Danish has a strict rule that the front of a main clause must be filled and the verb must come second. But what do you put first when you simply want to announce that something exists or appears — when there is no topic to lead with? Danish borrows a small word, der, to plug the subject slot so the real, newly-introduced subject can follow the verb: Der er en kat i haven — "There's a cat in the garden." This expletive der matches English there almost perfectly, and it has one ironclad condition: the logical subject that follows must be indefinite. This page covers existential and presentational der, why indefiniteness is non-negotiable, and how to keep it apart from the two other der's in Danish.
What expletive der does
In a plain sentence the subject sits up front: Katten er i haven ("The cat is in the garden"). But when you introduce a cat — something new to the conversation — Danish does not want the new, indefinite information leading the clause. New information belongs later. So Danish puts the placeholder der in the subject slot, lets the verb come second (satisfying the verb-second rule), and parks the real subject after the verb:
Der er en kat i haven.
There's a cat in the garden.
Der står en flaske vin i køleskabet.
There's a bottle of wine (standing) in the fridge.
Der bor en gammel mand i huset for enden af vejen.
There's an old man living in the house at the end of the road.
The grammatical subject is der (it controls verb-second), but the logical subject — the thing that really exists — is en kat, en flaske vin, en gammel mand. Danish even keeps the verb agreeing in the natural way: it stays singular or plural to match the logical subject (Der er én kat / Der er to katte).
The indefiniteness condition
This is the rule English speakers most need to internalise. The logical subject introduced by expletive der must be indefinite — en kat, nogle børn, mange problemer, ingen. You cannot use der er to present something definite (katten, min bil, Maria). A definite thing is already known, so there is nothing to introduce; you simply make it the topic instead.
Der er en kat i haven.
There's a cat in the garden. (indefinite — correct)
Katten er i haven.
The cat is in the garden. (definite — no der; the cat is the topic)
So Der er katten i haven is wrong, exactly as There is the cat in the garden is odd in English. If the thing is definite, drop der and front the definite noun:
Bilen står i garagen.
The car is in the garage. (definite → no der)
Der står en bil i garagen.
There's a car in the garage. (indefinite → der)
Presentational der: appearing, happening, coming
Expletive der is not limited to er ("be"). It works with any verb that presents something onto the scene — coming, arriving, happening, being missing. These are presentational sentences, and der does the same placeholder job:
Der kommer en bus om to minutter.
There's a bus coming in two minutes.
Der skete noget mærkeligt i går.
Something strange happened yesterday.
Der mangler en knap på din skjorte.
There's a button missing on your shirt.
Der opstod en brand i køkkenet.
A fire broke out in the kitchen.
Notice that English does not always use there for these (Something strange happened has no there), but Danish still wants the placeholder to keep the indefinite subject out of the front field. This is a real divergence: where English can front something / a fire, Danish strongly prefers Der skete noget / Der opstod en brand.
Impersonal passive: der blev sunget
Danish builds a striking construction where der introduces a passive with no subject at all — the action simply happened, agent unnamed. English has no direct equivalent and usually resorts to there was singing or people sang:
Der blev sunget og danset til langt ud på natten.
There was singing and dancing late into the night.
Der bliver bygget en ny skole i kvarteret.
A new school is being built in the neighbourhood.
Der blev talt meget om sagen bagefter.
The matter was talked about a lot afterwards.
In Der blev sunget there is literally no logical subject — nobody is named as the singer. Der fills the obligatory slot and the passive verb reports the bare activity. This impersonal passive is common in Danish and gives writing an agentless, neutral tone (often formal or used for general statements).
Three different der's — keep them apart
The word der wears three hats. Confusing them is a classic source of error:
| Role | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Expletive subject | 'there' (existence/presentation) | Der er en kat i haven. |
| Relative pronoun | 'who / that' (subject of relative clause) | Manden, der bor her, er læge. |
| Place adverb | 'there' (a specific location) | Jeg bor der. |
Der er en mand, der bor der.
There is a man who lives there. (all three der's in one sentence!)
That sentence packs in all three: expletive der (there is), relative der (who), and adverb der (there/in that place). They are spelled identically but do entirely different jobs — and only the first two are interchangeable with nothing; the place adverb der genuinely means "in that location."
Der vs det: the two placeholders
Danish has two dummy subjects, and they are not interchangeable. Der introduces the existence of something indefinite ("there"). Det anticipates an evaluation, an infinitive, an at-clause, or a cleft ("it"). Compare:
Der er et problem med bremserne.
There's a problem with the brakes. (existence → der)
Det er et problem, at bremserne ikke virker.
It's a problem that the brakes don't work. (evaluation/clause → det)
The first announces that a problem exists; the second evaluates a situation described by a clause. The full det side is covered in Anticipatory and Dummy Det; for a head-to-head decision aid, see Der vs Det in Existentials.
Common Mistakes
❌ Det er en kat i haven.
Incorrect — existence is introduced with der, not det.
✅ Der er en kat i haven.
There's a cat in the garden.
To say something exists, use der. Det er... evaluates or identifies, it does not present existence.
❌ Der er katten i haven.
Incorrect — the logical subject after der must be indefinite.
✅ Katten er i haven.
The cat is in the garden.
A definite subject is already known; drop der and make it the topic. Der er introduces only indefinite, new subjects.
❌ Kommer en bus om to minutter.
Incorrect — a presentational sentence needs the placeholder der.
✅ Der kommer en bus om to minutter.
There's a bus coming in two minutes.
When an indefinite subject would otherwise have to lead, insert der so it can follow the verb.
❌ Det blev sunget hele natten.
Incorrect — impersonal passive uses der, not det.
✅ Der blev sunget hele natten.
There was singing all night.
The agentless passive takes expletive der to fill the empty subject slot.
❌ Er en fejl i systemet.
Incorrect — Danish needs a filled subject slot.
✅ Der er en fejl i systemet.
There's an error in the system.
The verb-second rule means the slot before the verb cannot stay empty; der fills it.
Key Takeaways
- Expletive der fills the subject slot in existential and presentational sentences so the real, new subject can follow the verb — matching English there.
- The logical subject after der must be indefinite. Definite subjects drop der and become the topic instead.
- Der works with presentational verbs (komme, ske, mangle, opstå) and builds the agentless impersonal passive (der blev sunget), which has no logical subject at all.
- Keep the three der's apart: expletive ("there"), relative ("who/that"), and place adverb ("there").
- Choose der for existence, det for evaluation/anticipation/clefts.
See Anticipatory and Dummy Det, Der vs Det in Existentials, and There Is / There Are.
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Anticipatory and Dummy DetB1 — The non-referential det — weather (Det regner), evaluatives (Det er svært at lære dansk), extraposition (Det glæder mig, at du kom), and clefts (Det er ham, der ringede) — collected in one place.
- Der er vs Det erA2 — When to say der er ('there is') versus det er ('it is') in Danish — and how the choice can change the meaning of a sentence.
- Saying 'There Is/Are': Der-sentencesA2 — How to announce that something exists in Danish with der er, der kommer, and der står — no number agreement, plus question and negative variants and a substitution table to build your own.
- The Fundament: What Goes FirstB1 — The Danish front field (fundament) holds exactly one constituent — subject, object, adverbial, predicate, or even a whole clause — and fronting anything other than the subject triggers V2 inversion.
- The V2 Rule: Verb SecondA1 — The core rule of Danish main clauses: the finite verb stands in second position, with exactly one constituent before it — and the subject inverts when anything else is fronted.