If you’ve ever told someone you are learning Danish, they probably made a joke about having a “potato in your throat.”

It’s a cliché, but there’s a reason for it.

Danish is infamous for its pronunciation.

What you see written on the page is often very different from what you hear. Words seem to slide into one another, and consonants disappear or change completely.

For most beginners, the two biggest obstacles to sounding like a native are “the soft D” (det bløde d) and the “stød”.

Don’t worry, though.

While they are tricky, they’re not impossible. Once you understand the mechanics of what your tongue and throat should be doing, it becomes much easier to practice.

Here’s my simple guide to mastering these two unique Danish sounds.

What is the soft D?

In English, the letter ‘D’ is a “plosive” sound. Your tongue taps the roof of your mouth, stopping the air for a split second (like in the words Dog or Dad).

In Danish, we have a “hard D” that sounds just like the English one. You usually hear this at the start of a word, like in dag (day) or dansk (Danish).

But then we have det bløde d (the soft D).

The soft D usually appears in the middle or at the end of words.

If you try to pronounce words like mad (food) or gade (street) with a hard English ‘D’, no one will understand you. It will sound too harsh.

How to pronounce the soft D

The soft D is actually very similar to the ‘th’ sound in the English words “the”, “mother”, or “weather”.

However, there is one major difference.

In English, you stick your tongue out slightly between your teeth to make the ‘th’ sound.

To make the Danish soft D:

1. Put your tongue in the position to say “the”.
2. Now, instead of putting the tip of your tongue between your teeth, lower it so the tip is resting behind your bottom front teeth.
3. Raise the middle of your tongue slightly, but don’t let it touch the roof of your mouth.
4. Let the air flow over your tongue.

It feels lazy. It acts almost like a vowel.

Here are some common words where you must use the soft D:

Here is how you might use these in a sentence:

(Note: In “Hvad”, the D is soft. In “hedder”, the double D is also soft).

What is the stød?

If the soft D is difficult because of tongue position, the stød is difficult because it is not written down.

There is no letter in the alphabet for stød. You just have to know it is there.

So, what is it?

The stød is a “glottal stop” or a “creaky voice.” It sounds like a little hiccup in your throat.

Think of the English exclamation “Uh-oh!”

Between “Uh” and “oh”, your throat closes tight for a split second. That stop is the same mechanism as the Danish stød, though in Danish it is often softer - more like a creak than a full stop.

It usually happens on a long vowel or a consonant sound. It abruptly cuts the sound short.

Why the stød matters (changing meanings)

You might be thinking, “Can I just ignore the stød?”

Well, not really. In many cases, the stød is the only difference between two completely different words. These are called “minimal pairs.”

If you miss the stød, you might say “beans” when you mean “peasants,” or “murder” when you mean “mom.”

Here are the most famous examples to help you hear the difference:

(Note: “Mor” is tricky because in isolation it can have stød, but typically “mord” has a very distinct, sharp stød compared to the softer intonation of “mor”.)

Let’s look at this in a sentence context:

In this sentence:

• Hunden has stød (it sounds like hun-en with a hiccup on ‘hun’).
• Bønnerne does not have stød (it is smooth).

Regional variations in Denmark

Here is some good news if you are struggling with the stød.

Not everyone in Denmark uses it.

Denmark is a small country, but the dialects are quite distinct.

If you go to the southern part of Jutland (Sønderjylland) or parts of Funen (Fyn), the stød often disappears or changes.

In Southern Jutland, instead of the “hiccup” sound (stød), they use a “pitch accent.” This is much more similar to how Swedish and Norwegian sound. They sing the words rather than chopping them short.

So, if you accidentally forget the stød, you might just sound like you are from a different part of Denmark!

However, the “standard Danish” (Rigsdansk) that you hear on TV and in Copenhagen relies heavily on stød. It is worth practicing if you want to be understood by the majority of Danes.

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Danish pronunciation takes time. Your mouth needs to learn new muscle memories.

To recap:

• The Soft D: Place tongue behind bottom teeth. Make a lazy ‘th’ sound.
• The Stød: It is a throat hiccup. It distinguishes words like “Dog” (hunden) from “She” (hun).

Don’t be afraid to exaggerate these sounds when you practice alone. Over-emphasizing the “hiccup” or the “lazy tongue” will help your brain connect the spelling to the sound.