Setting up a Danish voice
- Record 5 to 15 seconds of a native Danish speaker, Copenhagen or regional.
- Set the voice's Language to Danish. Written Danish looks a lot like Norwegian Bokmål, so it's worth checking.
- Test with a number, a name and a sentence with plenty of soft d's.
Numbers: write them out
Danish numbers from 50 to 90 are counted in twenties, and units come before tens, so digits leave a lot of room for error. Write them as words:
| Number | Danish |
|---|---|
| 21 | enogtyve |
| 50 | halvtreds |
| 60 | tres |
| 70 | halvfjerds |
| 80 | firs |
| 90 | halvfems |
| 2026 | totusind og seksogtyve |
Writing Danish for the voice
- Keep æ, ø and å; never substitute ae, oe or aa in a script.
- Times: halv ni is 8:30, half an hour before nine. Write the time as your audience says it.
- Abbreviations: f.eks. → for eksempel, osv. → og så videre, ca. → cirka, kr. → kroner.
- Names and loanwords: Danish sound changes, such as the soft d and the stød, are where unusual words go wrong. Respell any that do.
A passage to record
Jeg har villet optage det her i ugevis, så nu gør jeg det. Det er en stille aften, kaffen er klar, og jeg har endelig
et par minutter for mig selv. Lad os høre, hvordan det lyder.
"I've been meaning to record this for weeks, so now I'm doing it. It's a quiet evening, the coffee's ready, and I finally have a few minutes to myself. Let's hear how it sounds."
A dialogue to test with
Ida: Er du her allerede? Jeg har ventet siden klokken otte.
Mads: Undskyld! Der var kø hele vejen.
Ida: Nå, nu er du her. Skal vi bestille?Scandinavian projects
Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are close in writing but differ in sound, so each needs its own native voice. See Norwegian and Swedish.