONOUNS 59
































PRONOUNS 61










But often
















Compare





PRONOUNS 63

























that that those









PRONOUNS 65


















75RELATIVE PRONOUNS





















PRONOUNS 67










76DER OR SOM

















PRONOUNS 69


























PRONOUNS 71
























PRONOUNS 73










6VERBS

VERBS FORMS















80FIRST CONJUGATION


















ske happen



VERBS 77







82THIRD CONJUGATION

























VERBS 79

















VERBS 81

























VERBS 83





FORMS



91INFINITIVE






















VERBS 85



PrepComp






92PAST PARTICIPLE

1 Form













(cf 96ndash97 )
















VERBS 87






























VERBS 89






TENSES

94PRESENT TENSE














95PAST TENSE









96PERFECT TENSE







VERBS 91
























98FUTURE TENSE









VERBS 93












MOOD















(b) kunne


(c) maringtte


VERBS 95


(d) skulle


Note also


(e) turde


(f) ville




101IMPERATIVE









102SUBJUNCTIVE







VERBS 97



TYPES OF VERB




























VERBS 99













105THE PASSIVE







griberactive verb




gribespassive verb












VERBS 101































VERBS 103




COMPOUND VERBS

106COMPOUND VERBS



















VERBS 105

106

7ADVERBS

107ADVERBSmdashFORM







adjective adverb







3 Compound adverb









109USE OF ADVERBS

















ADVERBS 109








(in herethere)


(out herethere)


(up herethere)


(down herethere)


(over herethere)


(over herethere)


(over herethere)

Examples of use

















ADVERBS 111



8PREPOSITIONS










































PREPOSITIONS 115















at forsiden since



Notes1 ad is used









PREPOSITIONS 117

















7 trods




114AF



BY


FROM


FROM


WITH


OFF


Notice also


PREPOSITIONS 119

115EFTER


AFTER


BEHIND


BY


FOR


ACCORDING TO


Notice also


116FOR




FOR


TO


BEFORE


Note also







PREPOSITIONS 121

117FRA



FROM


Note also


118I



AT


IN





FOR


TO


APER




others


119MED



WITH


PREPOSITIONS 123


BY


IN


TO


Note also


120MOD


TO(WARDS)


AGAINST




(COMPARED) TO


121OM



(A)ROUND


IN


ON


ABOUT


APER




PREPOSITIONS 125

Notice also


122OVER


ABOVE


ACROSS


OVER


PAST


OF


Notice also



123PAring



ON


AT


IN


TO


OF


Notice also


124TIL


PREPOSITIONS 127


TO


TILLUNTIL


FOR


OF




Notice also


125UNDER




UNDER


BELOW


BENEATH




Notice also


126VED



AT


BY


PREPOSITIONS 129

NEAR


ABOUTAROUND


Notice also



SUMMARY

















PREPOSITIONS 131

















(b) ved=at by




=near

PREPOSITIONS 133


=of (with battles)


































PREPOSITIONS 135























PREPOSITIONS 137

138

9INTERJECTIONS

132INTERJECTIONS













Fear ih nej uh(a)


Hesitation oslashh


Pain av






















INTERJECTIONS 141





10CONJUNCTIONS

























(ii) Cause


(iii) Condition


(iv) Concession


(v) Intention


(vi) Result


(vii) Comparison


CONJUNCTIONS 145





































CONJUNCTIONS 147


























CONJUNCTIONS 149

150






138CLAUSE TYPES








Notice that


questions



other adverbial (A)

