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Danish

### Presentational 'der' with Action Verbs

You already know that **der** (there) is used to say "there is" or "there are" (**der er**). But in Danish, **der** is also frequently paired with active verbs of motion or position to introduce a new person, thing, or event into a scene.

Instead of starting the sentence with the subject (e.g., "A cyclist is coming"), Danish often uses **der** as a "dummy subject." The real subject then follows the verb. This works beautifully with intransitive verbs—verbs that don't take a direct object—like **kommer** (comes), **står** (stands), and **sidder** (sits).

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### Setting the Scene

This presentational structure is the most natural way to paint a picture of a street scene or describe groups of people. 

The word order typically follows: **Der** + [Verb] + [Indefinite Subject] + [Location/Time]. If you use an adverb like **altid** (always), it slips in immediately after the verb. Use this pattern along with collective nouns like **en mængde** (a crowd) or **en flok** (a group/flock) to describe what is happening around you.

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### More Verbs in the Wild

You can expand this pattern to almost any intransitive verb. It is perfect for describing sudden actions or events taking place in public, using verbs like **løber** (run), **venter** (wait), **begynder** (begin), or **samles** (gather).

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Presentational 'der' (der sidder...)

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 cyclist (everyday, general)	cyklisten
A cyclist is coming.	Der kommer en cyklist.
the coffee shop	kaffebaren
Many cyclists are riding in front of the coffee shop.	Der kører mange cyklister foran kaffebaren.
A woman is sitting in front of the coffee shop.	Der sidder en kvinde foran kaffebaren.
the crowd	mængden
A large crowd of people is always standing by that coffee shop.	Der står altid en stor mængde mennesker ved den der kaffebar.
the flock	flokken
A group of people is walking towards the square.	Der går en flok mennesker mod torvet.
to gather	samles
Suddenly the crowd gathers in front of the city hall.	Pludselig samles mængden foran rådhuset.
the parade	optoget
Many gather to see the parade.	Der samles mange for at se optoget.
A beautiful parade is coming down the street.	Der kommer et flot optog ned ad gaden.
the pedestrian	fodgængeren
A pedestrian is waiting at the intersection.	Der venter en fodgænger ved lyskrydset.
Two pedestrians run out onto the street.	Der løber to fodgængere ud på gaden.
the demonstration	demonstrationen
A large demonstration is starting now.	Der begynder en stor demonstration nu.
Her brother is participating in this demonstration.	Hendes bror deltager i den her demonstration.
the garbage collector	skraldemanden
A garbage collector is coming to empty the trash can.	Der kommer en skraldemand for at tømme skraldespanden.
My sister is talking with the garbage collector.	Min søster snakker med skraldemanden.
the singer	sangeren
A singer is performing in the square.	Der optræder en sanger på torvet.
His daughter would like to listen to the singer.	Hans datter vil gerne lytte til sangeren.
A flock of dogs is running down the hill.	Der løber en flok hunde ned ad bakken.
A small group is sitting in the park.	Der sidder en lille gruppe i parken.
She could not see her son in the crowd.	Hun kunne ikke se sin søn i mængden.

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