Breakdown of Der er mange ænder på søen.
mange
many
søen
the lake
på
on / at / in (a language) / of (after nouns like end or start)
der er
there is, there are
anden
the duck
Questions & Answers about Der er mange ænder på søen.
Why is 'ducks' translated as ænder? What is the singular form?
The singular word for a duck is en and. It has an irregular plural where the vowel changes from a to æ, making it ænder.
In English we say 'There are', but the Danish sentence uses er which often means 'is'. Why?
In Danish, verbs do not change based on whether the subject is singular or plural. Because of this, der er is the correct translation for both 'there is' and 'there are'.
Why do we use the preposition på (on) instead of i (in) for the lake?
In Danish, you say that ducks and boats are på søen (on the lake) because they sit on the surface of the water. You would typically only use i if something is submerged under the water.
How is 'the' formed in the word søen?
The base word is en sø (a lake). In Danish, the definite article ('the') is attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it. So, sø plus en becomes søen (the lake).
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