Relative Clauses in Danish

Relativsætninger

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In Brief

A Danish relative clause adds information about a person, thing, place, or idea. Use der or som when the missing element is the subject, som (or no relative word) when it is the object, hvis for possession, and hvor for a place or situation: manden der bor her, bogen (som) jeg læste, kvinden hvis søn jeg kender, huset hvor vi bor.

Overview

A relative clause is a clause that describes a noun or a larger noun phrase. In manden, der bor her (“the man who lives here”), der bor her tells us which man is meant. The word or phrase being described—manden in this example—is called the antecedent (the expression that the relative clause points back to).

Relative clauses let you combine ideas without repeating the same noun. Instead of saying Jeg kender en mand. Manden arbejder på biblioteket (“I know a man. The man works at the library”), you can say Jeg kender en mand, der arbejder på biblioteket (“I know a man who works at the library”). This is a core B1 skill because it makes both speech and writing more connected and precise.

For an English-speaking learner, the main similarity is that Danish has words corresponding roughly to “who,” “which,” “that,” “whose,” and “where.” The important difference is that Danish usually does not choose the relative word according to whether the antecedent is a person or a thing. Instead, the choice between der and som depends mainly on the relative word’s job inside its clause.

How It Works

Attach the relative clause to an antecedent

The relative clause normally comes directly after what it describes:

en nabo, der altid hjælper — “a neighbor who always helps”
den film, som vi så i går — “the film that we saw yesterday”
et firma, hvis produkter sælges i hele Europa — “a company whose products are sold throughout Europe”
den by, hvor hun voksede op — “the town where she grew up”

The relative clause is a subordinate clause (a clause that cannot normally stand alone in this use). It keeps Danish subordinate-clause word order, especially around sentence adverbs such as ikke (“not”), aldrig (“never”), and ofte (“often”).

Choose the relative word by its function

Function inside the relative clause	Normal choice	Can it be omitted?	Example
Subject—the person or thing performing the action	der or som	No	pigen, der/som synger
Object—the person or thing affected by the action	som	Yes	pigen, (som) jeg mødte
Object of a preposition	som, often with the preposition later	Yes	stolen, (som) jeg sad på
Possessor—“whose”	hvis	No	manden, hvis cykel blev stjålet
Place or setting—“where”	hvor	No	caféen, hvor vi mødtes

A subject is whoever or whatever performs the action or is in the state expressed by the verb. An object is whoever or whatever the action is directed at. This distinction gives you the most useful test for choosing between der and som.

Subject relatives: der or som

When the antecedent supplies the missing subject, both der and som are possible:

Manden, der bor her, er læge. — “The man who lives here is a doctor.”
Manden, som bor her, er læge. — “The man who lives here is a doctor.”

There is no separate Danish choice equivalent to English “who” for people and “which” for things:

kvinden, der ringede — “the woman who called”
toget, der ankommer klokken otte — “the train that arrives at eight”

Do not add another subject after der or som in this pattern. In bilen, der holder udenfor, der itself fills the subject position of holder.

Object relatives: som or zero

When the antecedent is the object, use som or omit the relative word entirely:

Bogen, som jeg læste, var spændende.
Bogen, jeg læste, var spændende.

Both mean “The book I read was exciting.” Here jeg is already the subject of læste, so the missing element is the object: I read the book. This is why som can disappear.

The same principle applies when the missing element belongs with a preposition:

Det er den kollega, som jeg talte med.
Det er den kollega, jeg talte med.

These both mean “That is the colleague I spoke with.” Ending the relative clause with the preposition is normal in everyday Danish, much as it is in ordinary English.

A quick diagnostic is to turn the relative clause back into a complete statement:

Relative phrase	Complete statement	Missing role	Result
manden, ___ bor her	Manden bor her.	Subject	der or som; no omission
manden, ___ jeg kender	Jeg kender manden.	Object	som or omission
stolen, ___ jeg sidder på	Jeg sidder på stolen.	Object of på	som or omission

Possession with hvis

Hvis means “whose” in a relative clause. It is followed by the thing possessed:

en kvinde, hvis søn jeg kender — “a woman whose son I know”
et hus, hvis tag skal repareres — “a house whose roof needs to be repaired”
virksomheder, hvis ansatte arbejder hjemme — “companies whose employees work from home”

Unlike English “whose,” Danish hvis has the same form for singular and plural, people and things. It does not change to match the owner or the possessed noun. The noun phrase after hvis is normally indefinite in form: hvis søn, hvis tag, hvis ansatte, not hvis sønnen or hvis taget.

