Learn some common noun suffixes in Danish
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Intro |
|---|
| Antoni: What are some noun suffixes in Danish? |
| Anna Juul: And why are they useful to know? |
| Antoni: At DanishClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee hears a word that sounds familiar, but he isn't sure about the meaning. He asks his friend, "What does "nødvendighed" mean?" |
| Ben: Hvad betyder "nødvendighed?" |
| Dialogue |
| Ben: Hvad betyder "nødvendighed?" |
| Nanna: Det betyder "necessity." |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben: Hvad betyder "nødvendighed?" |
| Antoni: "What does 'nødvendighed' mean?" |
| Nanna: Det betyder "necessity." |
| Antoni: "It means 'necessity.'" |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a stem or root word, which results in the formation of a new word. In English grammar, a suffix is added to a word either for the derivation of a new word or to form an inflection. The same is true in Danish grammar where a suffix is called |
| Anna Juul: suffiks |
| Antoni: In English grammar, suffixes are often used to form plural nouns. It’s the same way in Danish. However, in Danish, suffixes serve other purposes. They also function in a similar manner to the definite article in English. In English, there is only one definite article, which is "the," and it is placed before the noun, or |
| Anna Juul: substantiv |
| Antoni: It’s quite different in Danish, where the definite article would depend on the gender of the noun. Not only that, but they are also attached to the end of the noun in the form of a suffix. For instance, if you want to say "the book" in Danish, you say that as |
| Anna Juul: bogen |
| Antoni: where -en serves as the definite article. Another definite article is |
| Anna Juul: et |
| Antoni: such as in the word |
| Anna Juul: huset |
| Antoni: or "the house." Here, the suffix, which also functions as a definite article, is attached to the noun |
| Anna Juul: hus |
| Antoni: which means "house." In this lesson, we will focus on noun suffixes, which are suffixes that form nouns out of adjectives and verbs. We will also look at examples that illustrate how suffixes can turn nouns and verbs into adjectives. |
| Practice Section |
| Antoni: Let's review the sentences we’ve heard in this lesson. I’ll say the sentence in English, and then I want you to try and reply in Danish. Anna Juul will then model the correct answer—listen to her carefully and repeat, with emphasis on your pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how to say "What does "nødvendighed" mean?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Anna Juul: Hvad betyder "nødvendighed?" |
| Antoni: Listen again and repeat. |
| Anna Juul: Hvad betyder "nødvendighed?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Anna Juul: Hvad betyder "nødvendighed?" |
| Antoni: And do you remember how to say "It means "necessity."" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Anna Juul: Det betyder "necessity." |
| Antoni: Listen again and repeat. |
| Anna Juul: Det betyder "necessity." |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Anna Juul: Det betyder "necessity." |
| Antoni: Ben Lee asks his friend about the meaning of the word, |
| Anna Juul: nødvendighed. |
| Antoni: His friend replies, telling him it means "necessity." In Danish, the root word for "necessity" is |
| Anna Juul: nødvendig |
| Antoni: which is the adjective "necessary." Attached to it is the suffix, |
| Anna Juul: hed, |
| Antoni: a suffix that turns adjectives into nouns. In this case, the resulting word is the noun |
| Anna Juul: nødvendighed |
| Antoni: or "necessity." Danish noun suffixes can also turn verbs into nouns. One such suffix is |
| Anna Juul: -else |
| Antoni: such as in the word |
| Anna Juul: forståelse |
| Antoni: This word is derived from the verb |
| Anna Juul: forstå, |
| Antoni: which means "to understand." Adding the suffix in question, we get the noun "understanding." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ve learned that noun suffixes in Danish are used to form nouns out of adjectives and verbs. Being familiar with how these suffixes work is important as attaching them to a particular word completely changes the meaning of that word. |
| Expansion |
| Antoni: So far, we’ve covered a couple of commonly used noun suffixes in Danish. Why don’t we take a look at a few more? Let’s start with the suffix, |
| Anna Juul: -lig |
| Antoni: This suffix is used to form adjectives from nouns. Think of it as the suffix "-le" or "-ly" in English. You’ll find it in words like |
| Anna Juul: venlig, |
| Antoni: which means "friendly." The word is derived from the word |
| Anna Juul: ven, |
| Antoni: which means "friend." Another word that uses this suffix is |
| Anna Juul: lykkelig |
| Antoni: This is derived from the word |
| Anna Juul: lykke, |
| Antoni: meaning "happiness" Adding the suffix, we get the word "happy." Another common noun suffix in Danish is |
| Anna Juul: -bar |
| Antoni: This suffix converts both nouns and verbs into adjectives and is the equivalent of the English suffix "-able." One word that carries this suffix is |
| Anna Juul: justerbar |
| Antoni: which is derived from the verb |
| Anna Juul: justere, |
| Antoni: which interestingly means "to adjust." The addition of the suffix turns it into the word "adjustable." Finally, we have the noun suffix |
| Anna Juul: -ning |
| Antoni: This suffix forms nouns from verbs, and one common word that bears this suffix is |
| Anna Juul: erstatning |
| Antoni: which means "replacement." It’s derived from the verb, |
| Anna Juul: erstatte, |
| Antoni: a Danish verb that means "to replace" or "to substitute." |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Antoni: Danish nouns are either common or neuter gender. Knowing the gender of a noun can be as simple as looking at the suffix. Common gender nouns, for instance, end in the suffix |
| Anna Juul: en, |
| Antoni: while neuter nouns end in the suffix, |
| Anna Juul: -et |
| Antoni: These endings are only for nouns in their singular definite form. The endings for singular indefinite and plural definite and indefinite nouns are different, but that’s another lesson altogether. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Anna Juul: Farvel! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Anna Maria Juul (Danish, Denmark), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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