The afterthought
Sometimes when speaking, you might start a sentence with a pronoun like "it," only to realize halfway through that your listener might not know exactly what "it" refers to.
In everyday spoken Danish, you can easily fix this by tacking the clarifying noun onto the very end of the sentence. This structure is called right dislocation (højredislokation). In writing, this afterthought is usually separated from the main sentence by a comma, representing a slight pause in speech.
| I have misplaced it again, the car key. | Jeg har forlagt den igen, bilnøglen. |
| We are in the process of searching it thoroughly in here, the shoulder bag. | Vi er i gang med at gennemsøge den herinde, skuldertasken. |
Matching the pronoun
Just as with left dislocation, the pronoun you use in the main part of the sentence must match the gender of the noun you are adding at the end.
Use den for common gender nouns (like bilnøglen) and det for neuter nouns (like brilleetuiet). This works for both statements and questions.
| Is it lying under the sofa cushion, the car key? | Ligger den under sofapuden, bilnøglen? |
| Maybe it is lying at the bottom, the glasses case? | Måske ligger det i bunden, brilleetuiet? |
| We found it under the sofa cushion, the glasses case. | Vi fandt det under sofapuden, brilleetuiet. |
Clarifying people
This structure isn't just for misplaced objects; it works perfectly for people, too. This is especially useful when describing someone's personality or habits, like being absent-minded or forgetful.
Instead of den or det, you will use the personal pronouns han (he) or hun (she) in the main sentence, before clarifying exactly who you mean at the end.
| She is very absent-minded, the doctor, so she misplaced the folder. | Hun er meget distræt, lægen, så hun forlagde mappen. |
| He is a bit absent-minded and forgetful, the father! | Han er lidt distræt og glemsom, faren! |