Dansk bliver lettere, når jeg bruger ordbogen.

Danish becomes easier when I use the dictionary.

Breakdown of Dansk bliver lettere, når jeg bruger ordbogen.

• jeg: I
• blive: to become
• når: when
• bruge: to use
• dansk: Danish
• ordbogen: the dictionary
• lettere: easier

Questions & Answers about Dansk bliver lettere, når jeg bruger ordbogen.

Why is bliver used here instead of er? In English we say “Danish is easier when I use the dictionary.”

In Danish, blive often corresponds to “become / get” rather than “be.”

• Dansk bliver lettere = “Danish becomes / gets easier.”
• Dansk er lettere would mean “Danish is easier” (stating a static fact, not a change).

Here the idea is that using the dictionary causes a change: Danish goes from being hard to being easier. That’s why bliver is more natural than er in this context.

What tense is bliver, and what is the infinitive form?

• Infinitive: at blive = to become / to get / to be (in some passive/auxiliary uses)
• Bliver is present tense of at blive.

So:

• Jeg bliver træt. – I become / I’m getting tired.
• Dansk bliver lettere. – Danish becomes / is getting easier.

Danish often uses the present tense for a general truth or regular occurrence, which matches English quite well here.

Why is Dansk capitalized? Are names of languages always written with a capital letter in Danish?

Dansk is capitalized here only because it is the first word in the sentence.

In modern Danish spelling, names of languages are normally written with a lowercase letter:

• Jeg lærer dansk. – I’m learning Danish.
• Hun taler engelsk og tysk. – She speaks English and German.

So:

• At the start of a sentence: Dansk bliver lettere…
• In the middle of a sentence: …fordi dansk bliver lettere…

Why is there no article before Dansk? Why not “Det dansk bliver lettere”?

Names of languages in Danish are normally treated as mass/abstract nouns and don’t take an article:

• Jeg lærer dansk. – I’m learning Danish.
• Dansk er svært. – Danish is difficult.

Adding det (the) in front of a language name like that would sound wrong in standard Danish. So you say:

• Dansk bliver lettere… – Danish becomes easier…
  not
• ✗ Det dansk bliver lettere…

What exactly is lettere? Is it an adjective? What is the basic form?

Yes, lettere is an adjective in the comparative degree.

• Base form: let = easy, light (not heavy)
• Comparative: lettere = easier, lighter
• Superlative: lettest = easiest, lightest

So:

• Dansk er let. – Danish is easy.
• Dansk bliver lettere. – Danish becomes easier.

You may also hear nem / nemmere in everyday speech with roughly the same meaning:

• Dansk bliver nemmere, når jeg bruger ordbogen. – Danish gets easier when I use the dictionary.

What is the role of når here? How is it different from hvis or da?

Når here means “when / whenever” in the sense of a repeated or general situation:

• Dansk bliver lettere, når jeg bruger ordbogen.
  → Danish becomes easier whenever I use the dictionary / when I use the dictionary (in general).

Comparison:

• når

  • Used for repeated or general times, including in the future.
  • Also used for present-time “when”:
    
    • Når jeg læser, hører jeg musik. – When I read, I listen to music.

• hvis

  • Means “if” (condition):
    
    • Dansk bliver lettere, hvis jeg bruger ordbogen. – Danish becomes easier if I use the dictionary.
  • More conditional than når.

• da

  • Used for one specific event in the past:
    
    • Dansk blev lettere, da jeg brugte ordbogen. – Danish became easier when I used the dictionary (that time).

So når here says this is a general, repeated situation, not a single event or a pure condition.

Why is the word order “når jeg bruger ordbogen” and not “når bruger jeg ordbogen”?

Because “når jeg bruger ordbogen” is a subordinate clause (introduced by når), and subordinate clauses in Danish follow subject–verb order:

• Subordinate (after når):
  
  • når jeg bruger ordbogen
  • subject (jeg) comes before the verb (bruger).

In a main clause, Danish usually has verb in second position (V2):

• Main clause:
  
  • Jeg bruger ordbogen. – I use the dictionary.
  • Or with something in front: I dag bruger jeg ordbogen. – Today I use the dictionary.

So:

• Correct: Dansk bliver lettere, når jeg bruger ordbogen.
• Incorrect: ✗ …når bruger jeg ordbogen. (would sound like a wrong direct question structure)

What does ordbogen mean exactly, and how is it formed?

Ordbogen means “the dictionary.”

• ord = word
• bog = book
• ordbog = dictionary (literally word-book)
• ordbogen = the dictionary

Danish usually forms the definite form by adding a suffix, not a separate word:

• en ordbog – a dictionary (indefinite, common gender)
• ordbogen – the dictionary (definite, common gender -en ending)

So in the sentence:

• …når jeg bruger ordbogen.
  → …when I use *the dictionary.* (some specific dictionary—maybe the one the speaker normally uses)

Could I also say “når jeg bruger en ordbog”? What would be the difference from “ordbogen”?

Yes, you can say both, but there is a nuance:

• når jeg bruger ordbogen

  • when I use *the dictionary*
  • Suggests a specific dictionary – maybe the physical book or app the speaker usually uses.

• når jeg bruger en ordbog

  • when I use *a dictionary*
  • More general / non-specific – any dictionary, not a particular one.

Both are grammatically correct. Context decides which feels more natural. In many learning contexts, ordbogen (the dictionary you normally use) will be slightly more typical.

How would I say this sentence in the past or in the future?

Past (simple):

• Dansk blev lettere, da jeg brugte ordbogen.
  
  • Danish became easier when I used the dictionary (that time).
  • blev = past of bliver
  • brugte = past of bruger
  • da for one specific past event.

Past, but still general/repeated:

• Dansk blev altid lettere, når jeg brugte ordbogen.
  
  • Danish always became easier when I used the dictionary.

Future (using present tense + time reference, which is normal in Danish):

• Dansk bliver lettere, når jeg bruger ordbogen i fremtiden.
  
  • Literally: Danish becomes easier when I use the dictionary in the future.
• Or more clearly:
  
  • Dansk skal nok blive lettere, når jeg begynder at bruge ordbogen.
    – Danish will (surely) become easier when I start using the dictionary.

Danish often uses present tense plus context (like i morgen, snart, i fremtiden) instead of a separate future tense.