Learn Hardcore Danish: Udtrykket er nemt at forstå, men det kan alligevel være svært at sige hurtigt. - The expression is easy to understand, but it can still be hard to say quickly.

The base noun is “et udtryk” = an expression (it’s a neuter noun).
The definite singular of neuter nouns is formed with -et:
- et hus → huset (the house)
- et ord → ordet (the word)
- et udtryk → udtrykket (the expression)

So “Udtrykket er …” = “The expression is …” and “udtrykket” is the subject of the sentence.

Why is it “nemt” and not just “nem” in “Udtrykket er nemt at forstå”?

Danish adjectives change form to agree with the noun’s gender and number.

The basic form is nem (easy).
With a neuter singular noun, you add -t: nemt.

Because “udtrykket” is neuter (et udtryk), the adjective after “er” matches it:

Udtrykket er nemt = The expression is easy.
Spørgsmålet er nemt (neuter: et spørgsmål).
Opgaven er nem (common gender: en opgave).

So “nemt” agrees with “udtrykket”.

How does the structure “nemt at forstå” work? Is “at” the same as English “to”?

Yes. Here “at” is the infinitive marker, roughly like English “to” before a verb.

The pattern is:

adjective + at + infinitive
= adjective + to + bare verb

So:

nemt at forstå = easy to understand
svært at sige = hard to say
vigtigt at lære = important to learn

In your sentence:

“Udtrykket er nemt at forstå”
= The expression is easy to understand.

Grammatically, “nemt” describes how easy it is, and “at forstå” is the thing that is easy to do.

Could we also say “Det er nemt at forstå udtrykket”? Is there a difference in meaning?

Yes, you can say that, and the basic meaning is the same.

Udtrykket er nemt at forstå.
Literally: The expression is easy to understand.
→ Slightly more focus on “the expression” as the topic.
Det er nemt at forstå udtrykket.
Literally: It is easy to understand the expression.
→ Slightly more neutral “it”-construction; the focus feels more on the situation of understanding it.

In everyday Danish, both versions are natural; the difference is about emphasis, not about correctness.

In “men det kan alligevel være svært at sige hurtigt”, what exactly does “det” refer to?

Here “det” is a pronoun referring back to the expression (or, more loosely, to saying that expression).

Danish often needs a subject pronoun even when English might drop it or use an abstract “it”:

Det kan være svært at sige (hurtigt).
= It can be hard to say (quickly).

You can think of “det” as meaning roughly “it / that” = that expression we just mentioned.

Why is it “kan være svært” and not simply “er svært”?

“kan være” = “can be”, and that adds a nuance of possibility or tendency, not something that is always true.

Det er svært = It is (always / generally) hard.
Det kan være svært = It can be hard (in some cases / for some people / under certain conditions).

So:

“… men det kan alligevel være svært at sige hurtigt.”
= … but it can still be hard to say quickly.

This sounds more natural and polite in Danish, because you’re not claiming it is always difficult, only that it can be.

What does “alligevel” mean here, and why is it placed between “kan” and “være”?

“Alligevel” in this context means something like:

“still”, “anyway”, “nevertheless”, “even so”.

So the clause means:

“… men det kan alligevel være svært …”
= “… but it can still / nevertheless be hard …”

About the position:

In a main clause, Danish tends to put adverbs like alligevel right after the finite verb (the one that is conjugated for tense), which here is “kan”:

det kan alligevel være svært
subject – finite verb – alligevel – infinitive

Other common patterns with alligevel:

Vi tager *alligevel afsted.* = We’re going anyway.
Han kom ikke, *alligevel.* = He didn’t come, after all.

So the placement after “kan” is the normal word order.

What is the difference between “nemt” and “svært”? Are there other common alternatives?

