Breakdown of Den der ring er flot, men jeg kan godt lide det her smykke.
jeg
I
være
to be
flot
nice
men
but
godt
well (adverb)
kunne lide
to like
den her
this
den der
that (that one)
smykket
the piece of jewelry
ringen
the ring
Questions & Answers about Den der ring er flot, men jeg kan godt lide det her smykke.
Why do we use den der for the ring but det her for the jewelry?
It depends on the gender of the noun. Ring is an en-word, so it takes den. Smykke is an et-word, so it takes det. Adding der (there) creates the meaning of that, and adding her (here) creates this.
Why aren't the nouns in their definite forms (ringen and smykket) since we are talking about specific items?
When you use colloquial demonstratives like den der and det her, the noun that follows must always be in its basic, indefinite form. So you say den der ring, never den der ringen.
How does kan godt lide translate to I like?
The phrase at kunne lide is the standard Danish way to express liking something. Adding godt is extremely common in everyday speech and makes it sound more natural. You should memorize kan godt lide as a single fixed chunk.
Why is the adjective flot not written as flotte here?
The adjective flot describes den der ring. Because ring is a singular en-word, the adjective stays in its basic form. If we were talking about plural rings, the adjective would take the plural e-ending and become flotte.
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