Lesson 4 - Nouns As Singular (navneord i ental)
Singular Indefinite - āA/anā in Danish
In Danish there are two versions for āa/anā. Namely, āenā and āetā. Nouns using āenā are said to have the gender āfƦlleskĆønā (literal translation: common gender) and nouns using āetā to have the gender āintetkĆønā (literal translation: non gender). I will refer to nouns using āenā as āen-nounsā and nouns using āetā as et-nouns.
Here are some examples for nouns using āenā (fƦlleskĆøn):
En abe = a monkey
En hund = a dog
En bil = a car
En bog = a book
Examples for nouns using āetā (intetkĆøn):
Et skib = a ship
Et Ʀble = an apple
Et tƦppe = a blanket
Et fjernsyn = a television
Unfortunately, there are no rules for when to use āenā or āetā. This is something that you will have to memorize. However, about 75% of the nouns are en-nouns. If you mess this up it will sound unnatural but Danes will understand what you are talking about. When you are learning a new noun try your best to memorize whether it uses āenā or āetā.
Fun fact: Sometimes even Danes can mess up when to use āenā and āetā. Especially with the word āhamsterā (meaning hamster). You will hear some Danes say āen hamsterā and some say āet hamsterā. The correct version is: en hamster.
Singular Definite - āTheā in Danish (definite)
In English you put ātheā in front of a noun when talking about a specific āsomethingā (e.g. the cat). In Danish itās a little different. In Danish you add an ending to the noun. The ending is dependent on whether the noun is an en-noun (fƦlleskĆøn) or an et-noun (intetkĆøn).
If it is an en-noun (fælleskøn) you add -en as an ending. Example:
En hund (a dog) becomes hunden (the dog)
En bil (a car) becomes bilen (the car)
If it is an āetā-noun (intetkĆøn) you add -et as an ending.
Et skib (a ship) becomes skibet (the ship)
Et fjernsyn (a television) becomes fjernsynet (the television)
In other words: you just move āenā or āetā behind the noun!
Some exceptions:
If a noun is ending on -e such as in the nouns āabeā (translation: monkey) and ātƦppeā (translation: blanket or rug) you just omit the āeā from āenā and āetā and add -n or -t instead (depending on whether itās an en-noun or et-noun). In other words, you omit the double āeā. Example:
En abe Ā becomes aben (not abeen!)
Et tƦppe becomes tƦppet (not tƦppeet!)
Some nouns gets an extra consonant when conjugated. Letās look at the noun ākatā, which means ācatā in English:
En kat becomes katten
Here is an example of an et-noun āglasā which means āglassā in English:
Et glas becomes glasset
In the next lesson we will look at nouns in plural conjugation!


















