Danish grammar is either the study of the grammar of the Danish language, or the grammatical system itself of the Danish language. Danish is often described as having ten word classes: verbs, nouns, pronouns, numerals, adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. The grammar is mostly suffixing. This article focuses on Standard Danish.
Nouns
Inflections There are two grammatical genders in Danish: common and neuter. All nouns are mostly arbitrarily divided into these two classes. The singular indefinite article (a/an in English) is en for common-gender nouns and et for neuter nouns. They are often informally called n-words and t-words.
En dreng. A boy.
Et fængsel. A jail.
Unlike English, definite nouns in Danish are rendered by adding a suffix (i.e. not an article) to the indefinite form (unless qualified by an adjective; see below). The definite singular ending is -en for common-gender nouns and -et for neuter nouns.
Drengen. The boy.
Fængslet. The jail.
The plural noun suffixes are more complex. The following table shows the possible inflections of regular Danish nouns of both grammatical genders.
Gender Singular Plural Meaning Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Common en bilen kvindeen drengen sko bilenkvindendrengenskoen bilerkvinderdrengesko bilernekvindernedrengeneskoene "car""woman""boy""shoe" Neuter et træet æble et lyn et kammer træetæbletlynetkammeret træeræblerlynkamre træerneæblernelynenekamrene"tree""apple""flash of lightning" "chamber"
The most common plural ending is -er. Besides an extremely large number of other nouns, nearly all those that end with unstressed -e take it,Tilfælde (plural tilfælde), øre (pl. ører and øren), and øje (pl. øjne) are exceptions (but plants, animals, and things ending with -øje take -er, e.g. nåleøjer, with one exception: glasøjne). Bonde changes the root vowel to ø. as does the vast majority of those that end with a monophthong other than -e.Exceptions are:1. With primary stress on the final vowel, and the zero plural ending: the common-gender nouns ski and sko and the neuter nouns fly, frø, fæ, kny, knæ, kræ, ly, and strå.2. Without primary stress on the final vowel:a. Mandatory exceptions:α. With the zero plural ending: the common-gender nouns broccoli, brodfrø, euro, gerbera, glansfrø, graffiti, hindeknæ, krageklo, litchi, mandstro, okra, røsti, sago, and zloty and the neuter nouns curriculum vitae/vitæ, data, kilo, and kolli, as well as haiku, which can be either gender.β. With another plural ending (the noun is given in the indefinite plural, with the definite plural in parentheses if it exists): the common-gender nouns antipasti (antipastiene, indefinite singular antipasto), celebrities, enchiladas (enchiladae(r)ne), escudos (escudoe(r)ne), jalapenos (jalapenoerne), panties (pantyene), pesetas (pesetae(r)ne), pesos (pesoe(r)ne), and putti (puttiene, indefinite singular putto) and the neuter noun stigmata (stigmataene, indefinite singular stigma).b. Non-mandatory exceptions:α. With -er or the zero ending (definite plural -e(r)ne unless otherwise noted): the common-gender nouns bjørneklo (plant), bruschetta, cannelloni, dameskrå, erika, hanekro, kålrabi, makaroni, mokka, petunia (indefinite plural petuni(a)er or petunia), ravioli, samosa (definite plural samosaerne), selleri, spaghetti, and spiræa and the neuter nouns mæhæ and varsko.