Billedet på forsiden af romanen er smukt.

to be

Breakdown of Billedet på forsiden af romanen er smukt.

• på: on
• af: of
• smuk: beautiful

Questions & Answers about Billedet på forsiden af romanen er smukt.

Why is it billedet and not billede?

Because billedet is the definite form: the picture.

• et billede = a picture
• billedet = the picture

Danish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word in front, as English does.

Why do forsiden and romanen also end in -en?

For the same reason: they are also in the definite singular form.

• en forside = a front page / a cover

• forsiden = the front page / the cover

• en roman = a novel
• romanen = the novel

So Danish often marks the by attaching -en or -et to the noun.

Why does billedet end in -et, but forsiden and romanen end in -en?

Because Danish nouns belong to different grammatical genders.

• et billede is a neuter noun, so the definite ending is -et → billedet
• en forside and en roman are common gender nouns, so the definite ending is -en → forsiden, romanen

This also affects adjectives later in the sentence.