English (and German, for the German-speaking learner) capitalises far more than Danish does. English caps weekdays, months, languages, nationalities, and the pronoun I; German caps every single noun. Danish does almost none of that. The default in Danish is lowercase, and only a short, learnable list of things gets a capital letter. The twist that catches everyone: two of the items on that "gets a capital" list — the pronoun I ("you," plural) and the polite De — are exactly the opposite of what English speakers expect. This page maps the whole territory.
The root cause: English and German capitalisation habits
If your first language is English, your fingers capitalise Monday, July, English, Danish, and a standalone I without thinking. If you've studied German, you may capitalise every noun. Danish does neither. The reform that abolished noun-capitalisation happened in 1948 — Danish used to capitalise nouns like German, and dropped it. So the instinct you're fighting is a real historical fossil; it just isn't current Danish.
Lowercase: common nouns
This is the big one for ex-German-students and a frequent slip for English speakers in mid-sentence. Ordinary nouns are lowercase.
Jeg læser en god bog om en gammel by.
I'm reading a good book about an old town.
❌ Jeg købte en ny Cykel og en Lampe.
Wrong — common nouns are not capitalised.
✅ Jeg købte en ny cykel og en lampe.
I bought a new bike and a lamp.
Lowercase: weekdays and months
Days of the week and names of months are lowercase, unlike English.
Vi ses på mandag, den første juni.
See you on Monday, the first of June.
❌ Min fødselsdag er i December.
Wrong — months are lowercase.
✅ Min fødselsdag er i december.
My birthday is in December.
Lowercase: languages and nationality adjectives
The names of languages and the adjectives for nationality are lowercase. This includes dansk whether it means "Danish (the language)" or "Danish (the adjective)."
Hun taler dansk, engelsk og lidt tysk.
She speaks Danish, English and a little German.
❌ Jeg lærer Dansk, fordi jeg bor i Danmark.
Wrong — the language is lowercase (but the country is a name).
✅ Jeg lærer dansk, fordi jeg bor i Danmark.
I'm learning Danish because I live in Denmark.
Vi spiste på en italiensk restaurant.
We ate at an Italian restaurant. (nationality adjective → lowercase)
Note the contrast inside that example: Danmark (the country) is a proper name and is capitalised; dansk (the language/adjective derived from it) is not. The noun for a person of a nationality is also lowercase: en dansker (a Dane), en italiener (an Italian).
Uppercase: proper names — and what counts as one
Personal names, place names, countries, brand names, titles of works — all capitalised, as in English.
Anna og Lars bor i København.
Anna and Lars live in Copenhagen.
Vi læste H.C. Andersens eventyr.
We read Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.
In a multi-word place name, only the parts that are genuinely names get capitalised: Det Kongelige Teater (proper institution) but det røde hus (just "the red house").
Uppercase: the pronoun I ("you," plural)
This is the trap. The word I — meaning "you" when addressing more than one person — is always capitalised, even mid-sentence. It is capitalised precisely so that it isn't confused with the preposition i ("in"), which is lowercase. So in Danish, ironically, the capital-I rule is the reverse of English: English caps I = "me," Danish caps I = "you (plural)."
Hvad laver I i aften?
What are you (all) doing tonight? (capital I = you-plural; lowercase i = in)
❌ Kommer i til festen?
Wrong — the pronoun 'you-plural' must be capital I.
✅ Kommer I til festen?
Are you (all) coming to the party?
Uppercase: the polite De / Dem / Deres
The formal second-person pronoun De (and its object form Dem, possessive Deres) is capitalised to distinguish it from de ("they") / dem ("them") / deres ("their"). This polite form is now largely reserved for the royal family, very formal letters, and addressing the elderly — see the register note below — but when it is used, the capital is obligatory and carries the politeness.
Kan jeg hjælpe Dem? (formal)
Can I help you? (polite singular/plural — capital De/Dem)
Det er Deres bord, der er reserveret. (formal)
It's your table that's reserved.
De bor i lejligheden ovenpå.
They live in the flat upstairs. (lowercase de = 'they')
The capital is the only written difference between "you (formal)" and "they": De kommer (formal) = "You are coming"; de kommer = "They are coming."
Quick map
| Category | Case | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Common noun | lowercase | en bog, et hus |
| Weekday | lowercase | mandag, tirsdag |
| Month | lowercase | januar, juni |
| Language | lowercase | dansk, engelsk |
| Nationality adjective / noun | lowercase | italiensk, en franskmand |
| Personal / place name | UPPERCASE | Anna, København, Danmark |
| Sentence start | UPPERCASE | Hun kom sent. |
| Pronoun "you-plural" | UPPERCASE I | Hvad vil I? |
| Polite "you" (formal) | UPPERCASE De/Dem/Deres | Tak, fordi De kom. |
| Preposition "in" | lowercase i | i byen |
| "they / them / their" | lowercase de/dem/deres | de kom |
Common Mistakes
❌ Vi mødes hver Torsdag.
Wrong — weekdays are lowercase.
✅ Vi mødes hver torsdag.
We meet every Thursday.
❌ Hun studerer Engelsk på universitetet.
Wrong — languages are lowercase.
✅ Hun studerer engelsk på universitetet.
She studies English at university.
❌ Der står en Hest i marken.
Wrong — common noun, lowercase.
✅ Der står en hest i marken.
There's a horse standing in the field.
❌ Vil i have kaffe?
Wrong — 'you-plural' is capital I.
✅ Vil I have kaffe?
Would you (all) like coffee?
❌ Tak for deres hjælp. (when addressing someone formally)
Wrong — lowercase deres means 'their'; the polite 'your' needs capital Deres.
✅ Tak for Deres hjælp. (formal)
Thank you for your help.
❌ Festen er den 4. Juli.
Wrong — months are lowercase.
✅ Festen er den 4. juli.
The party is on the 4th of July.
Key takeaway
Lowercase is the default for almost everything that English capitalises: nouns, days, months, languages, nationalities. Capitalise only sentence starts, proper names, the "you-plural" pronoun I, and the polite De / Dem / Deres. If you simply lowercase your English instincts and remember the two capitalised pronouns, you'll be right nearly every time.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Capitalisation RulesA2 — When Danish uses capitals — sentence starts, names, the polite De and the pronoun I — and why nationalities, languages and weekdays stay lowercase.
- Danish Spelling and OrthographyA1 — An overview of how written Danish works — the 29-letter alphabet ending in æ ø å, lowercase nouns, the apostrophe-free genitive, closed compounds, and the 1948 reforms — for English speakers.