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Learn Hardcore Danish: Drinken er kold. - The mixed drink is cold.

Hardcore Danish
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/Drinken er kold.

Drinken er kold.

Drinken er kold.

The mixed drink is cold.

Breakdown of Drinken er kold.

the mixed drink

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Questions & Answers about Drinken er kold.

Why does drinken have -en at the end?

Because Danish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

en drink = a drink
drinken = the drink

So instead of using a separate word like English the, Danish often uses a suffix such as -en or -et.

Is drinken a normal Danish word? I thought drink in Danish was drik.

This is a very good question, because both forms exist.

en drink / drinken usually means a mixed drink or cocktail
en drik / drikken is more general and can mean a beverage/drink

So Drinken er kold is fine if the noun is really drink. If you mean the beverage in a more general sense, learners will also often see Drikken er kold.

Why is it kold and not koldt?

Because drink is a common-gender noun in Danish, an en-word: en drink.

With a singular common-gender noun, the adjective after er normally stays in its basic form:

Drinken er kold.

If the noun were a neuter et-word, you would usually get -t on the adjective:

Glasset er koldt. = The glass is cold.

So kold matches en drink.

Why is there no separate word for the? Could I say den drinken?

Normally, no. Drinken already means the drink, so adding den would usually be wrong here.

In Danish, den/det/de is often used when there is an adjective directly before the noun:

drinken = the drink
den kolde drink = the cold drink

But in Drinken er kold, the adjective comes after er, so you do not use den.

What does er mean, and does it change like English am / is / are?

Er is the present tense of at være = to be.

Unlike English, Danish does not change this form depending on the subject:

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

So er works for all persons in the present tense.

Is the word order the same as in English here?

Yes, in this simple sentence it is very similar.

The pattern is:

Drinken = subject
er = verb
kold = adjective/complement

So the structure is basically subject + verb + adjective, just like The drink is cold.

How would I turn this into a question?

You switch the verb and the subject:

Er drinken kold? = Is the drink cold?

This kind of inversion is very common in Danish.

Would the adjective ever be kolde instead of kold?

Yes. Kolde is used with plurals, and also in some other adjective patterns.

For example:

Drinkene er kolde. = The drinks are cold.
de kolde drinks = the cold drinks

But with one singular en-word noun and an adjective after er, kold is the correct form:

Drinken er kold.

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