Adjectives · Danish grammar A1

Describing a thing: adjective agreement, stor, stort#

A Danish adjective has its basic form with an en-word and takes -t with an et-word.

Vi bor i et stort hus.We live in a big house.
Mia har en ny cykel.Mia has a new bike.
Hotellet er billigt.The hotel is cheap.
Det er et smukt billede.It’s a beautiful picture.
Kaffen er varm.The coffee is hot.

Formation

Basic form (en-word)	t-form (et-word)	After er
en stor bil	et stort hus	Bilen er stor. Huset er stort.
en billig kjole	et billigt ur	Kjolen er billig. Uret er billigt.
en varm suppe	et varmt bad	Suppen er varm. Badet er varmt.
en rød bil	et rødt hus	Bilen er rød. Huset er rødt.

With an en-word, the adjective has its basic form: en stor bil.
With an et-word, the adjective takes -t: et stort hus.
The adjective agrees in the same way after er or bliver: Huset er stort. (“The house is big.”)
A few adjectives never take -t. They are set out in Adjectives with forms of their own: lille, små, god, ny, gammel, tysk.

Use

Many adverbs have the same form as the t-form of the adjective: Han løber hurtigt. (“He runs fast.”) Hun synger godt. (“She sings well.”)

Difference from English

An English adjective never changes (“a big car”, “a big house”). A Danish adjective takes -t with an et-word: en dyr bil, et dyrt hus.

Common mistakes

~~et stor hus~~ → et stort husWith an et-word, the adjective takes -t.
~~Huset er stor.~~ → Huset er stort.The adjective after er agrees as well.

Remember

Use the basic form with an en-word: en stor bil.
Add -t to the adjective with an et-word: et stort hus.
Make the adjective agree after er too: Huset er stort. (“The house is big.”)

You now know how to describe a thing with an adjective.

Practise

“Adjectives: stor, stort, store; den store bil”, Describing one thing: en stor bil, et stort hus

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Describing several things: the plural of the adjective, store biler#

In the plural, the adjective takes -e with en-words and et-words alike.

Vi har to sorte katte.We have two black cats.
Jeg kan godt lide varme dage.I like warm days.
Skoene er dyre.The shoes are expensive.
Børnene er glade.The children are happy.

Formation

Singular	Plural
en stor bil, et stort hus	store biler, store huse
en dyr taske, et dyrt ur	dyre tasker, dyre ure
en grøn stol, et grønt bord	grønne stole, grønne borde
Bilen er ny.	Bilerne er nye.

In the plural, the adjective takes -e whatever the gender of the noun: store biler, store huse.
The plural -e is used after er as well: Bilerne er store. (“The cars are big.”)
A single consonant after a short vowel is doubled before -e: grøn, grønne; smuk, smukke.

Difference from English

English “big” is used for one thing and for many; Danish has three forms, stor, stort and store.

Common mistakes

~~to stort huse~~ → to store huseIn the plural, every adjective takes -e.
~~Bilerne er stor.~~ → Bilerne er store.After er, the adjective takes -e when the subject is plural.

Remember

Add -e to the adjective in the plural: store biler, store huse.
Add -e after er too when the subject is plural: Bilerne er store. (“The cars are big.”)

You now know how to describe several things.

Practise

“Adjectives: stor, stort, store; den store bil”, Describing several things: store biler

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Describing something known: the definite form of the adjective, den store bil#

With an adjective, “the” is den, det or de; the adjective takes -e, and the noun has no definite ending.

Den røde cykel er min.The red bike is mine.
Vi bor i det gule hus.We live in the yellow house.
De små børn sover.The little children are asleep.
Hvor er min nye jakke?Where’s my new jacket?
Annas gamle bil er grøn.Anna’s old car is green.

Formation

	en-word	et-word	plural
indefinite	en stor bil	et stort hus	store biler
definite	den store bil	det store hus	de store biler
possessive	min store bil	mit store hus	mine store biler
genitive	Peters store bil	Peters store hus	Peters store biler

The article is a separate word before the adjective. It is den before an en-word, det before an et-word and de before a plural.
The adjective takes -e for every gender and number: den store bil, det store hus.
The noun after the adjective has its indefinite form: de store biler.
The same -e is used after a possessive and after a genitive: min store bil, Peters nye hus.

Use

The definite ending of the noun (bilen) is used when no adjective comes before the noun. With an adjective before the noun, den, det or de is used instead.
After er, the adjective agrees as in the indefinite, even when the subject is definite: Den nye bil er stor. (“The new car is big.”)

Difference from English

English “the big car” has one mark of definiteness, “the”. Danish has three: the article den, the -e of the adjective and no definite ending on the noun.