140LINK POSITION



141EXTRA POSITIONS


X1 F v n a V N A X2







The subject may be





understandable







143FINITE VERB






144NON-FINITE VERB












146OTHER ADVERBIALS


































148PASSIVE AGENT





149TOPICALISATION























150LIGHT ELEMENTS














But










But



But



But



























Notice that









EXAMPLES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7k X1 F v n a V N A X2


i morges



i aften


ndash syge






tndash i garingr






19 Kom






139 153 154



139 150


145 151



147 153 154


146 148


141 154




nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial




Hunsagde




nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial























158CLEFT SENTENCES
































first in the clause


















172

12WORD FORMATION

161INTRODUCTION





3 Affixation


4 Abbreviation





162COMPOUNDING




























163AFFIXATION


Prefix


friend enemy

Suffix





WORD FORMATION 175




WORD FORMATION 177





164ABBREVIATION













WORD FORMATION 179






















WORD FORMATION 181


















2 under

WORD FORMATION 183

184

13ORTHOGRAPHY

166THE ALPHABET






















169WORD DIVISION









bo-gen bus-sen





ORTHOGRAPHY 187

188

14PUNCTUATION




171THE COMMA



















(i) Before men










172THE FULL STOP






1000000 kr 1000000 kroner


75 l 75 litres




174DIRECT SPEECH




PUNCTUATION 191



175THE APOSTROPHE







(b) After numerals


176THE HYPHEN










PUNCTUATION 193

194

LINGUISTIC TERMS























































































Supplementary terms






202

SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY












Gyldendal 1998

204

INDEX





205






206 INDEX









INDEX 207







208 INDEX







INDEX 209





210 INDEX

BOOK COVER

HALF-TITLE

TITLE

COPYRIGHT

CONTENTS

PREFACE


1 PRONUNCIATION

VOWEL SOUNDS



3 DIPHTHONGS

CONSONANT SOUNDS

4 STOPS p t k

5 STOPS b d g

6 s c sc x z

7 f h j sj sh ch

8 l n ng nk r v w



THE GLOTTAL STOP



STRESS

13 STRESS



16 TWO-WORD STRESS






2 NOUNS

GENDER

22 GENDER

23 GENDER RULES

PLURALS














THE GENITIVE

37 GENITIVES

ARTICLES







3 ADJECTIVES










DEFINITE DECLENSION


54 ADJECTIVAL NOUNS


COMPARISON









4 NUMERALS

5 PRONOUNS

6 VERBS

VERBS FORMS













91 INFINITIVE

92 PAST PARTICIPLE


TENSES

94 PRESENT TENSE

95 PAST TENSE

96 PERFECT TENSE


98 FUTURE TENSE


MOOD


101 IMPERATIVE

102 SUBJUNCTIVE

TYPES OF VERB




105 THE PASSIVE

COMPOUND VERBS

106 COMPOUND VERBS

7 ADVERBS

8 PREPOSITIONS

9 INTERJECTIONS

10 CONJUNCTIONS


12 WORD FORMATION

13 ORTHOGRAPHY

14 PUNCTUATION

LINGUISTIC TERMS


SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX













CONTENTS

Preface xii


1 PRONUNCIATION 1

Vowel sounds



3 Diphthongs 5

Consonant sounds

4 Stops p t k 5

5 Stops b d g 6

6 s c sc x z 8

7 f h j sj sh ch 8

8 l n ng nk r v w 8



The glottal stop



Stress

13 Stress 13









2 NOUNS 19

Gender

22 Gender 19

23 Gender rules 19

Plurals














The genitive

37 Genitives 29

Articles







3 ADJECTIVES 35


vi










Definite declension




Comparison









4 NUMERALS 51




5 PRONOUNS 57



69 Uses of det 58



vii





76 Der or som 68



6 VERBS 75

Verb forms













91 Infinitive 84



Tenses

94 Present tense 90

95 Past tense 91

96 Perfect tense 91


98 Future tense 93


Mood

viii


101 Imperative 97

102 Subjunctive 97

Types of verb




105 The passive 100

Compound verbs


7 ADVERBS 107






8 PREPOSITIONS 113



114 af 119

115 efter 120

116 for 120

117 fra 122

118 i 122

119 med 123

120 mod 124

121 om 125

122 over 126

123 paring 127

124 til 127

125 under 128

126 ved 129

ix






9 INTERJECTIONS 139


10 CONJUNCTIONS 143












143 Finite verb 155













x








162 Compounding 173

163 Affixation 175



13 ORTHOGRAPHY 185





