Danish and English/Contrastive Grammar
Contents
Dan-Eng tests
Gender and Indefinite Articles
Danish nouns are either common gender or neuter gender while English nouns are genderless. The corresponding indefinite article for a Danish nouns is either "en" if it is common gender or "et" if it is neuter gender. The corresponding indefinite article for an English noun is always "a".
- (dan) en pige → (eng) a girl
- (dan) en<det><ind><ut><sg> pige<n><ut><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><ind><sg> girl<n><sg>
- (dan) et hus → (eng) a house
- (dan) en<det><ind><nt><sg> hus<n><nt><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><ind><sg> house<n><sg>
Both English and Danish typically refrain from use of indefinite articles in the plural.
- (dan) piger → (eng) girls
- (dan) pige<n><ut><pl><ind> → (eng) girl<n><pl>
- (dan) huse → (eng) houses
- (dan) hus<n><nt><pl><ind> → (eng) house<n><pl>
Gender, Number and Definite Articles
The Danish definite article is also marked for gender, as well as number - "den" (common), "det" (neuter), and "de" (plural). However, definite articles are only used with adjectives. English has only one definite article, "the".
- (dan) den store pige → (eng) the big girl
- (dan) en<det><def><ut><sg> stor<adj><sint><pst><def> pige<n><ut><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><def> big<adj> girl<n><sg>
- (dan) det store hus → (eng) the big house
- (dan) en<det><def><nt><sg> stor<adj><sint><pst><def> hus<n><nt><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><def> big<adj> house<n><sg>
- (dan) de store piger → (eng) the big girls
- (dan) en<det><def><pl> stor<adj><sint><pst><def> pige<n><ut><pl><ind> → (eng) a<det><def> big<adj> girl<n><pl>
- (dan) de store huse → (eng) the big houses
- (dan) en<det><def><pl> stor<adj><sint><pst><def> hus<n><nt><pl><ind> → (eng) a<det><def> big<adj> house<n><pl>
Noun Inflection
Danish nouns inflect for number and definiteness, with morphology depending on phonological shape as well as gender. Plurality is marked by -(e)n, -e, or left unmarked according to a complex suite of of phonological rules. Other orthographic changes, such as doubling final consonants, may take place as well. Definiteness is marked by -(e)n for singular common nouns, -(e)t for singular neuter nouns, and -ne for other nouns. Nouns are only marked for definiteness when no adjective is present. English nouns only inflect for number, typically marking plural via suffixation of -(e)s.
- (dan) en pige → (eng) a girl
- (dan) en<det><ind><ut><sg> pige<n><ut><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><ind><sg> girl<n><sg>
- (dan) et hus → (eng) a house
- (dan) en<det><ind><nt><sg> hus<n><nt><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><ind><sg> house<n><sg>
- (dan) piger → (eng) girls
- (dan) pige<n><ut><pl><ind> → (eng) girl<n><pl>
- (dan) huse → (eng) houses
- (dan) hus<n><nt><pl><ind> → (eng) house<n><pl>
- (dan) pigen → (eng) the girl
- (dan) pige<n><ut><sg><def> → (eng) a<det><def> girl<n><sg>
- (dan) huset → (eng) the house
- (dan) hus<n><nt><pl><def> → (eng) a<det><def> house<n><sg>
- (dan) pigerne → (eng) the girls
- (dan) pige<n><ut><pl><def> → (eng) a<det><def> girl<n><pl>
- (dan) husene → (eng) the houses
- (dan) hus<n><nt><pl><def> → (eng) a<det><def> house<n><pl>
Adjective Inflection
Danish adjectives are marked for the gender, number, and definiteness of the noun they describe. Adjectives modifying indefinite singular common nouns are unmarked, those modifying indefinite singular neuter nouns take a suffix -t, and all others have a suffix -e. English adjectives have no morphological alternation.
- (dan) en stor pige → (eng) a big girl
- (dan) en<det><ind><ut><sg> stor<adj><sint><pst><ind><sg><ut> pige<n><ut><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><ind><sg> big<adj> girl<n><sg>
- (dan) et stort hus → (eng) a big house
- (dan) en<det><def><nt><sg> stor<adj><sint><pst><ind><sg><nt> hus<n><nt><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><ind><sg> big<adj> house<n><sg>
- (dan) store piger → (eng) big girls
- (dan) stor<adj><sint><pst><ind><pl> pige<n><ut><pl><ind> → (eng) big<adj> girl<n><pl>
- (dan) store huse → (eng) big houses
- (dan) stor<adj><sint><pst><ind><pl> hus<n><nt><pl><ind> → (eng) big<adj> house<n><pl>
- (dan) den store pige → (eng) the big girl
- (dan) en<det><def><ut><sg> stor<adj><sint><pst><def> pige<n><ut><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><def> big<adj> girl<n><sg>
- (dan) det store hus → (eng) the big house
- (dan) en<det><def><nt><sg> stor<adj><sint><pst><def> hus<n><nt><sg><ind> → (eng) a<det><def> big<adj> house<n><sg>
- (dan) de store piger → (eng) the big girls
- (dan) en<det><def><pl> stor<adj><sint><pst><def> pige<n><ut><pl><ind> → (eng) a<det><def> big<adj> girl<n><pl>
- (dan) de store huse → (eng) the big houses
- (dan) en<det><def><pl> stor<adj><sint><pst><def> hus<n><nt><pl><ind> → (eng) a<det><def> big<adj> girl<n><pl>
=Verb Conjugation
English verbs have some subject marking in the present tense, marking a third person singular subject with -s. Danish never conjugates verbs for subject.
- (dan) hun spiser → (eng) she eats
- (dan) den<prn><p3><m><sg><nom> spis<v><pres> → (eng) they<prn><p3><m><sg><nom> eat<v><pres><p3><sg>
- (dan) de spiser → (eng) they eat
- (dan) den<prn><p3><pl><nom> spis<v><pres> → (eng) they<prn><p3><pl><nom> eat<v><pres><p3><pl>
Eng-Dan tests
Gender and Indefinite Articles
Danish nouns are either common gender or neuter gender while English nouns are genderless. The corresponding indefinite article for a Danish nouns is either "en" if it is common gender or "et" if it is neuter gender. The corresponding indefinite article for an English noun is always "a".
- (eng) a big girl → (dan) en stor pige
- (eng) a<det><ind><sg> big<adj><sint> girl<n><sg> → (dan) en<det><ind><ut><sg> stor<adj><sint><pst><ut><sg><ind> pige<n><ut><sg><ind>
- (eng) a big house → (dan) et stort hus
- (eng) a<det><ind><sg> big<adj><sint> house<n><sg> → (dan) et<det><ind><nt><sg> stort<adj><sint><pst><nt><sg><ind> hus<n><nt><sg><ind>
Gender and Indefinite Adjectives
In a similar way to indefinite articles indefinite adjectives in Danish respond to the noun to which they refer. Adjectives describing a common gender noun are unmarked, adjectives describing a neuter gender noun are marked by a "t" at the end. Adjectives in English have a standard form across all nouns.
- (eng) the girl is big → (dan) pigen er stor
- (eng) the<det><def><sp> girl<n><sg> is<vbser><pres><p3><sg> big<adj><sint> → (dan) pigen<n><ut><sg><def> er<vbser><pres><actv> stor<adj><sint><pst><ut><sg><ind>
- (eng) the house is big → (dan) huset er stort
- (eng) the<det><def><sp> house<n><sg> is<vbser><pres><p3><sg> big<adj><sint> → (dan) huset<n><nt><sg><def> er<vbser><pres><actv> stort<adj><sint><pst><nt><sg><ind>
