{"id":1195,"date":"2015-02-28T10:59:30","date_gmt":"2015-02-28T10:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2015-02-28T10:59:30","modified_gmt":"2015-02-28T10:59:30","slug":"big-and-small","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2015\/02\/28\/big-and-small\/","title":{"rendered":"Big and Small"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Courtesy<\/a>

Courtesy of Open Clipart.<\/p><\/div>\n

Vi har hvad vi skal ha\u2019, af b\u00e5de stort og sm\u00e5t!<\/b> (We\u2019ve got what we need, of both big and small!) Danish \u201dnational oldie popdreng <\/b>(pop boy)\u201d Kim Larsen sings in one of his classic hits. I guess it\u2019s still true that people in Denmark have got all the material ting<\/b> (things) they need, but let\u2019s focus on the language: big and small.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Stor<\/b> is the basic word for \u2019big\u2019 or \u2019large\u2019:<\/p>\n

\u2022 en stor pige <\/b>(a big girl) \u2013 den store pige<\/b> (the big girl) \u2013 pigen er stor<\/b> (the girl is big)<\/p>\n

\u2022 et stort ansvar<\/b> [anSVAR] (a big responsibility) \u2013 det store ansvar<\/b> (the big responsibility) \u2013 ansvaret er stort<\/b> (the responsibility is big)<\/p>\n

\u2022 store skyer \u2013 skyerne er store<\/b> (big clouds \u2013 the clouds are big)<\/p>\n

(Of course you already know that an –e <\/b>is added to most adjectives in the plural, and that a -t<\/b> is usually added to adjectives describing common-gender words in the singular \u2013 \u201det<\/b>\u201d <\/b>words. And you\u2019re most certainly aware that an -e<\/b> is added to adjectives that follow definiteness markers like den, det, min, dit, -s<\/b>: vores store ansvar, Poul og Mariannes store pige<\/b>.)<\/p>\n

\u2019Bigger \u2013 biggest\u2019 is a bit irregular: st\u00f8rre \u2013 st\u00f8rst<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Alt er st\u00f8rre i USA. <\/b>(Everything\u2019s bigger in the US. \u2013 Yeah, that\u2019s a typical Danish thing to say! Small country mentality, here we go!)<\/p>\n

\u2022 St\u00f8rst af alt er k\u00e6rligheden<\/b>. (\u201dLove\u2019s the biggest of it all.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Lille<\/b> [LILLeh] is the basic word for \u2019little\u2019 or \u2019small\u2019. It doesn\u2019t get any -t<\/b> attached:<\/p>\n

\u2022 en lille dreng<\/b> (a little boy) \u2013 den lille dreng<\/b> (the little boy) \u2013 drengen er lille<\/b> (the boy is small)<\/p>\n

\u2022 et lille problem <\/b>(a small problem) \u2013 det lille problem <\/b>(the small problem) \u2013 problemet er lille<\/b> (the problem is small)<\/p>\n

\u2019Small \u2013 smaller\u2019 is even more irregular: mindre \u2013 mindst.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 sm\u00e5kagerne er mindre i \u00e5r<\/b> (the cookies are smaller this year)<\/p>\n

\u2022 det er det mindste problem<\/b> (that\u2019s the smallest problem \u2013 i.e., there are bigger problems out there!)<\/p>\n

Wait a second! Yes, that\u2019s true, there\u2019s a very strange thing about <\/i>lille!<\/i><\/b> When describing more-than-one of something, it changes completely, metamorphosing into <\/i>sm\u00e5<\/i><\/b> [smaw]:<\/i><\/p>\n

De sm\u00e5 sm\u00e5kager er alt for sm\u00e5!<\/b> (The small cookies are way too small!)<\/p>\n

And, as you saw in that Kim Larsen quote, an even stranger thing about <\/i>sm\u00e5<\/i><\/b> is that you can add a <\/i>-t<\/i><\/b> to \u201dre-singularize\u201d the word, making it mean something like \u201dsomething small, fine\u201d: <\/i><\/p>\n

Har du l\u00e6st det med sm\u00e5t? <\/b>(\u201dHave you read that [part of the contract which is written] with small [writing]?\u201d That means, more or less: Are you sure they don\u2019t fool you?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the Kim Larsen song mentioned \u2013 Blip b\u00e5t<\/b>:<\/p>\n