100 most common written words in danish

100 Most Common Written Words in Danish Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Oct 31, 2013 in Vocabulary

What? No ØL in the list?

Is it possible to learn Danish in 3 months? The popular ”alternative life-style guru” Tim Ferriss thinks so. Well, if you spent 3 months doing nothing but studying grammar and going to Danish bars, then maybe… In my experience, though, a language is more like a tree that is gradually spreading its branches in your mind. Learning the basic structure may be a matter of months. Real mastery usually takes years. Nevertheless, Ferriss has a great idea that might help you getting there quicker: Start learning the 100 most frequently written words! They may make up as much as one half of a typical text. So, here they are:

	Word	Meaning
1	og	and
2	i	in
3	at	that…/to… (As in: ”I said that I didn’t want to go.”)
4	det	it
5	er	is/am/are
6	en	a/an/one
7	til	to
8	af	of
9	på	on
10	for	for
11	der	there
12	den	that one
13	med	with
14	de	they
15	ikke	not
16	som	who/which/that (In relative clauses, as in: ”The girl that I used to know.”)
17	har	has/have
18	et	a/an/one
19	jeg	I
20	om	about
21	var	was/were
22	så	so/then
23	han	he
24	men	but
25	kan	can
26	vi	we
27	fra	from
28	sig	oneself/himself/herself/themselves (Reflexive pronoun, as in: ”He washed himself.”)
29	man	you/one (As in: ”Sometimes you have to play tough.”)
30	skal	has to/have to
31	ved	know/knows//at (The latter as in: They found her at the gate.)
32	vil	will/want to/wants to
33	også	too
34	hun	she
35	eller	or
36	være	be
37	blev	was/were/became/got (Transition from one state to another, as in: ”He was fired. She got mad.”)
38	havde	had
39	efter	after
40	over	over/above
41	hvor	where
42	ud	out
43	da	then
44	nu	now
45	du	you
46	år	year
47	når	when
48	op	up
49	kunne	could
50	selv	Self/myself/ourselves/yourself/yourselves/himself/herself/themselves
51	meget	much/a lot/very
52	hvis	if
53	sin	his own/her own (Reflexive pronoun, as in: ”She found her [own] umbrella.”)
54	alle	everybody/everyone/all people
55	noget	something
56	siger	say/says
57	to	two
58	mange	many
59	dem	them
60	hvad	what
61	bliver	is/are/am/becomes/become/gets/get (Transition from one state to another, as in: ”He’s fired. She gets mad.”)
62	få	few//get/receive (As in: ”Very few persons really want to receive less.”)
63	mig	me
64	mere	more
65	her	here
66	hans	his
67	have	garden
68	deres	their
69	andre	others
70	ind	in
71	godt	good/well
72	kun	only
73	må	may/must
74	end	than
75	været	been
76	ham	him
77	mod	against//courage (As in: ”They showed great courage in the war against the Prussians.”)
78	skulle	should
79	jo	”yes” (Not really translatable, but often used as a confirmation of a fact: Men det er jo Kaj! ”But that’s Kaj!” [That sure is Kaj!])
80	under	under/below
81	går	goes/go
82	denne	this one
83	helt	totally/completely//hero (As in: ”The people went totally crazy over their new hero.”)
84	store	big
85	ville	would
86	dag	day
87	hele	whole
88	blive	become/get (Transition from one state to another, as in: ”I’d like to become a pilot.”)
89	kr	(Danish Kroner)
90	får	get(s)/receive(s)//sheep (As in: ”Every year, we receive a sheep.”)
91	sammen	together
92	os	us
93	lidt	a bit
94	sagde	said
95	uden	without
96	kommer	come/comes
97	nogle	some
98	første	first
99	fik	got/received
100	alt	everything/all

Source: http://korpus.dsl.dk/e-resurser/frekvens150.php?lang=dk.

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About the Author: Bjørn A. Bojesen

I was born in Denmark, but spent large parts of my childhood and study years in Norway. I later returned to Denmark, where I finished my MA in Scandinavian Studies. Having relatives in Sweden as well, I feel very Scandinavian! I enjoy reading and travelling, and sharing stories with you! You’re always welcome to share your thoughts with me and the other readers.

Comments:

Stine K.:

I enjoy your posts. I’m thinking that som/saa can also mean “as,” as in saa snart som muligt (“as soon as possible”). Am I right? Not a native Danish speaker, but I studied it long ago.
- Bjørn A. Bojesen:
  
  @Stine K. Hej Stine!
  
  Yes, you’re absolutely right. Thanks for pointing this out! 🙂
  
  Bjørn
Alan:

I am starting to learn this fascinating language and I am loving it, thanks for your help, very kind of you. Regards from a brazillian!! 😉
Mianna:

#79 (jo) -My understanding of this word is that it is used as an answer to a question in the negative form. E.g. “Is she here?” is in the positive form and would take “ja” (yes) for an answer. But if we ask “Isn’t she here?”, then we’d have to answer “jo” (yes) if she is indeed there (because the question was phrased in a negative form).
- Mianna:
  
  @Mianna Oops. I meant to say “it is ALSO used”, because I have seen the type of usage mentioned in the list as well.

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