Danish Stød and the Soft D: Hear the Difference
Two sounds make spoken Danish hard to follow at first: the stød and the soft d. Neither is shown clearly in spelling, and both can change which word you're hearing. The quickest way to learn them is to listen to pairs of words that differ by just that sound, first on their own and then in a sentence.
The stød
The stød is a short catch in the voice, a kind of brief creak or "bump" in a syllable. Spelling doesn't show it, but it can be the only thing separating two words. Listen to each pair below a few times, then cover the labels and try to tell which is which.
she
no stød
Hvor er hun?Where is she?
dog
with stød
Vi har en hund.We have a dog.
Same sounds; only the stød tells them apart. The d in hund is silent.
one, you (in general)
no stød
Sådan gør man.That's how you do it.
man
with stød
Hvem er den mand?Who is that man?
Man is the general 'you/one'; mand is a man.
beans
no stød
Vi spiser bønner.We eat beans.
farmers
with stød
Her bor mange bønder.Many farmers live here.
Spelled differently, but the only difference you hear is the stød in bønder.
runs
no stød
Hun går ikke, hun løber.She's not walking, she's running.
runner
with stød
Han er en god løber.He is a good runner.
Spelled the same. The verb has no stød; the noun does.
happens
no stød
Sådan noget hænder.That sort of thing happens.
hands
with stød
Vask dine hænder.Wash your hands.
Spelled the same. The verb has no stød; the noun does.
mother
no stød
Det er min mor.That's my mother.
murder
with stød
Politiet efterforsker et mord.The police are investigating a murder.
The d in mord is silent; the stød is what you hear.
Some pairs are spelled the same (løber and løber, hænder and hænder). Every word here is cut from its own sentence, so listen to both versions: the stød is the only difference.
Which did you hear?
Listen to one word and pick which one it was. 6 rounds, no account needed.
Understanding comes first
You don't need to produce the stød perfectly to be understood. Context usually tells Danes which word you mean. Recognising it when you hear it matters more, because it's part of what makes fast Danish sound like one long word.
The soft d
After a vowel, Danish d is often a soft d: a soft, relaxed sound made with the tongue loosely behind the top teeth, close to the th in English the but much lighter. After n, l and r the d is usually silent.
food
soft d
Vi skal have mad.We're going to eat.
man
silent d
Der står en mand.A man is standing there.
In mad the d is a soft d; in mand it's silent.
was called
soft d
Jeg ved ikke, hvad han hed.I don't know what he was called.
over (to)
silent d
Hvor skal du hen?Where are you going?
Hed ends in a soft d; hen ends in a plain n.
For how the soft d disappears even further in fast speech (hedder in hej, jeg hedder), see reduction.
More words with a soft d
- gade
street
Det er en lang gade.It's a long street.
- rød
red
Bilen er rød.The car is red.
- glad
happy
Jeg er så glad.I'm so happy.
- hvid
white
Katten er hvid.The cat is white.
- tid
time
Har du tid?Do you have time?
- fred
peace
Vi vil bare have fred.We just want peace.
- sød
sweet
Kagen er meget sød.The cake is very sweet.
- bad
bath
Jeg tager et bad.I'm taking a bath.
Words where the d is silent
- land
country
Danmark er et lille land.Denmark is a small country.
- guld
gold
Ringen er af guld.The ring is made of gold.
- bord
table
Det er et stort bord.It's a big table.
- kold
cold
Kaffen er kold.The coffee is cold.
- vand
water
Må jeg få et glas vand?Can I have a glass of water?
Keep training your ear
Listening practice · EasyDanish listening exercisesShort everyday recordings with questions and a transcript, so you can hear these sounds in connected speech.