Breakdown of Den er interessant dels på grund af den sproglige mangfoldighed, dels på grund af alderen.
være
to be
den
the (common, before adjective)
interessant
interesting
alderen
the age
på grund af
because of
dels
partly
sproglig
linguistic
mangfoldigheden
the diversity
Questions & Answers about Den er interessant dels på grund af den sproglige mangfoldighed, dels på grund af alderen.
How does the structure dels ..., dels ... work in this specific sentence?
It acts as a coordinating correlative, meaning it links two phrases of equal grammatical weight. Here, it balances two identical prepositional phrases starting with på grund af to clearly separate the two reasons why the subject is interesting.
Could I drop the second på grund af and just say dels på grund af den sproglige mangfoldighed, dels alderen?
You might hear native speakers drop the second preposition in casual, fast speech, but keeping på grund af after the second dels is much better style. Correlative pairs sound most natural when the two structures they connect are perfectly parallel.
Why is there no definite suffix on mangfoldighed in the phrase den sproglige mangfoldighed?
In Danish, when a noun is preceded by an adjective, the definiteness is shown only by the front article (den or det) and the -e ending on the adjective (sproglige). The noun itself stays in its base form. This is a great reminder, as learners often mistakenly try to add an -en suffix here.
Why does the sentence use the suffix -en for alderen (the age) instead of using a front article like it did for diversity?
Because there is no adjective modifying alder in this half of the sentence. Without an adjective present, Danish reverts to using the standard definite suffix attached directly to the end of the noun (alder plus -en).
Learn Den er interessant dels på grund af den sproglige mangfoldighed, dels på grund af alderen and more in Danish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free