Learn Danish: Drengen er kold og våd. - The boy is cold and wet.

This lesson is about adding -t to adjectives when describing neuter words (et-words). However, drengen (the boy) comes from an en-word (en dreng). When describing a singular en-word, adjectives like kold and våd just stay in their base form without the -t.

Wait, where is the word for "the"?

In Danish, the word for "the" attaches to the end of the noun instead of coming before it as a separate word. You start with en dreng (a boy), and move the -en to the end to get drengen (the boy).

Since there are two adjectives separated by og (and), do they both have to match the noun?

Yes! Because they both describe drengen, both kold and våd must be in the common gender (en-word) form. If the noun were a neuter word like vandet (the water), both adjectives would need a -t: vandet er koldt og vådt.

How do I pronounce the 'd' at the end of kold and våd?

They are actually pronounced differently! The 'd' in våd is a Danish "soft d" (which sounds a bit like a soft English "th"). But in kold, the 'd' is completely silent, so you just pronounce it like "kol".