In Danish, the relative pronoun hvis translates to "whose." It connects a noun to something that belongs to it.
Unlike other Danish possessives, hvis does not change form based on gender or number. It is always placed immediately before the possessed noun.
| The detective speaks with the victim whose car was stolen. | Detektiven taler med ofret hvis bil blev stjålet. |
| This is the perpetrator whose crime we are solving. | Dette er gerningsmanden hvis forbrydelse vi opklarer. |
Placement of the Relative Clause
Just like in English, a relative clause starting with hvis can describe the object at the end of a sentence:
| The police arrested the perpetrator whose motive we know. | Politiet anholdt gerningsmanden hvis motiv vi kender. |
| The detective found the woman whose blood is on the knife. | Detektiven fandt kvinden hvis blod er på kniven. |
It can also describe the subject in the middle of the sentence:
| The man whose motive was the money is the perpetrator. | Manden hvis motiv var pengene, er gerningsmanden. |
| The woman whose footprint we found helped to solve the case. | Kvinden hvis fodaftryk vi fandt, hjalp med at opklare sagen. |
Two words spelled hvis
You already know hvis meaning if. The relative hvis (whose) is spelled the same, but it sits in a different place: straight after a noun, and straight before the noun that belongs to it.
| hvis = if | hvis = whose |
|---|---|
| starts a clause: Hvis det regner, … | noun + hvis + noun: ofret hvis bil … |
Inside the relative clause the word order is the ordinary subordinate order — subject, then verb:
| We questioned the victim whose sister saw the crime. | Vi afhørte ofret hvis søster så forbrydelsen. |
When the clause comes in the middle of the sentence, it closes with a comma before the main verb:
| The witness whose friend was arrested is being questioned now. | Vidnet hvis ven blev anholdt, bliver afhørt nu. |
