English pronunciation · Words Starting with D
Danish Pronunciation
Danish is pronounced DAY-nish, IPA /ˈdeɪnɪʃ/.
DAY-nish
US /ˈdeɪnɪʃ/ · UK /ˈdeɪnɪʃ/
Syllables: DAY · nish (2 syllables, stress on syllable 1)
adjective and noun: Relating to Denmark, its people or its language, and also the name of a sweet layered pastry.
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Danish in a Sentence
- She ordered a coffee and a Danish on the way to work.
- Danish furniture is known for clean lines and pale wood.
- He is learning Danish because his partner grew up in Aarhus.
Common Mispronunciations of Danish
Not DA-nish
The first vowel is the long ay of day, not the short a of dad. Denmark has the short vowel, which is why the longer one in Danish catches people out.
Tip: Two syllables, weight on the first: DAY-nish. The pastry, the people and the language are all said the same way.
Why spoken Danish is hard to pronounce
Danish speakers realise far fewer of the sounds their spelling suggests than their Norwegian or Swedish neighbours do, which is why learners find the spoken language much harder than the written one. The soft d, made with the tongue low and flat behind the teeth, has no real English equivalent, and the stod is a catch in the throat that can be the only thing separating two otherwise identical words. Endings are reduced or swallowed until several written syllables arrive as one, so a sentence that reads cleanly on the page can be almost unrecognisable at speed.
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