Deltageren læser bogen.

The participant reads the book.

Breakdown of Deltageren læser bogen.

• læse: to read
• bogen: the book
• deltageren: the participant

Questions & Answers about Deltageren læser bogen.

Why does deltager become deltageren?

Because Danish usually makes nouns definite by adding the definite article as a suffix.

• deltager = participant
• deltageren = the participant

So instead of putting a separate word before the noun, Danish often attaches the idea of the to the end of the noun.

Why is it bogen and not a separate word for the book?

For the same reason: Danish commonly uses a suffixed definite article.

• bog = book
• bogen = the book

This is different from English, where the is a separate word. In Danish, the definite ending is usually attached directly to the noun in simple cases like this.

Why do both nouns have -en at the end?

Because both deltager and bog are common-gender nouns, and in the singular definite form, common-gender nouns usually take -en.

So:

• en deltager = a participant

• deltageren = the participant

• en bog = a book
• bogen = the book

If a noun were neuter gender, it would often take -et instead in the definite singular.

What is the basic word order in this sentence?