Danish II Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar

21. Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns

	with en words	with et words	with plural words
my / mine	min	mit	mine
your / yours	din	dit	dine
his / her / its / their	sin	sit	sine
his / his	hans	hans	hans
her / hers	hendes	hendes	hendes
its / its	dens	dens	dens
our / ours	vores	vores	vores
your / yours	deres	deres	deres
their / theirs	deres	deres	deres

The same forms are used for possessive adjectives that are used directly before nouns and for possessive pronouns that replace a noun. For example, this is my car and this is mine would be translated as det her er min bil and det her er min.

Sin, sit and sine can only be used when the third person possessive adjective refers to the subject of the same clause. These words can be translated as his, her, its or their. Generally, if you cannot insert "own" after the possessive adjective in English, you cannot use sin/sit/sine.

Per besøger sin mor. = Per visits his (own) mother. (Sin refers back to Per.)
Eva ringer til hans mor. = Eva calls his mother. (Hans refers to Per, not Eva.)

22. To Do/Make & To Become

	gøre - to do/make	blive - to become
present	gør	bliver
past	gjorde	blev
future	vil gøre	vil blive

23. Work

actor	skuespiller	judge	dommer
actress	skuespillerinde	lawyer	advokat
author	forfatter	mechanic	mekaniker
baker	bager	musician	musiker
baker's shop	bageri	nurse	sygeplejerske
bookseller	bogsælger	official	embedsmand
bookshop	boghandel	optician (eye doctor)	optiker
businessman	forretningsmand	painter	maler
butcher	slagter	photographer	fotograf
pharmacist	farmaceut/apoteker	policeman	politimand
pharmacy	apotek	postman	postbud
cook	kok	priest	præst
customer	kunde	publisher	forlægger
dentist	tandlæge	scientist	videnskabsmand
doctor	læge	shoemaker	skomager
employee	ansat/medarbjeder	shop, store	butik/forretning
engineer	ingenør	singer	sanger
fisherman	fisker	student	studerende
gardener	gardner	surgeon	kirurg
hairdresser	frisør	tailor	skrædder
jeweler	juvelér	teacher	lærer
journalist	journalist	workman	arbejder

24. Prepositions

ved	by, at, next to	af	of, by, with
i	in	bag	behind
på	on, in, at	iblandt	among
hos	at the house of	ved siden af	beside
til	to	efter	after, for
fra	from	ifølge	according to
gennem	through, by	foran	in front of
langs	along	for	for, by, with
over	across, over	omkring	around
mod	towards, to	med	with, by
mellem	between	under	under, below
om	around, about, in	uden	without
siden	since	undtagen	except for
trods	in spite of	mod	towards, for

25. Countries & Nationalities

	Country	Noun	Adjective
Africa / African	Afrika	afrikaner	afrikansk
America / American	Amerika	amerikaner	amerikansk
Argentina / Argentinan	Argentina	argentiner	argentinsk
Asia / Asian	Asien	asiat	asiatisk
Australia / Australian	Australien	australier	australsk
Austria / Austrian	Østrig	østriger	østrigsk
Belgium / Belgian	Belgien	belgier	belgisk
Brazil / Brazilian	Brasilien	brasilianer	brasiliansk
Canada / Canadian	Canada	canadier	canadisk
China / Chinese	Kina	kineser	kinesisk
Denmark / Dane	Danmark	dansker	dansk
Egypt / Egyptian	Egypten	egypter	egyptisk
England / English	England	englænder	engelsk
Europe / European	Europa	europæer	europæisk
Finland / Finnish	Finland	finne	finsk
France / French	Frankrig	franskmand	fransk
Germany / German	Tyskland	tysker	tysk
Great Britain / British	Storbritanien	britte	brittisk
Greece / Greek	Grækenland	græker	græsk
Netherlands / Dutch	Holland	hollænder	hollandsk
Hungary / Hungarian	Ungarn	ungarer	ungarsk
Ireland / Irish	Irland	irer	irsk
Italy / Italian	Italien	italiener	italiensk
Japan / Japanese	Japan	japaner	japansk
Norway / Norwegian	Norge	nordmand	norsk
Poland / Polish	Polen	polak	polsk
Portugal / Portuguese	Portugal	portugiser	portugisisk
Russia / Russian	Rusland	russer	russisk
Scotland / Scottish	Scotland	skotte	skotsk
Spain / Spanish	Spanien	spanier	spansk
Sweden / Swedish	Sverige	svensker	svensk
Switzerland / Swiss	Schweiz	schweizer	schweizisk
Turkey / Turkish	Tyrkiet	tyrker	tyrkisk
United States	USA	amerikaner	amerikansk

