Cliff Jones Jr.

Core Vocabulary in Danish #

What are the most basic concepts that virtually all languages express? I’ve done my best to answer this question with a list of 200 core vocabulary items, and this is part one of the Danish version. To learn how I settled on these particular concepts and see what other languages have been added so far, check out “Core Vocabulary Across Languages.”

Abbreviations #

c = common gender (“en”)

n = neuter gender (“et”)

Nouns #

  1. name = navn (n)
  2. water = vand (n)
  3. blood = blod (n)
  4. fire = brand (c)
  5. stone/rock = sten (c), klippe (c)
  6. dog = hund (c)
  7. fish = fisk (c)
  8. louse/flea = lus (c), loppe (c)
  9. hand/arm = hånd (c), arm (c)
  10. eye = øje (n)
  11. ear = øre (n)
  12. nose = næse (c)
  13. tongue = tunge (c)
  14. tooth = tand (c)
  15. bone = knogle (c), ben (n)
  16. horn = horn (n)
  17. tail = hale (c)
  18. egg = æg (n)
  19. leaf = blad (n)
  20. night/evening = nat (c), aften (c)
  21. star = stjerne (c)
  22. sun = sol (c)
  23. moon = måne (c)
  24. earth/soil = jord (c)
  25. salt = salt (n)
  26. mountain = bjerg (n)
  27. tree = træ (n)
  28. rain = regn (c)
  29. wind = vind (c)
  30. bird = fugl (c)
  31. flesh/meat = kød (n)
  32. liver = lever (c)
  33. skin/hide = hud (c), skind (n)
  34. knee = knæ (n)
  35. breast/chest = bryst (n)
  36. person/human = person (c), menneske (n)
  37. man = mand (c)
  38. woman = kvinde (c)
  39. child = barn (n)
  40. hair/fur = hår (n), pels (c)
  41. mouth = mund (c)
  42. neck = hals (c)
  43. foot/leg = fod (c), ben (n)
  44. feather = fjer (c)
  45. grease/fat = fedt (n)
  46. smoke = røg (c)
  47. ash/soot = aske (c), sod (c)
  48. sand = sand (n)
  49. wood = træ (n)
  50. root = rod (c)
  51. rope/cord = reb (n), tov (n), snor (c)
  52. path/road = sti (c), vej (c)
  53. year = år (n)

Verbs #

  1. die = dø
  2. see/look/watch = se
  3. hear = høre, lytte
  4. know = vide, kende
  5. drink = drikke
  6. give = give
  7. come = komme
  8. stand = stå
  9. sit/set = sidde, sætte
  10. lie/lay = ligge, lægge
  11. fly = flyve
  12. eat = spise
  13. bite = bide
  14. burn = brænde
  15. kill = dræbe
  16. say/tell/speak/talk = sige, fortælle, tale
  17. laugh = grine

Adjectives #

  1. new = ny
  2. full = fuld
  3. good = god
  4. long = lang
  5. red = rød
  6. black = sort
  7. white = hvid
  8. green = grøn
  9. yellow = gul
  10. small/little = lille
  11. big/large = stor
  12. wide/broad = bred
  13. heavy = tung
  14. old = gammel
  15. dry = tør

Other #

  1. I/me = jeg/mig
  2. you = du/dig, De/Dem, I/jer
  3. what/which = hvad, hvilke
  4. who/whom = hvem
  5. one/a/an = en/et
  6. two = to
  7. not/no = ikke/nej
  8. this/these = denne/dette/disse, det/de her
  9. we/us = vi/os
  10. all/everything/everyone = alle, alt