Den ukendte hævning er større end selvrisikoen.

to be

Breakdown of Den ukendte hævning er større end selvrisikoen.

• end: than
• større: larger
• den ukendte hævning: the unknown charge

Questions & Answers about Den ukendte hævning er større end selvrisikoen.

Why does the sentence start with den and not det?

Because hævning is a common-gender noun in Danish, not a neuter noun.

In Danish, singular nouns usually take:

• en / den for common gender
• et / det for neuter

Since hævning is common gender, the phrase is:

• den ukendte hævning = the unknown withdrawal

If the noun were neuter, you would use det instead.

Why is it ukendte and not ukendt?

Because adjectives in Danish change form depending on how the noun is used.

Here, ukendte is used in a definite noun phrase:

• den ukendte hævning

When an adjective comes before a noun that is definite and has den/det/de, the adjective usually takes -e:

• den ukendte hævning
• det store hus
• de røde biler

By contrast:

• en ukendt hævning = an unknown withdrawal
• et ukendt problem = an unknown problem

So:

• ukendt = indefinite singular form
• ukendte = definite form / plural form in many contexts