
Introduction to Danish grammar
While English does indeed have vowels and consonants that are reduced and assimilated while speaking, there are not many. When you learn the Danish language on the other hand, you will realise that, compared to the written form, the spoken form is very different and unique due to heavy assimilation and reduction of vowels and consonants. While speaking Danish, there has to be a prosodic feature known as thrust. This is nothing but the laryngealization of the word. This thrust can make a big difference when speaking, as there are some words that sound similar in Danish. Many languages experts believe that this thrust is actually a word accent. There are 17 different vowel pronunciations in Danish and infinitive forms of verbs are formed by adding a -schwa at the end of the verb. Conjugation of verbs depends on the tense used and is not based on the number or the person. It is also interesting to note that, in Danish, there are just two grammatical genders – neutral and common. However, in certain Danish dialects, there could be masculine, feminine and neuter.
Test first lesson of every course for freeTips on how to speak Danish?
Read the news in Danish
Listen to Danish podcasts
Practice little and often
Be prepared to make mistakes in pronunciation
Start with useful words and phrases
Use an interactive learning app
