Hans Christian Andersen

2 3.0

A Danish writer who wrote famous fairy tales like The Little Mermaid

proper noun
/hɑnz ˈkrɪstjən ˈændərsən/

: Hans Christian Andersen

Copenhagen honors Hans Christian Andersen with a statue in his memory.

Examples

The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen have inspired countless adaptations in film and theatre.
Many children grew up hearing stories written by Hans Christian Andersen.
Copenhagen honors Hans Christian Andersen with a statue in his memory.
Many children love stories by Hans Christian Andersen.
Did you read Hans Christian Andersen in school?
Many children grew up hearing stories written by Hans Christian Andersen.
The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen have inspired countless adaptations in film and theatre.

Surface Forms

Hans Christian Andersen main

Morphology

Hans + Christian + Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen is a proper name made of personal names, and the constituents ('Hans', 'Christian', 'Andersen') do not indicate the person’s occupation or the fact that he is a famous Danish author. Proper names are arbitrary labels whose referent (a 19th-century author of fairy tales) cannot be derived from the parts, so a B1 learner who only knows the words would not be able to infer this meaning.

Etymology

Hans Christian Andersen was a poor Danish boy who loved to tell and write short, magical stories about children and animals. He turned these tales into famous books like 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Ugly Duckling', so his name now means a well-known writer of fairy tales.