When you want to single out one piece of information — it was *Peter who called, not anyone else — Danish gives you two main tools: the *cleft sentence (Det er/var ... der/som ...) and fronting (moving any element to the front of the sentence). Both are everyday devices, used constantly in speech and writing. The catch for English speakers is that fronting triggers the V2 inversion rule, and the cleft forces you to choose correctly between der and som. This page gives you model sentences to copy, a slot table, and the two rules that keep these sentences correct.
The cleft: Det er/var ... der/som ...
A cleft splits one idea into two clauses so you can floodlight a single element. The frame is fixed: Det er (present) or Det var (past) + the highlighted element + a relative clause introduced by der or som.
Det var Peter, der ringede.
It was Peter who called.
Compare the neutral version Peter ringede ("Peter called"). The cleft Det var Peter, der ringede answers — and corrects — the question "who called?". The whole machinery exists to put contrastive stress on Peter.
der for a clefted subject, som for a clefted object
This is the rule to lock in. When the highlighted element is the subject of the relative clause, use der (though som is also accepted). When it is the object, you must use som (or omit the relative word entirely) — der is impossible there.
| Highlighted element | Relative word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | der (or som) | Det var Peter, der ringede. |
| Object | som (or nothing) | Det var Peter, (som) jeg ringede til. |
Det er dig, der bestemmer her.
You're the one who decides here.
Det var den her bog, (som) jeg ledte efter.
It was this book that I was looking for.
In the object cleft, jeg (the new subject) follows the relative word, and the highlighted noun is what jeg acted upon. For the full picture of which relative word goes where, see der vs som.
Fronting (topicalisation): move it forward, then invert
Danish is a strict V2 language: the finite verb must be the second element of a main clause. The first slot is flexible — you can fill it with almost anything you want to foreground: an adverbial, an object, even a whole subordinate clause. But whatever you put first, the verb still has to be second, which means the subject gets bumped to after the verb. This swap is the inversion.
| First slot | Verb (2nd) | Subject | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vi | tager | — | af sted i morgen |
| I morgen | tager | vi | af sted |
I morgen tager vi af sted klokken seks.
Tomorrow we're leaving at six.
The adverbial i morgen is fronted for emphasis, so the verb tager comes next and vi follows. English keeps subject–verb order here ("Tomorrow we leave"); Danish cannot. For the slot-by-slot mechanics, see the sentence schema and the broader treatment in topicalisation.
Den slags film kan jeg ikke fordrage.
That kind of film I can't stand.
Efter mødet gik vi alle sammen ud at spise.
After the meeting, we all went out to eat.
Det var derfor (at)... — clefting a reason
A handy fixed pattern combines clefting with derfor to highlight a cause: Det var derfor (at)..., "that's why...". The at is optional in speech.
Toget var aflyst. Det var derfor, (at) vi kom for sent.
The train was cancelled. That's why we were late.
Build-your-own: the substitution table
Swap the highlighted slot; keep the frame.
| Frame | Highlighted slot | Full sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Det var _, der ... | min søster | Det var min søster, der lavede maden. |
| Det er _, der ... | dig | Det er dig, der har ret. |
| Det var _, (som) ... | den film | Det var den film, (som) alle talte om. |
| _ (fronted), verb, subjekt ... | I går | I går mødte jeg en gammel ven. |
| _ (fronted), verb, subjekt ... | Her | Her bor vi. |
Her bor vi — lige ved siden af bageren.
This is where we live — right next to the baker's.
Common Mistakes
❌ I morgen vi tager af sted.
Incorrect — no inversion after a fronted adverbial; the verb must come second.
✅ I morgen tager vi af sted.
Tomorrow we're leaving.
❌ Det var Peter, som ringede.
Questionable — for a clefted subject, der is the natural choice (som is tolerated but der is preferred).
✅ Det var Peter, der ringede.
It was Peter who called.
❌ Det var den bog, der jeg ledte efter.
Incorrect — the clefted object takes som (or nothing), never der.
✅ Det var den bog, (som) jeg ledte efter.
It was the book I was looking for.
❌ Den slags film jeg kan ikke fordrage.
Incorrect — fronting the object still requires V2 inversion: verb before subject.
✅ Den slags film kan jeg ikke fordrage.
That kind of film I can't stand.
❌ Det er du, der bestemmer.
Incorrect — after Det er, use the object form dig, not subject du.
✅ Det er dig, der bestemmer.
You're the one who decides.
Key Takeaways
- Cleft: Det er/var
- highlighted element + der (clefted subject) or som / nothing (clefted object).
- der when the highlighted noun does the verb; som when something acts on it.
- Fronting any element forces V2 inversion — verb second, subject after it.
- After Det er/var, pronouns take the object form (dig, mig), not the subject form.
Now practice Danish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Topicalisation and Fronting for EmphasisC1 — Marked frontings beyond the neutral fundament — moving objects, predicates, and even parts of idioms to the front for contrast or emphasis, with V2 inversion forced and a clear sense of when the discourse actually licenses it.
- Relative Pronouns: Der and SomB1 — Danish links relative clauses with der (subject only) and som (subject or object, and droppable when it is the object) — plus hvad, hvilket, and prepositional relatives.
- The Diderichsen Sentence SchemaC1 — The sætningsskema — the field model taught in Danish schools that generates correct Danish word order, from which V2, inversion, and ikke-placement all fall out automatically.