Hovedpersonen læser brevet.

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Breakdown of Hovedpersonen læser brevet.

• brevet: the letter (mail)
• hovedpersonen: the protagonist

Questions & Answers about Hovedpersonen læser brevet.

Why do hovedpersonen and brevet have endings instead of a separate word for the?

In Danish, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.

• hovedperson = main character

• hovedpersonen = the main character

• brev = letter
• brevet = the letter

So instead of saying a separate word like English the letter, Danish often says brev + et = brevet.

The ending depends on the noun’s gender:

• -en for many common-gender nouns
• -et for neuter nouns

That is why you get:

• hovedpersonen
• brevet

Why is hovedpersonen one long word?

Because Danish, like English and German, often makes compound nouns by joining words together.

Here:

• hoved = head / main
• person = person

So hovedperson literally means something like main person, which is the normal Danish word for main character or protagonist.

Then the definite ending is added:

• hovedperson = main character
• hovedpersonen = the main character

This is very common in Danish. Compounds are normally written as one word.

What tense is læser?