fælleskønsord

Fælleskønsord are Danish nouns that belong to the common gender, one of the two grammatical genders used in Danish. Danish nouns are categorized as fælleskøn (common) or intetkøn (neuter). The category fælleskønsord typically includes many everyday nouns, including those referring to people, objects, and some abstract terms.

In form, fælleskønsord are identified by their indefinite article, which is en (a/an) in the singular. The definite singular form is usually created by adding the suffix -en to the noun, for example en bil becomes bilen, en pige becomes pigen, en stol becomes stolen. Neuter nouns, by contrast, use the indefinite article et and the definite suffix -et (et hus -> huset). While this is the common pattern, there are exceptions and irregularities in Danish noun forms.

Adjective inflection interacts with gender. When a fælleskønsord is modified by an adjective, the adjective can take a weak or strong inflection depending on the determiner and context. For example, en stor bil (a big car) uses the base form stor, while den store bil (the big car) uses a weak inflection with -e in store.

The designation fælleskønsord is a conventional linguistic category used to describe how nouns behave in agreement with articles and adjectives. It helps explain why certain nouns take en and -en in their forms, and how adjectives are inflected in front of them. Some nouns may have historical or regional variations, but the distinction between fælleskønsord and intetkønsord remains a core feature of Danish grammar.