Breakdown of Forældrenes hus er stille om aftenen.
Questions & Answers about Forældrenes hus er stille om aftenen.
Forældrenes means “the parents’” (possessive: belonging to the parents).
Breakdown:
- forældre = parents (plural, indefinite)
- forældrene = the parents (plural, definite)
- forældrenes = the parents’ (genitive/possessive form)
So you take forældrene (the parents) and add -s to show possession:
- forældrene + s → forældrenes
The sequence -nes at the end is just the combination of -ne (definite plural ending) + s (possessive). It’s not a separate suffix by itself.
In Danish, when you express possession with a noun in the genitive (with -s), you normally do not add a separate definite article (den/det/de) or a definite ending to the possessed noun.
Structure:
- Forældrenes hus = the parents’ house
- forældrenes → the parents’
- hus → house (indefinite form; no -et here)
You should not say:
- ✗ Forældrenes huset
- ✗ De forældrenes hus
The definiteness (the “the”) is carried by forældrenes, not by hus. So the pattern is:
- [possessor in -s] + [bare noun]
e.g. Peters bil (Peter’s car), Forældrenes hus (the parents’ house).
- hus = house (indefinite, “a house”)
- huset = the house (definite, “the house”)
Normally:
- Et hus = a house
- Huset = the house
But after a possessive/genitive, Danish uses the indefinite form of the noun:
- Forældrenes hus = the parents’ house
(literally: “the parents’ house” but with hus in the indefinite form)
You would almost never say Forældrenes huset; that sounds wrong to native speakers.
In this sentence, stille means “quiet”.
Danish stille can mean:
- Quiet/silent
- Huset er stille. = The house is quiet.
- To put/place something (carefully) (as a verb: at stille)
- Jeg stiller koppen på bordet. = I put the cup on the table.
It can also overlap a bit with English “still” (not noisy, calm), but the main meaning here is “quiet”, describing the atmosphere in the house.
As a predicate after er (is), stille doesn’t need an extra adverb ending; it just stays stille:
- Huset er stille. = The house is quiet.
You can say Forældrenes hus er roligt om aftenen, and it is grammatical, but there is a nuance difference:
- stille = quiet, silent; focuses on low noise, little or no sound.
- rolig(t) = calm, peaceful; focuses more on atmosphere and mood.
So:
- Forældrenes hus er stille om aftenen.
→ The house is (physically) quiet; you don’t hear much. - Forældrenes hus er roligt om aftenen.
→ The house feels calm/peaceful; not hectic or stressful.
In everyday speech, they can overlap, but stille is more about sound, rolig more about calmness.
om aftenen literally means “about/on/in the evening”, but idiomatically it means “in the evening” or “in the evenings” (as a general time).
Structure:
- om = about/around/in (used for recurring time periods)
- aften = evening (indefinite)
- aftenen = the evening (definite, singular)
So om aftenen is used for a general or habitual time:
- Jeg læser om aftenen. = I read in the evenings / I read in the evening (as a habit).
- Forældrenes hus er stille om aftenen.
→ The parents’ house is quiet in the evening(s) (generally, whenever evening comes).
om aftenen = in the evening(s), generally/habitually
- Suggests a regular pattern or a typical situation.
- Jeg ser tv om aftenen. = I watch TV in the evenings.
i aften = this evening, specifically tonight
- Refers to this coming evening.
- Jeg ser tv i aften. = I’m watching TV this evening / tonight.
So:
- Forældrenes hus er stille om aftenen.
→ It is usually/typically quiet in the evening. - Forældrenes hus er stille i aften.
→ It is quiet this particular evening (tonight), implying maybe that this is noteworthy now.
Yes, Om aftenen er forældrenes hus stille is perfectly correct.
Danish has V2 word order in main clauses: the finite verb (er) has to be in second position, but the first position can be something other than the subject, such as a time phrase.
Two correct versions:
- Forældrenes hus er stille om aftenen.
- Subject first: Forældrenes hus
- Verb second: er
- Om aftenen er forældrenes hus stille.
- Adverbial (time) first: Om aftenen
- Verb still second: er
- Subject after the verb: forældrenes hus
The difference is mainly emphasis:
- Version 1: more neutral; focuses a bit more on the house.
- Version 2: slightly more emphasis on the time (“In the evening, that’s when the house is quiet”).
Forældre is always plural and means “parents”.
To say “a parent”, Danish uses:
- en forælder = a parent
- forælderen = the parent
- forældre = parents
- forældrene = the parents
So:
- Forældrenes hus = the parents’ house
- If you wanted “the parent’s house” (only one parent), it would be:
- Forælderens hus = the parent’s house
You can say forældres hus, but it has a different feel:
- Forældrenes hus = the parents’ house
→ Refers to some specific parents we have in mind (e.g. my parents, the parents we’re talking about). - Forældres hus = parents’ house
→ More generic or abstract; sounds like “a/any parents’ house”, not clearly tied to a specific set of parents.
In normal conversation, if you mean specific, known parents (like yours, or parents in the story), you would almost always say forældrenes hus.
Approximate pronunciation (using rough English-like hints):
Forældrenes ≈ fo-REL-dren-ess
- fo: like fo in forget, very short
- æ: like e in bed
- -drenes: the d is soft, almost like a very light th or even barely pronounced; the whole word flows together: fo-REL-dre-nes
hus ≈ hoos
- like English hoose, with a long u sound
er ≈ air but shorter and more relaxed
stille ≈ STIL-leh
- sti like still
- -lle: a light schwa at the end: -leh
om ≈ om (like British Tom with an o sound)
aftenen ≈ AF-teh-nen
- af: like af in after, but very short
- te: teh
- nen: nen (with a very light ending, almost n’n)
Said more smoothly, it would sound something like:
- fo-REL-dre-nes HOOS air STIL-leh om AF-te-nen (all quite reduced and flowing in real speech).