Ø: the Danish o with a slash

Ø is a letter of its own in Danish, not an o with a line through it. To pronounce the Danish ø, say the Danish e, keep your tongue still, and round your lips: ø. It is close to the u in British “burn”, with rounder lips. Its name is the sound itself, and on its own the word ø means island.

What is the Danish ø?

Danish has 29 letters. The last three come after z: æ, ø, å. So ø is the 28th letter, and in a dictionary or a phone book, words with ø come after z, not with the o’s. Østerbro is near the end of the list, not next to Odense.

It is a vowel, and it is not related to the Danish o in sound. Think of it as a rounded e. Norwegian and Faroese also use ø. Swedish, German and Finnish write the same sound as ö.

How do you pronounce ø in Danish?

This is the trick from the alphabet lesson in the course, and it works for almost everyone:

1. Say the Danish e, like “ay” in “day” without the y at the end: e.
2. Keep your tongue where it is. Do not move it back.
3. Round your lips, as if you were going to whistle. Now it is ø.

English has no letter for this sound, but British English is close in “burn” or “bird”, without the r. American speakers often get closer by starting from the vowel in “her” and rounding the lips. The mistake to avoid is saying “oh” or “oo”. Those are other Danish vowels.

• sølake
• øreear
• ølbeer
• søstersister
• købeto buy
• høreto hear
• brødbread
• øjeeye

The second sound: ø next to r

Like the other Danish vowels, ø opens up next to r. Your mouth is a little more open, and the sound moves towards the vowel in British “bird” said with a lower jaw.

• grøngreen
• rødred
• dørdoor

You do not need to practise this one separately. Open your mouth for the r, and the ø follows.

Se or sø? Test the difference

These pairs change only the lips. The tongue stays in the same place. Tap each word, then say both, and feel your lips move.

Which sentence is about a lake: “Jeg kan se den” or “Jeg bor ved en sø”?

The second: Jeg bor ved en sø, I live by a lake. In the first, the lips stay wide: Jeg kan se den, I can see it.

Which word has round lips: rede or røde?

røde, red. If your lips stay wide, you said rede, a nest.

Ø: the word for island

On its own, en ø is an island, maybe the shortest noun in Danish. Denmark is a country of islands, so you meet the word everywhere, also inside place names.

• en øan island
• øenthe island
• øerislands
• Bornholm er en ø.Bornholm is an island.

The same letter starts øst, east, and many names: Øresund is the strait between Denmark and Sweden.

How do you spell and type ø?

When Danes spell on the phone, they say Ø som i Øresund, Ø as in Øresund.

• Danish keyboard: ø has its own key, next to æ.
• Mac with an English keyboard: Option and o. Add Shift for Ø.
• Windows: hold Alt and type 0248 on the number pad (0216 for Ø).
• Phone: hold down the o key, and choose ø.
• Without Danish letters: write oe. Søren becomes Soeren, which is also how ø is written in most e-mail addresses.

Questions people ask

What country is Ø from?

Ø is used in Danish, Norwegian and Faroese. In Denmark it is the 28th of 29 letters, between æ and å.

Is ø the same as ö?

Yes, as a sound. German and Swedish write it ö, Danish and Norwegian write it ø. On a keyboard without ø, some people type ö, but oe is the safer choice.

What does Å sound like?

Å has round lips like ø, but the tongue is far back. It is close to “aw” in British “saw”: å. Compare sø and så.

Can I write o instead of ø?

No. O is a different vowel, and the word can change meaning: sø is a lake, so is a female pig. Write oe if you cannot type ø.