Written Danish Language
Dansk
Danish speaking areas.
- Denmark
As a minor language
(taught in schools)
- Faroe Islands (circled)
- Greenland
- Iceland
Where Danish is understood/very similar:
- Norway
- Sweden
Similarity with other Scandinavian languages: Swedish, Norwegian.
Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are extremely similar with the Danish and Norwegian languages sharing the same alphabet.
All three languages are mutually undertood by each others speakers.
Written Danish and Norwegian Bokmål are extremly similar.
Similarity between Danish, Swedish and Norwegian
Danish text
Alle mennesker er født frie og lige i værdighed og rettigheder. De
er udstyret med fornuft og samvittighed, og de bør handle mod hverandre
i en broderskabets ånd.
Swedish text
Alla människor är födda fria och lika i värde och rättigheter. De
är utrustade med förnuft och samvete och bör handla gentemot varandra
i en anda av broderskap.
Norwegian text (Bokmål)
Alle mennesker er født frie og med samme menneskeverd og menneskerettigheter.
De er utstyrt med fornuft og samvittighet og bør handle mot hverandre
i brorskapets ånd.
Danish Latin Alphabet
Danish uses exactly the same English latin alphabet, except for three more additional letters (see below).
The Danish alphabet is the same as the Norwegian alphabet.
Additions to Latin Alphabet (accents)
To type accents with ALT codes, hold down the ALT key, then on the numeric keypad type the three or four digits listed here. However not with laptops, ALT codes only work with the numeric keypad, NOT the row of numbers across the top of your keyboard, as on laptops.
Æ ligature
æ Æ
å replaces the old digraph aa which is already in use in Swedish and Norwegian
a with ring
å Å
o with slash
ø Ø
Full Czech alphabet
a A
b B
c C
d D
e E
f F
g G
h H
i I
j J
k K
l L
m M
n N
o O
p P
q Q
r R
s S
t T
u U
v V
w W
x X
y Y
z Z
Æ ligature
æ Æ
a with ring
å Å
o with slash
ø Ø
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Danish Translation sample:
Alle mennesker er født frie og lige i værdighed og rettigheder. De er udstyret med fornuft og samvittighed, og de bør handle mod hverandre i en broderskabets ånd.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Danish Speaking countries
Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland, (Iceland).
Indo-European Language group
Indo-European > Germanic > North Germanic
Difficulty in learning Danish as a native English speaker
The Defense Language Institute categorizes Danish as relatively easy (level 1, of 4 levels)
Danish letter writing samples
- Letter (formal)
- Letter (informal)