Learn Hardcore Danish: Det er kunderne, der løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud. - It is the customers who run to the shop when there is a big special offer.

Det er kunderne, der løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud.

It is the customers who run to the shop when there is a big special offer.

Breakdown of Det er kunderne, der løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud.

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Questions & Answers about Det er kunderne, der løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud.

Why does the sentence start with Det er kunderne instead of just Kunderne?

This is a cleft sentence in Danish: Det er X, der … = It is X who/that …

Det er kunderne, der løber…
literally: It is the customers who run…

Compared to Kunderne løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud, the cleft form:

Puts extra emphasis on kunderne (the customers), often to contrast them with someone else (e.g. staff, manager, suppliers).
Feels a bit more spoken and emphatic, like English:
- It’s the customers who run to the shop when there’s a big sale.

Both versions are grammatically correct; the non‑cleft version is just more neutral.

What is the role of der in kunderne, der løber til butikken?

Here der is a relative pronoun, similar to English who/that:

kunderne, der løber til butikken
≈ the customers who run to the shop

So the structure is:

Det er kunderne, der løber til butikken…
= It is the customers who run to the shop…

It links back to kunderne and introduces the relative clause der løber til butikken (who run to the shop).

Could you also say Det er kunderne, som løber til butikken instead of der?

Yes. In this sentence you can say either:

Det er kunderne, der løber til butikken…
Det er kunderne, som løber til butikken…

Both are correct, and both mean “It’s the customers who run to the shop…”.

Nuance:

der is more common in everyday speech.
som can sound a little more explicit or formal, but in many contexts they’re interchangeable when referring to the subject of the clause (here: kunderne).

You cannot drop it entirely; you need der or som in this type of cleft construction.

There are two der’s in the sentence. Do they mean the same thing?

No, they have different functions:

…kunderne, der løber til butikken…
- Here der = a relative pronoun, like who/that.
- Refers back to kunderne.
…når der er et stort tilbud.
- Here der = a dummy subject, like English there in there is / there are.
- der er = there is.

So:

der (after kunderne) = who
der (in der er) = there (existential “there is”)

Why is it til butikken and not i butikken or på butikken?

The choice of preposition reflects movement vs. location:

til butikken = to the shop (movement towards a place)
- They are running to the shop from somewhere else.
i butikken = in/inside the shop (location)
- Kunderne er i butikken = The customers are in the shop.
på butikken is not used in standard Danish in this meaning.

So løber til butikken parallels English run to the shop.
You might also hear løber hen til butikken (run over to the shop), which just adds a bit of nuance.

Why is løber in the present tense if this is about something that happens in general?

Danish, like English, uses the simple present for:

habitual actions or general truths.

So:

De løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud.
= They run to the shop when there is a big sale.
(i.e. whenever this situation occurs)

You could paraphrase the meaning in English as “tend to run” or “usually run”, but Danish still just uses the plain present løber for this habitual meaning.

Why is the word order når der er et stort tilbud and not something like når et stort tilbud er der?

In Danish subordinate clauses (introduced by når, fordi, at, som, der, etc.) have a different word order from main clauses.

Pattern in a subordinate clause:

Subordinating conjunction (here: når)
Subject or dummy subject (der)
Finite verb (er)
Rest of the clause (et stort tilbud)

So:

når der er et stort tilbud = correct subordinate clause order
når et stort tilbud er der sounds unnatural in this meaning and is not how Danes say “when there is a big offer/sale”.

The standard way to say “there is X” in Danish is der er X, and you keep that unit inside the subordinate clause as well.

What does et stort tilbud literally mean, and why stort and not store?

Literally:

tilbud = offer, special deal, often sale in shop contexts.
et = the indefinite article for neuter nouns.
stort = big, in the neuter singular form.

Grammar:

tilbud is a neuter noun (et tilbud / tilbuddet).
Adjectives agree with gender and number:
- et stort tilbud (a big offer, neuter singular)
- det store tilbud (the big offer, definite form)
- store tilbud (big offers, plural, no article)

So et stort tilbud is exactly the correct agreement:
et (neuter) + stort (neuter) + tilbud (neuter noun).

Does et stort tilbud mean one individual “offer”, or can it mean a “big sale” in general?

In this context, et stort tilbud is usually understood more loosely, like:

a big sale, a major special offer, a really good deal.

It doesn’t have to refer to a single, precise item; it can mean:

a particularly attractive promotion,
a major discount event, etc.

If you wanted to make it clearly plural or more general, you might say:

når der er store tilbud = when there are big offers / big sales.

Is løber here literal running, or can it also mean just “hurry/go quickly”?

Literally, løber = run (on foot).

In practice:

It can be taken literally: they really run.
Very often it is also used a bit figuratively, similar to English:
- People run to the shops when there’s a big sale.

So it suggests hurrying eagerly to the shop, not just casually walking. Context will decide how physical you should imagine it, but the core idea is strong, eager movement towards the shop.

What is the difference between når and hvis in a sentence like this?

Both can translate to English “when/if”, but they have different uses:

når = when in the sense of whenever / every time something happens, often for habitual or repeated situations:
- Kunderne løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud.
  = Customers run to the shop when(ever) there is a big sale.
hvis = if in a more conditional sense:
- Kunderne løber til butikken, hvis der er et stort tilbud.
  = Customers will run to the shop if there is a big sale (on the condition that there is one).

In this sentence, når nicely matches the idea of a regular pattern of behavior.

Why are there commas in Det er kunderne, der løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud? Could they be different?

The commas mark subordinate clauses:

der løber til butikken (relative clause)
når der er et stort tilbud (adverbial clause)

Traditional comma rules:

Det er kunderne, der løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud.

With the “new comma” (a newer, more relaxed system), many Danes omit the first comma before der:

Det er kunderne der løber til butikken, når der er et stort tilbud.

You will see both in real texts.
The important point for understanding is: the commas are there to show where the subordinate clauses (der… and når…) begin (and sometimes end), but spoken Danish doesn’t mark them strongly—you mostly hear the structure from rhythm and intonation.

Could you say når der er stort tilbud without et, or is the article necessary?

In this exact sentence, the article is natural and preferred:

når der er et stort tilbud
= when there is a big offer/sale (one big/major offer or event)

If you drop the article:

når der er stort tilbud

it sounds off or incomplete in standard Danish. You would instead change the structure if you wanted to be more general:

når der er store tilbud = when there are big offers (plural, no article)
når der er gode tilbud = when there are good offers/deals

So here, with singular “tilbud”, keep et: et stort tilbud.