Common/neuter gender, indefinite en/et, definite suffix -en/-et
Can use indefinite and definite articles correctly
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Jeg har en hund. Hunden er stor og brun.
I have a dog. The dog is big and brown.
Der er et æble på bordet. Æblet er rødt.
There is an apple on the table. The apple is red.
Bogen er på bordet, og stolen er ved vinduet.
The book is on the table, and the chair is by the window.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Two genders: common (en) and neuter (et). Definite article is suffixed: hund→hunden, hus→huset.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesThe suffixed definite article is the biggest surprise for most learners.
🇬🇧 English: English puts 'the' before the noun. Danish attaches it to the end: hund → hunden.
🇷🇺 Russian: No articles in Russi
Using en with et-words or vice versa
Learn each noun with its article: en hund, et hus. ~75% are en-words.
Putting article before noun instead of suffixing
Danish suffixes the definite article: en hund → hunden, et hus → huset. Not *den hund.
Jeg har en hund. Hunden er stor og brun.
I have a dog. The dog is big and brown.
'En hund' = a dog (indefinite). 'Hunden' = the dog (definite = suffix -en). Common gender.
Der er et æble på bordet. Æblet er rødt.
There is an apple on the table. The apple is red.
'Et æble' = an apple (neuter). 'Æblet' = the apple (suffix -et). 'Bordet' = the table (et bord → bordet).
Bogen er på bordet, og stolen er ved vinduet.
The book is on the table, and the chair is by the window.
'Bogen' (en bog), 'bordet' (et bord), 'stolen' (en stol), 'vinduet' (et vindue). Mix of both genders.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises