Learn Hardcore Danish: Katten sover ofte i sofaens hjørne. - The cat often sleeps in the corner of the sofa.

So -en is the definite suffix for common‑gender nouns (words that take en). You don’t normally say den kat for simple “the cat”; that sounds more like that cat or this cat in English, with extra emphasis or contrast.

How would the sentence change if we talked about more than one cat?

You change both number and definiteness of kat:

en kat = a cat
katten = the cat
katte = cats
kattene = the cats

So:

Katte sover ofte i sofaens hjørne. = Cats often sleep in the corner of the sofa. (general statement about cats)
Kattene sover ofte i sofaens hjørne. = The cats often sleep in the corner of the sofa.

The rest of the sentence stays the same; the verb sover doesn’t change for plural subjects in Danish.

Why is the word order Katten sover ofte and not Katten ofte sover?

In a normal main clause, Danish wants the finite verb in second position (the V2 rule).

Here the elements are:

Katten (subject)
sover (finite verb)
ofte (adverb)
i sofaens hjørne (place phrase)

So Katten sover ofte … is correct: subject – verb – adverb – rest.

Katten ofte sover … is wrong in standard Danish main‑clause word order, because the verb must come before the adverb in a neutral sentence like this.

Can I start the sentence with Ofte to say “Often, the cat sleeps …”?

Yes. If you put something else first (like an adverb), the verb still has to be second. So you get:

Ofte sover katten i sofaens hjørne.
= Often, the cat sleeps in the corner of the sofa.

Structure:

Ofte (adverb in first position)
sover (finite verb, still in second position)
katten (subject)
i sofaens hjørne (place phrase)

You must not say Ofte katten sover … — that breaks the V2 rule.

Why does Danish use sover here instead of something like “is sleeping”?

Danish doesn’t use a separate progressive tense the way English does.

sover can mean both “sleeps” (habitually) and “is sleeping” (right now).
Katten sover ofte … most naturally means “The cat often sleeps …” (a repeated habit), especially because of ofte.

If you really want to stress that it’s happening right now, you can add a time expression:

Lige nu sover katten i sofaens hjørne.
= Right now, the cat is sleeping in the corner of the sofa.

Why is it ofte and not something like tit? What’s the difference?

Both ofte and tit mean often, but:

ofte is the more neutral, standard written form.
tit is very common in spoken Danish, sometimes feels a bit more informal or colloquial.

You could say:

Katten sover tit i sofaens hjørne.
This is perfectly fine Danish; it just sounds a bit more conversational than ofte.

Why is it i sofaens hjørne and not på or something else?

Prepositions with furniture can differ from English:

i = in / inside
på = on / on top of
ved = by / next to

Here the expression is literally “in the sofa’s corner”, so i fits: it’s like saying in the corner (an enclosed area).

Compare:

Katten ligger i sofaen. = The cat is lying in/on the sofa (Danish sees it more as “in” the soft area).
Katten sidder på stolen. = The cat is sitting on the chair.
Katten sidder ved sofaen. = The cat is sitting by/next to the sofa.

For hjørne (“corner”), you normally use i:
i hjørnet, i sofaens hjørne, i værelsets hjørne, etc.

What’s going on with sofaens? How do you form that possessive?

sofaens is the genitive/possessive form of sofaen (“the sofa”).

Steps:

en sofa = a sofa
sofaen = the sofa (definite)
sofaens = the sofa’s (possessive)

To form this:

Take the definite form sofaen.
Add -s: sofaens.

Key points:

There is no apostrophe in Danish: sofaens, not sofaen’s.
sofaens hjørne literally = “the sofa’s corner” = the corner of the sofa.

Why is it sofaens hjørne and not sofaens hjørnet?

In Danish, a noun phrase usually has only one marker of definiteness.

Here, definiteness is already marked on the possessor:

sofaen = the sofa
sofaens = the sofa’s (definite possessor)

Because the possessor is definite, the main noun hjørne stays indefinite:

sofaens hjørne = literally “the sofa’s corner”
(you cannot also say hjørnet here)

So:

✅ sofaens hjørne
❌ sofaens hjørnet

This is similar to English: you say “the sofa’s corner”, not “the sofa’s the corner”.

Could I say i hjørnet af sofaen instead of i sofaens hjørne?

Yes, that’s another correct way to say it, with slightly different structure:

i sofaens hjørne = in the sofa’s corner
i hjørnet af sofaen = in the corner of the sofa

Both mean practically the same thing.

You can also use a compound noun:

i sofahjørnet = in the sofa‑corner

So these are all natural:

Katten sover ofte i sofaens hjørne.
Katten sover ofte i hjørnet af sofaen.
Katten sover ofte i sofahjørnet.

The differences are mostly about style and compactness, not meaning.

What are the genders of kat, sofa, and hjørne, and why does it matter?

Danish has two genders:

Common gender (n-words) → use en / -en
Neuter (t-words) → use et / -et

In this sentence:

en kat → katten (common gender)
en sofa → sofaen → sofaens (common gender)
et hjørne → hjørnet (neuter)

It matters for:

Which indefinite article you use (en vs et)
Which definite ending you add (-en vs -et)

So you say:

Katten (the cat) but hjørnet (the corner)
i sofaens hjørne (corner is indefinite here because definiteness is carried by sofaens).

How do you pronounce tricky words like katten, sofaens, ofte, and hjørne?

Approximate pronunciations (in simple English-friendly terms):

katten ≈ “KAT-n”
- Short a like in “cat”, then a very light second syllable.
sofaens ≈ “SOH-fans” or “SOH-fens”
- so like English “so”,
- very light -aens ending, often almost one weak syllable.
ofte ≈ “OFF-tuh” or “OFF-duh”
- The final e is a weak uh sound.
- The t can sound quite soft and may blend with the following sound.
hjørne ≈ “YUR-neh” (rounded y sound)
- hj is pronounced like English “y”.
- ø is a rounded vowel; think of the British English vowel in “bird”, but with more lip rounding.
- Final e again is a weak uh sound.

So the whole sentence roughly:

Katten sover ofte i sofaens hjørne.
≈ “KAT-n SOH-vuh OFF-tuh ee SOH-fans YUR-neh.”