Questions & Answers about Øllen er billig, men den er lille.
Why is there a comma before men?
In Danish, you normally put a comma before a coordinating conjunction like men (but), og (and), or eller (or) when it connects two complete sentences. Because both øllen er billig and den er lille have their own subject and verb, the comma is required here.
Why does the sentence use den for "it" instead of det?
Because øl is a common gender word (en øl). When you use "it" to refer back to an en-word, you must use den. You only use det for "it" when referring back to a neuter (et) word.
How does the word øllen mean "the beer"?
In Danish, "the" is shown by adding an ending to the noun instead of using a separate word before it. Since "a beer" is en øl, you attach the -en to the end to make øllen (the beer).
Do the adjectives billig and lille change depending on what they describe?
Yes, adjectives normally change to match the gender of the noun. Since øllen is an en-word, billig stays in its basic form. If it were an et-word like vandet (the water), it would add a t to become billigt. However, lille is a special adjective that never adds a t, so it stays the same for both genders in the singular.