Subordinate Clauses in Danish

In Brief

A Danish subordinate clause (bisætning) usually begins with a word such as at, om, fordi, når, da, or mens. Its most visible word-order rule is that a sentence adverb such as ikke comes before the finite verb: Hun kommer ikke becomes fordi hun ikke kommer. A useful Danish memory aid is BIFF: Bisætning — Ikke Foran Finit verbum.

Overview

A subordinate clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb that forms part of a larger sentence. It may report what someone knows, give a reason, mark a time, or express an unanswered yes-or-no question. In Jeg ved, at hun kommer (“I know that she is coming”), at hun kommer cannot stand alone with the same meaning; it completes Jeg ved.

This is an A2 topic because a small set of conjunctions—words that connect clauses—lets you move beyond short statements. You can explain why something happens with fordi, say when it happens with når, da, or mens, and embed information with at or om.

For an English-speaking learner, the conjunctions themselves are not the hardest part. The main challenge is seeing the contrast between Danish main-clause word order and subordinate-clause word order. English often puts not before a lexical verb too, but Danish has a broader V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb normally occupies the second position. A subordinate clause does not use that ordinary V2 pattern.

How It Works

The basic shape

A finite verb is the verb form marked for tense—the form such as kommer, kom, er, or har that anchors the clause. A simple Danish subordinate clause normally has this order:

Position	Function	Example
1	Subordinating conjunction	fordi
2	Subject—the person or thing the clause is about	hun
3	Sentence adverb, if present	ikke
4	Finite verb	kommer
5	Other material	i dag

The result is fordi hun ikke kommer i dag (“because she is not coming today”). Without a sentence adverb, the difference is less visible: fordi hun kommer i dag.

A sentence adverb comments on the whole statement or changes its truth, likelihood, or frequency. Common examples include ikke (“not”), aldrig (“never”), altid (“always”), allerede (“already”), and stadig (“still”). In a subordinate clause, these normally stand before the finite verb:

Main clause	Subordinate clause
Hun kommer ikke i dag.	Jeg ved, at hun ikke kommer i dag.
Han har aldrig set sne.	Hun siger, at han aldrig har set sne.
De er allerede gået.	Jeg tror, at de allerede er gået.

With a compound verb form, the adverb comes before the finite auxiliary—the first verb—not before the participle or infinitive: at hun ikke har spist, not at hun har ikke spist. An auxiliary is a helping verb such as har in har spist.

Not every adverb automatically belongs in this slot. Expressions of time and place such as i morgen, på arbejde, and hjemme commonly occur later in the clause. The beginner rule is specifically about sentence adverbs, with ikke as the clearest test.

The core conjunctions

Conjunction	Main use	Typical English equivalent	Example
at	Introduces a statement, thought, perception, or reported content	that	Jeg tror, at hun er hjemme.
om	Introduces an embedded yes-or-no question or uncertainty	whether; if	Jeg ved ikke, om hun er hjemme.
fordi	Gives a reason	because	Vi går ind, fordi det regner.
når	Repeated, general, or future time	when; whenever	Når jeg har fri, læser jeg.
da	A particular occasion in the past	when	Da jeg kom hjem, sov han.
mens	Two situations happening at the same time	while	Hun læste, mens jeg lavede mad.

At: reported content

Use at when the clause presents information as the content of knowing, saying, thinking, hoping, or noticing:

Jeg ved, at hun kommer. — “I know that she is coming.”

Here at is a conjunction. Danish also has at as the infinitive marker corresponding to English to, as in at komme (“to come”). The structures are different:

• Jeg håber, at hun kommer — “I hope that she comes.” The clause has its own subject, hun, and a finite verb, kommer.
• Hun håber at komme — “She hopes to come.” There is no new stated subject after at, and komme is an infinitive.

Om: whether or if

Use om for an embedded yes-or-no question: a question placed inside a larger sentence. Compare the direct question Kommer hun? (“Is she coming?”) with Jeg ved ikke, om hun kommer (“I do not know whether she is coming”). Do not use at when the meaning is genuinely “whether.”