β. With -er or another ending except the zero ending (the noun is given in the irregular indefinite plural form only, with all forms of the definite plural in parentheses): the common-gender nouns bimbos (bimboerne), blinis (blinie(r)ne), bogeys (bogeyerne), burritos (burritoerne), casestudies (casestudyerne), cigarillos (cigarilloerne), concerti grossi (concerti grossiene / concerto grossoerne), congas (congaerne), crostini (crostinierne), desperados (desperadoerne), emojis (emojie(r)ne), grissini (grissinierne), konti (kontiene/kontoerne), ladies (ladyerne), maracas (maracaerne), paparazzi (paparazziene/paparazzoerne), risici (risiciene/risikoerne), royalties (royaltyerne), saldi (saldiene/saldoerne), smileys (smileyerne), soli (soliene/soloerne), and tacos (tacoe(r)ne) and the neuter nouns fotos (fotoe(r)ne), intermezzi (intermezziene/intermezzoerne), parties (partyerne), and tempi (tempiene/tempoerne).Not exceptions, but irregular, are:1. With primary stress on the final vowel, and vowel change: the common-gender nouns (with the indefinite plural in parentheses) klo (kløer), ko (køer), so (søer), rå (ræer), and tå (tæer).2. Without primary stress on the final vowel:a. Obligatorily irregular is the common-gender noun intarsia, which loses its final vowel before the plural ending: intarsier.b. Non-obligatorily irregular are:α. With the possibility of losing their final vowel before the plural ending: the common-gender nouns basilika, forsytia, fresia, fuchsia, gardenia, impresario, kollega, petunia (also pl. petunia), portfolio, terrakotta, and zinnia and the neuter nouns cafeteria, infoteria, melodrama, and scenario. – Portfolio, cafeteria, infoteria, and scenario can lose their final vowel also before the definite singular ending.β. With the possibility of changing their final o to ø before the plural ending: the common-gender nouns gravko and stegeso.γ. With the possibility of adding n before the plural ending: the common-gender noun farao, pl. farao(n)er.
The zero plural ending is predominantly used with neuter nouns.Examples of common-gender nouns that obligatorily take the zero plural ending are adfærd, agn, blitz, bog ("beechnut"), dåb, euro, fejl, film, fisk, fjer, lus, mus, ski, sko, ting, tvivl, tørv, and many words for plants and animals, as well as sten (also -e in bautasten, gravsten, hinkesten, hjørnesten, hvæssesten, kantsten, kirsebærsten, limsten, mindesten, månesten, runesten, slibesten, smykkesten, and ædelsten, and when sten alone refers to one of these; only -e in rendesten, rhinsten, skorsten, øjesten). More examples can be found in notes 2, 5, and 9.
The plural ending -e is used with: a large number of monosyllabic nouns that end with a consonant or diphthongNeuter nouns in this group are bad, bed, bjerg, blad (e.g. kronblade, palmeblade, but any name of a plant ending with -blad takes the zero ending and is common gender), bord ("table"), brev, bud (person, but sendebud takes the zero ending), bur, digt, fad, fjeld, gulv, hav, hus, land, navn, salt, skab, skib, skilt, skjold, skur, sogn, spejl, sund, tag ("roof"), telt, tog ("train", can also take the zero ending), torv, tov (including fortove and spiltove), tårn, ur, and vand, as well as -fuld, which only occurs in compounds (fadfulde and læsfulde). – The final consonant is doubled before the plural ending in slot and blik ("look", but indblik, udblik, tilbageblik, and overblik take the zero ending).Common-gender nouns in this group are arm, ask, asp/esp (only -asp in bævreasp), bag, barm, birk, bjørn, boks (likewise indbokse/inboxe, jukebokse/jukeboxe), bold, bolt, borg, bov, brand, briks, brud, brusk, brønd, bug ("abdomen"), bund, busk, bælg (but fladbælg, sneglebælg, blærebælg take the zero ending), bænk, bøg, bør, båd, bås, dag, dal, damp, dans, degn, dej, del, dirk, disk (also -s in the computer sense), dolk, dorg, dorn, dreng, duft, dug, duks, dunk, dusk, dværg, dør, dørk, eg, egn, elg, elm, elv, eng, falk, fals, farm, favn, fer, fil, fims, fis, fjert/fjært, fjord, fjæl, flab, flig, fløj, fløs, fold ("animal