Min datters tegning hænger på væggen i stuen.

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Breakdown of Min datters tegning hænger på væggen i stuen.

• på: on
• min: my
• stuen: the living room

Questions & Answers about Min datters tegning hænger på væggen i stuen.

Why is it min and not mit?

Because min agrees with datter, not with tegning.

In Danish, the singular possessive forms are:

• min for common gender nouns
• mit for neuter nouns

Datter is a common gender noun, so you say min datter and therefore min datters tegning.

A useful comparison:

• min datters tegning = my daughter's drawing
• mit barns tegning = my child's drawing

Here barn is neuter, so it takes mit.

How does datters show possession, and why is there no apostrophe?

Datters is the genitive form of datter. Danish usually shows possession by adding -s directly to the noun:

• datter → datters
• Peter → Peters
• min ven → min vens

So min datters tegning literally means my daughter's drawing.

Unlike English, Danish normally does not use an apostrophe here. You just add -s.

Why is it tegning and not tegningen?