14 PUNCTUATION 189


171 The comma 189





176 The hyphen 192




Index 205

xi

PREFACE









November 1999



stressed syllable




xiv

1PRONUNCIATION


VOWEL SOUNDS


1 Unrounded vowels








Unrounded vowels

Rounded vowels









PRONUNCIATION 3












3DIPHTHONGS




Rather rarely

uj [ui] huje



CONSONANT SOUNDS

4STOPS p t k



p [p] passe pose

PRONUNCIATION 5







5STOPS b d g







(c) silent d


















(c) silent g






PRONUNCIATION 7


6s c sc x z




7f h j sj sh ch



8l n ng nk r v w





Note














PRONUNCIATION 9

Pronouns


Modal verbs


Verbs


Adverbs

ikke [eg]

Conjunctions etc

og at [ad] or [a]



Glem ikke at skrive

Prepositions


THE GLOTTAL STOP























PRONUNCIATION 11
















STRESS

13STRESS















PRONUNCIATION 13


















Conjunctions


16TWO-WORD STRESS




en et a car a house

Verb+particle


Verb1 +verb2



at at to go to come

Verb+complement




PRONUNCIATION 15

Pronoun+adverb

dette de this those

Time measurement


First name+surname

Anders









18STRESSED PREFIXES



19STRESSED SUFFIXES






Exceptions




PRONUNCIATION 17

18

2NOUNS

GENDER

22GENDER





23GENDER RULES


























Exceptions




NOUNS 21




PLURALS






















Nouns ending in -i







et museum to museer



NOUNS 23


































NOUNS 25






























NOUNS 27







These include





These include








THE GENITIVE

37GENITIVES











NOUNS 29









ARTICLES

38ARTICLESmdashFORM
























NOUNS 31

























3 With proper nouns








NOUNS 33





ENGLISH





3ADJECTIVES




Neuter Plural









houses



1 Main rule






























ADJECTIVES 37













See also 31



















ADJECTIVES 39



all young people




















DEFINITE DECLENSION





ADJECTIVES 41










54ADJECTIVAL NOUNS
























ADJECTIVES 43




COMPARISON


























ADJECTIVES 45





























ADJECTIVES 47

1 Similarity


2 Dissimilarity






3 Reinforcement













ADJECTIVES 49

50

4NUMERALS








6 000 000 (6000000) 6000000







52 NUMERALS




2 Dates


3 Temperature




Itrsquos 30 degrees

But


4 Money












6 Decades centuries


7 Others


66TIME BY THE CLOCK

54 NUMERALS




56

5PRONOUNS















Examples of usage




69USES OF DET
















Note also




Note also


PRONOUNS 59
































PRONOUNS 61










But often
















Compare





PRONOUNS 63

























that that those









PRONOUNS 65


















75RELATIVE PRONOUNS





















PRONOUNS 67










76DER OR SOM

















PRONOUNS 69


























PRONOUNS 71
























PRONOUNS 73










6VERBS

VERBS FORMS















80FIRST CONJUGATION


















ske happen



VERBS 77







82THIRD CONJUGATION

























VERBS 79

















VERBS 81

























VERBS 83





FORMS



91INFINITIVE






















VERBS 85



PrepComp






92PAST PARTICIPLE

1 Form













(cf 96ndash97 )
















VERBS 87






























VERBS 89






TENSES

94PRESENT TENSE














95PAST TENSE









96PERFECT TENSE







VERBS 91
























98FUTURE TENSE









VERBS 93












MOOD















(b) kunne


(c) maringtte


VERBS 95


(d) skulle


Note also


(e) turde


(f) ville




101IMPERATIVE









102SUBJUNCTIVE







VERBS 97



TYPES OF VERB




























VERBS 99













105THE PASSIVE







griberactive verb




gribespassive verb












VERBS 101































VERBS 103




COMPOUND VERBS

106COMPOUND VERBS



















VERBS 105

106

7ADVERBS

107ADVERBSmdashFORM







adjective adverb







3 Compound adverb









109USE OF ADVERBS

















ADVERBS 109








(in herethere)


