Danish Lesson 1

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^ Contents ^ Lektie 2: Familie ^ Lektie 3: Tal og Farver ^

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A note on pronunciation

Danish words are extremely difficult for English-speakers to pronounce correctly when given only the written form. Even when heard the sounds can be frustrating to reproduce. The pronunciation guide is an attempt to explain how the words should be said, but these rules are quite hard to follow when confronted with a word like Smørrebrødsjomfru (sandwich maker).

Here's a very incomplete list of tips for the simple greetings in this lesson:

• Hej = just like the English Hi.
• Dav = say Dau.
• Goddag = the last g is silent.
• Godmorgen = "go-moarn". The r is pronounced in the back of the throat, nearly silent.

Hellos and Goodbyes in Danish

Hellos:

Hello!        Hej!
              Hejsa!
              Dav!
              Goddag!
Good morning! Godmorgen!
Good evening! Godaften!

Goodbyes:

Goodbye!      Farvel!
Bye!          Hej hej!
Later!        Vi ses!
Good night!   Godnat!

Samtale 1 ~ Conversation 1

Sofie and Louise are friends. They meet and talk about their day.

Louise: Hej Sofie, hvordan går det?
Sofie: Det går godt, tak. Hvad med dig?
Louise: Jeg har det fint.
Sofie: Hvad så?
Louise: Ikke noget særligt
Sofie: Hej hej, Louise.
Louise: Vi ses.

Ordforklaringer ~ Vocabulary

Hej = Hi, hello Hvordan går det? = How's it going? (more literally: "How goes it?") Det går godt / Jeg har det fint = I'm fine Tak = Thanks Hvad med dig? = How about you? Hvad så? = What's up? (literally: "What then?") Ikke noget særligt = Nothing in particular ("Not anything particular")

You can probably figure out the rest, with the help of the Hellos and Goodbyes table.

Samtale 2

Take a look at this short formal conversation to see how Danes address eachother formally.

Hr. Nilsen: Goddag! Hvordan har De det?
Hr. Klaaborg: Davs! Jeg har det fint, tak.
Hr. Nilsen: Godt, Farvel!
Hr. Klaaborg: Farvel!

Ordforklaringer

Hr. = Mister (mr.) Frøken = Ms., Miss Frue = Mrs.

You may have noticed that hr. Nilsen referred to hr. Klaaborg as De. This is the polite form for you, as opposed to the casual du, which Sofie and Louise used. This is rarely used in Danish today though, but can still be seen when titulating people whom demand great respect, like for example the nobility.

Flere ordforklaringer ~ More vocabulary

besøge                    visit
bro                       bridge
ven, venner               friend, friends
samtale, samtaler         conversation, conversations
grammatik                 grammar
lektie                    lesson
gade, vej                 street, road
ordforklaringer           word explanations, vocabulary

at gå                     to go/walk
med                       with
at være                   to be

at møde                   to meet
at besøge                 to visit
at forstå                 to understand

men                       but, however
også                      also, too, as well
tak                       thank you; thanks
det                       it (pronoun)
nej                       no
ja                        yes
korrekt                   correct
allerede                  already
smuk                      beautiful
meget                     very
og                        and

Pronomer ~ Pronouns

The Danish pronouns shouldn't be too hard to memorize, as they are most of the time close to their English equivalents. vi = we and os = us, for example.

Subject (nominative) Object (accusative) Danish English Danish English 1st Person Singular jeg I mig me 2nd Person Singular du you dig you 3rd Person Singular han hun den/det he she it ham hende den/det him her it           1st Person Plural vi we os us 2nd Person Plural I you jer you 3rd Person Plural/ Polite 2nd Person Singular de they dem them

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^ Contents ^ Lektie 2: Familie ^ Lektie 3: Tal og Farver ^

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