Word
Har De glemt Deres jakke?
Meaning
Have you forgotten your jacket?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Har De glemt Deres jakke?
have
to have
glemme
to forget
jakken
the jacket
De
you (formal subject)
Questions & Answers about Har De glemt Deres jakke?
Why are De and Deres capitalized in this sentence?
In Danish, capitalizing De, Dem, and Deres turns them into the formal pronouns for "you" and "your". If they were lowercase (de, deres), the sentence would mean "Have they forgotten their jacket?"
Does Deres change depending on the gender or number of the noun, like din and dit do?
No, Deres is invariable. Whether the noun is common gender (like en jakke), neuter (like et ur), or plural (like sko), the formal possessive pronoun remains exactly the same: Deres.
When should I actually use this formal De instead of the informal du?
In modern Denmark, you will rarely use it. The informal du is the standard for almost everyone, including bosses, doctors, and strangers. The formal De is mostly reserved for royalty, the very elderly, and highly formal written correspondence.
If I wanted to talk to multiple people formally, would the pronouns change?
No. The formal pronouns De, Dem, and Deres are used for both singular and plural. So this exact sentence could mean "Have you (Mr. Hansen) forgotten your jacket?" or "Have you (Mr. and Mrs. Hansen) forgotten your jacket?" depending on the context.