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Questions & Answers about Hunden er lille.
Why is the Danish word hunden instead of just hund?
In Danish, you show “the” by adding a suffix to the noun.
- hund = “(a) dog” (indefinite)
- hunden = “the dog” (definite)
What does the verb er mean?
er is the present‐tense form of at være, which means “to be.” So er = “is/are.” In this sentence it means “is.”
Why is there no separate word for “the” before lille?
In Danish, definite nouns take a suffix (-en, ‑et, etc.), and the adjective is not preceded by a separate “the.” Instead:
- hunden (the dog)
- lille (small)
You do not say den lille here because you’re using the noun’s own definite form.
Why is lille unchanged and not lillen or something else?
Adjectives in Danish agree in number and definiteness:
- Indefinite common‐gender singular: en lille hund (“a small dog”) → lille
- Definite common‐gender singular: den lille hund (“the small dog”) → lille
- When the noun itself is made definite by suffix + article, the adjective still stays lille before that noun.
How would I say “a small dog is” instead of “the dog is small”?
You switch to the indefinite form:
- En lille hund er … = “A small dog is …”
Can I put the adjective after the noun like in English? (“Hunden lille er”?)
No. Danish follows Subject – Verb – Adjective order when you use er. So:
1) Hunden (subject)
2) er (verb)
3) lille (adjective)
How do I pronounce Hunden er lille?
A rough guide:
- Hunden = HUN-den (ˈhunᵊn)
- er = air (≈ “air,” but shorter)
- lille = LEE-leh (ˈliːlə)
Say it smoothly: “HUN-den air LEE-leh.”