Danishlanguage

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Denmark, where it is the national language. It is also used by Danish communities in Greenland and in Danish diaspora communities, and is taught as a second language in many countries. Danish evolved from Old Norse and developed into Modern Danish during the late medieval period, sharing close historical ties with Norwegian and Swedish.

The writing system uses the Latin alphabet with three extra letters: Æ, Ø, and Å. Spelling is standardized in official orthographies, while pronunciation features a stød, a phonation distinction that can affect meaning and is difficult for learners.

Grammatically, Danish has two grammatical genders: common (en-words) and neuter (et-words). The definite article is suffixed to the noun in most forms: 'mand' -> 'manden', 'hus' -> 'huset'. Adjectives inflect for gender and number; verbs have relatively little morphology, with tense mainly expressed by auxiliary verbs.

Standard Danish, or rigsdansk, is the variety used in education, media, and formal writing. Regional dialects exist across Zealand, Funen, Jutland, and the islands, with varying intelligibility. Danish is closely related to Norwegian and Swedish within the North Germanic branch, and mutual understanding among the three is partial. Danish remains widely used in the Danish Realm and in international communication, including literature, film, and digital media.