Learn the Danish Alphabet

Det danske alfabet

Learn to read the Danish Alphabet (Det danske alfabet): all 29 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
A a	A	a	usually a bright a, close to a in cat (mad); darker 'ah' next to r (far)
B b	Be	b	b as in bed, but softer, close to an unaspirated p
C c	Se	c	s before e, i, y (cykel); k elsewhere (computer); mostly in loanwords
D d	De	d	d at the start of a word (dag); after a vowel it becomes the 'soft d', like a lazy th in this (mad); often silent after l, n, r (mand)
E e	E	e	long e is a pure 'ay' with no glide (se); short like e in bed; unstressed e is a soft 'uh' (pige)
F f	Æf	f	f as in fish
G g	Ge	g	g as in go at the start (gade); after a vowel it softens or disappears (dag 'da', sige 'see-uh')
H h	Hå	h	h as in hat; silent before j and v (hvad 'va')
I i	I	i	ee as in see, long or short (is, fisk)
J j	Jod	j	y as in yes, never the English j (ja)
K k	Kå	k	k with a puff of air at the start (kat); between vowels it softens to a g sound (kage)
L l	Æl	l	l as in lamp
M m	Æm	m	m as in man
N n	Æn	n	n as in no; ng is one sound as in sing (lang)
O o	O	o	a pure, rounded 'oh' (sol); short o often sounds like o in hot (godt)
P p	Pe	p	p with a puff of air (pige); between vowels it softens toward b (papir)
Q q	Ku	q	k as in kite; only in names and loanwords
R r	Ær	r	a soft r made in the throat, like a gentle French r (rød); after a vowel it melts into the vowel (mor 'moah')
S s	Æs	s	s as in sun, never buzzing; sj is sh (sjov)
T t	Te	t	a t with a little hiss at the start (tak, almost 'tsak'); between vowels it softens toward d (gate)
U u	U	u	oo as in moon, with tightly rounded lips (hus); short u is sometimes closer to 'o' (hund)
V v	Ve	v	v as in van at the start (vand); after a vowel it softens to a w (hav 'how')
W w	Dobbelt-ve	w	the same v sound as V; only in names and loanwords
X x	Æks	x	ks as in box (taxi); s at the start of a word (xylofon); only in loanwords
Y y	Y	y	say ee while rounding your lips, like German ü (ny); always a vowel
Z z	Sæt	z	a plain s as in sun; only in loanwords
Æ æ	Æ	æ	like e in bed, long or short (æble); more open, like a in cat, next to r (færge)
Ø ø	Ø	ø	say 'ay' with rounded lips, like German ö or French eu (øl)
Å å	Å	å	like aw in law or o in hot (år, ål); written aa in older names (Aarhus)

Learn the Danish Alphabet

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