Breakdown of De vil levere de her stole i morgen, men den der lampe kommer først næste uge.
Questions & Answers about De vil levere de her stole i morgen, men den der lampe kommer først næste uge.
Why is De capitalized at the beginning?
Because it is the first word of the sentence. Danish capitalizes the first word of a sentence just like English does.
So here, the capital D does not tell you anything special by itself.
Does De mean they or the formal you here?
In this sentence, it means they.
Danish does have a very formal De meaning you, but that is mostly found in especially formal or old-fashioned writing. Since De is at the start of the sentence, capitalization alone cannot tell you which one it is. You have to use context.
Why does the sentence use vil levere? Is vil really will?
Yes, vil often corresponds to English will.
Here, vil levere means something like will deliver. In Danish, vil can express:
- future meaning
- intention
- willingness
In a sentence like this, it is most naturally understood as a future event: They will deliver...
Why is it kommer in the present tense if the lamp is arriving in the future?
Because Danish often uses the present tense for future events, especially when the event is planned, expected, or scheduled.
So:
- lampen kommer i morgen = the lamp is coming tomorrow
- lampen kommer først næste uge = the lamp won’t arrive until next week
This is very similar to English phrases like The train leaves tomorrow.
Is de her the normal way to say these?
Yes, de her is a very common everyday way to say these.
So:
- de her stole = these chairs
You may also meet the more formal/written word disse:
- disse stole = these chairs
In ordinary spoken Danish, de her is extremely common.
What is the difference between de her and den der?
They are both demonstrative expressions, but they differ in number and distance:
- de her = these (plural, near the speaker)
- den der = that (singular common gender, farther away)
So the sentence contrasts:
- de her stole = these chairs
- den der lampe = that lamp
The words her and der are literally here and there, but in these expressions they function like part of this/these/that.
Why is it de her stole but den der lampe?
Because Danish demonstratives must agree with the noun in number and, in the singular, gender.
- de is used for plural
- den is used for singular common gender
- det is used for singular neuter
So:
- de her stole = plural
- den der lampe = singular common gender
If the noun were neuter, you would get something like:
- det der bord = that table
Why doesn’t the noun have a definite ending here? Why not something like stolene or lampen?
Because when Danish uses a demonstrative like de her or den der, the demonstrative itself already makes the noun definite.
So Danish says:
- de her stole
- den der lampe
not:
- de her stolene
- den der lampen
This is an important pattern: after these demonstratives, the noun is normally in its basic singular or plural form, not the suffixed definite form.
Why is the plural of stol written stole and not something more predictable?
Because Danish plural formation is not completely regular. Different nouns form the plural in different ways.
For stol:
- singular: stol
- plural: stole
This is a very common plural pattern in Danish, but it is something you often just have to learn with each noun.
What does først mean here? It looks like English first.
Here, først does not mean first in the sense of before everything else. In time expressions like this, it often means:
- not until
- only
So:
- den der lampe kommer først næste uge
means:
- that lamp won’t arrive until next week
- or more literally, that lamp only comes next week
This is a very common use of først in Danish.
Why is it næste uge without a preposition, but i morgen with i?
Because Danish time expressions do not all behave the same way.
With words like næste, sidste, and denne, Danish often uses the time phrase without a preposition:
- næste uge = next week
- sidste år = last year
- denne måned = this month
But i morgen is a fixed expression meaning tomorrow.
So both are normal:
- i morgen
- næste uge
Why is the word order men den der lampe kommer? Why isn’t the verb before the subject?
Because men joins two main clauses, and after men Danish keeps normal main-clause word order unless something else is placed first.
Here the second clause starts with the subject:
- den der lampe = subject
- kommer = verb
So the order is simply:
- den der lampe kommer
Danish only puts the verb before the subject in a main clause when some other element comes first:
- I morgen kommer de = Tomorrow they are coming
But after men, there is no automatic inversion. The clause just starts normally with the subject.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning DanishMaster Danish — from De vil levere de her stole i morgen, men den der lampe kommer først næste uge to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions