{"id":350,"date":"2012-02-11T09:30:34","date_gmt":"2012-02-11T09:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=350"},"modified":"2012-02-16T11:16:51","modified_gmt":"2012-02-16T11:16:51","slug":"getting-the-jigsaw-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2012\/02\/11\/getting-the-jigsaw-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting the Jigsaw Right"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is by no means our first trip into the jungle of Danish nouns, articles and adjectives, and I can\u2019t guarantee it will be the last! \ud83d\ude09 The rules are simple, and no one bites you if you make a mistake. But that doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t take the time to get your Danish grammar right!<\/p>\n

Okay, you have a noun, let\u2019s say hue<\/strong> (cap, pronounce \u2019hoo-eh\u2019). You now want to describe this noun, using an adjective, let\u2019s say brun<\/strong><\/span> (brown). As you may recall<\/a>, Danish adjectives take one of three endings: -e<\/strong>, -t<\/strong> or no ending (basic form). One of these endings may also modify the basic shape of the adjective, e.g. gr\u00f8n<\/strong><\/span> (green) becoming gr\u00f8nne<\/strong><\/span> with the e-ending attached.<\/p>\n

Now, how should the adjective brun<\/strong> look when combined with the noun hue<\/strong> \u2013 brun<\/strong>, brunt<\/strong> or brune<\/strong>? A way to decide this may be to ask yourself the following:<\/p>\n

Is the adjective being introduced by a determiner that pins down a unique \u2019someone\u2019 or \u2019something\u2019 in the world?<\/h3>\n

If yes<\/span><\/h4>\n

>><\/strong><\/span> Add an -e.<\/h4>\n

A determiner is a word that tells us something about the scope of a noun \u2013 like a<\/em>, the<\/em>, some<\/em>, all<\/em>.\u00a0In Danish, those determiners that point to specific things or persons, cause the following adjective to take the e-ending:<\/p>\n

den<\/span> brune<\/span> hue \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong> the brown cap\/that brown cap<\/em> (not just any brown cap)
\nmin<\/span> brune<\/span> hue<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0 \u00a0 my brown cap<\/em> (likewise, a particular cap in the world)
\nOles<\/span>\u00a0to brune<\/span> huer<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0 \u00a0 Ole\u2019s two brown caps<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>If no<\/span>, continue with the question:<\/h4>\n

Is the noun plural?<\/h3>\n

If yes<\/span><\/h4>\n

>><\/span> Add an -e.<\/h4>\n

Hvorfor er brune<\/span> huer altid brune<\/span>?<\/strong> \u00a0 \u00a0Why are brown caps always brown?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

If\u00a0no<\/span>, continue with the question:<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Does the noun take the EN or the ET article<\/a>?<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

>>\u00a0Common gender (EN nouns) causes the adjective to appear in the basic form:<\/h4>\n

en brun hue<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 a brown cap<\/em><\/p>\n

huen er brun<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 the cap is brown<\/em><\/p>\n

>>\u00a0Neuter (ET nouns) causes the adjective to take the t-ending:<\/h4>\n

et brunt<\/span> dyr \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong> a brown animal<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

dyret er brunt\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0the animal is brown<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The t-ending is also used to make adverbs (like -ly<\/em> in English!):<\/span><\/p>\n

Hvorfor er du altid s\u00e5 munter?<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Why are you always so cheerful?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Hun smilte muntert<\/span>.<\/strong> \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0She smiled cheerfully<\/span>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

This is by no means our first trip into the jungle of Danish nouns, articles and adjectives, and I can\u2019t guarantee it will be the last! \ud83d\ude09 The rules are simple, and no one bites you if you make a mistake. But that doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t take the time to get your Danish grammar…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-350","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t