(out herethere)


(up herethere)


(down herethere)


(over herethere)


(over herethere)


(over herethere)

Examples of use

















ADVERBS 111



8PREPOSITIONS










































PREPOSITIONS 115















at forsiden since



Notes1 ad is used









PREPOSITIONS 117

















7 trods




114AF



BY


FROM


FROM


WITH


OFF


Notice also


PREPOSITIONS 119

115EFTER


AFTER


BEHIND


BY


FOR


ACCORDING TO


Notice also


116FOR




FOR


TO


BEFORE


Note also







PREPOSITIONS 121

117FRA



FROM


Note also


118I



AT


IN





FOR


TO


APER




others


119MED



WITH


PREPOSITIONS 123


BY


IN


TO


Note also


120MOD


TO(WARDS)


AGAINST




(COMPARED) TO


121OM



(A)ROUND


IN


ON


ABOUT


APER




PREPOSITIONS 125

Notice also


122OVER


ABOVE


ACROSS


OVER


PAST


OF


Notice also



123PAring



ON


AT


IN


TO


OF


Notice also


124TIL


PREPOSITIONS 127


TO


TILLUNTIL


FOR


OF




Notice also


125UNDER




UNDER


BELOW


BENEATH




Notice also


126VED



AT


BY


PREPOSITIONS 129

NEAR


ABOUTAROUND


Notice also



SUMMARY

















PREPOSITIONS 131

















(b) ved=at by




=near

PREPOSITIONS 133


=of (with battles)


































PREPOSITIONS 135























PREPOSITIONS 137

138

9INTERJECTIONS

132INTERJECTIONS













Fear ih nej uh(a)


Hesitation oslashh


Pain av






















INTERJECTIONS 141





10CONJUNCTIONS

























(ii) Cause


(iii) Condition


(iv) Concession


(v) Intention


(vi) Result


(vii) Comparison


CONJUNCTIONS 145





































CONJUNCTIONS 147


























CONJUNCTIONS 149

150






138CLAUSE TYPES








Notice that


questions



other adverbial (A)

140LINK POSITION



141EXTRA POSITIONS


X1 F v n a V N A X2







The subject may be





understandable







143FINITE VERB






144NON-FINITE VERB












146OTHER ADVERBIALS


































148PASSIVE AGENT





149TOPICALISATION























150LIGHT ELEMENTS














But










But



But



But



























Notice that









EXAMPLES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7k X1 F v n a V N A X2


