Danish Nouns
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Gender Assignment
Danish nouns are divided into two groups (often referred to linguistically as "classes" or "genders" [the latter is somewhat dated]):
- En-words (Common Gender)
- Et-words (Neuter Gender)
There is generally no way to know exactly what class a given noun will come under but there are some guiding principles:
- Most nouns which denote human beings will fall under class 1 and be en-words:
- en mand (a man)
- en kvinde (a woman)
- en dreng (a boy)
- en pige (a girl)
- en student (a student)
**EXCEPTIONS** et barn (a child), et individ (an individual), et menneske (a human). These seeming irregularities can be (somewhat) accounted for, however. This is because most nouns denoting a general category are neuter, while more specific nouns are common gender:
- et træ (a tree): en elm (an elm), en gran (a fir)
- et menneske, et individ: en mand, en kvinde, en student
- et barn: en dreng, en pige
- Nouns which end in the following suffixes are en-words:
- -ance/-ans/-ence: en ambulance, en substans, en konference
- -ant: en restaurant
- -hed: en lejlighed (an appartment)
- -ing: en regning (a bill)
- -ion: en station (a station)
- Months are en-words
As in other Germanic languages, compound nouns take the class of the last noun in the compound:
- en skole (school) + et køkken (kitchen) = et skolekøkken (school-kitchen)
Definiteness
As is highly unusual for those Indo-European languages which indicate definiteness, Danish expresses the idea by attaching a suffix to the noun, not using a different word before it.
- en mand (a man) vs. manden (the man)
- et ben (a leg) vs. benet (the leg)
This type of transformation is shared amongst all of the Northern Germanic languages (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faeroese).
However, the addition of an adjective describing a definite noun will alter this process so that it looks more like other languages you may be familiar with:
- et hus (a house) --> huset (the house)
but,
- et stort hus (a big house) --> det store hus (the big house)
- (Please see Danish adjectives for information regarding the changes occuring in stor)
It is interesting to note that this process differs from Swedish and Norwegian (Danish's very close relatives) in that the former two retain the suffixed definite article as well as adding the preposed definite article. Ex.:
- (Danish) en stor bil --> den store bil
- (Norwegian/Swedish) en stor bil --> den store/stora bilen
One other instance where one can see this preposed definite article is when a restrictive relative clause follows the noun. This is, however, an optional construction and the suffixed definite article may equally be used:
- Den trøje/Trøjen jeg købte i går, er for stor. = The coat I bought yesterday is too big (Not the coat I bought today, etc.)
However, if the relative clause is not restrictive only the suffixed definite article may be used.
Plural Nouns
There are three ways to form the plural of nouns in Danish: the addition of -(e)r, -e, or nothing at all to the end of the singular form. There are a few guiding principles as to which nouns take which plural forms, but they are not simple and it may be best to memorize the plural of individual nouns as you learn them. Some of these principles are stated below, but please take note that some categories of noun appear in more than one section.
