Min ven er sjov, når han synger.

My friend is funny when he sings.

Breakdown of Min ven er sjov, når han synger.

• være: to be
• min: my
• når: when
• vennen: the friend

Questions & Answers about Min ven er sjov, når han synger.

Why is it min ven and not mit ven?

In Danish, the possessive pronoun must match the grammatical gender and number of the noun:

• ven (friend) is a common-gender noun: en ven
• For en-words (common gender, singular), you use min
• For et-words (neuter, singular), you use mit (e.g. mit hus – my house)

So it must be min ven, not mit ven.

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Why is the adjective sjov not changed to sjove or sjovt here?

There are two main uses of adjectives in Danish:

1. Attributive (before a noun):

   • en sjov ven (a funny friend)
   • et sjovt hus (a funny/odd house)
   • sjove venner (funny friends)

2. Predicative (after er, bliver, ser ud, etc., describing the subject):

   • Min ven er sjov. (My friend is funny.)

In predicative position like in er sjov, the base form sjov is used and does not change for gender or number. So:

• Min ven er sjov.
• Mine venner er sjove. (here sjove matches plural venner)

In your sentence, sjov describes min ven via the verb er, so the form sjov is correct.

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What exactly does sjov mean here: “fun” or “funny”?