i morges



i aften


ndash syge






tndash i garingr






19 Kom






139 153 154



139 150


145 151



147 153 154


146 148


141 154




nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial




Hunsagde




nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial























158CLEFT SENTENCES
































first in the clause


















172

12WORD FORMATION

161INTRODUCTION





3 Affixation


4 Abbreviation





162COMPOUNDING




























163AFFIXATION


Prefix


friend enemy

Suffix





WORD FORMATION 175




WORD FORMATION 177





164ABBREVIATION













WORD FORMATION 179






















WORD FORMATION 181


















2 under

WORD FORMATION 183

184

13ORTHOGRAPHY

166THE ALPHABET






















169WORD DIVISION









bo-gen bus-sen





ORTHOGRAPHY 187

188

14PUNCTUATION




171THE COMMA



















(i) Before men










172THE FULL STOP






1000000 kr 1000000 kroner


75 l 75 litres




174DIRECT SPEECH




PUNCTUATION 191



175THE APOSTROPHE







(b) After numerals


176THE HYPHEN










PUNCTUATION 193

194

LINGUISTIC TERMS























































































Supplementary terms






202

SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY












Gyldendal 1998

204

INDEX





205






206 INDEX









INDEX 207







208 INDEX







INDEX 209





210 INDEX

BOOK COVER

HALF-TITLE

TITLE

COPYRIGHT

CONTENTS

PREFACE


1 PRONUNCIATION

VOWEL SOUNDS



3 DIPHTHONGS

CONSONANT SOUNDS

4 STOPS p t k

5 STOPS b d g

6 s c sc x z

7 f h j sj sh ch

8 l n ng nk r v w



THE GLOTTAL STOP



STRESS

13 STRESS



16 TWO-WORD STRESS






2 NOUNS

GENDER

22 GENDER

23 GENDER RULES

PLURALS














THE GENITIVE

37 GENITIVES

ARTICLES







3 ADJECTIVES










DEFINITE DECLENSION


54 ADJECTIVAL NOUNS


COMPARISON









4 NUMERALS

5 PRONOUNS

6 VERBS

VERBS FORMS













91 INFINITIVE

92 PAST PARTICIPLE


TENSES

94 PRESENT TENSE

95 PAST TENSE

96 PERFECT TENSE


98 FUTURE TENSE


MOOD


101 IMPERATIVE

102 SUBJUNCTIVE

TYPES OF VERB




105 THE PASSIVE

COMPOUND VERBS

106 COMPOUND VERBS

7 ADVERBS

8 PREPOSITIONS

9 INTERJECTIONS

10 CONJUNCTIONS


12 WORD FORMATION

13 ORTHOGRAPHY

14 PUNCTUATION

LINGUISTIC TERMS


SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX





2 NOUNS 19

Gender

22 Gender 19

23 Gender rules 19

Plurals














The genitive

37 Genitives 29

Articles







3 ADJECTIVES 35


vi










Definite declension




Comparison









4 NUMERALS 51




5 PRONOUNS 57



69 Uses of det 58



vii





76 Der or som 68



6 VERBS 75

Verb forms













91 Infinitive 84



Tenses

94 Present tense 90

95 Past tense 91

96 Perfect tense 91


98 Future tense 93


Mood

viii


101 Imperative 97

102 Subjunctive 97

Types of verb




105 The passive 100

Compound verbs


7 ADVERBS 107






8 PREPOSITIONS 113



114 af 119

115 efter 120

116 for 120

117 fra 122

118 i 122

119 med 123

120 mod 124

121 om 125

122 over 126

123 paring 127

124 til 127

125 under 128

126 ved 129

ix






9 INTERJECTIONS 139


10 CONJUNCTIONS 143












143 Finite verb 155













x








162 Compounding 173

163 Affixation 175



13 ORTHOGRAPHY 185





14 PUNCTUATION 189


171 The comma 189





176 The hyphen 192




Index 205

xi

PREFACE









November 1999



stressed syllable




xiv

1PRONUNCIATION


VOWEL SOUNDS


1 Unrounded vowels








Unrounded vowels

Rounded vowels









PRONUNCIATION 3












3DIPHTHONGS




Rather rarely

uj [ui] huje



CONSONANT SOUNDS

4STOPS p t k



p [p] passe pose

PRONUNCIATION 5







5STOPS b d g







(c) silent d


















(c) silent g






PRONUNCIATION 7


6s c sc x z




7f h j sj sh ch



8l n ng nk r v w





Note














PRONUNCIATION 9

Pronouns


Modal verbs


Verbs


Adverbs

ikke [eg]

Conjunctions etc

og at [ad] or [a]



