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Questions & Answers about Katten er stor.
What does the suffix -en in katten indicate?
In Danish, common-gender nouns form the singular definite by adding -en. So kat (cat) becomes katten, meaning the cat.
Why is the article attached to the noun instead of placed before it?
Unlike English, Danish usually marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun rather than a separate word. Common-gender nouns take -en (e.g. dreng → drengen), neuter nouns take -et (e.g. hus → huset).
What does er mean and how is it used in this sentence?
er is the present-tense form of at være (to be). It works like English “is,” linking the subject (katten) with the predicate adjective (stor).
What is the basic word order in Katten er stor?
The sentence follows Subject–Verb–Predicate. Here, Subject = katten, Verb = er, Predicate adjective = stor.
Why is the adjective stor not stort or store here?
After a form of at være, adjectives are used predicatively and stay in their base form (stor). Adjectives only take endings attributively (before a noun): en stor kat, et stort hus, to store huse.
How would you say “a big cat” in Danish?
Use the indefinite article en before the adjective and noun: en stor kat.
How do you make Katten er stor plural?
Indefinite plural: Katte er store (“Cats are big”). Definite plural: Kattene er store (“The cats are big”). In plural, the adjective takes the -e ending.
How would you say “the big cat” attributively?
Use den + adjective + noun: den store kat. Here den is the common-gender definite article, and store is the attributive adjective form.
Why can’t you say Katten er en stor?
If you include the indefinite article en, it must be followed by a noun. To say “the cat is a big cat,” you’d say Katten er en stor kat. To express just “the cat is big,” you omit en and use the bare adjective.