The same spelling hvis also means “if” in a conditional clause. Context makes the difference: Hvis det regner, bliver vi hjemme means “If it rains, we will stay home,” while manden, hvis bil er rød means “the man whose car is red.”

Places and settings with hvor

Use hvor when the antecedent is understood as the place or setting in which something happens:

Huset, hvor vi bor, er gammelt. — “The house where we live is old.”
Jeg husker den restaurant, hvor vi spiste. — “I remember the restaurant where we ate.”

Hvor is also common with less physical settings:

en situation, hvor ingen vidste, hvad de skulle gøre — “a situation in which nobody knew what to do”
et møde, hvor alle kunne stille spørgsmål — “a meeting at which everyone could ask questions”

Do not use hvor merely because a place noun appears. Ask whether the gap means “there/in that place.” Compare:

byen, hvor jeg bor — I live there: use hvor.
byen, som jeg besøger hvert år — I visit the town: it is an object, so use som or omit it.

Keep subordinate-clause word order

In a Danish subordinate clause, a central sentence adverb normally comes before the finite verb (the verb carrying tense):

main clause: Han kommer ikke i dag. — “He is not coming today.”
relative clause: manden, der ikke kommer i dag — “the man who is not coming today”

With an object relative, the order is relative word + subject + adverb + finite verb:

bogen, som jeg ikke har læst — “the book that I have not read”
en ven, jeg aldrig glemmer — “a friend I will never forget”

Without an adverb, the difference is less visible, but the relative clause is still subordinate: filmen, som vi så i går.

Danish comma choices

Danish allows two consistent comma systems. Writers may use a start comma before subordinate clauses, or usually leave that opening comma out. As a result, you may see both:

Jeg kender pigen, der arbejder her.
Jeg kender pigen der arbejder her.

If the relative clause ends before the surrounding sentence does, the closing comma is still needed: Pigen der arbejder her, hedder Sara. With start commas, it is written Pigen, der arbejder her, hedder Sara. Choose one system and apply it consistently; do not assume that Danish commas always mark the same restrictive/nonrestrictive meaning contrast as English commas.

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Jeg har en nabo, der altid hjælper mig.	I have a neighbor who always helps me.	der is the subject of hjælper.
Vi tog et tog, som stoppede i Odense.	We took a train that stopped in Odense.	Subject relative with som.
Manden, der bor her, er min onkel.	The man who lives here is my uncle.	Subject relative; der cannot be omitted.
Bogen, som jeg læste, var spændende.	The book that I read was exciting.	som represents the object.
Bogen, jeg læste, var spændende.	The book I read was exciting.	Object som is omitted.
Er det den nøgle, du leder efter?	Is that the key you are looking for?	Object of the final preposition efter.
Hun har en ven, som hun ofte besøger.	She has a friend whom she often visits.	ofte comes before the finite verb besøger.
Det er en fejl, som vi ikke kan ignorere.	It is a mistake that we cannot ignore.	Subordinate order: vi ikke kan.
Kvinden, hvis søn jeg kender, arbejder her.	The woman whose son I know works here.	hvis marks possession.
Vi samarbejder med et firma, hvis kontor ligger i Aarhus.	We work with a company whose office is in Aarhus.	hvis can refer to an organization.
Huset, hvor vi bor, blev bygget i 1920.	The house where we live was built in 1920.	hvor refers to a place.
Det var en periode, hvor alt ændrede sig.	It was a period in which everything changed.	hvor presents the period as a setting.
Byen, som vi besøger hver sommer, ligger ved havet.	The town that we visit every summer is by the sea.	The town is the object, not the setting.
De studerende, der ikke har afleveret opgaven, skal skrive til læreren.	The students who have not submitted the assignment must write to the teacher.	Subject relative with subordinate word order.
Jeg fandt den café, du fortalte mig om.	I found the café you told me about.	Omitted som; om remains at the end.

Common Mistakes

Omitting a subject relative word

Wrong: Jeg kender en mand, bor i Aalborg.
Right: Jeg kender en mand, der bor i Aalborg.
Why: The relative clause needs a subject. Only object som can be omitted; subject der/som cannot.

Using der for an object

Wrong: Filmen, der vi så i går, var god.
Right: Filmen, som vi så i går, var god.
Also right: Filmen, vi så i går, var god.
Why: Vi is the subject of så, and the film is its object. Use som or no relative word, not der.

Repeating the object with a pronoun

Wrong: Bogen, som jeg læste den, var lang.
Right: Bogen, som jeg læste, var lang.
Why: Som already points back to bogen. Danish does not normally add a second object pronoun den.

Copying main-clause word order after ikke

Wrong: Jeg talte med en person, som kunne ikke hjælpe.
Right: Jeg talte med en person, som ikke kunne hjælpe.
Why: A relative clause uses subordinate-clause order, so ikke comes before the finite verb kunne.

