When English says "such a car," "such cars," "such a thing," or "that kind of thing," Danish has a small family of expressions built mostly around sådan, plus the noun phrase den slags. The tricky part for English speakers isn't the meaning — it's the word order. In everyday Danish, sådan comes before the indefinite article: sådan en bil, literally "such a car" in the order such-a-car. The bookish-sounding alternative en sådan bil exists, but it belongs to formal writing. Get the order right and you instantly sound more native.
Sådan en / sådan et: "such a"
To say "such a [noun]" or "a [noun] like that," use sådan followed by the indefinite article (en or et, agreeing with the noun's gender) and the noun. The word sådan itself does not change for gender here — the article does the agreeing.
Jeg vil også gerne have sådan en bil.
I'd love to have a car like that too.
Sådan et hus koster en formue i København.
A house like that costs a fortune in Copenhagen.
Hvor har du købt sådan en flot jakke?
Where did you buy such a nice jacket?
Notice the order in every case: sådan → en/et → (adjective) → noun. The sådan leads, the article follows. This is the natural spoken pattern and what you should default to.
Sådanne: "such" with plurals
In the plural, sådan takes the agreeing form sådanne (note the double n), and the indefinite article disappears, exactly as it would in English ("such cars," not "such a cars").
Sådanne biler ser man ikke længere på vejene.
You don't see cars like that on the roads anymore.
Hun siger altid sådanne ting, når hun er træt.
She always says things like that when she's tired.
Sådanne fejl kan koste dyrt.
Such mistakes can be costly.
The form sådanne is slightly more formal than the singular sådan en; in very casual speech people often paraphrase with sådan nogle biler ("cars like that," literally "such some cars") to keep things colloquial.
Sådan nogle sko vil jeg også have.
I want shoes like that too.
Sådan noget: "such a thing / that kind of thing"
For the abstract "such a thing," "stuff like that," or "that kind of thing," Danish uses sådan noget (often run together in speech as sånoget or even sånt). It refers to an unspecified thing or category rather than a countable item.
Jeg har aldrig hørt om sådan noget.
I've never heard of such a thing.
Han bruger sine penge på spil og sådan noget.
He spends his money on gambling and stuff like that.
Sådan noget gør man bare ikke.
You just don't do that kind of thing.
Den slags: "that kind of"
A close synonym for sådan noget, especially when you mean "that kind / those kinds," is den slags — literally "that sort." It is invariable (it does not take a plural ending even before plural nouns) and works as both a standalone phrase and a pre-noun modifier.
Den slags bekymrer mig ikke.
That kind of thing doesn't worry me.
Jeg kan ikke lide den slags film.
I don't like that kind of film.
Den slags problemer løser sig som regel selv.
Problems like that usually sort themselves out.
Note that den slags stays singular in form even when the following noun is plural (den slags film, den slags problemer) — it behaves like a fixed quantifier, not like a normal den + noun phrase.
Quick reference
| English | Danish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| such a car | sådan en bil | everyday order: sådan before the article |
| such a car (formal) | en sådan bil | bookish / written register |
| such cars | sådanne biler | plural agreement, double n |
| cars like that (casual) | sådan nogle biler | colloquial plural paraphrase |
| such a thing / that kind of thing | sådan noget | abstract, uncountable |
| that kind of (film) | den slags (film) | invariable, even before plurals |
How this differs from English
English fixes the order as "such + a + noun" — such always precedes the article, which feels natural to an English speaker. The surprise is that the formal Danish order (en sådan bil) is the one that mirrors nothing in English, while the everyday order (sådan en bil) happens to line up with the English word-by-word sequence. So the instinct most English learners fight — "surely the article comes first" — is exactly backwards: trust the English order for casual Danish, and only reach for en sådan when you're writing formally. The other difference is den slags, which has no clean English counterpart; "that kind of" comes closest, but note that slags never pluralises.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg vil gerne have en sådan bil.
Too formal/bookish for conversation — the everyday order is sådan en bil.
✅ Jeg vil gerne have sådan en bil.
I'd like a car like that.
❌ Sådan biler ser man ikke længere.
Incorrect — plural needs the agreeing form sådanne.
✅ Sådanne biler ser man ikke længere.
You don't see cars like that anymore.
❌ Jeg har aldrig hørt om sådan en ting.
Off — for the abstract 'such a thing', Danish prefers sådan noget.
✅ Jeg har aldrig hørt om sådan noget.
I've never heard of such a thing.
❌ Jeg kan ikke lide de slags film.
Incorrect — the phrase is invariable: den slags, never de slags.
✅ Jeg kan ikke lide den slags film.
I don't like that kind of film.
❌ Sådan en biler er dyre.
Incorrect — singular sådan en can't take a plural noun; use sådanne biler.
✅ Sådanne biler er dyre.
Cars like that are expensive.
Key Takeaways
- Everyday "such a" = sådan en/et
- noun, with sådan before the article; en sådan is the formal variant.
- Plural "such" = sådanne (double n); casual speech often uses sådan nogle instead.
- Abstract "such a thing / that kind of thing" = sådan noget; den slags = "that kind of," and it never pluralises.
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