Breakdown of Skrivebordet er halvfems centimeter bredt.
være
to be
halvfems
ninety
skrivebordet
the desk
centimeteren
the centimeter
Questions & Answers about Skrivebordet er halvfems centimeter bredt.
Why is there no preposition before the measurement?
In Danish, when you describe the dimensions of something, you simply place the measurement directly before the adjective, just like in English. You say halvfems centimeter bredt (ninety centimeters wide) without needing any extra connecting words like 'of' or 'in'.
Why does the adjective bredt end in a -t here?
The adjective bred (wide) must agree with the noun it describes. Since the word for desk is neuter (et skrivebord) and the sentence is about skrivebordet (the desk), we add a -t to the adjective to make it bredt.
Shouldn't centimeter have a plural ending since there are ninety of them?
It actually is plural here! In Danish, many units of measurement that end in a consonant (like meter and centimeter) often keep the same form in both singular and plural when they follow a number. You just say halvfems centimeter without adding an extra ending.
Is halvfems the standard word for ninety?
Yes. It comes from an old counting system meaning four-and-a-half times twenty. While the historical math is complicated, halvfems is the everyday, modern Danish word for ninety that you should memorize.