Merry Christmas in Danish: glædelig jul
Merry Christmas in Danish is glædelig jul, said roughly “GLAI-the-lee yool”. In everyday speech most Danes just say god jul, and the usual answer is tak, i lige måde, “thanks, same to you”. Tap any Danish word on this page to hear it.
Glædelig jul or god jul: which one do Danes say?
Both mean Merry Christmas, and both are right. The difference is mostly where you use them.
- God jul!Merry Christmas! (short, spoken, everywhere)
- Glædelig jul!Merry Christmas! (a little warmer, very common in writing)
- Rigtig glædelig jul!A really merry Christmas!
At the till, at work on the last day before the holiday, to the neighbour on the stairs: god jul. On a card or in a text message: glædelig jul. Nobody will notice if you mix them up.
How to say merry Christmas in Danish, sound by sound
glædelig has three things that do not sound the way they look:
- æ is like the e in English “bed”, with wide lips. The æ guide has more words to practise with.
- The d is soft. After a vowel, the Danish d is often soft, close to the th in English “the”. Do not say a hard d.
- The g at the end is silent. The ending -lig sounds like “lee”.
jul starts with the Danish j, which sounds like English y, and has a long u, like “oo” in “moon”: “yool”. It is the same word as English “Yule”.
god ends in the soft d again, so it sounds close to “go” with a soft th at the end. Say god jul as one short phrase, with the stress on jul.
What do you say back?
When someone wishes you a merry Christmas, you have three easy answers. The first one is the one you hear most.
- Tak, i lige måde!Thanks, same to you!
- I lige måde!Same to you!
- Tak, god jul til dig også.Thanks, merry Christmas to you too.
I lige måde works for every wish, not only at Christmas: “have a nice weekend”, “nice to meet you”, “have a good trip”. It is one of the most useful phrases in Danish.
Merry Christmas and happy new year in Danish
Happy New Year is godt nytår. In godt, the d is silent, so it sounds like “got”. Nytår is “new year”, with the Danish y: say “ee” and round your lips.
- Glædelig jul og godt nytår!Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
- God jul og godt nytår!Merry Christmas and a happy new year! (shorter)
- Godt nytår!Happy New Year!
Notice god jul but godt nytår. Jul is an en-word and nytår is an et-word, so the adjective gets a -t. That is the kind of small rule the grammar guide explains.
What to write in a Danish Christmas card
A Danish Christmas card is short. Start with Kære and the name, write one or two lines, and end with your greeting and name.
- Kære AnnaDear Anna
- Vi ønsker jer en glædelig jul og et godt nytår.We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
- Tak for i år.Thank you for this year.
- Mange julehilsner fra SaraMany Christmas greetings from Sara
- Kærlig hilsenLove from (to family and close friends)
A card for your colleagues or your language class: Glædelig jul og tak for i år. Mange hilsner fra Sara. It is friendly, correct and impossible to get wrong.
Tak for i år is very Danish. In the last weeks of December, people thank each other for the year that is ending, and in January they say tak for sidst when they meet again.
A few Christmas words
- julenChristmas, the Christmas season
- juleaftenChristmas Eve, the big evening in Denmark
- et juletræa Christmas tree
- en julefrokosta Christmas lunch or work Christmas party
- en nissea Christmas elf from folklore
In Denmark the main celebration is on Christmas Eve: Juleaften er den fireogtyvende december, Christmas Eve is the 24th of December. If you are invited to a work party in December, read about the julefrokost first.
Questions people ask
What is the Danish word for Christmas?
It is jul, the same old word as English “Yule”. The definite form is julen, and many words start with jule-: juletræ, julefrokost, juleaften.
Is god jul Danish, Norwegian or Swedish?
All three. Norwegian and Swedish also say god jul, so a Swede and a Dane can wish each other a merry Christmas in their own language and understand each other perfectly.
What does “hyvää joulua” mean?
It is Merry Christmas in Finnish, not in Danish. Finnish is not a Scandinavian language, so it looks completely different. In Danish it is glædelig jul.
What are Danish nisser?
A nisse is a small elf from Danish folklore, with a red hat and a grey beard. In December, nisser are everywhere as decorations, and children hear stories about the nisse who wants rice pudding on Christmas Eve.
Updated 22 October 2026