Emphasizing with "Det som ... er"
To place strong emphasis on a specific piece of information, Danish uses a structure equivalent to the English "What ... is ...". You form this by starting the sentence with Det som (literally "That which"), followed by the descriptive clause, a comma, and finally er (is) plus the emphasized noun.
| What is destroying the color is the layer of old varnish. | Det som ødelægger farven, er laget af gammel lak. |
| What the conservator chooses is a gentle method. | Det som konservatoren vælger, er en skånsom metode. |
Prepositions in Emphasized Sentences
If the emphasized noun is normally connected to a preposition (such as looking at a canvas, or cleaning with a cotton swab), the preposition stays behind in the first half of the sentence, landing immediately before the comma.
| What the conservator is looking at is the canvas. | Det som konservatoren kigger på, er lærredet. |
| What she removes the varnish with is a cotton swab. | Det som hun fjerner lakken med, er en vatpind. |
Emphasizing Actions
You can also use this structure to emphasize an action rather than a physical object. When doing this, the emphasized part after er is usually an infinitive verb phrase starting with at (to).
| What he will try is to save the painting. | Det som han vil forsøge, er at redde maleriet. |
| What the solvent does is clean the surface. | Det som opløsningsmidlet gør, er at rense overfladen. |
| What she has started on is cleaning the picture. | Det som hun er begyndt på, er at rense billedet. |
Emphasizing States and Reactions
Finally, Det som can act as the subject of the first clause itself to highlight a general state, an emotion, or a reaction to an event.
| What is fantastic is to see the color again. | Det som er fantastisk, er at se farven igen. |