Some Danish words feel like conjunctions — they connect one clause to another and translate as English therefore, however, besides, otherwise — but grammatically they are adverbs, and that changes the word order completely. The single fact that unlocks this whole topic is: when a conjunctional adverb stands at the front of a clause, the verb must follow it (V2 inversion), whereas a true coordinator like men never causes inversion. Danish has a clean three-way split — coordinator, conjunctional adverb, subordinator — and each has its own word order. This page lays the three side by side, which most textbooks never do.
The three-way contrast
Everything here follows from what kind of word is doing the linking. Memorise this table and the word order falls out automatically:
| Type | Examples | Word order it produces |
|---|---|---|
| Coordinator | og, men, eller, for, så* | No inversion: subject–verb after it |
| Conjunctional adverb | derfor, derudover, alligevel, dog, desuden, således, ellers, så* | V2 inversion when fronted: verb–subject |
| Subordinator | fordi, at, hvis, da, når | Subordinate order: subject before the sentence adverb, verb later |
The asterisk on så is deliberate: så is genuinely ambiguous and is treated below.
Coordinators: no inversion
A coordinator joins two main clauses as equals. It sits between them and does not count as a sentence element — so it never bumps the verb. The clause after men keeps ordinary subject–verb order:
Jeg ville gerne med, men jeg havde ikke tid den dag.
I'd have liked to come, but I didn't have time that day.
Vi kan tage bilen, eller vi kan cykle, hvis vejret er godt.
We can take the car, or we can cycle, if the weather's good.
Notice: after men, it's jeg havde (subject then verb), not havde jeg. The coordinator is, syntactically, outside the clause.
Conjunctional adverbs: V2 inversion when fronted
A conjunctional adverb, by contrast, is a sentence element. It occupies the first position, so the verb must come second and the subject moves behind it. This is the same V2 rule that governs every fronted adverbial in Danish.
Det regnede hele dagen. Derfor gik vi ikke i parken.
It rained all day. Therefore we didn't go to the park.
Hun havde læst meget lidt. Alligevel bestod hun eksamen.
She had studied very little. Nevertheless she passed the exam.
Hotellet var dyrt. Desuden lå det langt fra centrum.
The hotel was expensive. Besides, it was far from the centre.
Skynd dig nu — ellers når vi ikke toget.
Hurry up now — otherwise we won't catch the train.
In every one of these, the verb (gik, bestod, lå, når) sits immediately after the conjunctional adverb, before the subject. Compare the coordinator behaviour directly:
| Linking word | Verb | Subject | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinator | men | — | jeg gik (subject–verb) |
| Conjunctional adverb | derfor | gik | jeg (verb–subject) |
So: …, *men jeg gik but …. Derfor gik jeg.* Same English meaning-feel ("but/so"), opposite word order.
dog is mobile — and that's the giveaway
Dog (however/though) is a textbook conjunctional adverb precisely because it floats. It can front (with inversion) or sit mid-clause:
Dog var der én ting, han havde glemt at nævne.
There was, however, one thing he had forgotten to mention.
Der var dog én ting, han havde glemt at nævne.
There was, however, one thing he had forgotten to mention.
That mobility is impossible for men. You can never say Jeg gik men — but Jeg gik dog is fine. Mobility = adverb.
Subordinators: a third, different order
For completeness, the third linking type — subordinators like fordi (because), hvis (if), da/når (when) — produces yet another word order: subordinate clause order, where the subject comes early and the sentence adverb (like ikke) goes before the verb, not after it.
Vi gik ikke i parken, fordi det regnede hele dagen.
We didn't go to the park because it rained all day.
Hun ringer, hvis hun ikke kan finde adressen.
She'll call if she can't find the address.
Look at the position of ikke: in the main clause it follows the verb (Vi gik ikke), but inside the fordi/hvis clause it precedes it (hun *ikke kan finde). That diagnostic — where *ikke sits — is the surest way to tell subordinate order from main-clause order. The full treatment lives on the dedicated word-order page.
The special case: så
Så is genuinely two words wearing one spelling, and which one you mean decides the word order.
Result så ("so/therefore") can behave as a conjunctional adverb and trigger inversion:
Bussen var aflyst, så måtte vi gå hjem.
The bus was cancelled, so we had to walk home.
Sequencing så ("then") as a fronted adverbial also inverts:
Først spiste vi, så gik vi en tur langs stranden.
First we ate, then we went for a walk along the beach.
Either way, fronted så takes inversion. The safe rule: treat så as an adverb and invert.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating derfor like men — no inversion. This is the headline error for English speakers, because English therefore keeps subject–verb order.
❌ Det regnede. Derfor vi gik ikke ud.
Incorrect — derfor is an adverb; the verb must come second.
✅ Det regnede. Derfor gik vi ikke ud.
It rained. Therefore we didn't go out.
2. No inversion after alligevel.
❌ Hun var træt. Alligevel hun blev oppe til midnat.
Incorrect — fronted alligevel forces verb–subject order.
✅ Hun var træt. Alligevel blev hun oppe til midnat.
She was tired. Nevertheless she stayed up till midnight.
3. Wrongly inverting after men. Over-correcting once you've learned inversion.
❌ Jeg ringede, men kom hun ikke.
Incorrect — men is a coordinator; no inversion follows it.
✅ Jeg ringede, men hun kom ikke.
I called, but she didn't come.
4. Forgetting inversion after fronted desuden/ellers.
❌ Skynd dig — ellers vi når ikke toget.
Incorrect — fronted ellers triggers V2 inversion.
✅ Skynd dig — ellers når vi ikke toget.
Hurry up — otherwise we won't catch the train.
Key Takeaways
- Danish links clauses with three different word types: coordinator (men, og, eller), conjunctional adverb (derfor, alligevel, dog, desuden, ellers, således), and subordinator (fordi, hvis, når).
- A coordinator causes no inversion; a fronted conjunctional adverb causes V2 inversion (verb before subject); a subordinator triggers subordinate order (where ikke precedes the verb).
- The mobility test settles it: if the linker can sit mid-clause (Jeg gik derfor hjem), it's an adverb and inverts when fronted. Men can never move inward.
- Treat fronted så as an adverb and invert, in both its "so/therefore" and "then" senses.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Word Order After Each ConjunctionB2 — A lookup table mapping every common Danish conjunction to the word order it triggers — main-clause V2 after coordinators, subordinate order after subordinators.
- Sentence Adverbs and Their Effect on Word OrderB1 — The class of adverbs that comment on the whole clause — ikke, jo, nok, vel, da, måske, heldigvis — and the precise slot they occupy in main vs subordinate clauses.
- Inversion After a Fronted ElementA1 — Whenever a non-subject opens a Danish main clause — an adverb, object, prepositional phrase, or subordinate clause — the verb stays second and the subject moves behind it.