Filmen om aftenen er både sjov og spændende.

The film in the evening is both fun and exciting.

Breakdown of Filmen om aftenen er både sjov og spændende.

• og: and
• være: to be
• aftenen: the evening
• om: in
• både: both
• filmen: the film
• spændende: exciting
• sjov: fun

Questions & Answers about Filmen om aftenen er både sjov og spændende.

Why is it Filmen and not en film at the start of the sentence?

Danish usually marks definiteness with an ending on the noun instead of a separate word:

• en film = a film (indefinite, singular)
• filmen = the film (definite, singular)

So Filmen om aftenen means the film in the evening.
If you said En film om aftenen, it would mean a film in the evening, not a specific one that speaker and listener already know about.

The pattern for film is:

• en film – a film
• filmen – the film
• film – films
• filmene – the films

What does the preposition om mean in om aftenen, and why not i aftenen?

In time expressions, om often means in / during (a general time of day):

• om morgenen – in the morning(s)
• om eftermiddagen – in the afternoon(s)
• om aftenen – in the evening(s)
• om natten – at night

So om aftenen is the standard way to say in the evening (as a general time period, or habitually).

You do not normally say i aftenen in Danish. Instead, you say:

• i aften – this evening / tonight (a specific evening)

Why is it aftenen (with -en) and not just aften in this expression?

Here aftenen is in the definite form:

• aften – evening
• aftenen – the evening

In Danish, these time expressions are set as:

• om morgenen – in the (the) morning(s)
• om aftenen – in the (the) evening(s)

Even though English does not use the here, Danish does. So om aftenen literally looks like “in the evening”, but it is normally understood as “in the evening / in the evenings” (a general time period or habit).

Is there a difference between Filmen om aftenen er ... and Om aftenen er filmen ...?

Both sentences are grammatically correct. The difference is word order and emphasis:

• Filmen om aftenen er både sjov og spændende.
  – Neutral word order: subject (Filmen om aftenen) first, then verb (er).
  – Focuses on the film.

• Om aftenen er filmen både sjov og spændende.
  – The time expression Om aftenen is moved to the front for emphasis.
  – Sounds more like: “In the evening, the film is both funny and exciting.”
  – Emphasises the time: in the evening.

In both cases, Danish keeps the finite verb in second position:

• Filmen (1) er (2) …
• Om aftenen (1) er (2) filmen (3) …

What does the construction både ... og ... do here?

både ... og ... means “both ... and ...”. It pairs two elements and stresses that both of them are true:

• Filmen ... er både sjov og spændende.
  – The film is both funny and exciting.

You can use både ... og ... with:

• adjectives: både sjov og spændende
• nouns: både børn og voksne (both children and adults)
• verbs: Jeg både læser og skriver (I both read and write)

The typical placement is:

• er både A og B (not: både er A og B in this kind of sentence).

Why is it sjov and not sjovt after er?

In Danish, adjectives usually agree with the gender and number of the noun they describe:

Basic pattern for sjov:

• en film er sjov – a film is funny (common gender singular)
• et program er sjovt – a programme is funny (neuter singular)
• filmene er sjove – the films are funny (plural)

In the sentence, the subject is Filmen:

• Filmen = en film in the definite form, so it is common gender singular.

Therefore the adjective must be in the common singular form: sjov.

That is why we say:

• Filmen er sjov.
  but
• Det er sjovt. (Here det is grammatically neuter.)

Why doesn’t spændende change its ending like sjov can?

spændende is an adjective that already ends in -ende, and this type of adjective normally does not change its form for gender or number.

You say:

• en spændende film – a thrilling film
• et spændende program – a thrilling programme
• spændende film – thrilling films
• Filmene er spændende. – The films are thrilling.

So unlike sjov / sjovt / sjove, spændende stays spændende in all these cases. That’s why in the sentence we get:

• Filmen ... er både sjov og spændende.

Can I leave out både and just say the film er sjov og spændende?

Yes, you can. Both are correct:

• Filmen om aftenen er sjov og spændende.
• Filmen om aftenen er både sjov og spændende.

Without både, you simply list two adjectives with og (and).
With både, you emphasise that both qualities apply. The nuance is slightly stronger or more “balanced”, but the basic meaning is the same.

How would I say in the evening if I mean this specific evening, not evenings in general?

For a specific evening (usually this evening / tonight), Danish uses i aften, not om aftenen:

• Filmen i aften er både sjov og spændende.
  – The film tonight is both funny and exciting.

Compare:

• Jeg ser ofte film om aftenen.
  – I often watch films in the evening / in the evenings (habit).

• Jeg ser en film i aften.
  – I’m watching a film tonight (this specific evening).

So:

• om aftenen → general, habitual time of day
• i aften → this evening / tonight

How do you pronounce the difficult parts, especially både and sjov?

Approximate pronunciations (standard Danish):

• både ≈ “BOH-the”

  • å: like the vowel in English “bought” (British) or “law”, but shorter.
  • d: a soft th-like sound (not a clear English d).
  • Final e: a weak schwa sound (like the a in “sofa”).

• sjov ≈ “shyow” (one syllable)

  • sj: similar to “sh”, but produced a bit further forward in the mouth.
  • ov: like English “ow” in “cow”, but shorter and more closed.

If you put them together:

• Filmen om aftenen er både sjov og spændende
  sounds roughly like:
  “FIL-men om AFT-nen er BOH-the shyow o spen-neh-ne” (very rough guide, but enough to help an English speaker get started).