The Best Danish – English Dictionaries – Books, Sites, And Apps
At some point in your journey to fluency in Danish, you’ll need a trusty, go-to Danish-English dictionary. The more Danish content you consume, the more unfamiliar words you’ll come across, and having a comprehensive dictionary to hand will make it easy to look them up.
Surprisingly, there aren’t that many great options out there – certainly not as many as you’d find in some of the more widely-spoken European languages.
But there are enough, whether you’re looking for physical dictionaries, dictionary websites, or dictionary apps. We’ve compiled a list of those we found most user-friendly and useful overall.
The Best Danish – English Book Dictionaries
For a lot of language learners, there’s nothing that beats having a good old-fashioned physical dictionary to leaf through when you come across an unfamiliar word. If that sounds like you, any of the following dictionaries would make a great addition to your language learning arsenal.
Do bear in mind, however, that paper dictionaries have their limitations. They can be bulky and difficult to carry around with you, for one thing. And of course, they don’t have the benefit of being updated on the fly.
But for the most part, they tend to be more comprehensive than their digital counterparts.
Routledge Danish Dictionary: English-Danish-English
Danish Dictionary: Danish-English, English-Danish (Routledge Bilingual Dictionaries)
The two-way Danish-English dictionary by Routledge is a must-have for anyone looking to learn Danish or improve their understanding of the language.
This 716-page tome is filled with useful vocabulary and relevant examples to help you master the language. Examples are modern, making this an ideal reference for beginners or specialists.
If you’re looking for an up-to-date and comprehensive dictionary, this is the perfect resource for you.
Gyldendal English-Danish and Danish-English Dictionary
English-Danish and Danish-English Dictionary (2015)
The Gyldendal parallel English-Danish dictionary is the most comprehensive dictionary on the market. At a whopping 948 pages, and with over 40,000 entries, this dictionary is perfect for anyone looking to improve their Danish skills.
It’s modern and up-to-date, and you even get a small “popular phrases” section in the middle of the book, which would be ideal for travelers and beginners.
Where durability is concerned, this dictionary has you covered as well. It comes with a plasticized cover, ensuring that your new dictionary will last for years to come.
Danish vocabulary for English speakers – 9000 words
Danish vocabulary for English speakers - 9000 words (American English Collection)
The T&P Books Danish dictionary is a great resource for beginners, intermediate, and advanced learners alike who are looking to boost their Danish vocabulary.
With over 9000 commonly-used words arranged thematically, not alphabetically, and all information set out in an easy-to-read format, this dictionary is perfect for daily review sessions and quick, on-the-fly translations.
Plus, there’s even a pronunciation guide for each word, a handy addition for a language like Danish, which isn’t phonetic.
The Best Online English – Danish Dictionary
Don’t want a chunky physical book, yet also don’t want to download an app? Then an online Danish-English dictionary is a happy medium.
Not only are they updated regularly, but they’re also free!
Cambridge online English-Danish dictionary
World-famous publisher Cambridge brings you their online English-Danish dictionary, complete with over 35,000 entries and thousands of useful examples of the words in use.
Best of all, it’s free to use, with no signup required – although if you do make a free account, you can save words to your wordlist.
The easy-to-use interface makes finding what you need a breeze. The only drawback is that there’s no audio, which is a bit of a shame seeing as Danish is a difficult language to know how to pronounce.
Still, we think you’ll find this dictionary to be an asset.
The Best Danish – English Dictionary Apps
The greatest thing about using a Danish dictionary app to look up words is the convenience it offers. No more lugging around a heavy book, or searching for an internet connection – all you need is your smartphone, and you’re good to go.
Entries are usually updated regularly, and in some cases, audio for each word is provided to help you with your pronunciation.
If you’re an Android user, you have far greater options when it comes to Danish dictionary apps, as you’ll see from the list below.
Collins English-Danish Dictionary
Collins, one of the leading dictionary and thesaurus publishers, offers you the ultimate Danish-English dictionary for your language learning needs.
This easy-to-use, modern dictionary features over 10,000 entries, complete with audio and essential phrases, making it perfect for learners of all skill levels.
Some of the unique features included in the app are changeable theme colors, autocomplete search, spellchecker, camera search, voice search, share feature, favorites, and more. You’ll even get a new, unique “word of the day” delivered to you every day!
One of the best things about this app is that there’s a split-screen mode that lets you use the app side-by-side with another, making it easy to reference as you’re working on something else.
The Collins English-Danish dictionary is currently only available on Android devices.
Bluebird English – Danish Dictionary
Bluebird’s English-Danish dictionary app is a cut above the rest. Not only is it free to use, but it contains an impressive 33,000 words accompanied by native speaker audio. Each word also comes with a picture for easy reference.
The app is very user-friendly – simply install, type an English word into the search bar, and click search. A list of translations will appear, including common phrases containing the searched word. This means that you’ll get to see how the words are actually used in different sentences.
Do note that the dictionary is not bi-directional – you’ll only be able to search in English and receive Danish translations, not the other way round. Internet connection is also required to use it, as there’s a lot of multimedia content involved.
Separate American and British English – Danish dictionaries are available, too, so you can pick the one that’s more suited to your needs.
Sadly, this great app is currently only available on Android devices.
Danish English dictionary – Dansk Engelsk ordbog
The options for good Danish – English dictionaries on iOS are slim. In researching this topic, we tried out several of them, and we weren’t impressed with any.
The best we could find was this one by Nguyen Van Thanh. It’s easy to use, has a large vocabulary, and offers detailed descriptions for each word.
Contrary to what’s written on the app’s page, there is no audio included. But if you’re looking for a decent Danish – English dictionary for your Apple device, this one is your best bet.
We hope you enjoyed our roundup of the best Danish – English dictionaries. While there are many great resources out there, these are the ones we think will be most useful to you on your language learning journey.
For the best results, we recommend consulting a mixture of dictionaries when looking up words you’re unfamiliar with, as this will give you the most comprehensive understanding of the term.
Interested in learning some common Danish phrases? Check out our post The Best Danish Phrasebooks For Learners And Travelers.
