Danish words: vocabulary by topic

These are the Danish words you need first, sorted by topic: family, food, colours, countries and the small words that hold every sentence together. Every Danish word on this page can be heard: tap it. I am Lui, a Danish teacher, and these are the lists I give new students, in the order I give them.

The first Danish words to learn

Before family and food, learn the small words. They are in almost every sentence you will hear, and with them you can already have a very short conversation.

Put a few of them together, and you have a real sentence: Jeg er træt. (I am tired.) Hvad hedder du? (What is your name?)

Family words

• en mora mother
• en fara father
• forældreparents
• en søstera sister
• en brora brother
• et barna child (plural: børn)
• en kærestea boyfriend or a girlfriend
• mormorgrandmother, your mother’s mother

The grandparents tell you whose side they are on: mormor is “mother-mother”, farfar is “father-father”. One word, no guessing.

Food words

Colours: one word, three forms

A Danish colour changes with the word it describes. That is why each colour has three forms: one for en-words, one for et-words and one for more than one.

So it is en rød jakke, et rødt tørklæde and røde sko.

Countries, languages and people

Countries have a capital letter. Languages and the words for “Danish”, “Swedish” and so on do not. Sweden in Danish is Sverige.

The sentence you need with them: Jeg kommer fra Sverige. (I come from Sweden.) Jeg taler engelsk og lidt dansk. (I speak English and a little Danish.)

How to learn Danish vocabulary

1. Learn words with en or et. Not bord, but et bord. You need the little word every time you use the noun.
2. Say them out loud. Danish is not said the way it is written, so a word you have only read is a word you will not recognise when you hear it. See the pronunciation guide.
3. Learn words in a sentence about you. Jeg har en søster sticks better than søster on a card.
4. Learn the numbers early. Prices, ages and the time come up every day. The numbers guide has them.

Questions people ask

How many words are there in the Danish language?

Nobody can give an exact number, because Danish builds new words by joining old ones: morgen and mad become morgenmad. For daily life you need far fewer than the dictionary has. Start with the lists on this page.

How do you say kiss in Danish?

A kiss is et kys, and to kiss is at kysse. Close to English, which helps.

What does Danish sound like?

Soft, with many swallowed sounds: a d that is almost gone, a g you do not hear, and an r far back in the throat. Tap the words above, and you hear it. The pronunciation guide explains why.

Where can I practise these words for free?

In the free course. Every topic has its words with sound, and you can save the words you find hard to a practice list.

The word lists

Here are the longer lists, one topic at a time. More are added every week. All of them are under the guides.