Danish Adjectives

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Danish adjectives are declined (conjugated) according to gender, number, and definiteness.

Indefinite Declension

Danish has a two-gender system (see Danish nouns) which only affects the singular. Plural nouns are treated as though they are their own gender. Therefore, there are three ways (2 for the singular, 1 for the plural) in which adjectives are declined in the indefinite.

  • En-words take the base form of the adjective:
en stor bil = a large car
  • Et-words add -t to the end of the base form:
et stort hus = a large house
  • And, plural nouns add -e to the end of the base form:
store biler/huse = large cars/houses

This system also operates when the adjective is separated from the noun it modifies by the verb at være(to be):

En bil er stor. = A car is large.
Et hus er stort. = A house is large.
Biler/Huse er store. = Cars/Houses are large.

Definite Declension

The definite declension is even easier. All nouns, regardless of gender or number add -e to the base form:

den store bil = the large car
det store hus = the large house
de store bilerne/husene = the large cars/houses

However, when definite nouns are separated from the adjectives that modify them by the verb at være(to be), they follow the indefinite pattern:

Bilen er stor. = The car is big.
Huset er stort. = The house is big.
Bilerne/Husene er store. = The cars/houses are big.

Irregular Adjectives

-sk
-ende
lille


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