Numbers in idioms almost never mean their arithmetic value. "Once and for all" isn't really about the number one, and "the fifth wheel" isn't a count of wheels — the number is frozen into a metaphor. Danish has a rich set of these, and because the language counts so differently from English (the famous vigesimal halvfjerds, firs, halvfems), learners tend to treat numbers as the "easy" part and skate past the idioms. This page collects the most frequent number-based set phrases as fixed units, with the literal picture and the real meaning.
"One" phrases — en, ét, én
En gang for alle — literally "one time for all" → once and for all, definitively. Note en gang (one time) written separately here; engang as one word means "once / at some point" and is a different word.
Lad os nu løse det her problem en gang for alle.
Let's solve this problem once and for all.
Slå to fluer med ét smæk — literally "hit two flies with one swat" → kill two birds with one stone. Built on ét (stressed "one"). It also appears in the animal idioms; here note the number doing the work (see animal idioms).
Jeg afleverer pakken på vejen og slår to fluer med ét smæk.
I'll drop off the parcel on the way and kill two birds with one stone.
På egen hånd — literally "on own hand" → on one's own / single-handedly, without help. The phrase is fixed with egen and singular hånd, and it stays that way for every subject (jeg/han/de … på egen hånd); you can add an explicit possessive only as på sin egen hånd, never by dropping egen.
Hun startede virksomheden på egen hånd.
She started the company on her own.
Alt eller intet — literally "everything or nothing" → all or nothing. An exact match.
For ham er det alt eller intet — han satser hele opsparingen.
For him it's all or nothing — he's betting his entire savings.
"Two" phrases — to
Det er hip som hap — literally "it's hip like hap" (nonsense rhyme) → it's six of one, half a dozen of the other, makes no difference. No real number on the surface, but the closest Danish equivalent of the English "six of one"; worth knowing as the idiomatic way to say two options are equal.
Tog eller bus? Det er hip som hap — begge tager en time.
Train or bus? Six of one, half a dozen of the other — both take an hour.
I to tempi — literally "in two tempos/stages" → in two stages, in two goes. Slightly formal; common in instructions and project talk.
Vi maler i to tempi: først grunder, så dækmaling.
We'll paint in two stages: primer first, then topcoat.
Ordinal phrases — første, andet, femte
For det første ... for det andet — literally "for the first ... for the second" → firstly ... secondly. The standard way to enumerate arguments. Note det (neuter) and the ordinals; see ordinals for the full set.
For det første er det for dyrt, og for det andet har vi ikke tid.
Firstly, it's too expensive, and secondly, we don't have time.
Det femte hjul (til en vogn) — literally "the fifth wheel (on a wagon)" → a fifth wheel, someone superfluous, in the way. An exact match to English.
Da de begyndte at tale kærlighed, følte jeg mig som det femte hjul.
When they started talking about love, I felt like a fifth wheel.
"Nothing" and indefinite phrases
Nul og niks — literally "zero and nix" → nothing at all, zilch. Emphatic, colloquial (informal). The rhyming pair intensifies the negation.
Jeg fik nul og niks ud af det møde.
I got absolutely nothing out of that meeting. (informal)
På en eller anden måde — literally "in one or another way" → somehow, one way or another. Built on en ... anden (one ... other). Extremely frequent in speech.
Vi skal nok nå det på en eller anden måde.
We'll manage it somehow, one way or another.
I sidste øjeblik — literally "in (the) last moment" → at the last minute. English says "minute", Danish øjeblik ("moment/instant"). Note: no article on sidste here.
Han nåede toget i sidste øjeblik.
He caught the train at the last minute.
Den tredje verden — literally "the third world" → the Third World (developing countries). A fixed collocation; tredje never varies.
Organisationen arbejder med sundhed i den tredje verden.
The organisation works on health in the Third World.
Common Mistakes
1. Splitting or joining en gang wrongly. As the idiom "once and for all", it's two words: en gang for alle. The single word engang means "once upon a time / at some point" and won't fit.
❌ Lad os løse det engang for alle.
Wrong split — 'engang' (one word) means 'at some point'; the idiom needs 'en gang' (two words).
✅ Lad os løse det en gang for alle.
Let's solve it once and for all.
2. Calquing "at the last minute" with minut. Danish uses øjeblik (moment), not minut.
❌ I sidste minut.
Calque from English — the idiom is 'i sidste øjeblik'.
✅ I sidste øjeblik.
At the last minute.
3. Pluralising the hand in på egen hånd. It is singular hånd, even when the meaning is "on their own" for several people.
❌ De klarede det på egne hænder.
Incorrect — the idiom keeps singular 'hånd': 'på egen hånd'.
✅ De klarede det på egen hånd.
They managed it on their own.
4. Translating "six of one" word for word. There is no Danish "six" idiom; the equivalent is the rhyme det er hip som hap.
❌ Det er seks af den ene.
Meaningless calque — Danish says 'det er hip som hap'.
✅ Det er hip som hap.
It's six of one, half a dozen of the other.
5. Wrong gender in for det første. The enumerator uses neuter det, not common-gender den.
❌ For den første er det for dyrt.
Wrong gender — the fixed enumerator is neuter: 'for det første'.
✅ For det første er det for dyrt.
Firstly, it's too expensive.
Key Takeaways
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Approximate and Collective NumbersB1 — How Danish says 'about', 'a couple', 'a few', 'dozens', and 'just over/under' — plus the collective units snes and dusin and the decade form i 90'erne.
- Idioms with Animals and NatureB2 — Danish animal and nature idioms — der er ugler i mosen, en bjørnetjeneste, skære alle over én kam, gå som katten om den varme grød — each with literal gloss, real meaning, and a natural usage sentence.
- Ordinal NumbersA2 — Danish ordinals from første to tiende and beyond — the suppletive low forms, the regular -ende/-te pattern, the anden/andet gender agreement, and how ordinals are written with a period and used in dates.
- Idioms with Body PartsB2 — Danish body-part idioms — holde hovedet koldt, få kolde fødder, trække på skuldrene, bide tænderne sammen — each with its literal gloss, real meaning, a natural usage sentence, and the false friends that trip up English speakers.
- Fixed Conversational PhrasesB2 — The high-frequency fixed formulae that hold a Danish conversation together — det kommer an på, for at være ærlig, når alt kommer til alt, sådan er det bare — grouped by what they do, with the word-by-word transfer errors that mangle them.