Lesson 1 - The alphabet (alfabetet)
The Danish alphabet is almost exactly the same as the English alphabet - except the sounds are a little different and there is an additional 3 letters at the end. The Danish alphabet is as follows:
Upper case Lower case Pronunciation Alternative A a Like a in man B b Like be in because C c Like c in cemented D d Like d in den E e Like i in omit F f Like eff in Jeff G g Like g in give H h Like h in hope I i Like ea in meat J j Like y in yodle K k Like c in coleslaw L l Like el in seller M m Like em in empty N n Like en in end O o Like o in omit P p Like p in pick Q q Like co in cool R r Like r in air S s Like es in lesson T t Like t in tipsy U u Like oo in boots V v Like v in vote W w Dobbelt-v (translated: double v) Note: in speech, the sound is similar to v X x Like ex in ex Y y Like e in few Z z Like zedd in Zedd Æ æ Like the first e in elder AE/ae Ø ø Like ea in search OE/oe Å å Like o in omen AA/aa
If you cannot see the table above click here
The additional 3 letters æ, ø and å are all vowels (just like a, e, i, o, u and y). These letters are found in various Danish words and names and can be written using a Danish keyboard or by adding the language to your keyboard on your computer or phone.
You might have noticed that there are alternative ways for how to write the letters æ, ø and å. Danish people will understand the alternative ways of writing these letters, but æ, ø and å are the default ways. Some cities uses the alternatives instead of the default way of writing the letters. Examples of such cities are:
Aalborg (Ålborg)
Aarhus (Århus)
Grenaa (Grenå)
However, writing these cities names with å instead of aa is still correct and danes will know exactly what you mean.
Note that the above pronunciations are the pronunciations of the alphabet. The sounds may vary in different Danish words.