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- "Det er en pige."
37 Comments
context for this situation. "en pige" is singular so you would want the singular pronoun of "det" instead of the plural "de". In English "They are a girl" wouldn't make much sense.
'They' isn't always plural, though. You can be talking about one person and use 'they', though this is rarer than the plural 'they'.
Hey hey, i got an issue with translating it into ''this is a girl'' - how ''this'' and ''that'' are not substitutable in this case, what crucial difference these particles have in Danish??
Normally "det" is used for both but you can say "dette" for "this" though it is almost never used
Think baby balloons... "it's a girl!" (I'm not advocating for this usage... just saying that it also exists in English)
"It" can be both "den" and "det"
"De" can be "they" or it can be the formal way of addressing someone ("du" is informal, "De" is formal. But you rarely address people in a formal way in danish)
Why not "DEN er en pige"? I thought DET was only used for inanimate objects...
Gender in Danish is a grammatical feature of words. It's not based on any criterion that makes sense, as in English, it's just something you have to learn.
PS: While gender works differently in Danish, this sentence isn't actually an example of the difference. Consider "THAT is a girl".
Any sentence like "it is a [noun]" should be translated as "det er en/et [noun]"
In the construction "it is [adjective]" the use of den/det depends on the genus of the noun that is referred to e.g.:
The tire is flat = dækket er flat; it is flat = det er flat
The boat is sinking = båden synker; it is sinking = den synker
I am not very good in English, but I think she is a girl should be a correct answer.
2699
Yes, you are right, prabhleen12, one would normally say "she is a girl"; but in English it is common to say "It's a boy", or "It's a girl" when referring to a newborn baby. It's the same in Danish.
So det could be it or that.... I tried "this" and it was wrong. What then "this" would be?
"Den er en pige" should only be used when referring to animals. You would never say about a human "Den er en pige", as "den" only should be used when talking about animals or objects.
Examples: Den er blå = It is blue Den er nuttet = It is cute Den elsker at lege = It loves to play
"Det er en pige" could be talking about both an animal or a human, if asked about what gender the human or animal is. For example if someone had just given birth, the new mother would be told "Det er en pige" (or "det er en dreng").
If someone asks you what gender your dog is, you could reply with "Det er en pige" or "den er en pige"
- 2699
"Denne" for common gender, "dette" for neuter gender.
Stol - en stol - stolen - denne stol.
Bord - et bord - bordet - dette bord.
I understand that "det" means "it" but I think that english speaking people would usually say "She's a girl."?
A: Det er en sød hund. Er det en pige eller en dreng? (That is a cute dog. Is it a boy or a girl?)
B: Det er en pige (It is a girl)
A: Min kone har lige født (My wife has just given birth)
B: En dreng eller en pige? (A boy or a girl?)
A: Det er en pige (It is a girl)
(In the first example you could also have used "den" instead of "det")
Just some examples on when you use the sentence "det er en pige"
