Secondary Predication

Level 5

Depictive constructions (frie prædikativer) use adjectives to describe a participant's state while an action happens. Unlike adverbs, these adjectives must agree with the noun they describe.

How It Works

In Danish, depictive constructions (frie prædikativer) provide extra information about the state of a noun during an event. They are distinct from adverbs because they describe the person/thing, not the manner of the action.

1. Agreement Rules
The adjective must match the noun it describes in gender and number:

  • Common Gender: No ending (Han kom hjem træt).
  • Neuter Gender: Use the neuter adjective form, normally with -t (Barnet kom hjem sultent).
  • Plural: Add -e (De kom hjem trætte).

2. Subject vs. Object Orientation
Depictives can describe the subject (Han spiste nøgen - He was naked while eating) or the object (Han spiste fisken rå - The fish was raw while he ate it).

3. Depictive vs. Adverb
This is a common point of confusion. If you say 'Han talte vredt' (adverb), you describe his tone of voice. If you say 'Han talte vred' (depictive), you describe his internal state of being angry while speaking. Crucially, adverbs do not change for plural subjects, but depictives do: 'De talte vrede' (They were angry).

4. Depictive vs. Resultative
A resultative construction describes the end state caused by the verb (e.g., painting a door red). A depictive describes the state during the verb (e.g., painting a door naked).

Neuter Ambiguity: Barnet talte vredt can describe angry speaking or the child's angry state; neuter adjective and adverb have the same form here. A plural contrast makes the grammar clearer: Børnene talte vrede describes the children; Børnene talte vredt describes how they spoke. Lexical Exceptions: Glad has no extra t in the neuter: Barnet kom glad hjem. It is not completely invariable, because the plural is glade.

Examples (5)

  1. De ankom trætte til hotellet.

    They arrived at the hotel tired.

    Word by Word: They arrived tired to the-hotel.

    The adjective 'trætte' is in the plural form to agree with the subject 'de'.

  2. Jeg foretrækker at drikke kaffen sort.

    I prefer to drink my coffee black.

    Word by Word: I prefer to drink the-coffee black.

    This is an object-oriented depictive. 'Sort' describes the state of the coffee (common gender) while it is being drunk.

  3. Barnet løb sultent gennem haven.

    The child ran hungry through the garden.

    Word by Word: The-child ran hungry through the-garden.

    Because 'barnet' is neuter, the adjective 'sulten' takes the suffix -t to become 'sultent', agreeing with the subject.

  4. Vi spiste kødet råt.

    We ate the meat raw.

    Word by Word: We ate the-meat raw.

    The adjective 'råt' (raw) agrees with the neuter object 'kødet'.

  5. Han kom fuld hjem.

    He came home drunk.

    Word by Word: He came drunk home.

    A classic subject-oriented depictive describing his state upon arrival.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the adjective in the singular for a plural subject.

    De kom hjem træt.
    De kom hjem trætte.

    The adjective describes the people, so it agrees with the plural subject: 'trætte', not 'træt'.

  • Using a definite adjective form solely because the described noun is definite.

    Han spiste fisken kolde.
    Han spiste fisken kold.

    The depictive kold agrees with the common-gender singular fisken. The definite noun does not require the adjective ending used inside den kolde fisk. Rå itself has unchanged definite rå, so råen would not illustrate a real adjective form.

How It Connects

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Secondary PredicationLevel 5

Learn This First

To understand depictive constructions (secondary predication), you need to know how adjectives agree with nouns in Danish, as the adjective must match the subject or object it describes. You also need a firm grasp of basic word order and object pronouns, as these constructions involve placing an adjective after the main clause components to provide additional information about a participant during the action.