26. Negative Sentences

To make a sentence negative, simply add ikke after the verb. If there is an auxiliary verb and a main verb, ikke goes between the two. In addition, if you answer "yes" to a negative question, you must use jo instead of ja.

27. Short Answers

A yes/no question can be answered with a short phrase, just as in English. The verb gøre (to do/make) is used with the pronoun det and the subject of the question. Some verbs are not replaced by gøre and are repeated in the short answer, such as være and have. This is very similar to English, except for the word order.

Positive Short Answer: Ja + det + Verb + Subject
Negative Short Answer: Nej + det + Verb + Subject + ikke

Arbejder han her?	Does he work here?
Ja det gør han.	Yes he does.
Nej det gør han ikke.	No, he does not.

Er de glade?	Are they happy?
Ja det er de.	Yes they are.
Nej, det er de ikke.	No, they are not.

28. To Come & To Go

	komme - to come	gå - to go
present	kommer	går
past	kom	gik
future	vil komme	vil gå

29. Common Auxiliary Verbs

	kunne - be able to, can	ville - to want to	få - to be allowed to	-- must, have to
present	kan	vil	får	må/skal
past	kunne	ville	fik	---

Just as in English, there is no past form of must. You can either use var tvunget or blev nød til instead, as in jeg var tvunget til at ... = I had to...

	skulle - supposed to, will, should	burde - should, ought to	pleje - usually, used to	behøve - need to
present	skal	bør	plejer	behøver
past	skulle	burde	plejede	behøvede

Vi kan tale engelsk	We can speak english
Han kunne ikke spille	He could not play
Sven vil sove	Sven wants to sleep
Hun vil have kaffe	She wants coffee
Du må (gerne) ryge	You may smoke
De må (skal) gå hjem nu	They have to go home now
Du må ikke ryge	You may not smoke
Jeg plejer at drikke kaffe efter frokost	I usually drink coffee after lunch

30. Conjugating Regular Verbs (Present and Past Tenses)

The majority of verbs in Danish end in -e in the infinitive and they are only conjugated according to tense, not subject.

Present Tense		Past Tense
jeg taler	I speak	jeg talte	I spoke
du taler	you speak	du talte	you spoke
han taler	he speaks	han talte	he spoke
hun taler	she speaks	hun talte	she spoke
vi taler	we speak	vi talte	we spoke
i taler	you speak	i talte	you spoke
de taler	they speak	de talte	they spoke

Please note the three present tenses in English (simple, progressive and emphatic) are all translated by one verb form in Danish. Jag taler can mean I speak, I am speaking or I do speak.

arbejde	to work
spørge	to ask
åbne	to open
tale	to speak
ringe	to ring
lukke	to close
følge	to follow
bygge	to build
tænke	to think
ryge	to smoke
læse	to read
købe	to buy
tro	to believe
bo	to live, dwell

31. Reflexive Verbs

Some verbs in Danish are reflexive verbs, in that the action by the subject is performed by itself. This is comparable to the -self or -selves pronouns used in English with some verbs, such as he behaves himself. Most of the time, verbs that are reflexive in Danish are not reflexive in English. To conjugate these verbs, simply add these pronouns after the verb:

mig	myself	os	ourselves
dig	yourself	dem	yourselves
sig	himself/herself/itself	sig	theirselves

32. Commands

The stem of a verb (the infinitive minus the final -e) is often the imperative or command form:

Imperative	Translation
åben!	open!
vent!	wait!
skriv!	write!
læs!	read!

