dårlige

Dårlige is a Scandinavian adjective meaning "bad" or "poor in quality." It is used in Danish and Norwegian Bokmål as the plural form of the base adjective dårlig. The form dårlige is placed before plural nouns and also appears predicatively after linking verbs, describing the subject of the sentence.

In Danish and Norwegian, the indefinite plural form is dårlige, and the definite plural is de dårlige. Examples include dårlige nyheder (bad news) and dårlige vejrforhold (bad weather conditions). Predicatively, phrases like “Resultatet er dårlige” or “Nyhederne er dårlige” may be used to express that something is of poor quality or unfavorable, with agreement to number and definiteness.

The word is cognate with similar forms in neighboring Scandinavian languages, such as Swedish dålig/dåliga, reflecting shared North Germanic roots for the concept of “bad.” In Swedish, dålig is singular and dåliga is plural; Danish and Norwegian follow comparable inflection patterns for plural adjectives.

Usage notes:

- Dårlige modifies plural nouns (e.g., dårlige vaner, dårlige resultater).

- In definite contexts, the definite article is typically separate (de dårlige nyheder).

- The term is common in everyday language and can describe moral, qualitative, or conditional negativity, depending on context.

See also: bad (as a general adjective in Germanic languages), dålig (singular Danish/Norwegian form), dåliga (Swedish plural form).