Saying 'There Is/Are': Der-sentences

When you want to announce that something exists — "there's a car outside," "there are a lot of people here," "there's a bus coming" — Danish uses a sentence built around the little word der. This is the everyday "there is / there are" of Danish, and the good news is that it maps onto English almost perfectly. The trap is that English speakers reach for the wrong word (det instead of der), so this page is about drilling the right pattern until it's automatic, and giving you a template to generate your own.

The basic pattern: der + verb + indefinite thing

A der-sentence has three parts: the placeholder der ("there"), a verb (usually er "is/are"), and then the thing whose existence you're announcing. That thing is almost always indefinite — en bil ("a car"), nogle mennesker ("some people"), mange børn ("many children") — because you're introducing it as new information.

Think of der as a stand-in subject that holds the front slot so the real, new information can come later. English does exactly the same thing with "there" — "There's a car outside" doesn't mean the car is located at some place called "there"; "there" is just a grammatical placeholder. Danish der works identically, which is why this pattern feels natural once you stop translating word for word.

No number agreement: der er stays the same

Here is the single most important fact on this page, and it's one English speakers love because it makes life easier: der er never changes for number. Whether you're announcing one thing or a hundred, it's always der er. Danish has no "there is" vs. "there are" split.

In English you must switch between "there is one" and "there are five." Danish doesn't bother: der er én, der er fem, der er mange — the verb is frozen. Don't try to pluralize the verb; there's nothing to pluralize.

Beyond "er": der kommer, der står, der ligger

The verb in a der-sentence doesn't have to be er. Danish often uses a more specific verb to paint the scene — a verb of motion or position — while keeping the same der + verb + indefinite skeleton. The most common are der kommer ("there comes / here comes"), der står ("there stands / it says"), and der ligger ("there lies / there sits").

A note English speakers appreciate: Danish frequently uses stå ("stand"), ligge ("lie"), and sidde ("sit") where English just says "is." A bottle on a table står (stands), a book on a shelf ligger (lies), a town on a map ligger (lies). In der-sentences these position verbs sound much more natural than a flat der er, though der er is never wrong. One very common idiom: der står also means "it says" when you're reading something — der står i avisen, at... ("it says in the paper that...").

Asking the question: Er der...?

To turn a der-sentence into a yes/no question, you do exactly what Danish always does for questions — you put the verb first. So Der er... ("There is...") flips to Er der...? ("Is there...?"). The der simply trades places with the verb.

This verb-first inversion is the same rule that governs every Danish yes/no question, so you don't learn anything new here — you just apply the V2 rule you already know. Statement: Der er.... Question: Er der...?.

Making it negative: Der er ikke...

To say "there isn't / there aren't," drop in ikke ("not") right after the verb: der er ikke. Often the indefinite article changes too — for a countable thing you'll usually say der er ikke nogen ("there isn't any / there's no...") rather than der er ikke en.

The placement of ikke — right after the verb in a main clause — is the standard Danish negation rule. So Der er ikke... parallels Jeg er ikke... ("I'm not..."). Nothing special about der-sentences here either.

Build your own: the substitution table

Every der-sentence is just der + a verb + an indefinite thing + an optional place. Mix and match the columns below and you can generate hundreds of correct sentences. Watch the gender of the noun so you pick the right en/et article.

For a question, move the verb to the front: Er der *en bil udenfor? For a negative, add *ikke: Der er *ikke nogen bus nu. Note the genders: *en bil, en bus, et hus, et problem — get the article right and the rest falls into place.

Common Mistakes

The single biggest error English speakers make is using det ("it") for existence instead of der ("there"). In English the same word "it/there" can feel interchangeable, but Danish keeps them strictly apart: det points at a specific, identifiable thing; der announces that something exists at all.

Use det er only when you could point and say "that's a cat" — Det er en kat = "It's a cat / That's a cat" (identifying one). Use der er when you mean "there exists a cat (in the garden)." See der vs. det in existentials for the full breakdown.

A second mistake is trying to make the verb "plural." Remember it's frozen.

A third mistake is making the introduced noun definite. You announce new things, so they take en/et (or no article for plurals), not -en/-et definiteness. You wouldn't say "there's the car outside" to introduce it for the first time, and Danish agrees.

(If the car is already known, you don't use a der-sentence at all — you'd say Bilen står udenfor, "The car is outside.")

Key Takeaways

• Der er = "there is/are." Always der, never det, for announcing existence.
• The verb never agrees with number: der er én, der er mange — identical.
• Use kommer / står / ligger for a more vivid, natural der-sentence.
• Question: flip to Er der...?. Negative: add ikke → Der er ikke....
• The introduced thing is indefinite (en/et), because you're presenting new information.