33. Present & Past Perfect

The present and past perfect tenses consist of two parts: har / havde and the past participle of the main verb. This is a compound tense that corresponds to has/have / had and a past participle in English.

Infinitive		Present	Past	Past Participle
arbejde	to work	arbejder	arbejdede	arbejdet
spørge	to ask	spørger	spurgte	spurgt
åbne	to open	åbner	åbnede	åbnet
tale	to speak	taler	talte	talt
ringe	to ring	ringer	ringede	ringet
lukke	to close	lukker	lukkede	lukket
følge	to follow	følger	fulgte	fulgt
bygge	to build	bygger	byggede	bygget
tænke	to think	tænker	tænkte	tænkt
ryge	to smoke	ryger	røg	røget
læse	to read	læser	læste	læst
købe	to buy	køber	købte	købt
bo	to believe	bor	boede	boet
tro	to live, dwell	tror	troede	troet

Jeg har læst bogen. I have read the book.
Hun havde åbnet døren. She had opened the door.

34. Irregular Verbs

Several verbs in Danish are considered irregular because they do not follow the rules for the different conjugations. These forms need to be memorized since these verbs are very common.

Infinitive	Imperative	Present	Past	Past Participle	Translation
være	vær	er	var	været	be
have	hav	har	havde	haft	have
komme	kom	kommer	kom	kommet	come
gøre	gør	gør	gjorde	gjort	do, make
tage	tag	tager	tog	taget	take
sige	sig	siger	sagde	sagt	say
vide	vid	ved	vidste	vidst	know
lade	lad	lader	lod	ladet	let
holde	hold	holder	holdt	holdt	hold
hedde	hed	hedder	hed	heddet	be called
gå	gå	går	gik	gået	go
rejse	rejs	rejser	rejste	rejst	travel
bære	bær	bær	bar	båret	carry
trække	træk	trækker	trak	trukket	pull, drag
ligge	lig	ligger	lå	ligget	lie (down)
lægge	læg	lægger	lagde	lagt	put
sidde	sid	sidder	sad	sat	put
slå	slå	slår	slog	slået	hit
falde	fald	falder	faldt	faldet	fall
spise	spis	spiser	spiste	spist	eat
sove	sov	sover	sov	sovet	sleep
stjæle	stjæl	stjæler	stjal	stjålet	steal
græde	græd	græder	græd	grædt	cry
sælge	sælg	sælger	solgte	solgt	sell
vælge	vælg	vælger	valgte	valgt	choose
vænne	væn	vænner	vænnede	vænnet	accustom
sluge	slug	sluger	slugte	slugt	swallow
skille	skil	skiller	skilte	skilt	separate

Some have irregular simple past and/or past participle forms. Sometimes these involve a vowel change and lack of ending.

