Months
The Danish months are: januar, februar, marts, april, maj, juni, juli, august, september, oktober, november, december. They are always written in lowercase.
How It Works
In Danish, months are essential for scheduling and dating. Here are the key rules to become confident with:
- Lowercase: Even though they refer to specific times, months are not proper nouns in Danish. You must write i maj, not i Maj.
- Dates: To express a specific date, use the definite article den followed by an ordinal number (written with a dot) and the month, for example: den 24. december.
- Prepositions: Use i for general time or the current year (e.g., i august). Use til when referring to the upcoming occurrence of that month (e.g., vi ses til januar).
- Gender and Definiteness: Months are common gender (n-words). The -en suffix is grammatically standard but rarely used unless the month is being specifically described (e.g., januaren var kold). Usually, you use the definite article den if the month is modified by an adjective: den kolde januar.
- Pronunciation and Stress: The letter j is pronounced like the English 'y' (e.g., juni). Note that stress varies: while januar is stressed on the first syllable, many others like a-PRIL, au-GUST, and all months ending in -ember are stressed on the second syllable.
- Emphasis: Danes often add the word måned (month) for clarity, such as i juli måned (in the month of July).
Examples (6)
- Jeg har fødselsdag i maj.
I have a birthday in May.
Word by Word: I have birthday in May.
Notice that 'maj' is lowercase and uses the preposition 'i'.
- Min ferie starter den 1. juli.
My vacation starts on July 1st.
Word by Word: My vacation starts the 1st July.
Dates are formed using 'den' + an ordinal number + the month.
- Det er meget koldt i januar.
It is very cold in January.
Word by Word: It is very cold in January.
A general statement about weather using the month name.
- Vi ses til september!
See you in September!
Word by Word: We see-each-other to September!
Using 'til' indicates the upcoming September.
- Husker du den varme juli?
Do you remember that warm July?
Word by Word: Remember you the warm July?
When an adjective modifies a month, we use the definite article den.
- Efter december kommer januar.
After December comes January.
Word by Word: After December comes January.
Months are used here without prepositions to show sequence.
Common Mistakes
Capitalizing the month name.
Jeg kommer i Juni.Jeg kommer i juni.In Danish, months are common nouns and must be lowercase unless they are the first word in a sentence.
Using English spelling for months.
Det er koldt i March.Det er koldt i marts.Be careful with 'marts' (March) and 'maj' (May), as they are very similar to English but spelled differently.
Overusing the definite suffix with months.
Jeg elsker julien.Jeg elsker juli.Month names are normally used in the bare form: i juli, i juni. Do not add the definite ending ('julien') to a month.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To talk about months in Danish, you need to know the names of the months themselves, which are not capitalized. You also need to understand how to use the preposition 'i' to express when an event occurs during a month.
Related Patterns
- Days Of The Week
Like months, days of the week are also lowercase in Danish.
Level 1 - tilTo
The preposition 'til' is used to refer to a future month (e.g., 'see you in...').
Level 1 - omAbout / in (Time) (Om)
'Om' is used for durations (in a month's time) or seasons, rather than specific named months.
Level 1 - Weather Expressions
Months are frequently used when describing seasonal weather patterns.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice Months in Bubblegum
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