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Danish

### The Prepositions 'i' and 'på'

Describing where something is located in Danish usually comes down to choosing between the two most common prepositions of position: **i** and **på**. 

As a general rule, **i** means "in" (inside a container or an enclosed space), and **på** means "on" (on a surface). 

You will also notice that Danish frequently uses the verb **at ligge** (to lie) for things that are resting horizontally, rather than just saying that they "are" there.

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### Institutions and Public Places

When talking about public buildings and institutions, Danish often prefers **på** where English might use "at" or "in". For example, you use **på** with **biblioteket** (the library) and **hospitalet** (the hospital).

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### Rooms and Standing Objects

Most rooms in a house use the preposition **i**, such as **i stuen** (in the living room) or **i køkkenet** (in the kitchen). However, **badeværelset** (the bathroom) is a common exception; in Danish, you say **på badeværelset**.

For objects that are upright or have a base, and for people who are on their feet, Danish uses the verb **at stå** (to stand) instead of "to be".

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### Open Spaces and Combinations

Open city spaces also take **på**, such as **på torvet** (on the square). Once you know the correct prepositions, you can easily string them together to specify exactly where something is situated!

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Prepositions of position (i, på)

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 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...)

Future with present tense

Question	Answer
to lie (be lying down) / to be located	ligge
on / at / in (a language) / of (after nouns like end or start)	på
the floor	gulvet
The dog lies on the floor.	Hunden ligger på gulvet.
the library	biblioteket
Today he is at the library.	I dag er han på biblioteket.
the pocket	lommen
The key lies in the pocket.	Nøglen ligger i lommen.
the wall	væggen
The new picture is on the wall.	Det nye billede er på væggen.
the hospital	hospitalet
The doctor is at the hospital.	Lægen er på hospitalet.
to stand	stå
the bathroom	badeværelset
The boy stands in the bathroom.	Drengen står på badeværelset.
the kitchen	køkkenet
The old table stands in the kitchen.	Det gamle bord står i køkkenet.
the living room	stuen
The cat lies in the living room.	Katten ligger i stuen.
the square	torvet
Now the tree stands on the square.	Nu står træet på torvet.
A big dog lies on the floor in the living room.	En stor hund ligger på gulvet i stuen.
Is the clock on the wall in the kitchen?	Er uret på væggen i køkkenet?
The phone is in my pocket.	Telefonen er i min lomme.
We must read at the library.	Vi skal læse på biblioteket.
She must work at the hospital.	Hun skal arbejde på hospitalet.
The mirror is in the bathroom.	Spejlet er på badeværelset.
The woman stands on the square in the city.	Kvinden står på torvet i byen.

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