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Danish

### The Modal Verb "kan"

In Danish, the modal verb **kan** is used to express ability or possibility, just like "can" in English. It is the present tense of the verb **kunne** (to be able to). Like all Danish verbs, its form stays exactly the same no matter who the subject is.

The most important rule for modal verbs is that they are followed directly by the bare infinitive of the next verb. Unlike the verbs in the previous lesson, you do **not** use the infinitive marker **at**.

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### Questions and Negations

To turn a statement with **kan** into a question, simply swap the subject and the modal verb. The second verb remains in its bare infinitive form later in the sentence.

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To make a sentence negative, place the adverb **ikke** (not) immediately after **kan**.

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### Describing Actions

When you want to describe an action as being easy (**nem**) or difficult (**svær**), you often use the structure "It is..." (**Det er...**).

Because these sentences do not use a modal verb like **kan**, you must return to using the infinitive marker **at** before the action verb. Notice how the adjective gets a **-t** ending (**svært**, **nemt**) because it is describing the neutral pronoun **det**.

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The modal verb can (kan)

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 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...)

Future with present tense

Question	Answer
to be able to / can	kunne
to cycle	cykle
I can cycle in the park.	Jeg kan cykle i parken.
to draw	tegne
What can you draw?	Hvad kan du tegne?
He can draw a beautiful tree.	Han kan tegne et flot træ.
to bake	bage
Can she bake a cake?	Kan hun bage en kage?
difficult	svær
It is not difficult to bake bread.	Det er ikke svært at bage brød.
to open	åbne
the box	kassen
Can you open the box?	Kan du åbne kassen?
to close	lukke
He cannot close the window.	Han kan ikke lukke vinduet.
to lift	løfte
heavy	tung
The man cannot lift the heavy box.	Manden kan ikke løfte den tunge kasse.
Can they lift the heavy sofa?	Kan de løfte den tunge sofa?
Her sister can cycle.	Hendes søster kan cykle.
Can I open the door?	Kan jeg åbne døren?
You can close the book now.	Du kan lukke bogen nu.
Is it difficult to read Danish?	Er det svært at læse dansk?
easy	nem
It is easy to understand English.	Det er nemt at forstå engelsk.
The new car is here.	Den nye bil er her.
We can read the easy book.	Vi kan læse den nemme bog.