English if has two jobs. Danish normally distinguishes them:

• om asks whether something is true: Jeg ved ikke, om han kommer.
• hvis states a condition: Hvis han kommer, laver jeg kaffe.

Conditional hvis belongs to a later topic, but this contrast prevents a common English-based mistake.

Når, da, and mens: time

English when corresponds to both når and da. Use når for habits, repeated situations, general truths, and normally future events. Use da for one particular event or period in the past.

• Når jeg er træt, går jeg tidligt i seng. — this happens repeatedly.
• Når jeg kommer hjem i aften, ringer jeg. — this is in the future.
• Da jeg kom hjem i går, ringede telefonen. — this happened on one past occasion.

Use mens when situations overlap in time: Mens jeg lavede mad, dækkede hun bord (“While I was cooking, she set the table”). It does not by itself mean that one event caused the other.

Where the subordinate clause can go

A subordinate clause can follow a main clause:

Vi tager bussen, fordi det regner.

It can also come first. When it does, the entire subordinate clause fills the first position of the following main clause. Danish V2 word order then puts the finite verb before the subject:

Fordi det regner, tager vi bussen.

The pattern is therefore:

subordinate clause + finite verb + subject + ...

This is the same inversion found when another element begins a Danish main clause: I dag tager vi bussen. English does not invert here, so Fordi det regner, vi tager bussen is a particularly tempting error.

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Jeg ved, at hun kommer.	I know that she is coming.	at introduces known information.
Hun siger, at hun ikke har tid.	She says that she does not have time.	ikke precedes the finite verb har.
Vi håber, at toget stadig kører.	We hope that the train is still running.	stadig is before kører.
Jeg ved ikke, om han er hjemme.	I do not know whether he is at home.	om introduces an embedded yes-or-no question.
Han spurgte, om jeg ikke havde tid.	He asked whether I did not have time.	Subordinate order: jeg ikke havde.
Vi bliver hjemme, fordi det regner.	We are staying home because it is raining.	The reason follows the main clause.
Fordi jeg ikke er rask, går jeg tidligt hjem.	Because I am not well, I am going home early.	The opening clause causes går jeg in the main clause.
Når jeg har fri, besøger jeg min søster.	When I have time off, I visit my sister.	A repeated situation.
Når du kommer i morgen, laver vi mad sammen.	When you come tomorrow, we will cook together.	når for future time.
Da vi var unge, cyklede vi overalt.	When we were young, we cycled everywhere.	One past period.
Da jeg kom hjem, sov katten.	When I got home, the cat was sleeping.	A particular past occasion.
Hun lyttede til musik, mens hun arbejdede.	She listened to music while she worked.	Two simultaneous activities.
Mens børnene sover, drikker vi kaffe.	While the children are sleeping, we drink coffee.	The subordinate clause comes first.
Jeg tror, at de allerede er gået.	I think that they have already left.	The adverb comes before finite er.

Common Mistakes

Putting ikke after the finite verb

• Wrong: Jeg bliver hjemme, fordi jeg er ikke rask.
• Right: Jeg bliver hjemme, fordi jeg ikke er rask.
• Why: In a subordinate clause, a sentence adverb such as ikke normally comes before the finite verb. Remember BIFF: Ikke Foran Finit verbum.

Keeping subject–verb order after an opening subordinate clause

• Wrong: Når jeg kommer hjem, jeg laver mad.
• Right: Når jeg kommer hjem, laver jeg mad.
• Why: The opening subordinate clause occupies the first position. The following main clause still follows V2 word order, so laver comes before jeg.

Using da for a future event

• Wrong: Da jeg kommer i morgen, ringer jeg til dig.
• Right: Når jeg kommer i morgen, ringer jeg til dig.
• Why: Da points to a particular occasion in the past. Use når for a future event or a repeated situation.

Translating both meanings of English “if” as om

• Wrong: Om det regner, bliver vi hjemme.
• Right: Hvis det regner, bliver vi hjemme.
• Why: Om introduces an embedded question: Jeg ved ikke, om det regner. A condition normally uses hvis.