They’re basically opposites:

nem / nemt = easy
svær / svært = difficult / hard

So the sentence contrasts:

nemt at forstå = easy to understand
svært at sige = hard to say

Common synonyms:

nem / nemt ↔ let / let (slightly more formal or written: “let at forstå”)
svær / svært ↔ vanskelig / vanskeligt (more formal: “vanskeligt at sige”)

In everyday speech, “nem” and “svær” are very frequent and neutral.

Why is it “svært at sige hurtigt” and not “svært at sige det hurtigt”?

It could be:

“svært at sige det hurtigt” = hard to say it quickly.

But Danish often omits the object when it’s already clear from context. We already know we’re talking about that expression, so repeating “det” or “udtrykket” is not necessary.

svært at sige hurtigt
literally: hard to say quickly (understood: hard to say *the expression quickly*)

Both are grammatically correct.
The version without “det” is a bit lighter and more natural in this kind of sentence.

Why is “hurtigt” with a -t, and not “hurtig”?

Here “hurtigt” is an adverb, describing how something is said (quickly), not an adjective describing a noun.

In Danish, many adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding -t, which is also the neuter form of the adjective:

en hurtig bil = a fast car (adjective, common gender)
et hurtigt tog = a fast train (adjective, neuter)
Han løber hurtigt. = He runs quickly. (adverb)

So:

hurtig → adjective form
hurtigt → neuter adjective and adverb form

In “at sige hurtigt”, “hurtigt” functions as an adverb = to say (it) quickly.

Can the adverbs be moved? For example, could you say “men alligevel kan det være svært at sige hurtigt” or “at sige hurtigt det”?

Some movement is possible, but not everything works.

✅ Possible / natural:

Men det kan alligevel være svært at sige hurtigt. (original)
Men alligevel kan det være svært at sige hurtigt.

Both are correct. Moving “alligevel” to the very beginning of the clause changes the emphasis slightly (you stress the “nevertheless” more), but it’s fine.

If you include “det”, normal word order is:

… være svært at sige det hurtigt.
(svært to say it quickly)

❌ Not natural:

… at sige hurtigt det.

In Danish, you don’t normally split verb + object in that way with an adverb in between; the object “det” should come before or after the whole phrase, not jammed in the middle. Correct options are:

at sige det hurtigt (verb + object + adverb)
or just at sige hurtigt when the object is understood.

How would you pronounce the sentence, especially “udtrykket”, “svært”, and “hurtigt”?

Approximate pronunciations (not strict IPA, just to help an English speaker):

Udtrykket ≈ “OOTH-trø-keth”
- ud-: like “ood” but with a soft /ð/-like th-ish sound at the end.
- -tryk-: vowel similar to French “eu” in “peu” (rounded œ sound), and a soft tr cluster.
- Final -ket: the k softens and the -et is weak, almost like “-kehð”.
svært ≈ “svair(t)”
- sv-: like English “sv” in “Svengali”.
- æ: like “a” in “cat”, but a bit more open.
- The r and t are not strongly released; it often sounds close to “svair” with a kind of creaky ending.
hurtigt ≈ “HOOR-tee(t)”
- hu-: like “hoo” in “hoot”, but the vowel is a bit more central.
- r influences the vowel, so it’s not a clean “oo”.
- Final -t is weak; many speakers don’t make a strong [t] at the very end.

Spoken at a normal pace, many consonants are softened or partly swallowed, so the whole sentence will sound more “blurred” than the spelling suggests.

Could the sentence be said in a more formal or a more informal way?

Yes. The original is fairly neutral. Here are variants:

More formal:

Udtrykket er let at forstå, men det kan dog være vanskeligt at udtale hurtigt.
- let instead of nemt
- vanskeligt instead of svært
- dog instead of alligevel
- udtale (“pronounce”) instead of sige (“say”)

More informal / conversational:

Udtrykket er nemt at forstå, men det er alligevel lidt svært at sige hurtigt.
- adds “lidt” (a bit) to soften it
- keeps the same core structure

All of them express the same basic idea; the differences are mostly about tone and register.