Common mistakes

~~den store bilen~~ → den store bilWith den, the noun has no definite ending.
~~det stort hus~~ → det store husAfter det, the adjective takes -e.
~~min ny bil~~ → min nye bilAfter a possessive, the adjective takes -e.

Remember

Put den, det or de before the adjective to say “the”: den store bil.
Add -e to the adjective after den, det, de, min or a genitive: min nye bil.
Leave the noun without its definite ending after an adjective: det store hus.

You now know how to describe something known.

Practise

“Adjectives: stor, stort, store; den store bil”, The definite form: den store bil, min store bil

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Adjectives with forms of their own: lille, små, god, ny, gammel, tysk#

A few common adjectives have forms of their own, and some adjectives never take -t or -e.

Min mor har et lille køkken.My mother has a small kitchen.
Hun har tre små hunde og en kat.She has three small dogs and a cat.
Det er et godt spørgsmål.That’s a good question.
Mine forældre er gamle.My parents are old.
Han har et tysk ur.He has a German watch.

Formation

Basic form	t-form	e-form (plural, definite)
lille	lille	små (plural); lille (definite singular)
god	godt	gode
ny	nyt	nye
gammel	gammelt	gamle
sulten	sultent	sultne
tysk	tysk	tyske
sort	sort	sorte
glad	glad	glade
moderne	moderne	moderne
gratis	gratis	gratis
blå	blåt	blå

Lille (“small”, “little”) has one form for every singular, indefinite or definite, and the plural små.
Ny (“new”) takes -t and -e although it ends in a vowel: nyt, nye.
In adjectives in -el, -en and -er, the last e is dropped before -e: gammel, gamle; sulten, sultne.

Without -t or -e

Adjectives in -sk that name a nationality never take -t: dansk, tysk.
Adjectives in -e never take -t or -e: moderne, stille; nor do a few in -s: gratis, fælles.
Adjectives that already end in -t, and glad, take no -t: sort, kort, glad.
Most adjectives ending in a stressed vowel take -t but no -e: blå, blåt.

Difference from English

English “little” and “small” have no plural form; Danish lille has a plural of its own: små børn (“small children”).

Common mistakes

~~lille biler~~ → små bilerThe plural of lille is små.
~~den gammele mand~~ → den gamle mandThe second e of gammel is dropped before the ending.
~~et tyskt ur~~ → et tysk urA nationality adjective in -sk takes no -t.

Remember

Use små as the plural of lille: små hunde.
Drop the second e of gammel before -e: gamle.
Add no -t to a nationality adjective in -sk: et tysk ur.

You now know the adjectives with forms of their own.

Practise

“Adjectives: stor, stort, store; den store bil”, Irregular and unchanged adjectives: lille, små, godt, gamle, tysk

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Asking which and saying such: hvilken, hvilket, hvilke, sådan en#

Hvilken (“which”) and sådan en (“such a”) agree with the noun that follows, as an adjective does.

Hvilken bus tager du?Which bus are you taking?
Hvilket værelse sover du i?Which room do you sleep in?
Hvilke sprog taler du?Which languages do you speak?
Hvad for en kage vil du have?Which cake would you like?
Jeg vil også have sådan en taske.I’d like a bag like that too.

Formation

	en-word	et-word	plural
which	hvilken bil	hvilket hus	hvilke sko
which (speech)	hvad for en bil	hvad for et hus	hvad for nogle sko
such	sådan en bil	sådan et hus	sådan nogle sko

Hvilken (“which”, “what”) is used before an en-word, hvilket before an et-word and hvilke before a plural noun.
In speech, hvad for en, hvad for et and hvad for nogle are used in the same way.
Sådan en (“such a”, “a … like that”) is used before an en-word, sådan et before an et-word and sådan nogle in the plural.

Difference from English

English “which” and “such a” never change. In Danish, the form depends on the gender and number of the noun: hvilken bus, hvilket værelse, hvilke sprog.

Common mistakes

~~Hvilken hus?~~ → Hvilket hus?Hus is an et-word.
~~sådan en ur~~ → sådan et urUr is an et-word.

Remember

Choose hvilken, hvilket or hvilke to match the noun that follows: hvilket hus.
Use sådan en with an en-word and sådan et with an et-word: sådan et ur.

You now know how to ask “which” and say “such a”.

In short

Form	Used	Example
basic form	en-word, indefinite	en stor bil; Bilen er stor.
t-form	et-word, indefinite	et stort hus; Huset er stort.
e-form	plural	store biler; Bilerne er store.
e-form	after den, det, de, a possessive, a genitive	den store bil, mit store hus
special forms	lille – små, ny – nyt – nye, gammel – gamle	små børn
no -t	-sk (nationality), -e, -s, -t; glad	et tysk ur

Practise

“Adjectives: stor, stort, store; den store bil”, Asking which one: hvilken, hvilket, hvilke, sådan en

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