Forældrenes

Forældrenes is the genitive plural form of the Danish noun forældre, meaning the parents. It denotes possession by the group of parents and is used before a possessed noun to indicate ownership, as in the English "the parents’."

Formation and usage pattern: forældre is the plural form meaning "parents." The definite plural is forældrene, meaning "the parents." To express possession by the parents, Danish adds the suffix -s to the definite plural, yielding forældrenes, which then modifies another noun: forældrenes hus (the parents’ house), forældrenes beslutning (the parents’ decision). The form contains no apostrophe, which distinguishes Danish possessives from English orthography.

Scope and contexts: forældrenes can refer to biological or adoptive parents and is used in both spoken and written Danish. It appears in everyday language, media, legal or genealogical writing, and academic contexts when indicating ownership or responsibility by the parents as a group. The construction is flexible and can accompany a wide range of possessed nouns.

Notes: The base noun forældre covers the concept of parents in general. The genitive plural form forældrenes is one of several possessive constructions in Danish, illustrating how possession is marked at the plural-definite level. Overall, forældrenes serves as a precise idiom for attributing something to the parents as a collective entity.