Indicating Possession
To show that something belongs to someone in Danish, we add an -s to the end of the owner's name or title. This is very similar to English, but with one important difference: Danish does not use an apostrophe before the possessive -s.
| Who is using the boss's desk now? | Hvem bruger chefens skrivebord nu? |
| The woman is reading the colleague's document. | Kvinden læser kollegaens dokument. |
Adding "-s" to Definite Nouns
Often, the owner is a specific person, meaning their title is in the definite form (already ending in -en or -et). You simply attach the -s directly to the very end of this definite word.
For example, chefen (the boss) becomes chefens (the boss's), and kollegaen (the colleague) becomes kollegaens (the colleague's).
| The boss's message is not important. | Chefens besked er ikke vigtig. |
| Where is the boss's folder? | Hvor er chefens mappe? |
Talking About the Workplace
Let's practice this grammar with some common office vocabulary. Notice how the possessive word always comes directly before the item being owned, just like in English.
| The boss's computer is new. | Chefens computer er ny. |
| The man does not understand the colleague's message. | Manden forstår ikke kollegaens besked. |
| The man and the woman are not forgetting the boss's document. | Manden og kvinden glemmer ikke chefens dokument. |
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