Infinitive	Past	Past Participle	Translations
binde	bandt	bundet	to bind / bound / bound
bænde	brændte	brændt	to burn / burned / burned
drikke	drak	drukket	to drink / drank / drunk
finde	fandt	fundet	to find / found / found
forsvinde	forsvandt	forsvundet	to disappear / disappeared / disappeared
nå	nåede	nået	to manage / managed / managed
løbe	løb	løbet	to run, flow / ran, flowed / run, flowed
sidde	sad	siddet	to sit / sat / sat
slippe	slap	sluppet	to get out of / got out of / gotten out of
stikke	stak	stukket	to split / split / split
stikke	stak	stukket	to stick / stuck / stuck
vinde	vandt	vundet	to win / won / won
bide	bed	bidt	to bite / bit / bitten
gribe	greb	grebet	to grip / gripped / gripped
lide	led	lidt	to suffer / suffered / suffered
ride	red	redet	to ride / rode / ridden
skinne	skinnede	skinnet	to shine / shone / shone
skrive	skrev	skrevet	to write / wrote / written
slide	sled	slidt	to wear out / wore out / worn out
stige	steg	steget	to rise / rose / risen
tie	teg	tiet	to be silent / was silent / been silent
vride	vred	vredet	to turn / turned / turned
byde	bød	budt	to invite / invited / invited
lyve	løg	løget	to lie / lied / lied (to tell a lie)
synge	sang	sunget	to sing / sang / sung
skyde	skød	skudt	to shoot / shot / shot
bryde	brød	brudt	to break / broke / broken
flyve	fløj	fløjet	to fly / flew / flown
flyde	flød	flydt	to float / floated / floated
fryse	frøs	frosset	to freeze / froze / frozen
binde	bandt	bundet	to tie up / tied up / tied up
krybe	krøb	krøbet	to crawl / crawled / crawled

A few infinitives in Danish do not end in -e. These are short verbs and they end in a long, stressed vowel. The infinitive is the same as the imperative, and the present tense is formed by adding -r. The past tense is formed by adding -ede to the infinitive, and the past participle is formed by adding -et to the infinitive. However, a few of the short verbs have an irregular form in the past.

Infinitive / Imperative	Present Tense	Past Tense	Past Participle	Translation
Short verbs with a regular past:
tro	tror	troede	troet	believe, think
ske	sker	skete	sket	happen
nå	når	nåede	nået	reach
bo	bor	boede	boet	live
dø	dør	døede	døet	die

Short verbs with an irregular past:
få	får	fik	fået	get, receive
gå	går	gik	gået	go, walk
give	giver	gav	givet	give
se	ser	så	set	see
stå	står	stod	stået	stand
be	ber	bad	bedt	ask, pray
le	ler	lo	leet	laugh

35. Food & Meals

bacon	bacon / flæsk	salt	salt
beef	oksekød	sandwich	mad / sandwhich
beer	øl	sauce	sovs
beverage	sodavand	sausage	pølse
biscuit	småkage	soup	suppe
bread	brød	stew	gryderet
breakfast	morgenmad	sugar	sukker
butter	smør	supper	middag
cake	kage	tea	te
cheese	ost	veal	kalvekød
chicken	kylling	vegetables	grøntsager
coffee	kaffe	vinegar	eddike
cream	fløde	wine	vin
dessert	dessert	basin	skål
dinner	middag / aftensmad	bottle	flaske
egg	æg	can opener	dåseåbner
fried egg	spejlæg	coffee pot	kaffekande
soft-boiled egg	blødkogt æg	colander	dørslag
fat	fedt	corkscrew	proptrækker
flour	mel	cup	kop
ham	skinke	dish	ret
honey	honning	fork	gaffel
jam	syltetøj / marmelade	frying pan	stegepande
lunch	frokost	glass	glas
meal	måltid	jug	krukke
meat	kød	kettle	keddel
milk	mælk	knife	kniv
mustard	sennep	lid	låg
mutton	fårekød	napkin	serviet
oil	olie	plate	tallerken
omelet	omelet	saucer	underkop
pepper	peber	saucepan	kasserolle
pork	svinekød	spoon	ske
roll	bolle	tablecloth	dug
salad	salat	teapot	tekande

