Describing resemblance: the suffix -agtig
When talking about textures, shapes, or atmospheres in interior decorating, you often want to say something is "-like", "-ish", or "-y". You can easily build these descriptive adjectives in Danish by attaching the suffix -agtig to a noun.
| The texture is actually quite wood-like. | Teksturen er faktisk ret træagtig. |
| Unfortunately, the new lamp has a plasticky surface. | Desværre har den nye lampe en plastikagtig overflade. |
Specifying a category: the suffix -mæssig
To evaluate a specific aspect of a room—saying something is a certain way "in terms of" or "-wise"—Danish uses the highly productive suffix -mæssig.
| The green shade is a color-wise success. | Den grønne nuance er en farvemæssig succes. |
Standard adjective agreement applies to both of these new suffixes. When modifying a neuter noun, or when using the adjective as an adverb to introduce a sentence (e.g., "Color-wise, ..."), add a -t to the end.
| Color-wise, the interior design is very modern. | Farvemæssigt er indretningen meget moderne. |
| It is a stylistic choice in the interior design. | Det er et stilmæssigt valg i indretningen. |
| Style-wise, the furniture fits well together. | Stilmæssigt passer møblerne godt sammen. |
Putting it all together
These two suffixes are a decorator's best friends. You can seamlessly pair a -mæssig aspect (evaluating space or quality) with an -agtig description (calling something boxy or museum-like).
Note how the -agtig adjectives below take an -e ending when used as attributive adjectives directly before a noun with a definite article (den / det).
| The old sofa is unfortunately too boxy. | Den gamle sofa er desværre for kasseagtig. |
| Space-wise, the boxy bookcase is a problem. | Pladsmæssigt er den kasseagtige reol et problem. |
| Quality-wise, the wood-like table is fantastic. | Kvalitetsmæssigt er det træagtige bord fantastisk. |
| The interior design feels a bit museum-like. | Indretningen virker lidt museumsagtig. |