Kæresten drikker kaffe i stuen.

The partner drinks coffee in the living room.

Breakdown of Kæresten drikker kaffe i stuen.

• i: in
• drikke: to drink
• stuen: the living room
• kaffen: the coffee
• kæresten: the partner

Questions & Answers about Kæresten drikker kaffe i stuen.

Why does kæresten mean the boyfriend/girlfriend and not just boyfriend/girlfriend?

In Danish, the definite article (the) is usually a suffix, not a separate word.

• kæreste = boyfriend / girlfriend / romantic partner (indefinite, like a partner)
• kæresten = the boyfriend / the girlfriend / the partner (definite, like the partner)

So -n on kæreste works like English the, turning it into kæresten.

Does kæresten refer to a man or a woman?

kæresten itself is gender‑neutral. It just means the romantic partner.

Who it refers to depends on context and the pronouns you use:

• Han er min kæreste. = He is my boyfriend.
• Hun er min kæreste. = She is my girlfriend.

In many situations, kæresten would naturally be understood as the boyfriend or the girlfriend the speakers already know about from context.

Why do we say kæresten instead of min kæreste (“my boyfriend/girlfriend”)?

You can say min kæreste:

• Min kæreste drikker kaffe i stuen. = My boyfriend/girlfriend is drinking coffee in the living room.

Using kæresten often implies:

• both speakers already know which partner is meant
• OR it’s obvious from context (e.g. in a story where this partner has already been introduced)

It’s similar to English using the for someone known in the situation:
The boyfriend is drinking coffee in the living room.

Why is there no separate word for the in i stuen (“in the living room”)?

Danish usually puts the at the end of the noun, not as a separate word:

• stue = living room
• stuen = the living room

So:

• i stue = (not correct in this meaning)
• i stuen = in the living room

The preposition i = in, and stuen already includes the.

Why is it i stuen and not på stuen?

Both i and på can translate as in / on / at, but they’re used with different kinds of places.

For rooms inside a house, you normally use i:

• i stuen = in the living room
• i køkkenet = in the kitchen
• i soveværelset = in the bedroom

på is used for many open or surface-like places (e.g. på bordet = on the table, på arbejde = at work), but stuen takes i.

Why is there no article before kaffe? Why not en kaffe or kaffen?

kaffe is a mass noun (like water, milk, coffee in English). In Danish, when you talk about it in general, you don’t use an article:

• Kæresten drikker kaffe.
  = The partner drinks coffee / is drinking coffee (in general, some coffee).

You would use an article when you are specific:

• Kæresten drikker kaffen. = The partner is drinking the coffee (a specific coffee).
• Kæresten drikker en kaffe. = The partner is drinking a coffee (one coffee, often one cup; more casual, a bit like ordering a coffee).

But in your sentence, kaffe means coffee in a general, non-specific sense, so no article.

How do you say is drinking in Danish? Why is it just drikker?

Danish doesn’t have a special continuous form like English is drinking. The simple present is used for both:

• Kæresten drikker kaffe i stuen.
  = The partner drinks coffee in the living room.
  = The partner is drinking coffee in the living room.

Context usually tells you whether it’s a general habit or something happening right now.

If you really want to emphasize right now, you can say, for example:

• Kæresten sidder i stuen og drikker kaffe.
  = The partner is sitting in the living room and drinking coffee.

or

• Kæresten er ved at drikke kaffe i stuen.
  = The partner is in the middle of drinking coffee in the living room.

What is the basic word order in Kæresten drikker kaffe i stuen?

The structure is:

• Kæresten (subject)
• drikker (verb)
• kaffe (object)
• i stuen (adverbial: where)

So: Subject – Verb – Object – (Adverbial)

This is standard Danish main‑clause word order. Notice that the finite verb is always in the second position (the so‑called V2 rule):

• Kæresten drikker kaffe i stuen.
• I stuen drikker kæresten kaffe. (Here the place comes first, so the subject and verb switch places to keep the verb second.)

Can kæresten mean the beloved or the dear one, not just “boyfriend/girlfriend”?

Yes. The noun kæreste comes from kær (dear), and literally means the dear one. In modern usage:

• most commonly, kæreste / kæresten = boyfriend, girlfriend, romantic partner
• in some contexts (poetic/old-fashioned), it can mean the beloved one more generally

But in everyday speech, you can safely think of kæresten as the romantic partner.

How do you pronounce kæresten drikker kaffe i stuen?

Approximate guide (in a neutral accent):

• kæresten ≈ KÆR-sten

  • æ like a in cat, but a bit longer
  • final -en is a weak syllable: -en

• drikker ≈ DRI-kah

  • drik- like English drick in trick
  • the final -ker often sounds more like -kah or -kə

• kaffe ≈ KAF-eh

  • kaff- like caff- in café
  • final -e is a short, weak -eh / -ə

• i ≈ ee (like in see)

• stuen ≈ STOO-en

  • u like oo in food
  • again, final -en is weak

Said smoothly, many syllables get reduced, so it might sound something like:
KÆR-sten DRI-kə KAF-fə i STU-ən.

How would I say My boyfriend/girlfriend is in the living room drinking coffee?

You have a few natural options:

1. Min kæreste drikker kaffe i stuen.
   – Direct, very normal; can mean is drinking coffee right now.

2. Min kæreste er i stuen og drikker kaffe.
   – Emphasizes that the partner is in the living room and (there) drinking coffee.

Both are idiomatic, and which you choose depends on what you want to emphasize more: the action (drinking coffee) or the location (being in the living room).