Using an infinitive when you need a full clause

• Wrong meaning: Jeg håber at komme. (if you mean “I hope that she comes”)
• Right: Jeg håber, at hun kommer.
• Why: Jeg håber at komme means “I hope to come”: komme is an infinitive and its understood subject is jeg. To give hun her own finite verb, use the conjunction at and the full clause hun kommer.

Usage Notes

Commas and the optional start comma

Modern Danish permits two consistent comma systems. The main choice concerns the start comma, a comma placed before a subordinate clause. With a start comma, write Jeg tror, at hun kommer; without it, write Jeg tror at hun kommer. The Danish Language Council recommends the system without the start comma, but both systems are accepted.

A comma marking the end of a subordinate clause is not optional: Når hun kommer, laver vi mad. This article uses start commas in its examples because they make clause boundaries especially visible to learners. In your own formal writing, follow the required house style and do not switch systems randomly.

Spoken Danish and omitted at

After common verbs of saying, thinking, and believing, conjunction at is often omitted, especially in speech and informal prose:

• Jeg tror, hun er hjemme.
• Hun siger, hun kommer senere.

The clause does not become a main clause when at disappears. Its subordinate word order remains: Jeg tror, hun ikke er hjemme. Keeping at is always a safe choice at A2, and it can make a long sentence easier to follow.

Fordi and for are not syntactically identical

Both words can explain a reason, but fordi subordinates its clause, while for coordinates two main clauses. That difference appears around ikke:

• Jeg går hjem, fordi jeg ikke er rask.
• Jeg går hjem, for jeg er ikke rask.

The first is the normal pattern to learn for this topic. The second is useful later when you want to connect two full statements.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master every extension at A2, but the same word-order system appears in many later structures. Relative clauses (den bog, som jeg ikke har læst), indirect questions (ved du, hvorfor hun ikke kom?), and clauses with selvom, medmindre, før, or efter at all normally place sentence adverbs before the finite verb.

A clause introduced by at can do more than complete a verb. It can function as the subject—the part that the rest of the sentence says something about: At han ikke ringede, overraskede mig (“That he did not call surprised me”). Danish often uses a placeholder det instead, particularly in speech: Det overraskede mig, at han ikke ringede. The second version is usually easier to process.

Advanced writing also contains subordinate clauses nested inside other clauses: Jeg tror, at hun bliver hjemme, fordi hun ikke er rask. Work from the inside out. First identify fordi hun ikke er rask, then the larger at hun bliver hjemme ..., and finally the main clause Jeg tror. Each subordinate clause keeps its own subject, finite verb, and adverb placement.

Finally, BIFF is an excellent beginner test, but real Danish word order includes variation for focus, style, and certain adverbs. Do not generalize the mnemonic to every word that English calls an adverb. Use ikke as your diagnostic, learn common sentence adverbs in complete clauses, and treat marked literary or conversational patterns as later refinements.

Practice Tips

1. Transform pairs aloud. Start with a main clause such as Hun kommer ikke i dag, then embed it: Jeg ved, at hun ikke kommer i dag. Repeat with aldrig, allerede, and stadig.
2. Sort time examples into three groups. Use når for repeated or future situations, da for one past occasion, and mens for overlapping actions. Add a real sentence from your own day to each group.
3. Move the reason clause. Write both Vi tager bussen, fordi det regner and Fordi det regner, tager vi bussen. Check not only the subordinate clause but also the V2 order in the main clause.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Word Order — provides the Danish V2 pattern that subordinate clauses contrast with.
• Next step: Relative Clauses — applies subordinate word order inside descriptions of people and things.
• Next step: Indirect Questions — develops om and question-word clauses in more detail.
• Next step: Temporal Conjunctions — expands the contrast between når, da, mens, and other time connectors.
• Next step: Advanced Conjunctions — adds conjunctions such as selvom and medmindre.
• Later: Indirect Speech — uses at and om to report statements and questions across different tenses.