Possessive Indefinite Pronouns
Navigating the politics of a shared office fridge requires knowing exactly whose food is whose. When you do not know a specific owner, you can use indefinite pronouns like "someone", "no one", or "others".
Just like regular nouns in Danish, these pronouns take an -s at the end to show possession (the genitive case).
"Nogens" (Someone's)
To say that something belongs to "someone" or "somebody", add -s to the pronoun nogen, creating nogens.
| I do not know whether it is someone's lunchbox. | Jeg ved ikke hvorvidt det er nogens madkasse. |
| Is it someone's fault that he got food poisoning? | Er det nogens skyld at han fik madforgiftning? |
"Ingens" (No one's)
When an abandoned lunchbox has been sitting in the fridge for weeks without a label, it might belong to nobody. Add -s to ingen (no one) to form ingens (no one's).
| Without the label, it is almost no one's lunchbox. | Uden etiketten er det næsten ingens madkasse. |
| It is a bit too sad if it is no one's cake. | Det er lige lovlig trist hvis det er ingens kage. |
"Andres" (Others')
The golden rule of the office kitchen is to leave other people's belongings alone. Add -s to andre (others) to form andres (others' / other people's).
| She left the note on others' food this morning. | Hun efterlod sedlen på andres mad i morges. |
| You must not eat others' spoiled food! | Du må ikke spise andres fordærvede mad! |
| If nothing else, you can learn not to eat others' food. | Om ikke andet kan du lære ikke at spise andres mad. |
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