Mikkel’s Comments (group member since Jan 12, 2012)

Mikkel’s comments from the Let's Learn Danish! group.

Not really that similar. Dutch is much closer to German, but as a Dane who took a couple years of German as a kid in school, it's fairly easy to read. Like 80% of the words, I know the meaning of off hand, the rest can mostly be deduced by context.

And here's some fun stuff about numbers:

Danish uses a strange combination of vigesimal (20-based) and obsolete and archaic words for the 10s, except for the first four:

10 = ti
20 = tyve
30 = tredive
40 = fyrre

Okay, those make sense, but check this out:

50 = halvtreds
60 = tres
70 = halvfjerds
80 = firs
90 = halvfems

Those are the short versions, if you wanna be super formal, you'd add "-indstyve":

halvtredsindstyve = literally "half-third times twenty". Half-third is archaic for "two and a half", so 2.5 x 20 = 50. "Halvfjerde" = 4.5, so "halvfjerdsindstyve" = 3.5 x 20 = 70.

Same with "firs(indstyve)" = 4 x 20 = 80, etc.