36. Fruits & Vegetables

almond	mandel	strawberry	jordbær
apple	æble	tree	træ
apple tree	æbletræ	tree trunk	stamme
apricot	aprikos	vine	slyngplante
ash	ask	walnut	valnød
bark	bark	willow	pil
beech	bøg	artichoke	artiskok
berry	bær	asparagus	asparges
birch	birk	barley	byg
blackberry	brumbær	bean (broad)	bønne
branch	gren	bean (kidney)	kidneybønne
cherry	kirsebær	brussel sprouts	rosenkål
cherry tree	kirsebærtræ	cabbage	kål
chestnut	kastanje	carrot	gulerod
chestnut tree	kastanjetræ	cauliflower	blomkål
currant	solbær	celery	selleri
cypress	cypres	corn	majs
date	dadel	cucumber	agurk
elm	elm	eggplant	aubergine
fig	figen	garlic	hvidløg
fir	gran	herb	urte
fruit	frugt	horse-radish	peberrod
grapes	vindruer	lentil	linse
hazelnut	hasselnød	lettuce	salat
kernel	kerne	maize	majs
laurel	laurbær	mint	mynte
leaf	blad	mushroom	svamp
lemon	citron	oats	havre
lime tree	limetræ	onion	løg
melon	melon	parsley	persille
oak	eg	pea	ært
olive	oliven	potato	kartoffel
olive tree	oliventræ	pumpkin	græskar
orange	appelsin	radish	radisse
orange tree	appelsintræ	rice	ris
peach	fersken	rye	rug
pear	pære	sage	salvie
pear tree	pæretræ	seed	frø
pine	gran	spinach	spinat
pineapple	ananas	stalk	stilk
plum	blomme	tomato	tomat
poplar	poppel	turnip	roe
raspberry	hindbær	wheat	hvede
root	rod

37. Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

og	and
eller	or
men	but
fordi, for at	because, for
så	so
som	as
enten...eller	either...or
hverken...eller	neither...nor

Subordinating Conjunctions

at	that
da	when
eftersom	because, as
for at	in order to, so that
fordi	because
inden	before
imens	while
når	when
hvis, om	if, whether (interrogation)
selvom	even if, although
siden	since, as
nu hvor	now that

38. Word Order

In general, the word order of Danish is the same as English: Subject + Verb + Object. However, the word order is slightly different from English when something other than the subject of the verb begins the sentence. In declarative sentences, the main verb is always in the second position (but not necessarily the second word!). For example, if a sentence begins with an adverb or an object, the verb will be the second element in the sentence, and the subject will come after the verb. Then any other forms of verbs (such as participles or infinitives) will come after the subject.

Adverb or Object	Main Verb	Subject	(Participle / Infinitive)	Translation
I morgen	tager	jeg	til Danmark	I'm going to Denmark tomorrow.
I butikken	køber	jeg	brød	I buy bread in the store.

In sentences that begin with a subordinate clause, the second (independent) clause will have inversion of the verb and subject. The subordinate clause is the first element in the sentence, so the verb must be second, and the subject is third.

Subordinate Clause	Main Verb	Subject	Rest of Sentence	Translation
Da jeg var ung	boede	jeg	i Danmark.	When I was young, I lived in Denmark.
Nu hvor hun er kommet	kan	vi	begynde	Now that she's arrived we can begin.

39. Asking Questions

Yes/No questions: Invert the subject and verb so that the verb begins the question.

Arbejder han? Does he work?
Regner det? Is it raining?

Question Words: The question word begins the question, and the verb comes next, followed by the subject.

Hvor bor Sten? Where does Sten live?
Hvad laver Elsa? What does Elsa do?

40. Holiday Phrases

God Jul!	Merry Christmas!
Godt nytår!	Happy New Year!
God påske!	Happy Easter!
Tillykke med fødselsdagen!	Happy Birthday!

The Danish National Anthem

Der er et yndigt land,
det står med brede bøge
nær salten østerstrand
nær salten østerstrand.
Det bugter sig i bakke, dal,
det hedder gamle Danmark,
og det er Frejas sal,
og det er Frejas sal.

Vort gamle Danmark skal bestå,
så længe bøgen spejler
sin top i bølgen blå,
sin top i bølgen blå.

There is a lovely country
it stands with broad beeches
near the salty eastern beach,
near the salty eastern beach.
It winds itself in hill, valley,
it is called old Denmark
and it is Freja's hall,
and it is Freja's hall.

Our old Denmark shall endure,
as long as the beech reflects
its top in the blue wave,
its top in the blue wave.