Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore Danish: Kærligheden er vigtig. - Love is important.

Hardcore Danish
/Playing a board game with friends
/Kærligheden er vigtig.

Kærligheden er vigtig.

Kærligheden er vigtig.

Love is important.

Breakdown of Kærligheden er vigtig.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Danish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Danish now

Questions & Answers about Kærligheden er vigtig.

Why is it kærligheden and not just kærlighed?

Kærligheden is the definite form of kærlighed.

kærlighed = love
kærligheden = the love

In Danish, the definite article is often added as an ending:

en bog = a book
bogen = the book

So:

en kærlighed = a love
kærligheden = the love

Also, Danish often uses the definite form with abstract nouns in places where English might simply say love. So Kærligheden er vigtig can naturally mean Love is important, not only The love is important.

What is er?

Er is the present tense of at være, which means to be.

So:

jeg er = I am
du er = you are
han/hun er = he/she is
vi er = we are

In this sentence:

Kærligheden er vigtig = Love is important

Danish does not change the form of er depending on the subject, so it stays er for all persons.

Why is it vigtig and not vigtigt or vigtige?

The adjective vigtig changes form depending on what it describes.

Here it is describing kærligheden, and kærlighed is a common-gender singular noun (en-word), so the adjective is:

vigtig

Compare:

en vigtig bog = an important book
et vigtigt emne = an important topic
vigtige bøger = important books

The same pattern appears when the adjective comes after er:

Bogen er vigtig = The book is important
Emnet er vigtigt = The topic is important
Bøgerne er vigtige = The books are important

So vigtig is correct because kærligheden is singular and common gender.

What gender is kærlighed?

Kærlighed is a common-gender noun, also called an en-word.

That means:

en kærlighed = a love
kærligheden = the love

This matters because it affects adjective agreement:

Kærligheden er vigtig is correct
Kærligheden er vigtigt would be wrong

Can Kærligheden er vigtig mean both Love is important and The love is important?

Yes, it can.

Danish kærligheden is literally the love, but in context it can also be used in a broader, more general sense, where English would often just say love.

So depending on context, it could mean:

Love is important
or
The love is important

If there is no special context, many learners should understand it as a general statement: Love is important.

Could I also say Kærlighed er vigtig?

Usually, Kærligheden er vigtig sounds more natural for a general statement like this.

Kærlighed er vigtig is possible in some special styles, such as headlines, slogans, or poetic language, but it is less standard in ordinary everyday Danish.

So as a learner, the safest choice is:

Kærligheden er vigtig

What is the normal word order in this sentence?

The word order is:

Kærligheden = subject
er = verb
vigtig = adjective/complement

So it follows the basic pattern:

subject + verb + complement

This is very similar to English:

Love is important

In simple statements, Danish often looks quite familiar in this structure.

How do you pronounce Kærligheden er vigtig?

A rough English-friendly guide is:

Kærligheden ≈ KAIR-li-heh-den
er ≈ air or a very light uh/air sound, depending on accent
vigtig ≈ VIG-ti

A few important notes:

æ in kær- is a front vowel somewhat like the vowel in care for many English speakers, though not exactly the same.
The g in -lig- is often softened or almost disappears in normal speech.
Danish pronunciation is often less clear-cut than spelling suggests, so listening to native audio is very helpful.

A careful learner pronunciation might be something like:

KAIR-li-heh-den air VIG-ti

Why is the definite article attached to the end of the noun?

That is a normal feature of Danish.

In English, you put the definite article before the noun:

the love

In Danish, the definite article is usually added as a suffix:

kærligheden

This is very common:

bilen = the car
huset = the house
manden = the man

For common-gender nouns, the ending is often -en.
For neuter nouns, it is often -et.

Is vigtig an adjective even though it comes after er?

Yes. Vigtig is still an adjective.

After er, Danish often uses an adjective to describe the subject:

Hun er glad = She is happy
Bogen er god = The book is good
Kærligheden er vigtig = Love is important

So vigtig is an adjective functioning as a description of kærligheden.

Does Danish capitalize words the same way English does?

No. Danish uses capitalization less than English.

In this sentence:

Kærligheden is capitalized only because it is the first word in the sentence.
vigtig is not capitalized.

Unlike German, Danish does not capitalize all nouns. Only sentence beginnings and proper nouns are normally capitalized.

Is kærlighed related to any other Danish word I should know?

Yes. It is related to kærlig, which means loving or affectionate.

So:

kærlig = loving
kærlighed = love

The ending -hed is a common Danish noun ending that often forms an abstract noun, a bit like -ness in English.

For example:

fri = free
frihed = freedom

So seeing -hed can help you recognize that a word is probably an abstract noun.

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io