Breakdown of Hvalen er det største dyr i havet.
være
to be
i
in
stor
big
havet
the sea
det
the (neuter, before adjective)
dyret
the animal
hvalen
the whale
Questions & Answers about Hvalen er det største dyr i havet.
Why is it det største dyr and not det største dyret?
When a definite noun has an adjective in front of it, Danish uses a separate front article (den, det, or de) instead of attaching the definite ending to the noun. So you say havet (the sea) when there is no adjective, but det største dyr (the biggest animal) instead of adding the -et ending to dyr.
Why do we use det here instead of den?
The article det matches the gender of the noun dyr, which is an et-word (et dyr). Even though the sentence starts with Hvalen (an en-word), the article must match the noun it directly belongs to, which in this case is dyr.
How does the adjective stor (big) become største here?
The adjective stor has an irregular comparison where the vowel changes: stor (big), større (bigger), størst (biggest). We add an -e to make it største because it follows the definite article det.
Could I use søen instead of havet for 'the sea'?
No, in Danish, en sø is a lake, not a sea. To talk about the sea or the ocean, you must use et hav. This is a very common mix-up for English speakers because sø sounds and looks so similar to 'sea'.
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