Danish grammar is easier with an account
Danish grammar is five topics, and you already know half of it
Danish verbs don’t change by person, nouns are either en or et, “the” goes on the end of the noun (bilen), adjectives take an ending from the noun, and in a statement the verb comes second. Most of the rest works like English, and all five show up in an ordinary sentence like this one.
I gårkøbteminsøsterennybil.
købte is the past tense of købe (buy). Regular verbs add -ede or -te.
Explore Verbs & Tenses →bil is an en-word, so it’s en bil. “The car” would be bilen.
Explore Nouns →ny has no ending because bil is an en-word. With an et-word it would be et nyt hus.
Explore Adjectives →I går takes position 1, so the verb comes next and the subject, min søster, moves behind it.
Explore Sentences →min means my. Danish also has sin (his or her own), which English doesn’t have.
Explore Small Words →Why grammar matters: small mistakes change what Danes hear
Vocabulary gets you understood. Grammar decides whether you’re understood correctly, and whether the conversation stays in Danish.
You’ll say something you don’t mean
sin means “his own”.
You’ll misread who did what
You’ll sound like a beginner
The verb comes second. Word Order →
How different is Danish grammar from English?
Some parts you get almost for free. Others need real practice. Here’s the honest overview.
- Verbs by person
- Easier: one form for everyone
- Cases
- Like English: only pronouns change
- Tenses
- Close to English, but no -ing form
- Questions
- Simpler: swap verb and subject, no “do”
- Plurals
- Patterns, plus some to memorise
- Adjective endings
- New, but mostly rule-based
- en / et
- New, learned word by word
- Word order (V2)
- New, and the most common mistake
Not sure where to start? Spot the mistake.
A few quick picks. Whatever you miss tells you which guide to take first.
Pick the correct Danish for each.
The five topics of Danish grammar
Danish verbs and tenses
No conjugation by person: one form works for everyone. The tenses are close to English, except that there’s no -ing form: jeg spiser is both “I eat” and “I’m eating”. What takes practice is the past tense of everyday verbs.
Explore Verbs & Tenses →- jeg
- du
- han / hun
- vi
- I
- de
| Present | Past | Perfect | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| spisereat(s) | spisteate | har spisthave eaten | spiser i morgenwill eat tomorrow |
Try itTest yourself on verbs & tenses
Danish nouns: en and et
Every noun is either en or et, and that one choice reaches the words around it: “the”, “my”, and adjectives before and after the noun. Pick a noun, guess, and see how far it goes.
Explore Nouns →- a
- ? bil
- a car
- the
- bil?
- the car
- my
- ? bil
- my car
- big
- ? stor? bil
- a big car
- is big
- bil? er stor?
- the car is big
Try itTest yourself on nouns
Danish adjective endings
One adjective, three forms. Ask two questions about the noun, en or et, and is it plural or after “the” or “my”, and the ending follows. It’s mostly a rule, with a handful of exceptions.
Explore Adjectives →- en-worden stor bilno ending
- et-wordet stort hus+t
- plural, or after “the” or “my”den store bil+e
Try itTest yourself on adjectives
Danish word order
Two rules do most of the work. The verb always takes position 2. And in a subordinate clause, ikke and words like aldrig and altid move in front of the verb.
Explore Sentences →Jegkommerikkei morgen
… fordijegikkekommer
Try itTest yourself on sentences
Danish pronouns and prepositions
The little words in every sentence. den or det follows the noun, sin means “his own” or “her own”, and i and på don’t always match English “in” and “on”.
Explore Small Words →- Bilen er ny. Den er rød.
- The car is new. It’s red.
- Huset er nyt. Det er rødt.
- The house is new. It’s red.
- Han tager sin jakke.
- He takes his (own) jacket.
- Han tager hans jakke.
- He takes his (someone else’s) jacket.
- Jeg bor i København.
- I live in Copenhagen.
- Jeg bor på Fyn.
- I live on Funen.
Try itTest yourself on small words
Your path from A1 to B1
The grammar each level is about, the guides that cover it, and practice tests to check yourself.
A1 First sentences
Simple main clauses: the present tense, en and et, “the” as an ending, plurals, and modal verbs like kan and vil. The verb stays second, also when the sentence starts with a time or a place.
Check yourself: A1 practice tests →A2 Everyday Danish
Talking about what happened and what is coming: the past and perfect tenses, the future, the imperative, adjective endings and comparisons, and possessives like min and sin.
- Past Tense
- Perfect Tense
- Irregular Verbs
- Adjective Endings
- Pronouns
- Imperative
- Future Tense
- Possessives
- Comparatives & Superlatives
B1 Longer, natural sentences
Range more than new rules: the passive, longer sentences with several clauses, and prepositions that rarely match English one to one.
Check yourself: Prøve i Dansk 2 (B1) →Danish grammar cheat sheet
The core rules on one screen. Bookmark it for later.
Word order
- Main clause: the verb comes 2nd
- I dag spiser jeg fisk
- Question word first, then the verb
- Hvad spiser du?
- Yes/no question: the verb comes 1st
- Spiser du fisk?
Where ikke goes
- Main clause: after the verb
- Jeg spiser ikke kød
- After fordi, at, når, hvis: before the verb
- … fordi jeg ikke spiser kød
- The same for aldrig, altid and også
- … fordi jeg altid kommer for sent
Verbs
- One form for every person
- jeg spiser · du spiser · vi spiser
- No -ing form: one form for “I eat” and “I’m eating”
- Jeg spiser nu
- Future: usually just the present
- Jeg ringer i morgen
- Perfect: har, or er for going and becoming
- har spist · er gået
Nouns: the four forms
- en-word
- en bil · bilen · biler · bilerne
- et-word
- et hus · huset · huse · husene
Adjectives
- et-word: add -t
- en stor bil · et stort hus
- Plural, or after the or my: add -e
- store biler · min store bil
- “The” + adjective: den, det or de in front
- den store bil · det store hus
Small words
- “It” follows the noun: den or det
- Bilen er ny. Den er rød.
- The subject’s own: sin, sit, sine
- Han tager sin jakke
Questions about Danish grammar
How hard is Danish grammar?
For English speakers it’s among the easier European grammars. Verbs don’t change by person, nouns don’t change for case, and the tenses are close to English. The main challenges are word order, noun gender and adjective endings.
What makes Danish word order tricky?
The verb must always be the second element of a main clause. When a sentence starts with a time or a place, the subject moves after the verb: “I dag spiser jeg” (today eat I).
Do I need to memorise every noun’s gender?
Mostly, yes, but it’s easier than it sounds. Around three in four nouns are en-words, so en is the safe guess, and learning each noun together with its article quickly builds a feel for it.
Does Danish have cases like German?
No. Nouns keep the same form whatever their role in the sentence, apart from a possessive -s as in English (bilens). Only pronouns change, like I/me in English: jeg/mig, han/ham.
Where should I start with Danish grammar?
Start with the present tense and the rule that the verb comes second, since both are in every sentence you say. Then learn noun gender and the definite ending, and the past tense once you talk about what happened.
Should I learn grammar before vocabulary?
Learn them side by side. Grammar only makes sense with words to use it on, and new words stick better when you meet them in real sentences. Pair each grammar guide with a word list and a reading exercise at the same level.