Den røde kjole passer til det sorte bælte.

red

Breakdown of Den røde kjole passer til det sorte bælte.

• sort: black
• den: the
• det: the

Questions & Answers about Den røde kjole passer til det sorte bælte.

Why does the sentence use den before kjole but det before bælte?

Because Danish nouns have grammatical gender.

• kjole is common gender, so it takes den in the definite phrase
• bælte is neuter, so it takes det

You can see the same difference in the indefinite forms:

• en kjole = a dress
• et bælte = a belt

So:

• den røde kjole = the red dress
• det sorte bælte = the black belt

Why are the adjectives røde and sorte, not rød and sort?

Because in Danish, when an adjective comes before a definite noun, the adjective usually takes the -e form.

So you get:

• en rød kjole = a red dress
• den røde kjole = the red dress

and

• et sort bælte = a black belt
• det sorte bælte = the black belt

This -e form is very common in Danish. It is used with definite nouns and also in many plural phrases.

Why isn’t it kjolen or bæltet if the meaning is and ?