Danish uses two different dummy-subject phrases that English speakers tend to mix up: der er ("there is / there are"), which announces that something exists somewhere, and det er ("it is / that is"), which identifies or comments on something already in view. Pick the wrong one and you don't just sound off — you can change the meaning of the sentence entirely.
The quick answer
Use der er to introduce something new into the conversation — to say that it exists, usually with an indefinite noun (en, et, nogle, or no article). Use det er to point at, identify, evaluate, or comment on something — including weather and other "empty subject" sentences.
The decision test:
- Am I presenting the existence of something new ("there is/are…")? → der er
- Am I identifying or judging something ("it is / that is…")? → det er
Der er — presenting something new (existential)
Der er is the existential construction. Der is a placeholder subject (like English "there" in "there's a problem"), and the sentence's real news is the indefinite noun that follows. It answers the unspoken question "what exists / what is around?"
Der er en bil udenfor.
There is a car outside.
Der er mange mennesker i parken i dag.
There are a lot of people in the park today.
Er der mælk i køleskabet?
Is there any milk in the fridge?
Der er noget galt med min computer.
There is something wrong with my computer.
Notice that the noun is always indefinite — en bil, mange mennesker, mælk, noget galt. You are telling the listener about something they didn't already know was there. That indefinite, brand-new quality is the heart of der er.
Danish does not change the verb for plural here: it stays der er whether one thing or many things exist (der er en bil / der er mange biler). The verb agrees with the dummy der, not with the noun — just like English "there's" tends to stay singular in speech.
Det er — identifying and commenting
Det er uses det ("it / that") as the subject. Here you are not announcing that something exists; you are saying what something is, or giving your verdict on it. The thing is already present — you're labelling or evaluating it.
Det er en bil.
It is a car. / That is a car.
Det er min nabo, ham med hunden.
That's my neighbour, the one with the dog.
Det er en god idé.
That's a good idea.
Hvem er det? Det er bare mig.
Who is it? It's just me.
Here the noun can be definite (min nabo) or carry a judgement (en god idé). You're pointing: "this thing — it is X." That pointing-and-labelling job is what det er does.
Det er is also the standard subject for weather and general states, where English uses an empty "it":
Det er koldt i dag, og det regner.
It is cold today, and it's raining.
Det er mørkt nu om aftenen.
It is dark now in the evening.
There is no real "it" here — no thing the det refers to — exactly as in English "it's cold." This is the expletive (dummy-subject) use, and it always takes det, never der.
The minimal pair: same words, different meaning
The clearest way to feel the difference is a pair that uses the very same noun:
Der er en fejl.
There is a mistake. (one exists — somewhere in the text)
Det er en fejl.
That is a mistake. (this thing here is mistaken / it's an error to do that)
Der er en fejl reports that a mistake exists — perhaps you're scanning a document and found one. Det er en fejl points at something specific and judges it: that — the thing we're looking at, or the plan you just proposed — is a mistake. Same five words apart from der/det, completely different message. This is why the choice isn't cosmetic.
One more pair to lock it in:
Der er et problem med planen.
There is a problem with the plan. (a problem exists)
Det er et problem, at du kommer for sent.
It is a problem that you arrive late. (this fact is problematic)
Edge cases
Pointing at a place: still det. When you indicate where something is or whose it is, you're identifying, so det: Det er her, jeg bor ("This is where I live"), Det er Annes hus ("That's Anne's house").
Existential with a relative clause: der. Der er nogen, der vil tale med dig ("There's someone who wants to talk to you"). The thing exists (someone), so der er — and note the second der here is a relative pronoun ("who"), a different word doing a different job. Danish tolerates the two der's side by side.
"It is + adjective + to…": det. Evaluations of an action use det: Det er svært at lære dansk ("It is hard to learn Danish"). You're judging the activity, not announcing that something exists.
Definite noun forces det. You essentially can't say der er bilen — once a noun is definite ("the car"), you're identifying a known thing, which is det er bilen or simply bilen er der ("the car is there," with stressed locative der). Existential der er lives with indefinite nouns.
Common Mistakes
These are the errors English speakers make most — usually by defaulting to det for everything, or by misreading English "there."
❌ Det er en kat i haven.
Incorrect — this announces existence, so it needs der, not det.
✅ Der er en kat i haven.
There is a cat in the garden.
❌ Det er mange turister om sommeren.
Incorrect — 'there are many tourists' is existential → der er.
✅ Der er mange turister om sommeren.
There are many tourists in summer.
❌ Der er koldt i dag.
Incorrect — weather has no existing 'thing'; use the dummy det.
✅ Det er koldt i dag.
It is cold today.
❌ Der er en god idé.
Incorrect — you're judging something, not announcing it exists → det er.
✅ Det er en god idé.
That's a good idea.
❌ Det er noget galt med bilen.
Incorrect — 'there's something wrong' presents a new problem → der er.
✅ Der er noget galt med bilen.
There's something wrong with the car.
The single most useful habit: when your English sentence says "there is/are," force yourself to start the Danish with der er. When it says "it is" / "that is," start with det er. English keeps these two apart for you almost perfectly — use it.
Decision table
| You want to… | English cue | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Announce that something exists (new, indefinite) | "there is / there are" | der er | Der er en bil udenfor. |
| Identify or name something | "it is / that is" | det er | Det er min nabo. |
| Evaluate / give a verdict | "it's / that's [adjective]" | det er | Det er en god idé. |
| Describe weather or general state | "it's [cold/dark/late]" | det er | Det er koldt. |
| Point at a location | "this is where…" | det er | Det er her, jeg bor. |
Key takeaways
- Der er = existential "there is/are" — introduces something new and indefinite.
- Det er = "it is / that is" — identifies, evaluates, or fills a dummy-subject slot (weather, judgements).
- The minimal pair der er en fejl ("a mistake exists") vs det er en fejl ("that's a mistake") proves the choice changes meaning, not just form.
- Let English guide you: "there" → der; "it / that" → det. The mismatch only happens when learners over-use det.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Saying 'There Is/Are': Der-sentencesA2 — How to announce that something exists in Danish with der er, der kommer, and der står — no number agreement, plus question and negative variants and a substitution table to build your own.
- Existential and Expletive DerB1 — Der as the formal subject in existential and presentational sentences — Der er en kat i haven, Der kommer en bus, Der blev sunget — and why the logical subject after it must be indefinite.
- Anticipatory and Dummy DetB1 — The non-referential det — weather (Det regner), evaluatives (Det er svært at lære dansk), extraposition (Det glæder mig, at du kom), and clefts (Det er ham, der ringede) — collected in one place.
- Den vs Det: Saying 'It'A1 — Danish has two words for 'it' — den for common-gender nouns, det for neuter — plus a fixed expletive det for weather, time, and impersonal sentences that never agrees with anything.
- Cleft Sentences with DetC1 — The Danish cleft Det er/var ... der/som/at ... — how it splits one clause in two to spotlight a single constituent, and why the relativiser inside it is der for a clefted subject but som/at otherwise.
- Der vs Som: Choosing the RelativeB1 — When to use der or som as the relative pronoun — der and som both work for subjects, but only som (or nothing) can stand for an object.