Guides › Pronouns
Danish pronouns: jeg or mig, min or sin
Danish pronouns work much like English ones: jeg/mig is I/me. The extra things to learn are that it is den or det depending on the noun, that some possessives change with the noun (min, mit, mine), and that Danish has a special sin for his/her own.
Subject or object: jeg or mig?
| Subject | Object | English |
|---|---|---|
| jeg | mig | I / me |
| du | dig | you |
| han | ham | he / him |
| hun | hende | she / her |
| den / det | den / det | it |
| vi | os | we / us |
| I | jer | you (plural) |
| de | dem | they / them |
The subject form does something; the object form has something done to it, and it also follows prepositions:
- Jeg ringer til dig i morgen.I'll call you tomorrow.
- Kan du hjælpe mig?Can you help me?
- Vi spiser med dem i aften.We're eating with them tonight.
The capital I means you (plural), not I. Formal De exists but is very rare: Danes say du to almost everyone.
Quick check
“Can you help me?” Kan du hjælpe ___?
mig. The person being helped is the object, so the object form mig.
Show answer
mig. It is the object of hjælpe.
“It”: den or det?
Danish it follows the gender of the noun it replaces: den for en-words, det for et-words.
- Hvor er bilen? Den står i garagen.en bil, so: den
- Hvor er huset? Det ligger ved stranden.et hus, so: det
Not sure whether a noun is en or et? See En or et? How to know the gender of Danish nouns.
Quick check
Hvor er cyklen? ___ står udenfor. (en cykel)
Den. cykel is an en-word, so it is den.
Show answer
Den, because cykel is an en-word.
Possessives: min, mit or mine?
Some possessives change with the noun they describe, the way adjectives do. Others never change:
| en-word | et-word | plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| min bil | mit hus | mine børn | my |
| din bil | dit hus | dine børn | your |
| sin bil | sit hus | sine børn | his / her own |
| hans, hendes, vores, jeres, deres: never change | his, her, our, your, their | ||
sin or hans?
Peter vasker sin bil means he washes his own car. Peter vasker hans bil means he washes another man's car. Use sin when the owner is the subject of the same clause, and only with han, hun, den, det or a name. The full explanation, with the exceptions, is in sin or hans? Danish reflexive possessives made simple.
Reflexive: mig, dig, sig
Some verbs need a pronoun that points back to the subject. For he, she, it and they it is always sig:
- Jeg skynder mig.I hurry.
- Han vasker sig.He washes (himself).
- De morer sig.They're having fun.
- Sæt dig ned!Sit down!
nogen or nogle?
These two sound the same when spoken, which is why even Danes mix them up in writing. The written rule:
- Jeg har nogle gode venner.nogle = some (a positive statement, plural)
- Har du nogen børn?nogen = any (questions)
- Jeg kender ikke nogen her.nogen = anyone (negative sentences)
- Der er nogen ved døren.nogen = someone
Quick check
“Do you have any children?” Har du ___ børn?
nogen. In a question, any is nogen.
Show answer
nogen. In a question, any is nogen.
Frequently asked questions
When do you use jeg and when mig?
jeg is the subject, the one doing something (Jeg ringer). mig is the object, and it also follows prepositions (Du ringer til mig). It works like I and me in English.
What is the difference between nogen and nogle?
In writing, nogle means some (Jeg har nogle venner), and nogen means any in questions and negative sentences (Har du nogen børn?) or someone (Der er nogen ved døren). They sound the same in speech.
Do Danes use the formal De?
Very rarely. Du is used with almost everyone, including strangers, colleagues and the boss.
When do you use sin instead of hans?
Use sin, sit or sine when the thing belongs to the subject of the same clause and that subject is han, hun, den, det or a name: Peter vasker sin bil. Use hans or hendes for someone else's.
Practise it. Pronomenmysteriet turns pronouns into detective cases: jeg or mig, min/mit/mine, sin or hans, den/det/de and nogen/nogle. The game is in Danish.
Play Pronomenmysteriet →