Glem ikke at skrive

Prepositions


THE GLOTTAL STOP























PRONUNCIATION 11
















STRESS

13STRESS















PRONUNCIATION 13


















Conjunctions


16TWO-WORD STRESS




en et a car a house

Verb+particle


Verb1 +verb2



at at to go to come

Verb+complement




PRONUNCIATION 15

Pronoun+adverb

dette de this those

Time measurement


First name+surname

Anders









18STRESSED PREFIXES



19STRESSED SUFFIXES






Exceptions




PRONUNCIATION 17

18

2NOUNS

GENDER

22GENDER





23GENDER RULES


























Exceptions




NOUNS 21




PLURALS






















Nouns ending in -i







et museum to museer



NOUNS 23


































NOUNS 25






























NOUNS 27







These include





These include








THE GENITIVE

37GENITIVES











NOUNS 29









ARTICLES

38ARTICLESmdashFORM
























NOUNS 31

























3 With proper nouns








NOUNS 33





ENGLISH





3ADJECTIVES




Neuter Plural









houses



1 Main rule






























ADJECTIVES 37













See also 31



















ADJECTIVES 39



all young people




















DEFINITE DECLENSION





ADJECTIVES 41










54ADJECTIVAL NOUNS
























ADJECTIVES 43




COMPARISON


























ADJECTIVES 45





























ADJECTIVES 47

1 Similarity


2 Dissimilarity






3 Reinforcement













ADJECTIVES 49

50

4NUMERALS








6 000 000 (6000000) 6000000







52 NUMERALS




2 Dates


3 Temperature




Itrsquos 30 degrees

But


4 Money












6 Decades centuries


7 Others


66TIME BY THE CLOCK

54 NUMERALS




56

5PRONOUNS















Examples of usage




69USES OF DET
















Note also




Note also


PRONOUNS 59
































PRONOUNS 61










But often
















Compare





PRONOUNS 63

























that that those









PRONOUNS 65


















75RELATIVE PRONOUNS





















PRONOUNS 67










76DER OR SOM

















PRONOUNS 69


























PRONOUNS 71
























PRONOUNS 73










6VERBS

VERBS FORMS















80FIRST CONJUGATION


















ske happen



VERBS 77







82THIRD CONJUGATION

























VERBS 79

















VERBS 81

























VERBS 83





FORMS



91INFINITIVE






















VERBS 85



PrepComp






92PAST PARTICIPLE

1 Form













(cf 96ndash97 )
















VERBS 87






























VERBS 89






TENSES

94PRESENT TENSE














95PAST TENSE









96PERFECT TENSE







VERBS 91
























98FUTURE TENSE









VERBS 93












MOOD















(b) kunne


(c) maringtte


VERBS 95


(d) skulle


Note also


(e) turde


(f) ville




101IMPERATIVE









102SUBJUNCTIVE







VERBS 97



TYPES OF VERB




























VERBS 99













105THE PASSIVE







griberactive verb




gribespassive verb












VERBS 101































VERBS 103




COMPOUND VERBS

106COMPOUND VERBS



















VERBS 105

106

7ADVERBS

107ADVERBSmdashFORM







adjective adverb







3 Compound adverb









109USE OF ADVERBS

















ADVERBS 109








(in herethere)


(out herethere)


(up herethere)


(down herethere)


(over herethere)


(over herethere)


(over herethere)

Examples of use

















ADVERBS 111



8PREPOSITIONS










































PREPOSITIONS 115















at forsiden since



Notes1 ad is used









PREPOSITIONS 117

















7 trods




114AF



BY


FROM


FROM


WITH


OFF


Notice also


PREPOSITIONS 119

115EFTER


AFTER


BEHIND


BY


FOR


ACCORDING TO


Notice also


116FOR




FOR


TO


BEFORE


Note also







PREPOSITIONS 121

117FRA



FROM


Note also


118I



AT


IN





FOR


TO


APER




others


119MED



WITH


PREPOSITIONS 123


BY


IN


TO


Note also


120MOD


TO(WARDS)


AGAINST




(COMPARED) TO


121OM



(A)ROUND


IN


ON


ABOUT


APER




PREPOSITIONS 125

Notice also


122OVER


ABOVE


ACROSS


OVER


PAST


OF


Notice also



123PAring



ON


AT


IN


TO


OF


Notice also


124TIL


PREPOSITIONS 127


TO


TILLUNTIL


FOR


OF




Notice also


125UNDER




UNDER


BELOW


BENEATH




Notice also


126VED



AT


BY


PREPOSITIONS 129

NEAR


ABOUTAROUND


Notice also



SUMMARY

















PREPOSITIONS 131

















(b) ved=at by




=near

PREPOSITIONS 133


=of (with battles)


































