Learn Hardcore Danish: Han får en tør hoste om natten, når luften er kold. - He gets a dry cough at night when the air is cold.

Han har en tør hoste = He has a dry cough
→ This sounds like an ongoing, more permanent condition, not something that only happens at night when the air is cold.

So får is used because the cough starts/comes under certain conditions (at night, when the air is cold), not because he constantly has it.

Why is it en tør hoste and not just hoste or en hoste?

The noun hoste (“cough”) can be used in a few ways:

Bare noun (no article):
- Han har hoste. = He has a cough / He is coughing (as a condition).
- More general: he is suffering from coughing.
With an article:
- Han har en hoste.
  This is possible, but sounds more like you’re thinking of one specific cough or type of cough (for example, distinctive, unusual).
With an article and adjective:
- Han får en tør hoste. = He gets a dry cough.
  Here we need en because the adjective tør is modifying hoste as a specific instance or type of cough.

So en tør hoste emphasizes a particular kind of cough (dry), not just the general condition of coughing.

Why is it tør and not tørre or something with an ending?

Danish adjectives change form depending on gender, number, and definiteness. The basic pattern (using stor = big) is:

en stor bil (common gender, singular, indefinite)
et stort hus (neuter, singular, indefinite)
store biler (plural)
den store bil (definite with article: the big car)

In en tør hoste:

hoste is common gender, singular, indefinite.
So the adjective takes the basic form: tør.

You would see tørre in other forms:

den tørre hoste = the dry cough
tørre hoster = dry coughs

Here, because it’s en + common gender, singular, indefinite, tør stays in its base form.

Why is it om natten and not i nat? Don’t both mean “at night”?

They both relate to “night” but are used differently:

om natten
- Literally: “during the night / at night (in general)”
- Used for habitual or general situations.
- Han får en tør hoste om natten = He gets a dry cough at night (whenever it’s night, generally).
i nat
- Means “tonight / last night” depending on context.
- Refers to a specific night, not a general habit:
  - Jeg sov dårligt i nat. = I slept badly last night / tonight.

So om natten is correct here because the sentence describes what typically happens, not just one particular night.

Why is there a comma before når in Danish? Is it necessary?

The comma before når introduces a subordinate clause (når luften er kold).

In modern Danish punctuation, the comma before subordinate clauses is optional, but very common and still widely taught:

Han får en tør hoste om natten, når luften er kold. ✅
Han får en tør hoste om natten når luften er kold. ✅ (also allowed)

So:

The comma is not absolutely required by the newest rules, but it’s perfectly correct and very standard.
Many learners are advised to keep the comma because it clearly marks the start of the når-clause.

Can I change the word order and say: Når luften er kold, får han en tør hoste om natten?

Yes, that is completely correct, and very natural:

Han får en tør hoste om natten, når luften er kold.
Når luften er kold, får han en tør hoste om natten.

The meaning is the same. The difference is just which part you put first for emphasis or style.

Note:

In the main clause, Danish keeps verb‑second word order:
- … får han en tør hoste … (not han får after a leading adverbial clause; the verb comes first in the main clause segment after the comma).

Why is it luften (the air) and not just luft (air)?

Danish often uses the definite form of a noun to talk about something that is:

Specific in the context, or
Understood as “the” air in the surroundings.

Here, luften refers to the air around him / in the environment. That’s a specific, shared context, so Danish prefers the definite:

når luften er kold = when the air (around him) is cold.

Using bare luft (når luft er kold) would sound unnatural. For general scientific or abstract statements you might see bare luft, but in everyday speech about actual air around you, Danish typically uses luften.

What gender is hoste, and is that why we use en?

Yes. Hoste (cough) is a common gender noun in Danish.

Common gender nouns take en:
- en hoste, en stol, en bil.
Neuter nouns take et:
- et hus, et problem, et barn.

Because hoste is common gender:

en hoste → en tør hoste.

Could I say Han hoster tørt om natten, når luften er kold instead? Does that mean the same?

You can say:

Han hoster tørt om natten, når luften er kold.

This means roughly:

He coughs dryly at night, when the air is cold.

The difference:

Han får en tør hoste …
- Focuses on him developing a dry cough as a condition.
Han hoster tørt …
- Focuses on the way he coughs (the manner of the action).

In practice, they describe very similar situations; the original with får en tør hoste sounds a bit more like a medical description of a symptom appearing under certain conditions.

What tense is får, and why is present tense used if this is a repeated situation?

Får is present tense of at få.

Danish, like English, uses the present tense to express:

General truths
Habits / repeated situations

Here:

Han får en tør hoste om natten, når luften er kold.
= He gets a dry cough at night when the air is cold (as a rule / habit).

So the present tense naturally covers habitual meaning, just like in English:
“He gets a cough when it’s cold.”

What is the difference between når and da? Could I say da luften er kold?

No, you cannot use da here. The distinction is:

når = when / whenever
- Used for:
  - General or repeated situations (present, past, future)
  - Also for “when” in future.
- Han får hoste, når luften er kold. = He gets a cough when the air is cold (whenever that happens).
da = when (but only for one specific event in the past)
- Da luften var kold, fik han en tør hoste. = When the air was cold, he got a dry cough (on that particular occasion).

In your sentence, we’re talking about a general, repeated condition, so når is the only correct choice.

Why is it natten with double t? How is that formed from nat?

The base noun is en nat (a night).

To form the definite singular of many one‑syllable common gender nouns, Danish adds -ten or -en, often doubling the final consonant if there is a short vowel:

nat → natten (the night)
kat → katten (the cat)
hat → hatten (the hat)

So:

en nat = a night
natten = the night

Then om natten literally means “in the night / at the night” → idiomatically “at night (in general).”

Can I add an adverb like ofte? Where would it go in the sentence?

Yes. In the main clause, adverbs like ofte (often) typically come after the finite verb in verb‑second sentences:

Han får ofte en tør hoste om natten, når luften er kold.

If you start with the når‑clause:

Når luften er kold, får han ofte en tør hoste om natten.

Patterns:

Main clause: Subject – Verb – (mid‑position adverb) – rest
- Han får ofte en tør hoste …
- Han får måske / tit / altid en tør hoste …

How is the word hoste used as a noun vs a verb?

Hoste can be both a noun and a verb:

Noun:
- en hoste = a cough
- Han har en tør hoste. = He has a dry cough.
Verb (at hoste):
- Han hoster. = He is coughing / he coughs.
- Han hoster tørt. = He coughs dryly.

In your sentence, hoste is a noun:

en tør hoste = a dry cough.

Can you give a quick guide to pronouncing the sentence like a Dane?

Very roughly (not exact IPA, just guidance for an English speaker):

Han – like “hun” but with a short a, a bit like “hun” in “hundred”; the final n is often weak.
får – similar to British “for” but with a more open vowel.
en – like a short “en” in “end” without the d.
tør – vowel between “uh” and “ö” (like German “ö”), then a kind of soft cut‑off at the end.
hoste – roughly “HO-stuh”; ho like in “hope” but shorter, final e is a weak “uh”.
om – like English “um” but with a more open vowel.
natten – “NAT-n(uh)”; short a, double t, final en is a weak syllable.
når – a bit like British “nor” but with a more open, rounded vowel.
luften – “LUF-ten”; f clearly pronounced, last syllable weak.
er – very short, somewhere between “air” and just a schwa.
kold – like “koll” with a short o (as in “cot”), final d often not clearly pronounced.

Listening to native recordings and repeating whole phrases like
“Han får en tør hoste om natten, når luften er kold.”
will help much more than focusing on single words in isolation.