Der With Passives And Intransitives

Level 4

In Danish, 'der' acts as a placeholder subject (expletive subject) to introduce new, indefinite information or to form impersonal passive sentences. It allows the 'real' subject to move after the verb.

How It Works

The presentative construction (often called expletive der) is essential for natural Danish flow. It allows you to introduce new information without starting the sentence with an indefinite noun.

1. Introducing New Information (Intransitive Verbs)
When introducing a person or thing for the first time, Danish speakers rarely start with the noun if it is indefinite. Instead, they use der and move the 'logical subject' after the verb. This occurs with verbs of existence or position like er (is), sidder/står/ligger (sits/stands/lies), and kommer (comes).

  • En mand står derude (Grammatically possible but sounds like a list)
  • Der står en mand derude (Natural: 'There is a man standing out there')

Crucial Rule: The logical subject must be indefinite (e.g., en, et, nogen, mange). You cannot use this with definite nouns (e.g., manden). Furthermore, this construction cannot be used with active transitive verbs (verbs that take an object).

2. Passive Constructions
Der is used frequently with blive-passives and s-passives:

  • Personal Passive: The logical subject is moved after the verb. Der tales dansk her (Danish is spoken here).
  • Impersonal Passive: There is no logical subject at all; the focus is entirely on the activity. Der blev grinet meget (There was a lot of laughing).

Important Distinctions:

  • Pronunciation: In this construction, der is unstressed. This distinguishes it from the locative adverb der (meaning 'there'), which is stressed.
  • Relative Pronoun: Do not confuse this placeholder der with the relative pronoun der (who/which/that). The placeholder der fills the subject slot in the main clause, while the relative der starts a subordinate clause.

Word Order Note: Because of the V2 rule, if you start the sentence with an adverb like nu (now), der moves to the position immediately after the verb: Nu sidder der en fugl på vinduet.

Examples (5)

  1. Der sidder en kat i haven.

    There is a cat sitting in the garden.

    Word by Word: There sits a cat in the-garden.

    Here 'der' introduces a new, indefinite subject (en kat) using a position verb.

  2. Der blev spist meget kage til festen.

    A lot of cake was eaten at the party.

    Word by Word: There became eaten much cake to the-party.

    A passive construction where 'der' allows the focus to remain on the action of eating cake.

  3. Der danses hele natten.

    There is dancing all night.

    Word by Word: There dances-passive whole the-night.

    An impersonal s-passive where 'der' acts as the subject because there is no specific person mentioned as the dancer.

  4. I går skete der noget mærkeligt.

    Yesterday something strange happened.

    Word by Word: In yesterday happened there something strange.

    Notice how 'der' moves after the verb 'skete' because the adverb 'I går' takes the first position.

  5. Der kommer en bus nu.

    A bus is coming now.

    Word by Word: There comes a bus now.

    Used with a verb of motion to introduce the arrival of a new entity.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the empty 'der' with a definite noun.

    Different MeaningDer sidder katten i haven.
    Katten sidder i haven.

    The empty 'der' introduces new (indefinite) information, as in 'Der sidder en kat i haven'. With a definite subject like 'katten' it does not work that way. 'Der sidder katten' can only mean a stressed 'there', pointing at the place. To say simply where the cat is, start with the subject.

  • Using 'der' with active transitive verbs.

    Der spiste en mand et æble.
    En mand spiste et æble.

    The presentative 'der' is mostly used with intransitive, positional or passive verbs. With an active verb that has an object it is rare and limited to certain cases, such as 'Der har nogen stjålet min cykel'. A plain statement like this one is better with the subject first.

  • Using 'det' instead of 'der' for existence.

    Det er mange mennesker her.
    Der er mange mennesker her.

    English uses 'it' for weather/time and 'there' for existence. Danish follows a similar logic: use 'det' for weather/evaluations, but 'der' for existence/presence.

How It Connects

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Der With Passives And IntransitivesLevel 4

Learn This First

To understand 'der-subject raising', you need to be familiar with 'der' as a formal subject, how passive sentences are constructed with 'blive', and how Danish word order (V2) handles the placement of verbs when the subject is postponed.

Words in This Pattern

der