Silent Letters in Danish: What's Written but Not Said
Danish spelling kept letters that speech dropped long ago. The good news is that most of them follow patterns: learn a handful and you can read new words out loud without tripping over letters nobody says.
h before v and j
At the start of a word, hv- is said as v and hj- as j. The h is simply silent.
- hvad
what
Undskyld, hvad?Sorry, what?
- hvor
where
Jeg ved ikke hvor.I don't know where.
- hvid
white
Katten er hvid.The cat is white.
- hjem
home
Nu går jeg hjem.I'm going home now.
- hjælpe
to help
Kan jeg hjælpe?Can I help?
d after n, l and r
After n, l and r a final d is usually silent: hund sounds like "hun" (with a stød), kold like "kol". The d in godt goes too.
- hund
dog
Vi har en hund.We have a dog.
- kold
cold
Kaffen er kold.The coffee is cold.
- mand
man
Hvem er den mand?Who is that man?
- godt
good, well
Det går godt.It's going well.
Other letters you'll learn word by word
The t in det, the g in morgen and pige: common words with letters that aren't said. There's no single rule, so these come with listening.
- det
it, that
Hvad er det?What is it?
- morgen
morning, tomorrow
Vi ses i morgen.See you tomorrow.
- pige
girl
Hun er en sød pige.She's a sweet girl.
Don't swallow every d
After a vowel, a d usually isn't silent but soft, as in mad and gade. See the soft d.