What is that?
Da | En | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
What is that? | |||||
Hvad er det?What is that? | |||||
Det er en stolIt is a chair | |||||
Away from speaker | |||||
Hvad er det der?What is that? | |||||
[lit: what is that there] | |||||
Det er et bordIt is a table | |||||
Close to speaker | |||||
Hvad er det her?What is this? | |||||
[lit: what is this here] | |||||
Det er en bogIt is a book | |||||
In English you use different words (demonstrative pronouns) when referring to items close to speaker (this) and away from speaker (that).
In Danish you don't need to do that. Hvad er det? can refer to objects close to or away from speaker.
However, when you want to specify the location of the object (close to or away from speaker), you add her (here) and der (there) as seen above.