Choosing hvor for every place noun

Wrong: København, hvor jeg besøger hvert år, er en dyr by.
Right: København, som jeg besøger hvert år, er en dyr by.
Why: You visit Copenhagen; Copenhagen is the object. Use hvor only when the meaning is “where/in which,” as in København, hvor jeg bor.

Adding the definite ending after hvis

Wrong: manden, hvis bilen er rød
Right: manden, hvis bil er rød
Why: Like other possessive constructions, hvis normally takes a noun without the suffixed definite article.

Usage Notes

In everyday Danish, der is extremely common for a subject relative, while som works for both subject and object relatives. For an object relative, omission is natural in both conversation and ordinary writing when the meaning remains clear: den bog jeg købte. Keeping som can make a long or complex sentence easier to follow.

Neither der nor som changes for the antecedent’s gender, number, or whether it refers to a person. English makes several distinctions—“who,” “whom,” “which,” and “that”—that Danish usually handles with the same few forms. In particular, Danish does not require a special everyday equivalent of formal English “whom.”

Comma appearance varies because both Danish comma systems are accepted. Follow the house style of your workplace, school, or publication. If no style is imposed, consistency matters more than switching systems from one sentence to the next.

In speech, listeners rely heavily on intonation and context. In careful writing, a relative word that could technically be omitted may still be useful if the clause is long, nested, or otherwise difficult to parse.

Beyond the Basics

Prepositions and formal alternatives

Everyday Danish normally leaves the preposition near the end:

den person, som jeg talte med — “the person I spoke with”
det emne, vi talte om — “the topic we spoke about”

More formal writing can place the preposition before hvem when referring to a person:

den person, med hvem jeg talte — “the person with whom I spoke”

Formal written Danish also uses forms of hvilken (“which”) after a preposition. The form agrees with the antecedent: hvilken for common-gender singular, hvilket for neuter singular, and hvilke for plural.

en aftale, ifølge hvilken betalingen skal ske i juni — “an agreement according to which payment must be made in June”
et hus, i hvilket familien havde boet i mange år — “a house in which the family had lived for many years”
de regler, efter hvilke ansøgningen vurderes — “the rules according to which the application is assessed”

These patterns are useful to recognize in legal, administrative, and academic prose, but ordinary conversation strongly favors som or omission with the preposition later.

Hvilket referring to a whole statement

Neuter hvilket can refer not to one noun but to the whole preceding statement:

Han kom en time for sent, hvilket irriterede alle. — “He arrived an hour late, which annoyed everyone.”
Priserne faldt igen, hvilket ingen havde forventet. — “Prices fell again, which nobody had expected.”

Here hvilket means “and that fact.” This is common in edited writing and useful in formal speech.

Relative-like expressions without a stated noun

Danish can use den der or den som for “the one who,” and det der or det som for “that which/what”:

Den, der kommer først, åbner døren. — “The person who arrives first opens the door.”
Tag det, du har brug for. — “Take what you need.”

Danish also uses hvad in constructions meaning “what/whatever” when there is no ordinary noun antecedent:

Jeg gør, hvad jeg kan. — “I do what I can.”
Hun sagde, hvad hun mente. — “She said what she meant.”

Do not confuse this with an embedded question such as Jeg ved ikke, hvad hun mener (“I do not know what she means”). The forms can look alike, but one identifies an unspecified thing while the other reports a question.

Meaning and punctuation

English often uses commas to contrast extra, non-identifying information with information needed to identify the noun. Danish can express the same meaning difference through context, stress, word choice, and punctuation, but the optional start-comma system means the surface comma pattern does not map neatly onto the English rule. When a distinction matters, avoid relying on one comma alone; make the wording unambiguous.

Practice Tips

Use the missing-role test. Expand the phrase into a complete sentence: Jeg kender kvinden or Kvinden bor her. If the antecedent becomes the subject, choose der/som. If it becomes the object, choose som or omit it.
Combine pairs of sentences. Turn Vi så en film. Filmen handlede om Grønland into Vi så en film, der handlede om Grønland. Then practise object relatives: Vi så en film. Du anbefalede filmen → Vi så en film, som du anbefalede.
Mark the adverb before the verb. While reading, collect phrases such as der ikke kommer, som jeg aldrig har set, and du ofte taler med. Reading them aloud helps subordinate-clause order become automatic.

Related Concepts

Prerequisite: Subordinate Clauses — relative clauses use the same subordinate word-order pattern, including the position of ikke.
Next step: Types of Subordinate Clauses — compare relative clauses with noun clauses and adverbial clauses.