Spillekortet er rødt.

The playing card is red.

Breakdown of Spillekortet er rødt.

• være: to be
• rød: red
• spillekortet: the playing card

Questions & Answers about Spillekortet er rødt.

Why is it spillekortet and not et spillekort?

Because spillekortet is definite: it means the playing card.

In Danish, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix:

• et spillekort = a playing card
• spillekortet = the playing card

So English uses a separate word (the), but Danish often attaches that meaning directly to the noun.

Why does the noun end in -et?

The ending -et is the definite article for many neuter nouns in Danish.

Here the base noun is:

• et spillekort = a playing card

Since spillekort is a neuter noun (it takes et in the indefinite form), its definite singular form is:

• spillekortet = the playing card

A very common pattern is:

• et hus → huset
• et kort → kortet
• et spillekort → spillekortet

Is spillekort one word because Danish likes compounds?