PREPOSITIONS 135























PREPOSITIONS 137

138

9INTERJECTIONS

132INTERJECTIONS













Fear ih nej uh(a)


Hesitation oslashh


Pain av






















INTERJECTIONS 141





10CONJUNCTIONS

























(ii) Cause


(iii) Condition


(iv) Concession


(v) Intention


(vi) Result


(vii) Comparison


CONJUNCTIONS 145





































CONJUNCTIONS 147


























CONJUNCTIONS 149

150






138CLAUSE TYPES








Notice that


questions



other adverbial (A)

140LINK POSITION



141EXTRA POSITIONS


X1 F v n a V N A X2







The subject may be





understandable







143FINITE VERB






144NON-FINITE VERB












146OTHER ADVERBIALS


































148PASSIVE AGENT





149TOPICALISATION























150LIGHT ELEMENTS














But










But



But



But



























Notice that









EXAMPLES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7k X1 F v n a V N A X2


i morges



i aften


ndash syge






tndash i garingr






19 Kom






139 153 154



139 150


145 151



147 153 154


146 148


141 154




nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial




Hunsagde




nSubj Clausal


verbObjectcomp

Otheradverbial























158CLEFT SENTENCES
































first in the clause


















172

12WORD FORMATION

161INTRODUCTION





3 Affixation


4 Abbreviation





162COMPOUNDING




























163AFFIXATION


Prefix


friend enemy

Suffix





WORD FORMATION 175




WORD FORMATION 177





164ABBREVIATION













WORD FORMATION 179






















WORD FORMATION 181


















2 under

WORD FORMATION 183

184

13ORTHOGRAPHY

166THE ALPHABET






















169WORD DIVISION









bo-gen bus-sen





ORTHOGRAPHY 187

188

14PUNCTUATION




171THE COMMA



















(i) Before men










172THE FULL STOP






1000000 kr 1000000 kroner


75 l 75 litres




174DIRECT SPEECH




PUNCTUATION 191



175THE APOSTROPHE







(b) After numerals


176THE HYPHEN










PUNCTUATION 193

194

LINGUISTIC TERMS























































































Supplementary terms






202

SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY












Gyldendal 1998

204

INDEX





205






206 INDEX









INDEX 207







208 INDEX







INDEX 209





210 INDEX

BOOK COVER

HALF-TITLE

TITLE

COPYRIGHT

CONTENTS

PREFACE


1 PRONUNCIATION

VOWEL SOUNDS



3 DIPHTHONGS

CONSONANT SOUNDS

4 STOPS p t k

5 STOPS b d g

6 s c sc x z

7 f h j sj sh ch

8 l n ng nk r v w



THE GLOTTAL STOP



STRESS

13 STRESS



16 TWO-WORD STRESS






2 NOUNS

GENDER

22 GENDER

23 GENDER RULES

PLURALS














THE GENITIVE

37 GENITIVES

ARTICLES







3 ADJECTIVES










DEFINITE DECLENSION


54 ADJECTIVAL NOUNS


COMPARISON









4 NUMERALS

5 PRONOUNS

6 VERBS

VERBS FORMS













91 INFINITIVE

92 PAST PARTICIPLE


TENSES

94 PRESENT TENSE

95 PAST TENSE

96 PERFECT TENSE


98 FUTURE TENSE


MOOD


101 IMPERATIVE

102 SUBJUNCTIVE

TYPES OF VERB




105 THE PASSIVE

COMPOUND VERBS

106 COMPOUND VERBS

7 ADVERBS

8 PREPOSITIONS

9 INTERJECTIONS

10 CONJUNCTIONS


12 WORD FORMATION

13 ORTHOGRAPHY

14 PUNCTUATION

LINGUISTIC TERMS


SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX


danish: an essential grammar - چرب زبان

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