Jeg ser hunden, og den ser glad ud.

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Breakdown of Jeg ser hunden, og den ser glad ud.

• hunden: the dog
• og: and
• se: to see
• den: it
• se ud: to look
• glad: happy

Questions & Answers about Jeg ser hunden, og den ser glad ud.

Why do we say hunden instead of just hund?

In Danish, adding -en (or sometimes -et for neuter words) at the end of a noun makes it definite. So hund (dog) becomes hunden (the dog). If we just said hund, it would mean a dog instead of the dog.

Why is den used here instead of det or han/hun?

Danish has two grammatical genders: common (n-words) and neuter (t-words). Hund is a common gender noun, so its pronoun is den. Using han (he) or hun (she) would be more personal—people sometimes do that if they know the dog’s gender, but in a neutral statement, den is standard.

What does ser ud mean literally?

Ser ud is literally looks out, but in context, it means looks or appears. When Danes want to say something looks a certain way, they usually say ser + adjective + ud.

Why do we use ser in both parts of the sentence?

In the first part, ser means to see: Jeg ser hunden (I see the dog). In the second part, ser is part of the phrase ser glad ud (looks happy). Although the verb form is the same, the meanings are different depending on context.

Is there a difference in pronunciation for -en in hunden compared to other words ending in -en?

In many Danish words ending in -en, the ending might be somewhat softer or reduced, but you’ll still hear the consonant. In hunden, it often sounds like HUN-nn (a slight ‘n’ sound at the end). Pay attention to native speakers’ intonation to catch the subtle differences.