Breakdown of Isen på vejen er glat om vinteren.
Questions & Answers about Isen på vejen er glat om vinteren.
Danish usually shows “the” by adding a suffix to the noun instead of using a separate word like English does.
- is = ice → isen = the ice
- vej = road → vejen = the road
- vinter = winter → vinteren = the winter
So in Isen på vejen er glat om vinteren, the words with -en are in the definite form and together mean:
- Isen = the ice
- vejen = the road
- vinteren = the winter
You couldn’t say ✗ den is på den vej to mean “the ice on the road” in normal Danish. You need the suffixes: isen på vejen. (There are separate articles en/et/den/det/de, but they behave differently and are not used here.)
Danish often uses the definite form where English uses a general or uncountable noun.
English:
- “Ice on the road is slippery in (the) winter.”
Danish:
- Isen på vejen er glat om vinteren.
Even though you’re talking in general, Danish likes to say it as if it were the ice on the road and the winter.
If you said Is på vej er glat om vinter, it would sound wrong or very strange. For these kinds of general statements, think:
- English: “ice on roads” → Danish: isen på vejene (the ice on the roads)
- English: “in winter” → Danish: om vinteren (literally: in/on the winter)
The preposition på is used for things that are on a surface, and that’s how Danish normally thinks about roads:
- på vejen = on the road
- på gulvet = on the floor
- på bordet = on the table
i means “in/inside”, and i vejen is actually a fixed expression meaning “in the way / blocking”.
So:
- Isen på vejen = the ice on the road (literally on the surface of the road)
- Han står i vejen = He is in the way / He’s blocking (not “inside the road”)
That’s why på vejen is correct here.
The basic order here is:
Subject – Verb – (Predicative) – Adverbial
- Isen på vejen = subject (a full noun phrase)
- er = verb (“is”)
- glat = predicative adjective (describing the subject)
- om vinteren = adverbial (time: “in the winter”)
So the pattern is:
Isen på vejen (S) er (V) glat (Pred) om vinteren (Adv)
You can also move the time phrase to the front (common in Danish):
- Om vinteren er isen på vejen glat.
This uses the Danish V2 rule: in a main clause, the conjugated verb (er) must be the second element, even if you start with something else like om vinteren.
glat means “slippery” here. The form of the adjective depends on what it describes and where it stands.
Predicate position (after er, bliver, etc.)
- With a singular noun (common or neuter), the base form is used:
- Isen er glat. = The ice is slippery.
- Vejret er godt. = The weather is good.
So:
- Isen … er glat is correct.
- With a singular noun (common or neuter), the base form is used:
Before a noun:
- Common gender, singular: en glat vej (a slippery road)
- Neuter, singular: et glat bord (a slippery table)
- Plural (both genders): glatte veje (slippery roads), glatte borde (slippery tables)
glad is a different word: it means “happy”, not “slippery”.
So here we need the base form glat because it’s after the verb er and refers to a singular subject (isen).
om vinteren is the usual way to say “in winter / in the winter” when you mean something that happens regularly or typically in that season.
- om vinteren = in (the) winter, during winter
- om sommeren = in (the) summer
- om natten = at night
Using i vinteren for this meaning is wrong or at least very unusual. i with seasons is normally not used the way English uses “in winter” for general statements.
So for “in winter, the ice on the road is slippery” you should say:
- Om vinteren er isen på vejen glat.
or - Isen på vejen er glat om vinteren.
All three words are common gender (en-words) in Danish:
- (en) is → isen (the ice)
- (en) vej → vejen (the road)
- (en) vinter → vinteren (the winter)
This matters because:
The definite ending is -en (not -et).
- en is → isen
- If it were neuter: et … → …et (e.g. et bord → bordet).
Adjectives before these nouns take the common-gender pattern:
- en glat vej (a slippery road)
- en kold vinter (a cold winter)
In our sentence the adjectives are in predicate position (er glat), so gender doesn’t change their form.
We need the plural of vej (“road”) and then match the adjective:
- vej → veje (roads)
- veje → vejene (the roads)
- Plural adjective: glatte
A natural sentence:
- Vejene er glatte om vinteren.
= The roads are slippery in (the) winter.
If you really want to keep the ice as subject:
- Isen på vejene er glat om vinteren.
= The ice on the roads is slippery in (the) winter.
Notice: the verb er doesn’t change; Danish verbs don’t agree with singular vs plural.
Yes, but you normally change the structure a bit.
- Isen på vejen er glat om vinteren.
= The ice on the road is slippery in winter.
A more natural “icy road” version would be:
- Vejene er isede om vinteren.
= The roads are icy in winter.
or more commonly just:
- Vejene er glatte om vinteren.
= The roads are slippery in winter.
iset/isede (“icy”) exists, but in everyday speech glat/glatte is very common to describe winter road conditions.
Approximate pronunciation (in a simple, English-friendly way):
- Isen ≈ EE-s’n (the s is clear; the final -en is very reduced, almost like “n”)
- på ≈ po (like “paw” but with rounded lips, short)
- vejen ≈ VAI-en (first syllable like English “vie”; again, reduced -en)
- er ≈ air but short and more central, a bit like unstressed “er” in “her”
- glat ≈ glaht (short a as in British “flat”, final t often quite clear)
- om ≈ om (like “omm”)
- vinteren ≈ VIN-ter’n (short i as in “win”, then reduced -en)
Said more naturally and a bit connected:
Isen på vejen er glat om vinteren
≈ EE-s’n po VAI-en air glaht om VIN-ter’n