Danish typing practice
Learn to type Danish in your browser, free: Smart Lessons drawn from everyday Danish words, Danish books to copy, and the keys for æ, ø and å whatever keyboard you have.
What you can practise
Smart Lessons in Danish
Real Danish words, built around your slowest key. You start on six keys, and é, æ, ø and å join as the others come up to speed.
The Danish alphabet
Every letter in order against the clock, with how to type each Danish letter on your keyboard.
Typing games in Danish
Pilot and Spaceship: steer through the gaps or shoot down enemy ships by typing Danish words.
6 Danish books
Classic Danish books, out of copyright, typed a passage at a time.
Danish letters
Danish ends its alphabet with three extra letters, æ, ø and å, in that order. They are everywhere: "på" (on), "også" (also), "være" (to be), "første" (first). É turns up in a few borrowed words such as "idé" and "allé". Smart Lessons bring each letter in once the ones before it are up to speed.
A Danish keyboard is QWERTY with the three letters to the right of the main block: Æ and Ø after L, Å after P, and an acute dead key ´ beside + for é. On a US or UK keyboard, US-International on Windows gives æ as AltGr+Z, ø as AltGr+L and å as AltGr+W; a Mac with ABC – Extended uses Option+' for æ and Option+O for ø.
On a Danish keyboard
Windows: Danish · macOS: Danish · Linux: Danish
Add it in Windows under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, in macOS under System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources, in Linux under Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources.
| Letter | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| é | ´then E | ´then E | ´then E |
| æ | Æ | Æ | Æ |
| ø | Ø | Ø | Ø |
| å | Å | Å | Å |
On a US or UK keyboard
Windows: United States-International · macOS: ABC – Extended · Linux: English (US, intl., with dead keys)
Add it the same way. On US-International ' and " become dead keys: type a space after one for the mark itself.
| Letter | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| é | 'then E | Option Ethen E | 'then E |
| æ | AltGr Z | Option ' | AltGr Z |
| ø | AltGr L | Option O | AltGr L |
| å | AltGr W | Option Kthen A | Shift AltGr 0then A |
Tips for typing Danish
Æ and Ø live on the home row
Æ and Ø are the two keys right of L, so the right little finger types them without leaving the home row; Å is one row up, right of P. Words like "være", "første" and "også" drill all three.
É is two presses
For é, press ´, just left of Backspace, and then E; nothing appears until the E. Danish needs é in only a few words such as "idé", so practise them now and then or the order slips.
Three AltGr chords on a US keyboard
With US-International, hold AltGr with the right thumb and press Z, L or W for æ, ø or å. Practise the three chords on their own before mixing them into words, and use one method rather than switching.