Danish alphabet, æ/ø/å vowels, stød, soft d [ð]
Can recognize Danish sounds including æ/ø/å, stød, and soft d
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Jeg bor i en stor by ved den røde bro.
I live in a big city by the red bridge.
Kan du lide rødgrød med fløde?
Do you like red berry pudding with cream?
Æblerne er gule og meget søde.
The apples are yellow and very sweet.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Danish has 29 letters including æ, ø, å. Key features: stød (glottal stop), soft d [ð], uvular R.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesMissing or incorrect stød (glottal stop)
Practice stød by saying 'hun' with a tiny catch in the throat. Listen to native speakers carefully.
Pronouncing d as [d] instead of soft [ð]
After vowels, Danish d becomes [ð] like English 'th' in 'the'. Practice: mad, rød, fløde.
Jeg bor i en stor by ved den røde bro.
I live in a big city by the red bridge.
'Rød' has soft d [ð] and long ø [øː]. 'Bro' has uvular R [ʁ]. 'Stor' has long o.
Kan du lide rødgrød med fløde?
Do you like red berry pudding with cream?
The famous Danish tongue-twister! 'Rødgrød med fløde' [ʁøðɡʁøð mɛð fløːðə] — every word has soft d [ð].
Æblerne er gule og meget søde.
The apples are yellow and very sweet.
'Æ' in æbler is [ɛ]. 'Ø' in søde is long [øː]. 'Gule' has no stød.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
A1 Module 1: Danish greetings, pronunciation, and first sentences