Breakdown of Onklens jakke hænger på væggen ved døren.
Questions & Answers about Onklens jakke hænger på væggen ved døren.
Onkel means uncle.
- Onklen = the uncle (definite form)
- Onklens = the uncle’s (possessive/genitive)
So Onklens jakke literally is the uncle’s jacket.
Danish often forms the possessive by adding -s to a noun, including the definite form:
- Peter → Peters bil (Peter’s car)
- manden → mandens hat (the man’s hat)
- onklen → onklens jakke (the uncle’s jacket)
In Danish, when a noun is possessed (with -s or a possessive pronoun like min, hans, hendes), the possessed noun is normally indefinite, without the -en / -et ending:
- mandens bil (the man’s car), not mandens bilen
- min jakke (my jacket), not min jakken
- Onklens jakke (the uncle’s jacket), not Onklens jakken
The possessor (Onklens) already makes the noun specific, so the definite ending on jakke is not used.
Danish usually marks definiteness with a suffix, not with a separate the:
- en væg = a wall → væggen = the wall
- en dør = a door → døren = the door
In the sentence, we are talking about a specific wall and a specific door, so Danish uses the definite forms væggen and døren. English shows this with the, Danish with -en.
Danish often uses position verbs instead of a neutral to be:
- ligger = lies (is lying)
- står = stands (is standing / is upright)
- sidder = sits (is sitting)
- hænger = hangs (is hanging)
So where English often says “The uncle’s jacket is on the wall”, Danish prefers:
- Onklens jakke hænger på væggen
literally: The uncle’s jacket hangs on the wall.
With hænger, the phrase på væggen means on the wall, as in hanging on the wall (attached to it).
- hænger på væggen → hanging on the wall (like a picture, coat on a hook)
If something is leaning against a wall (not hanging), you would more often describe it differently, e.g.:
- står op ad væggen = is standing against the wall
Ved is a rather flexible preposition. In this context:
- ved døren = by the door / near the door / at the door
It means close to the door, in its immediate area.
Compare:
- ved døren – by/at the door
- nær døren – near the door (a bit more formal, more about proximity only)
- foran døren – in front of the door (in front, possibly blocking it)
Yes, you can move the prepositional phrases for emphasis, as long as you keep normal Danish word order:
- Neutral: Onklens jakke hænger på væggen ved døren.
- Emphasis on location: Ved døren hænger onklens jakke på væggen.
- Emphasis on “on the wall”: På væggen ved døren hænger onklens jakke.
These all work, but the original order is the most neutral and typical in everyday speech.
All three are common gender (en-words):
- en jakke – jakken (the jacket)
- en væg – væggen (the wall)
- en dør – døren (the door)
You usually have to learn the gender with the noun. Many everyday concrete nouns are en-words, but there is no perfect rule, so you memorize:
- en jakke, en væg, en dør
Very roughly:
- æ in jakke, hænger: similar to the a in English “cat”, but a bit tenser.
- ø in døren: similar to the vowel in British “bird” or French “deux”, but with rounded lips.
- ng in hænger: like English “sing”, one nasal sound [ŋ]; the g is not a separate hard [g] here.
- Final -er in hænger: often pronounced like a schwa sound [ə], something like “heng-uh”.
So a rough approximation: ON-klens YAK-uh HENG-ər paw VEH-gen ve dœr-en (very approximate).
You add min (my) to onkel and then make it possessive:
- min onkel = my uncle
- min onkels jakke = my uncle’s jacket
So the full sentence:
- Min onkels jakke hænger på væggen ved døren.
Make jakke plural:
- jakke → jakker (jackets)
- Verb hænger stays the same for plural.
So:
- Min onkels jakker hænger på væggen ved døren.
(Onklens jakker… if you mean the uncle’s jackets.)