Den der stige er gammel, men den her virker stærk nok.

to be

Breakdown of Den der stige er gammel, men den her virker stærk nok.

• gammel: old
• men: but
• stærk: strong

Questions & Answers about Den der stige er gammel, men den her virker stærk nok.

What are den der and den her doing in this sentence?

They are everyday Danish ways to say that and this.

• den der stige = that ladder
• den her = this one / this

Literally, der means there and her means here, so the phrases have a built-in sense of distance:

• den her = the one here → this
• den der = the one there → that

With singular common-gender nouns like stige, you use den. With a neuter noun, you would use det instead:

• det her hus = this house
• det der hus = that house

Why is it den and not det?