Days Of The Week

Level 1

In Danish, days of the week are not capitalized. They use specific prepositions and suffixes to indicate if an event is in the past, future, or a recurring habit.

How It Works

Danish days of the week function as common nouns. This means they follow standard lowercase rules unless they start a sentence. To express time, Danish uses three main structures:

  • Future (This coming...): Use the preposition på + the day. Example: på fredag (this Friday).
  • Habitual (Every...): Use the preposition om + the day with the definite suffix -en. Example: om mandagen (on Mondays/every Monday).
  • Recent Past (Last...): Use the preposition i + the day with an -s suffix. Example: i lørdags (last Saturday).

Note that the -s in the past form is an adverbial marker, not a possessive.

Examples (4)

  1. Vi ses på fredag!

    See you on Friday!

    Word by Word: We see-each-other on Friday!

    Using 'på' indicates the upcoming Friday.

  2. Jeg arbejder altid om mandagen.

    I always work on Mondays.

    Word by Word: I work always about Monday-the.

    The combination of 'om' and the definite suffix '-en' indicates a recurring habit.

  3. Hvad lavede du i søndags?

    What did you do last Sunday?

    Word by Word: What did you in Sunday-s?

    The preposition 'i' and the suffix '-s' refer to the most recent past Sunday.

  4. Torsdag er min yndlingsdag.

    Thursday is my favorite day.

    Word by Word: Thursday is my favorite-day.

    The day is capitalized here only because it starts the sentence.

Common Mistakes

  • Capitalizing the day of the week.

    Jeg kommer på Mandag.
    Jeg kommer på mandag.

    Unlike English, Danish days are common nouns and must be lowercase.

  • Forgetting the -s suffix for past events.

    Jeg så ham i mandag.
    Jeg så ham i mandags.

    When using 'i' to mean 'last [day]', you must add the -s suffix.

  • Using 'på' for recurring habits.

    Different MeaningJeg svømmer på tirsdag.
    Jeg svømmer om tirsdagen.

    'Jeg svømmer på tirsdag' is a good sentence: 'på tirsdag' means this coming Tuesday. To say you swim every Tuesday, use 'om tirsdagen'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Days Of The WeekLevel 1

Learn This First

To use days of the week in Danish, you need to know the names themselves, but more importantly, how to use the prepositions 'på' and 'om' to distinguish between a single upcoming event and a recurring schedule. Understanding basic noun gender helps in forming the definite suffix '-en' for these time expressions.

Words in This Pattern

mandagtirsdagonsdagtorsdagfredaglørdagsøndag