Danish Adjective Endings: stor, stort, store

A Danish adjective has three forms, like stor, stort and store. Which one you use depends on the noun and the word in front of it.

You pick the form by asking two questions about the noun. Is it an en-word or an et-word? And is it plural, or does it have a word like den (the) or min (my) in front?

en-word with en: no ending
ArticleenAdjectivestorNounbil
a big car
et-word with et: add -t
ArticleetAdjectivestortNounhus
a big house
Plural, or with den, det, de, min …: add -e
ArticledenAdjectivestoreNounbil
the big car

Same adjective, three forms. The noun and the word in front of it choose which one.

The three forms

Base form — with en-words (indefinite)
- en stor bila big car
-t form — with et-words (indefinite)
- et stort husa big house
-e form — plural, or after den, det, min …
- store bilerbig cars
- den store bilthe big car

Mette har købt en ny jakke.Mette has bought a new jacket.
Vi har fået et nyt køkken.We’ve got a new kitchen.
Børnene har nye sko.The children have new shoes.

jakke is an en-word, so ny keeps its base form. køkken is an et-word, so ny adds -t. sko is plural here, so ny adds -e.

Examples

en-word	et-word	Plural	English
en stor bil	et stort hus	store biler	big
en ny bog	et nyt bord	nye bøger	new
en rød stol	et rødt æble	røde stole	red
en god ven	et godt liv	gode venner	good

Here is one adjective in every slot. Only the first row tells en- and et-words apart. Everything below it takes -e.

Word in front	en-word	et-word	Plural
a / an	en stor bil	et stort hus	store biler
the	den store bil	det store hus	de store biler
my	min store bil	mit store hus	mine store biler

When the adjective takes -e

The -e form comes in when the noun is plural, or when one of these words comes in front of the adjective.

After den, det and de (the)det nye køkkenthe new kitchen
After min, din, sin, hans, hendes, vores, jeres, deresmin nye cykelmy new bike
After a name with -sPeters nye lejlighedPeter’s new flat
After denne, dette, disse (this, these)denne gode bogthis good book
Plural, with or without “the”billige billettercheap tickets

After er and bliver

An adjective after er (is) or bliver (becomes) still matches the noun it describes: -t for an et-word, -e for a plural. A definite noun like huset doesn’t make it -e.

Bilen er stor.The car is big. (en bil)
Huset er stort.The house is big. (et hus)
Bilerne er store.The cars are big. (plural)

Adjectives that bend the rules

The three slots stay the same. A few groups spell the ending differently, or skip it.

en-word	et-word	Plural	Why
grøn	grønt	grønne	Short vowel + one consonant: double it before -e.
gammel	gammelt	gamle	Ends in -el, -en or -er: drop the e before -e, and a double consonant goes single (sikker → sikre).
sort	sort	sorte	Already ends in -t: no extra -t.
dansk	dansk	danske	Adjectives in -isk and nationality words like dansk skip the -t (but frisk → friskt).
moderne	moderne	moderne	Ends in -e: never changes.
gratis	gratis	gratis	A few in -s (gratis, fælles) never change.
lille	lille	små	Plural is a different word. With den or det it stays lille: den lille bil.

bilen or den store bil?

On its own, “the” is an ending on the noun: bilen. Put an adjective in, and “the” moves to the front as den, det or de. The noun then loses its “the” ending (bilen → bil, bilerne → biler), and the adjective takes -e.

No adjective	With an adjective	Not
bilen	den store bil	den store bilen
huset	det store hus	det store huset
bilerne	de store biler	de store bilerne

Which of den and det you need depends on the noun’s gender. Noun gender · Definite forms

Common mistakes

Wrong:~~et billig hotel~~
Right:et billigt hotel
hotel is an et-word in the indefinite, so the adjective takes the -t form.
Wrong:~~en godt idé~~
Right:en god idé
idé is an en-word, so the adjective keeps its base form: god. godt is easy to reach for because it also means “well” (Det går godt), but as an adjective it only goes with et-words.
Wrong:~~den sød kat~~
Right:den søde kat
After den and det the adjective always takes -e.
Wrong:~~stor biler~~
Right:store biler
In the plural the adjective always takes -e.
Wrong:~~det gode vejret~~
Right:det gode vejr
With an adjective, “the” is det in front, so vejret drops its ending: det gode vejr.

Try it

Try itTest yourself on adjective endings

Check yourself

6 questions

1. “a warm bath”

2. “the new car”

3. “my red bike”

4. “The house is big.”

5. “small houses”

6. “a Danish word”

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