Breakdown of De her pensler er små, og de der ruller er bedre til den store væg.
Questions & Answers about De her pensler er små, og de der ruller er bedre til den store væg.
What do de her and de der mean, and why are they two words?
They are demonstrative phrases:
- de her = these
- de der = those
Literally, they are built from:
- de = the plural determiner
- her = here
- der = there
So Danish often expresses these/those as something like the ones here / the ones there.
In this sentence:
- de her pensler = these brushes
- de der ruller = those rollers
This is very common in everyday Danish.
Why does Danish use de her and de der instead of a single word like English these and those?
Because modern spoken Danish often prefers these two-word expressions.
There are also more formal or written-style single-word demonstratives:
- disse = these
- de = those / those ones in some formal contexts
But in normal conversation, learners will hear de her and de der much more often.
So:
- de her pensler sounds natural and everyday
- disse pensler sounds more formal or written
Why is it pensler and ruller? How are these plurals formed?
Both are plural noun forms.
- en pensel → pensler
- en rulle → ruller
A very common way to form the plural in Danish is to add -er, although not all nouns follow the same pattern.
So here, because the sentence is talking about more than one brush and more than one roller, the plural forms are used.
Why is it små and not lille?
Because lille is not the plural form.
The adjective small behaves like this:
- singular, indefinite: lille
- plural: små
- often also in definite contexts: små
Examples:
- en lille pensel = a small brush
- små pensler = small brushes
- de små pensler = the small brushes
So De her pensler er små is correct because pensler is plural.
Why is it bedre and not something like godere?
Because god has an irregular comparative.
Its forms are:
- god = good
- bedre = better
- bedst = best
So:
- rullerne er gode = the rollers are good
- rullerne er bedre = the rollers are better
This is like English good → better → best, not gooder.
What does bedre til mean here?
Bedre til means better for, better suited to, or better to use for.
So:
- bedre til den store væg means the rollers are more suitable for the big wall
This use of til is very common when talking about purpose or suitability.
Compare:
- god til børn = good with children / good for children
- god til arbejdet = good for the job
- bedre til den store væg = better for the big wall
Why is it den store væg and not væggen?
Because Danish normally uses a special structure when a definite noun has an adjective before it:
- den + adjective + noun
So:
- væggen = the wall
- den store væg = the big wall
When there is an adjective like store, Danish usually does not use the suffixed definite form on the noun itself.
So you get:
- væggen = the wall
- den store væg = the big wall
Not den store væggen.
Why does store end in -e?
Because adjectives usually take -e in definite noun phrases.
Here the noun phrase is definite:
- den store væg = the big wall
So the pattern is:
- en stor væg = a big wall
- den store væg = the big wall
This -e is very common after den, det, and de when an adjective comes before the noun.
Why is it den and not det before store væg?
Because væg is a common-gender noun, and common-gender nouns use den.
In Danish:
- den = for en-words (common gender)
- det = for et-words (neuter)
Since it is:
- en væg
it must be:
- den store væg
If it were a neuter noun, you would use det instead.
Is there anything special about the word order after og?
No, the word order here is normal.
The sentence has two coordinated clauses:
- De her pensler er små
- og de der ruller er bedre til den store væg
After og, Danish usually keeps normal main-clause word order:
- subject + verb + rest
So:
- de der ruller = subject
- er = verb
There is no inversion here.
Can Danish also say this in another way, such as putting her or der later in the noun phrase?
Yes, Danish has other ways to express the same idea.
For example, you may also see postposed her/der:
- penslerne her = these brushes
- rullerne der = those rollers
That structure is also common.
But de her pensler and de der ruller are extremely natural and very common in everyday Danish, so they are well worth learning first.
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