enclosure (for horses, sheep)"), font ("typeface"), fork, form ("mould"), fugl, fyr (person), fælg, galt, gang, gavl, gift, gjord, glib, grav, greb (tool), gren, gris, grund, gump, gøg, gøs, gård, hals, hank (including sladderhanke/sladrehanke), havn, heks, helt ("hero"), hems, hest, hingst, hjelm, hjort, hob, holm, horst, hov, hund, hvalp, hveps, hvid, hæl, hær, høg, høj, høvl (tool), jord ("earth"), jul, jærv, kalk, kalv, kamp, karl, karm, kel, kilt, klang, klerk, klov, klud, knag, knark, kniv, knold, knægt, knøs, kog, kost, krank, krans, kreds, krig, krog, kur, kurv, kusk, kvist, kværk, kværn, kælk, kærv, køl, kåg, laps, leg, lim, lind, lort, lov, luft, lugt, lund, lur ("nap"), lyd ("sound", e.g. infralyde, about language sounds lyd(e)), lærk, løgn, lås, malm, milt, mund, munk, mur, mær, mås, navr, negl, nål, ost (also -er in katoste(r)), ovn, pejs, pels, pil, pilk, pilt, pind, pirk, pisk, pjalt (person), plag, plejl, plov, pløs, pog, polt, port (including carporte, but heliports, heliportene), post (pump, e.g. vandposte), pren, prås, puld, pulk, puls, pult, pung, purk, pægl, pæl, pøl, pøs, rad (person), rand, rasp, ravn, red, ring, rist, rus ("intoxication, ecstasy"), ræv, røv, saks, sal, sang, sav, segl, seng, sjæl, skalk, skalp, skank, skjald, skov, skovl, skunk, skurk, skænk (including mundskænke), skærm, skål (object), slev, slurk, smag, smed, smig, snaps, snegl, snes, snog, snor, sol ("sun"), spand, spang, spurv, stab, stald, stand (including aftstande, bestande, genstande, husstande, opstande, modstande, påstande, tilstande, but stænder in the sense "estates (of the realm)"), stank, stav, stavn/stævn, steg, stil, stilk, stjert (including rødstjerte, but vipstjert takes -er), stol, stork, storm (including brainstorme, but shitstorme or shitstorms, shitstormene), strand, streng, struds, stud, stær, sump, svamp, svend, sværm, syl, særk, tamp, tank (also -s when referring to a vehicle), tarm, ten (e.g. håndtene, but mistelten(e)), tjalk, tjørn (including hvidtjørne, rødtjørne, but kristtjørn takes the zero ending), told, tolk, torn, tragt, trold, tråd, tud, tur, tyr, tyv, tæft, ulk, ulv, valk, valm, vals, vamp, vams, vang, vask, vej, vest, vig (including mundvige), vin, vind, vogn, vold, vægt, væv, vånd, ørn, and ås, as well as -fuld, which only occurs in compounds (e.g. håndfulde, mundfulde). – The final consonant is doubled before the plural ending in blok, bom, brod, brok, buk, bæk, dam ("pond"), dom ("verdict"), drik, dril, drøm, el, flok, flom, fyr ("pine"), gom (e.g. brudgomme), grib, gæk (but vintergækker), ham, hat, huk, hæk ("hedge"; "hurdle"), kam, kat, kok, krop, kæp, lem, læg, løn ("maple"), nar, od, pig, pik, pram, rem (but remmer in the expression alt hvad remmer og tøj kan holde), rig, rok, ryg, skat ("treasure"), skik, skok (but jordskokker), snak, stak, stok, straf, strøm, stub, svans (also -er in fukssvanse(r)), sæk, søm, top (but -tops, -toppene in desktop, laptop, palmtop, and -topper/-tops, -topperne in hardtop), trop (but bagtropper, fortropper, stødtropper), træl, vom, væg, and æg, as well as in the suffix -dom (e.g. ejendomme, fordomme, rigdomme, sygdomme).Common-gender nouns that take either -e or -er are alk, bavn, biks, bulk, fas, font (baptismal font), fuks, gylt, haps, hind, hjord, klovn, kris, kvast, kæft, lift, læst, most, mår, pist, punch (drink), sarg, skakt, skarv, skid, skælm, sovs, splejs, spuns, studs/stuts, stør, tøs, and vrist. – The final consonant is doubled before the plural ending in bul, dram, fok, hæk (rear end of a car or ship), log, pløk, strik (person), tap, and trup. – The plural of orm is orme or orm; the plural of røn is rønne or røn. (and any compound ending with one of those monosyllabic nouns)