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Danish

### Indirect Questions as Subjects

An indirect question is a question embedded inside another sentence. For example, instead of directly asking "Who planned the burglary?", you might say "I do not know who planned the burglary."

In Danish, there is a special rule for indirect questions: when a question word like *hvem* (who) or *hvad* (what) is the **subject** of the embedded clause, you must insert the dummy pronoun **der** immediately after it.

### Using "hvem der"

If the subject of the indirect question is *hvem*, use **hvem der**. Leaving out *der* here makes the sentence grammatically incorrect in Danish.

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### Using "hvad der"

The exact same rule applies when the subject of the indirect question is *hvad* (what).

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### The Verb "stå" for Written Text

When talking about what is written in a newspaper, article, or update, Danish typically uses the verb *stå* (literally "to stand").

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If you are forming an indirect question to ask about what a text says, *hvad* is the subject of *står*, so you must use *hvad der*.

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Indirect question subjects (hvem der, hvad der)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite nouns and the copula (-en, -et, er)

Indefinite articles (en, et)

Present tense verbs and word order (-r)

Plural subject pronouns (vi, I, de)

The verb to have (har)

Yes/No questions

Wh-questions (hvad, hvem, hvor)

Main clause negation (ikke)

Regular noun plurals (-er, -r)

Short noun plurals (-e)

Definite plurals (-ne)

Neuter adjective agreement (-t)

Plural adjective agreement (-e)

Adjectives with indefinite nouns

Adjectives with definite nouns (den / det / de ... -e)

Numbers 1 to 10

Numbers 11 to 20

Counting by tens to 100

Expressing age (er ... år)

Genitive possession (-s)

Singular possessives (min, din)

Third-person possessives (hans, hendes)

Plural possessives (vores, jeres, deres)

Reflexive possessives (sin, sit, sine)

Singular object pronouns (mig, dig)

Plural object pronouns (os, jer, dem)

The infinitive marker (at)

The modal verb can (kan)

The modal verb want to (vil)

The modal verb must (skal)

Negating modal verbs

Inversion after adverbs

Prepositions of position (i, på)

Prepositions of direction (til, fra)

Days of the week (mandag, tirsdag...)

Months of the year (januar, februar...)

Telling time (hel, halv, kvart)

Coordinating conjunctions (og, men, eller)

Subordinating conjunctions (at, fordi)

Subordinate clause negation

Commands (køb, vent, spis)

Zero-ending neuter plurals

The Human Body: Head and Face

The Human Body: Limbs and Torso

Personal Hygiene

Digital Life

Tools and Hardware

Emergency and Safety

Common Materials

Money and Payments

Short answers (Ja, det gør jeg)

Greetings (hej, godmorgen, farvel)

Thanks and apologies (tak, undskyld)

Jobs and nationalities (Hun er lærer)

Likes and dislikes (kan godt lide)

Somebody and something (nogen, noget, ingen)

How much? (meget, lidt, mere, nok)

With, by, over and under (med, ved, over, under)

Ordinals and dates (den første april)

Wishes for every occasion (tillykke, god bedring)

Times of day (om morgenen, om aftenen)

My day (stå op, gå i seng)

Past tense I: -ede and -te (i går)

My new hat (min nye hat, små, gamle)

Past tense II: irregular verbs (var, havde, gik)

Reacting in a conversation (nå, det lyder godt)

The family and irregular plurals (mænd, børn, fødder)

In the shop (Hvad koster det?)

Demonstratives: that and those (den, det, de)

Demonstratives: this and these (denne, dette, disse)

Adverbs of manner (-t)

Comparing things (-ere, end)

Superlative adjectives (-est)

Definite superlative adjectives (-este)

Irregular adjective comparison

Comparing long adjectives (mere, mest)

The reflexive pronoun (sig)

Reflexive verbs

Reciprocal verbs (-s)

Deponent verbs (-s)

Past opinions (syntes)

Present perfect tense with regular verbs (har... -et/-t)

Present perfect tense with irregular verbs (har...)

Present perfect tense with movement (er...)

Past perfect tense (havde / var...)

Question	Answer
the burglary	indbruddet
I do not know who planned the burglary.	Jeg ved ikke hvem der planlagde indbruddet.
Do the police know who reported the burglary?	Ved politiet hvem der anmeldte indbruddet?
the siren	sirenen
We would like to know who turned on the siren.	Vi vil gerne vide hvem der tændte sirenen.
Did the grandfather say who heard the siren this morning?	Sagde bedstefaren hvem der hørte sirenen i morges?
the protest	protesten
When are we going to discuss who is managing the protest?	Hvornår skal vi diskutere hvem der styrer protesten?
to cause	forårsage
The mother is asking what caused the protest.	Moren spørger hvad der forårsagede protesten.
the conflict	konflikten
Do they know what caused the conflict at the office?	Ved de hvad der forårsagede konflikten på kontoret?
There was no one who understood who created the conflict.	Der var ingen som forstod hvem der skabte konflikten.
to take place	foregå
The newspaper explains what is going on in the city right now.	Avisen forklarer hvad der foregår i byen lige nu.
Why will he not say what took place yesterday?	Hvorfor vil han ikke sige hvad der foregik i går?
the front page	forsiden
The wife wants to see who is on the front page today.	Konen vil se hvem der er på forsiden i dag.
to be written (in a text)	stå
Can you see what is written on the front page of the local newspaper?	Kan du se hvad der står på forsiden af lokalavisen?
the update	opdateringen
The father would like to know what is written in the update.	Faren vil gerne vide hvad der står i opdateringen.
We are discussing who is going to write the update.	Vi diskuterer hvem der skal skrive opdateringen.
the vote	afstemningen
They are asking who won the vote.	De spørger hvem der vandt afstemningen.
The sister does not know what influences the vote the most.	Søsteren ved ikke hvad der påvirker afstemningen mest.
to protest	protestere
Do you know who wants to protest at the city hall?	Ved I hvem der vil protestere på rådhuset?
The brother is guessing who is protesting tomorrow.	Broren gætter på hvem der protesterer i morgen.