Dropping the Relative Pronoun som
In English, we use relative pronouns like "that", "which", or "who" to connect parts of a sentence. Often, when these words act as the object of the clause, we drop them: instead of saying "The gallery that we visited," we just say "The gallery we visited."
In Danish, the relative pronoun som works exactly the same way. When som is the object of the relative clause, you can simply leave it out. This makes your sentences flow more naturally, especially in spoken Danish.
| The gallery we visited yesterday has a new exhibition. | Galleriet vi besøgte i går, har en ny udstilling. |
| The work they bought is now a part of the collection. | Værket de købte, er nu en del af samlingen. |
Discussing Art and Artists
This structure is extremely useful when identifying specific pieces of art, such as a portrait (portrættet) or a sculpture (skulpturen), and discussing the artist (kunstneren) who created them.
Notice how smoothly the relative pronoun is omitted in these examples:
| The man loves the portrait he got from the artist himself. | Manden elsker portrættet han fik af kunstneren selv. |
| The sculpture the woman bought was very expensive. | Skulpturen kvinden købte, var meget dyr. |
Describing Style and Exhibitions
As you learn to describe art styles—like abstract (abstrakt) works found in an exhibition catalog (kataloget)—you will continue to use this pattern. Even with som missing, the meaning remains perfectly clear.
| The style the artist uses is very modern. | Stilen kunstneren bruger, er meget moderne. |
| The abstract work I saw was beautiful. | Det abstrakte værk jeg så, var smukt. |
| The painting she is exhibiting is in the catalog. | Maleriet hun udstiller, er i kataloget. |