Pronouns
| Nominative case | Oblique case | Possessive | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common | Neuter | Plural | |||||
| Singular | |||||||
| First person | jeg I | mig me | min my/mine | mit | mine | I | |
| Second person | informal1) | du (thou) | dig (thee) | din (thy/thine) | dit | dine | you |
| polite1) | De | Dem | Deres | ||||
| Third person (personal) |
masculine | han he | ham him | hans his | he | ||
| feminine | hun she | hende her | hendes her(s) | she | |||
| Third person (impersonal) |
common | den | den | dens | it | ||
| neuter | det it | det it | dets its | ||||
| Reflexive2) | - | sig | sin | sit | sine | him, her, it | |
| Plural | |||||||
| First person | vi we | os us | vor3) | vort3) | vore3) | we | |
| vores our(s) | |||||||
| Second person | informal1) | I (ye) | jer you | jeres your(s) | you (all) | ||
| polite1) | De | Dem | Deres | ||||
| Third person | de they | dem them | deres their(s) | they | |||
| Reflexive2) | - | sig | deres | ||||
1) Since the 1970s, the polite form De (cf. German Sie) is no longer the normal form of addressing adult strangers. It is only used in formal letters or when addressing old people or members of the royal family. It is sometimes used by shop assistants and waiters to flatter their customers. As a general rule, one can use du almost in every situation without offending anyone.
2) The reflexive pronoun is used when the object or possessive is identical to the grammatical subject of the sentence: han slog sin kone ihjel "he killed his (own) wife" ~ han slog hans kone ihjel "he killed his (somebody else's) wife". It is also used when referring to the subject of an infinite nexus, e.g. an accusative with infinitive: Rødhætte bad jægeren hilse sin kone "Little Red Riding Hood asked the hunter to greet his wife", where sin refers to the hunter. This difference is often not observed by Jutlandic speakers.
3) Vores is the only form normally used in current spoken language; vor, vort and vore are more archaic, and perceived as formal or solemn.
Read more about this topic: Danish Grammar
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