Breakdown of Den nye pære bruger meget lidt strøm.
den
the (common, before adjective)
ny
new
bruge
to use / to spend (money, time) / to need (together with the modal of obligation)
meget
very; much, a lot
Questions & Answers about Den nye pære bruger meget lidt strøm.
Why is it Den nye pære instead of Pæren nye?
In Danish, when you put an adjective before a definite noun, you must use the separate definite article (den, det, or de) instead of adding the usual suffix to the noun. You also add an -e to the end of the adjective. So it becomes den nye pære (the new bulb) rather than adding -en to pære.
I thought a pære was a piece of fruit. Why is it used here for a bulb?
You are right! En pære means a pear, but it is also the standard everyday word for a lightbulb because of its shape. You will often see it written as en elpære (an electric bulb) to be specific, but in a household context, just pære is perfectly normal.
Why does the sentence use lidt instead of lille?
Lille describes the physical size of a single countable object, like a small car. Lidt is used for uncountable amounts and means a small quantity of. Because strøm (power) is an uncountable concept, we have to use lidt strøm (a small amount of power) instead of lille strøm.
What exactly does strøm refer to here?
Strøm literally means current, like a river current or an electrical current, but it is the most common everyday word Danes use to talk about electricity or power in the home.