![\"Marc-horse](\"http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AMarc-horse_in_a_landscape.jpg\")
<\/a>The world would be quite dull without adjectives! Painting by Franz Marc (1910).<\/p><\/div> But we can\u2019t just go around pointing at things \u2013 we need adjectives to describe them! Adjectives are words that say something about the quality of nouns: \u2019red\u2019, \u2019happy\u2019, \u2019inconvenient\u2019. In both English and Danish, they either appear in front of nouns, or independently, most often in conjunction with the verb to be<\/em>: en r\u00f8d<\/span> hest<\/strong> a red<\/span> horse<\/em>, hesten er r\u00f8d<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0the horse is red<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n Unlike English, however, adjectives are inflected in Danish.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look at the various forms:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 singular \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0plural<\/em><\/span> Those are the indefinite forms. They are also used when the adjective is standing on its own: hesten er r\u00f8d, tr\u00e6et er r\u00f8dt<\/span>, hestene er r\u00f8de<\/span>, tr\u00e6erne er r\u00f8de<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Finally, we have the definite forms, used when the noun is singled out by a word like \u2019the\u2019 or \u2019my\u2019 \u2013 let\u2019s use the word hans<\/strong> \u2019his\u2019 in our example:<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 singular \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 plural<\/em><\/span> So, when in a \u201ddefinite position\u201d (one specific instance of a noun is highlighted by a word like \u2019the\u2019 or \u2019my\u2019), an -e<\/strong> is added to the adjective. Anywhere else, a -t<\/strong> is added in the singular neuter, whereas -e<\/strong> is the plural ending. That\u2019s about it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019ve already seen how to pluralize nouns (by adding an -er, -e, -s or no ending at all, remember?) Furthermore, we\u2019ve taken a sneak peek at the article system. Basically, that one boils down to adding\u00a0en or et\u00a0to any singular noun \u2013 as a lead word in front if it is to mean \u2019a\u2019 or…<\/p>\n
\nWe\u2019ve already seen how to pluralize<\/a> nouns (by adding an -er<\/strong>, -e<\/strong>, -s<\/strong> or no ending at all, remember?) Furthermore, we\u2019ve taken a sneak peek at the article<\/a> system. Basically, that one boils down to adding\u00a0en<\/strong> or et\u00a0<\/strong>to any singular noun \u2013 as a lead word<\/span> in front if it is to mean \u2019a\u2019 or \u2019an\u2019, and as an attached ending<\/span> if it to mean \u2019the\u2019. Thus en<\/strong><\/span> hest<\/strong> means a<\/span> horse<\/em>, whereas hesten<\/span><\/strong> means the<\/span> horse<\/em>. In order to \u201dthe\u201d a plural noun, all you need is the regular plural form + the ending –ne<\/span><\/strong>: hestene<\/span><\/strong> the<\/span> horses<\/em>. If the basic plural does not end in an -er<\/strong> or an -e<\/strong>, an extra \u2019e<\/span>\u2019 is inserted in front of the \u2019ne<\/span>\u2019 \u2013 just to ease the pronunciation: chipse<\/span>ne<\/span><\/strong> the chips<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\ncommon gender<\/em><\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0en r\u00f8d hest<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0\u2019a red horse\u2019 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0r\u00f8de<\/span> heste \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>\u2019red horses\u2019
\nneuter<\/em><\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 et r\u00f8dt<\/span> tr\u00e6\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>\u2019a red tree\u2019 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0r\u00f8de<\/span> tr\u00e6er \u00a0 <\/strong>\u2019red trees\u2019<\/p>\n
\ncommon gender<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0hans r\u00f8de<\/span> hest<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0\u2019his red horse\u2019 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0hans\u00a0r\u00f8de<\/span>\u00a0heste \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>\u2019his red horses\u2019
\nneuter<\/em><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0hans r\u00f8de<\/span> tr\u00e6\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>\u2019his red tree\u2019 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0hans r\u00f8de<\/span>\u00a0tr\u00e6er \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u2019his red trees\u2019<\/p>\n