INTRODUCTION |
In this lesson, we’re going to cover counting from 0 to 10. When it comes to numbers, the Danish language has some peculiarities, but there is nothing difficult about them. |
GRAMMAR POINT |
Let’s see what it’s all about. |
0 Nul. |
(slow) Nul. |
Nul. |
1 En. |
(slow) En. |
En. |
If the thing you’re counting is in neutral gender we say: |
Et. |
(slow) Et. |
Et. |
2 To. |
(slow) To. |
To. |
3 Tre. |
(slow) Tre. |
Tre. |
4 Fire. |
(slow) Fi-re. |
Fire. |
5 Fem. |
(slow) Fem. |
Fem. |
6 Seks. |
(slow) Seks. |
Seks. |
7 Syv. |
(slow) Syv. |
Syv. |
8 Otte. |
(slow) O-tte. |
Otte. |
9 Ni. |
(slow) Ni. |
Ni. |
10 Ti. |
(slow) Ti. |
Ti. |
As you already heard, the word for the number 1 is en if the thing you count is in common gender, and et if the thing you count is neutral gender. |
These two short words are literally translated in English as “a” or “an” and they will show the singularity of the thing you want to count. |
Let’s start with how to use en with some common words. |
En kvinde. (3 sec) “A woman” |
En mand. (3 sec) “A man” |
En appelsin. ( 3 sec) “ An orange.” |
Now let’s look at et with some neutral words |
Et æble. (3 sec) “An apple.” |
Et hus. (3 sec) “ A house” |
Et akvarie. (3 sec) “ An aquarium.” |
As you might have noticed, unlike the English “a” and ”an” depend on whether the word you are counting starts with a vowel or not, but the Danish is dependent on gender, either common or neutral. |
Next we have the counter for specific things in singular form. In English that would be “the” or “the” depending on the vowel. In Danish this is quite easy - just add the counter en or et to the end of the word. Like this: |
Common gender; |
Kvinden. (3 sec) “The woman.” |
Manden. (3 sec) “The man.” |
Appelsinen. (3 sec) “The orange.” |
Neutral gender; |
Æblet. (3 sec) “The apple.” |
Huset. (3 sec) “The house.” |
Akvariet. (3 sec) “The aquarium.” |
Now let’s look at making plurals in Danish. You simply add er to the end of the words you are counting. This applies to all except for a few irregular nouns. |
Let’s look at how our six words sound in their plural form. |
“Women” |
(3 sec) |
Kvinder |
“Men” |
(3 sec) |
Mænd |
“Oranges” |
(3 sec) |
Appelsiner |
“Apples” |
(3 sec) |
Æbler |
“Houses” |
(3 sec) |
Huse |
“Aquariums” |
(3 sec) |
Akvarier |
The plural for “man” and “house” are exceptions of the rule that you just need to add e,r -er to the end of the word. |
When you are shopping you simply add the right number to get the amount you want, to the plural of the noun. |
Now let’s imagine you buy two bottles of wine. You will wish to say. |
“Two bottles of wine, please.” |
To flasker vin, be’om. |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) To fla-sker vin, be’om. |
Once more: |
To flasker vin, be’om. |
To, as you already know, is the number “two.” |
Flasker is the plural of flaske and means “bottles.” |
(slow) Fla-sker. |
Flasker. |
Next we have the word vin which means “wine.” |
(slow) Vin. |
Vin. |
Of course we have be’om at the end, and it’s translated as „please”. |
The whole request, then, is |
To flasker vin, be’om. |
・ |
Now let’s imagine you buy one delicious Danish pastry at a bakery. Danish pastries are called wienerbrød in Denmark. The phrase will sound like this: |
Et stykke wienerbrød, tak. The English translation will be: |
“A piece of Danish pastry, please.” |
Let’s break that down: |
(slow) Et sty-kke wien-er-brød, tak. |
Once again: |
Et stykke wienerbrød, tak. |
Et means “one.” |
Wienerbrød as was mentioned before means “Danish pastry.” |
(slow) Wienerbrød. |
Wienerbrød. |
At the end there is tak which means “thanks” but is translated as “please”. |
All together, it’s |
Et stykke wienerbrød, tak. |
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