Danish adverbs: the complete guide

An overview of Danish adverbs

While adjectives are used to qualify nouns, an adverb can modify a verb, an adjective or even another adverb.

The following example shows a Danish phrase where the adverb modifies the verb:

(translation: “He always studies linguistics”)

Remark about the direction of the arrows: These diagrams represent the syntactic structure of a sentence. The arrows go from head word to dependent word.

The next example shows a Danish phrase in which the adverb modifies the adjective:

(translation: “very good grammar”)

Finally, here is an example of a Danish phrase where the adverb modifies another adverb:

(translation: “He pronounces very well.”)

Danish adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency are used to describe how often an action or an event occurs. Here is a list of the most common Danish adverbs of frequency:

The Danish adverb “altid” resembles the Swedish adverb “alltid” except for a small spelling difference. In fact, Danish and Swedish are fairly similar languages. On a related note, see this guide to Swedish adverbs.

Danish adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree indicate “how much” or “to what extent” an adjective or another adverb applies. Here is a list of the most common Danish adverbs of degree:

The Danish adverb “fuldstændig” is derived from the German adverb “vollständig” and they share the same meaning. There are in fact a number of linguistic similarities between Danish and German.

Danish adverbs of place

Adverbs of place describe “where” an event or an action occurs. Here is a list of the most common Danish adverbs of place:

Table: Some examples of Danish adverbs of place

Danish adverb	translation
der	there, at that place
her	here, in this place
derfra	from there
herfra	from here
inde	inside
derinde	in there
ud	out
ind	in
overalt	everywhere
udenfor	outside
herinde	in here
udefra	from the outside
nær	near, nearby
indenfor	indoors, inside, within
derude	out there
væk	away
bort	away

Danish adverbs of time

Adverbs of time describe “when” an event or an action occurs. Here is a list of the most common Danish adverbs of time:

Table: Some examples of Danish adverbs of time

Danish adverb	translation
nu	now
endnu	still, yet
allerede	already
før	before, prior
snart	soon
tidligere	sooner, earlier
endelig	finally
efter	later, afterwards
umiddelbart	immediately
straks	immediately, right away
nylig	recently
forleden	the other day
engang	one time, one day
tidlig	early
herefter	from now on, hereafter
efterhånden	over time, gradually
samtidigt	at the same time, simultaneously
hidtil	so far, up to now
længe	for a long time
nogensinde	ever, at some time
bagefter	subsequently, afterwards

The Danish adverb “allerede” is identical to the Norwegian adverb “allerede”. In fact, Danish and Norwegian are fairly similar languages.

Danish adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner describe “how” an event or an action occurs. Here is a list of the most common Danish adverbs of manner:

Table: Some examples of Danish adverbs of manner

Danish adverb	translation
så	so, to the extent that
godt	well
gerne	gladly
bevidst	knowingly, deliberately, consciously
offentligt	publicly, in public
delvis	partly, partially
hurtigt	quickly
tæt	closely
pludselig	suddenly
let	easily
sagtens	easily
dårligt	badly
pludseligt	suddenly, all of a sudden

The Danish adverb “pludselig” resembles the Dutch adverb “plotseling”. Although Danish is closer to German than it is to Dutch, there are some similarities between Danish and Duch.

Danish adverbs of probability

Adverbs of probability describe “how likely” something is. Here is a list of the most common Danish adverbs of probability:

Table: Some examples of Danish adverbs of probability

Danish adverb	translation
bestemt	definitely, certainly
sikkert	certainly
måske	perhaps, maybe
åbenbart	apparently
sandsynligvis	apparently, likely, probably

The Danish adverb “sandsynligvis” is formed by ading the suffix “-vis” to the Danish adjective “sandsynlig”. This pattern of word formation can be noticed in several other Danish adverbs, for example: “nødvendigvis”, “tilfældigvis” and “eksempelvis”.

Danish conjunctive adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs serve an important grammatical purpose as they indicate the relationship between thoughts. The relationship can be “cause and effect”, “contrast”, etc.. Here is a list of the most common Danish conjunctive adverbs:

Some examples of Danish conjuctive adverbs

Danish adverb	translation
også	also, as well
derfor	therefore
dog	however
samtidig	also, furthermore, simultaneously
således	thus
dermed	thus
tværtimod	on the contrary
desuden	furthermore, moreover, in addition
alligevel	anyway, nevertheless, either way
derefter	thereafter, afterwards
ligeledes	likewise
imidlertid	however, meanwhile
derved	thus, thereby
hellere	instead, rather
imens	meanwhile
derpå	thereafter, then
følgelig	consequently, accordingly
derimod	but, however, on the contrary

More Danish adverbs

Here is a list of some more Danish adverbs which are commonly used:

More examples of Danish adverbs

Danish adverb	translation
ikke	not
hvor	where
lige	just, recently
videre	further
kun	only
bare	just
sammen	together
hvordan	how
igen	again
frem	ahead, forward, forth
tilbage	back
først	first of all, firstly
sådan	such, in this way
rundt	around, round
netop	precisely, exactly
selvfølgelig	of course, naturally
ude	out
på	on
desværre	regrettably, unfortunately
direkte	directly
hvorfor	why
mindst	least
naturligvis	of course, naturally
herunder	under here, below
egentlig	actually
helst	preferably
dels	partly
mindre	less
endda	even
gratis	free of charge
hverken	neither
generelt	generally, in general
simpelthen	simply
utrolig	incredibly
rent	purely
vidt	widely, broadly
eksempelvis	for example
fint	fine
overhovedet	at all, whatsoever
omkring	about, around
udelukkende	solely, exclusively
nede	down
forbi	finished, past
nødvendigvis	necessarily
præcis	precisely, exactly
hvornår	when
imellem	between
uanset	regardless, whatever
forhåbentlig	hopefully
omvendt	on the other hand, conversely
forkert	wrongly, erroneously
tilsyneladende	seemingly, apparently
nedad	downwards, downhill
henholdsvis	respectively
snarere	more accurately, more like, rather
selvsagt	of course, needless to say
billigt	cheaply
ligesom	sort of, kind of
forresten	by the way, incidentally
overvejende	predominantly
atter	again
sjovt	funny
skriftligt	in writing
væsentligt	significantly
tilfældigvis	coincidentally, by chance

Conclusion

Learning a language requires becoming familiar with a range of vocabulary words. In linguistics, vocabulary words are classified according to their grammatical function.

These categories of words, which are also referred to as “parts of speech”, include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc..

This guide focused on Danish adverbs which are one of the main “parts of speech”. Mastering these adverbs is one of the steps towards reaching fluency in the Danish language.