Questions & Answers about Agurken er billig i dag.
Why is the word agurken used instead of en agurk?
Agurken means "the cucumber". In Danish, to make a noun definite (adding "the"), you attach the article to the end of the word. Since cucumber is an en-word (en agurk), you add -en to the end.
Why is the adjective billig here, and not billigt or billige?
Adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe. Because agurken is a singular en-word, the adjective stays in its base form, billig. If it were an et-word like æblet (the apple), it would take a t-ending and become billigt. If the cucumbers were plural (agurkerne), it would take an e-ending and become billige.
Is i dag always written as two words?
Yes! Unlike the English "today", the Danish i dag is always written as two separate words. It literally translates to "in day".
How do you pronounce dag in the phrase i dag?
The g in dag is completely silent here. The phrase is pronounced roughly like "ee-da", ending with a vowel sound rather than a hard consonant. You will hear this silent g in many common Danish time expressions ending in -dag.