Word
Musen er tre år, og skildpadden er firs år gammel.
Meaning
The mouse is three years old, and the turtle is eighty years old.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Musen er tre år, og skildpadden er firs år gammel.
Why does the sentence add gammel at the end for the turtle, but not for the mouse?
In Danish, expressing age works just like in English. You can say someone is three years (tre år) or eighty years old (firs år gammel). Adding gammel (old) is completely optional, so you could also say musen er tre år gammel or skildpadden er firs år.
Since eighty years is a plural amount, shouldn't gammel be in the plural form gamle?
It is a common mix-up! The adjective gammel actually describes the turtle (skildpadden), not the years (år). Since there is only one turtle, we use the singular form gammel.
Why doesn't the word år change when we talk about three or eighty years?
The word år (year) is a common Danish noun that looks exactly the same in the singular and the plural. So, et år is one year, and tre år is three years.
How does the sentence show that it is the mouse and the turtle?
In Danish, you don't put a separate word for the in front of the noun. Instead, you add a suffix to the end of the word. A mouse is en mus, and when you add the suffix it becomes musen (the mouse). The same happens with en skildpadde turning into skildpadden.