Plurals in -(e)r
About 75% of nouns form their plurals with the addition of -(e)r. These include:
- A large majority of nouns ending in a vowel:
- en pige (a girl) --> to piger (two girls)
- en krone (a Crown) --> to kroner
- et menneske (a human) --> to mennesker
- en by (a town) --> to byer
- et træ (a tree) --> to træer
- en ø (an island) --> to øer
- Polysyllabic nouns ending in a stressed syllable (mostly of foreign origin):
- en avis (a newspaper) --> to aviser
- en telefon --> to telefoner
- en turist --> to turister
- Derived nouns:
- en hilsen (a greeting) --> hilsner [from hilse: v. to greet]
- en køkken (a kitchen) --> køkner [from kok: n. cook]
- en måned (a month) --> måneder [from måne: n. moon]
- Nouns ending in -hed:
- en nyhed (a news story) --> nyheder (news)
- Nouns ending in -skab:
- et venskab (a friendship) --> venskaber
- Many monosyllabic common gender nouns ending in a consonant:
- en blomst (a flower) --> blomster
- en flod (a river) --> floder
- en ven (a friend) --> venner
Plurals in -e
About 15% of nouns form their plural in this way. They include:
- Many monosyllabic common gender nouns ending in a consonant (see -(e)r nouns above):
- en dag (a day) --> dage
- en dreng (a boy) --> drenge
- en fugl (a bird) --> fugle
- Some monosyllabic neuter gender nouns:
- et bord (a table) --> borde
- et brev (a letter) --> breve
- et land (a country) --> lande
- Nouns ending in unstressed -er:
- en arbejder (a worker) --> arbejdere
- en dansker (a Dane) --> danskere
- Nouns ending in -dom:
- en ejendom (a property) --> ejendomme
- Nouns ending in -ing
- en udlænding (a foreigner) --> udlændinge
Plurals with No Ending
About 10% of nouns form their plural this way. They include:
- Many monosyllabic neuter words:
- et glas (a glass) --> to glas
- et sprog (a language) --> to sprog
- et år (a year) --> to år
- Some polysyllabic neuter nouns ending in a consonant:
- et forhold (a relationship) --> mange forhold (many relationships)
- et besøg (a visit) --> mange besøg
- Some monosyllabic common gender nouns:
- en sko (a shoe) --> to sko
- en sten (a stone) --> to sten
- en ting (a thing) --> mange ting
- Nouns ending in -ende:
- en rejsende (a traveller) --> to rejsende
Vowel Changes
As is common in Germanic languages, some nouns will change vowel sounds when pluralized (called umlaut in linguistics; ex. mouse --> mice). Here are some Danish examples (by no means extensive):
- Vowel change plus -(e)r:
- en stad (a city) --> stæder
- en nat (a night) --> nætter
- en bog (a book) --> bøger
- en bond (a farmer) --> bønder
- en hånd (a hand) --> hænder
- Vowel change plus >b>-e</b>:
- en far (a father) --> fædre (although this looks like a completely new word it is derived from fader of which far is a simplification)
- en mor (a mother) --> mødre
- en bror (a brother) --> brødre
- en datter (a daughter) --> døtre
- Vowel change with no ending:
- en mand --> mænd
- et barn --> børn
Definiteness in the Plural
Definiteness in the plural is expressed by the addition of a new suffix, namely -(e)ne, to the indefinite plural form. If the plural form ends in -(e)r or -e the plural suffix is -ne:
- en by --> byer --> byerne
- en gade --> gader --> gaderne
- et bord --> borde --> bordene
- en dreng --> drenge --> drengene
If the indefinite plural form has no additional ending, than the definite marker is -ene. This is the case even if the indefinite form ends in a vowel:
- et sprog --> mange sprog --> sprogene
- en sten --> mange sten --> stenene
- en sko --> to sko --> skoene
There are two notable exceptions to these rules:
- When an indefinite singular word ends in -er, therefore taking -e as a plural marker, the last -e is dropped before adding -ne:
- en dansker --> danskere --> danskerne
- en arbejder --> arbejdere --> arbejderne
- The word menneske has the following conjugation:
- et menneske --> mennesker --> menneskene (the final -r of plural mennesker is dropped)
Possession
Possession in Danish is expressed similarly to other Germanic languages, namely the addition of -s to the noun that possesses. This is called the genitive case of the noun. There is almost never an apostrophe used, unlike English:
- et barns hund = a child's dog; barnets hund = the child's dog
- børns hunde = children's dogs; børnenes hunde = the children's dogs
- Christians mor = Christian's mother
An apostrophe is only used when the possessing noun ends in an -s, -x, or -z or is an abbreviation:
- Mads' bil = Mads's car
- Felix' hus = Felix's house
- UG's hjemmeside = UG's website
Danish uses the genitive more often than English:
- Feriens første dag = the first day of vacation (lit. the vacation's first day)
It is important for English speakers to note that the possessing noun expresses definiteness for either itself, the possessed noun, or both. The noun that is possessed will NEVER carry the definite article:
- lejlighedens ejer = the owner of the appartment/flat
- Danmarks nye prinsesse = the new princess of Denmark (or Denmark's new princess; but note the adjective acts as if princess is definite [see Danish Adjectives] despite no definite article being present)
