Den, det or de before adjectives

When an adjective stands before a definite noun, Danish does not add -en/-et to the noun. Instead a separate article goes in front, and the adjective ends in -e:

• den with en-words: bilen → den røde bil (the red car)
• det with et-words: huset → det gamle hus (the old house)
• de with all plurals: hundene → de store hunde (the big dogs)

The noun keeps its indefinite form: say den røde bil, never den røde bilen. Without an adjective the suffix article stays: bilen er rød (the car is red).

To choose, ask: is the noun plural? Then de (pronounced like di). If it is singular, is it an en-word (den) or an et-word (det)? Note that lille becomes små in the plural: den lille seng, det lille køkken, de små killinger.