What is it?
Grammatically, there are two kinds of Object Pronouns: Direct and Indirect.
The Direct Object is the main object in the sentence, e.g. he is eating it now - i.e. he is eating the apple now. The apple is the direct object of the sentence.
The Indirect Object Pronouns are used when they refer to the receiver of the direct object, i.e. she gives him a book. The book here is the direct object, but him is the Indirect Object, the receiver.
The Rules
The Indirect Object is the receiver of said object
On the face of it, in Danish we don't distinguish between the two kind of object pronouns - opposed to German where we have ihn (direct object pronoun for 'him') and ihm (indirect object pronoun for 'him'), so we can concentrate on only learning one list.
| Da | En | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| migme | pron | ||||
| digyou | pron | ||||
| hamhim | pron | ||||
| hendeher | pron | ||||
| denit | pron en | ||||
gram common noun class | |||||
| detit | pron et | ||||
gram neuter noun class | |||||
| osus | pron | ||||
| jeryou | pron | ||||
| demthem | pron | ||||
The Examples
In Danish the Indirect Object comes before the Direct Object. Unless, of course, we add the proposition for or til.
Please consider the following sentences:
| Da | En | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Han giver hende denHe gives it to her | |||||
| Han giver den til hendeHe gives it to her | |||||
| * | Hun læser dem en bogShe is reading them a book | ||||
| Hun læser den for demShe is reading it to them | |||||
| * | Jeg køber dem en trampolinI'm buying them a trampoline | ||||
| Jeg køber den til demI'll buy it for them | |||||
| Jeg henter dig denI'll get it for you | |||||
| Jeg henter den til digI'll get it for you | |||||
* Occasionally, ommitting for or til sounds quite unclear and clumsy if you use pronouns for both objects, as in Hun læser dem den (She's reading it to them).
Instead, you would say out the actual object: Hun læser dem en bog (She's reading them a book). This makes the sentence much better! Or even better, say: Hun læser en bog til dem.