This is by no means our first trip into the jungle of Danish nouns, articles and adjectives, and I can’t guarantee it will be the last! 😉 The rules are simple, and no one bites you if you make a mistake. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the time to get your Danish grammar right!
Okay, you have a noun, let’s say hue (cap, pronounce ’hoo-eh’). You now want to describe this noun, using an adjective, let’s say brun (brown). As you may recall, Danish adjectives take one of three endings: -e, -t or no ending (basic form). One of these endings may also modify the basic shape of the adjective, e.g. grøn (green) becoming grønne with the e-ending attached.
Now, how should the adjective brun look when combined with the noun hue – brun, brunt or brune? A way to decide this may be to ask yourself the following:
Is the adjective being introduced by a determiner that pins down a unique ’someone’ or ’something’ in the world?
If yes
>> Add an -e.
A determiner is a word that tells us something about the scope of a noun – like a, the, some, all. In Danish, those determiners that point to specific things or persons, cause the following adjective to take the e-ending:
den brune hue the brown cap/that brown cap (not just any brown cap)
min brune hue my brown cap (likewise, a particular cap in the world)
Oles to brune huer Ole’s two brown caps
If no, continue with the question:
Is the noun plural?
If yes
>> Add an -e.
Hvorfor er brune huer altid brune? Why are brown caps always brown?
If no, continue with the question:
Does the noun take the EN or the ET article?
>> Common gender (EN nouns) causes the adjective to appear in the basic form:
en brun hue a brown cap
huen er brun the cap is brown
>> Neuter (ET nouns) causes the adjective to take the t-ending:
et brunt dyr a brown animal
dyret er brunt the animal is brown
The t-ending is also used to make adverbs (like -ly in English!):
Hvorfor er du altid så munter? Why are you always so cheerful?
Hun smilte muntert. She smiled cheerfully.
