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Questions & Answers about Ferien var god.
How does ferien mean "the holiday"?
In Danish, "the" isn't a separate word that goes before the noun like it is in English. Instead, it attaches to the end of the word. The base word for "holiday" is en ferie. Because it is an en word, we add -n (since it already ends in an 'e') to the end to make ferien (the holiday).
Is var the past tense of "to be"?
Yes! var means "was" or "were". It is the past tense of at være (to be). The great thing about Danish verbs is that they don't change depending on who is doing the action. Whether it is "I was", "you were", or "the holiday was", the verb is always just var.
Why is the adjective god used here instead of godt or gode?
Adjectives in Danish have to match the noun they describe. Because ferie is an en word (common gender) and we are talking about just one holiday (singular), we use the basic dictionary form of the adjective: god. If it were an et word, it would be godt, and if we were talking about multiple holidays, it would be gode.
Why doesn't god sound like the English word "god"?
The letter 'd' in Danish often makes a "soft d" sound when it comes at the end of a word or syllable. It sounds a bit like a very soft 'th' in the English word "the", but pronounced with your tongue resting flat behind your bottom teeth.