danish

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but I'm not sure where else to turn for help. I've been trying to learn the pronunciations of the unrounded front vowels in Danish, and I swear at least two of them are actually dipthongs. Front(ish) vowels are: i, e, æ~ɛ , a, ɑ from...

Hi everyone, I come from Hong Kong (A small place in China) I speak fluent Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and Japanese, and I have been learning Russian and Korean for around 2 years. I also speak English (but really bad, I think around high school level in USA) Anyway, I know most of people here...

It is clear we should use "i" for cities and "på" for islands. But there are also other subjunctives unclear. i biografen/byen/teatret/skolen på inkøb/stranden/museum/café There are plenty of other place like Factory Mill Airport Office Prairie Mountains Ship Airplane Meeting place Lounge...

Ordbøger viser at der rigtigt er en [ə], men lærebogen synes ikke. Hvilket er det?

Some words are adjective, but sometimes they are used as noun, like Frivllige refers to Volunteers. Sometimes a adjective add a article before it can be change into noun: Det+Offentlig, means authorities, a noun. How about the phenomenon? Is it a common phenomenon?

Both of them can be use in bestemt. What is the difference?

Dictionaries don't show about that if t,p,k should be aspirated. Are there any rule for aspiration?

Hello everyone, I have just started learning Danish, so apologies if this is a really stupid question! So... I know that 'kaffe' means 'coffee', and 'kaffen' means 'the coffee' - but when it comes to 'te', I am struggling to find / work out the definite form: does it exist, and if so, is it...

I've been watching Forbrydelsen, and something stood out to me. I never really learned Danish well (I'm Swedish) and I've always had a hard time actually hearing the words. Actually, hearing them is worse than understanding them..... Anyway, so now I'm paying attention although it's subtitled...

Hey, I'm just very curious to know if kanske is acceptable synonym for the word måske? Would a danish person understand this word?

Does stød occur in the word "hedder"? If so, what letter does it fall on?

Hi there, (first time posting so be generous!) I'm finding it very hard to translate the word "formidler". In a theatrical context, I understand that a formidler has a role that is like a producer's role, but I wondered if there was a better translation to English? I just feel like there are...

Goddag. Ifølge Den danske ordbog udtales hovedet på samme måde som den ubestemte form hoved: Det overrasker mig lidt, da jeg altid har udtalt artiklen i hovedet og sagt [ˈhoːəðəð -> ˈhoːəð̩ ] (dvs. udtalt ordet "som det staves"). ;P Er der danskere som gør det også eller er det helt...

My literal understanding of the phrase is "It's becoming (or "is going to become"?) really festive". Does it mean, "the celebration is going to be really big" or "the festive mood is picking up"? Mange tak!

Hello, I am looking for a quote in Danish from the famous book Forforerens Dagbog. It has been written by Soren Kierkegaard The thing is I only have the translation in French but I need the original. When I translate it in English it goes something like that: Any erotic relationship must be...

Hej, I'm curious how these 2 consonant combinations are pronounced. Sometimes I hear speakers pronounce them as if they're like the ones in "star" and "spar", however other times I hear them pronounce it like the German "Strafe" and "Spielen". Is there a standard? Is it okay if I use either?

Hei, I have a question especially for Norwegian-speakers but also for speakers of the other Scandinavian languages. I am aware of the existing threads about mutual intelligibility, but my question has to do with how to deal with that intelligibility. I am a bilingual English-French speaker...

Hej! Vad betyder "ved og ved"? Läste texten till "Smuk som et stjerneskud" och förstår inte frasen! Wiktionary ger definitionerna ved=vid (by), ved=ved, ved=vet... I en översättning av sången stod det "lasting and lasting"...

Hi, I am wondring about the word "isenkram". We have the same word in Norwegian, in English: (metal) hardware/ironmongery. Normally, these days, we would say "jernvarer" in norwegian, and "isenkram" would be considered to be outdated. Does it sound outdated in Danish as well? My feeling is...

I've come across the expression "at bo hos", which I know means "to stay with" (or so I've gathered). Before finding out about "hos", I would have used "med" instead if I had been asked to talk about a temporary stay. My question is: would "med" be wrong there? What are other frequent uses of...

Hi, everyone. I've recently taken up the study of Danish and I'm finding it fascinating and way easier than expected. I am a bit confused with the use of the verbs "at gå" and "at tage". What's the difference between "Han går til arbejde" and "Han tager til arbejde"? Is one of them more formal...

Hi, everybody. "Jaså" is a norwegian word or swedish? Thank you.

Hi, Someone is being interviewed on TV - from behind, because: "han ville ikke filmes med ansigt på". Is this what you would normally say if someone didn't want to show his face, or is it funny? It would be funny in Norwegian. Thanks.

Hi again, I have a few questions about the phrase "Det er sgu da løgn". I know it litterally means something like "It must be a lie." But in the context where I saw it, it is unreasonable to think the speaker actually accuses the other person of lying. He is just expressing disbelief. I...

I have the following phrase: "Han klappede den i" Context: He is holding a mobile phone in his hand. He has beeen reading a text message, and is considering if he should reply to one particular message. This is in 2008, so the phone might be foldable. I understand that "at klappe i" might...

Hi, I am wondering what it might mean when someone begins a reply in a discussion with the words "Okay så."? Regards, Pellefygert

Hello, I have come across the phrase "Det må du selv om". I think it means something like "Decide for yourself," or "It's up to you", og perhaps "you have only yourself to blame" or "that's your own problem". Pellefygert

Hi! A Danish novel contains this phrase: "de mange sirener, som lurede i natten". "Lurede" I know could mean "lurked" or "wondered", but that doesn't seem to fit with "sirener", sirens. Can "lurede" mean some form of high sound or something similar? Thanks, pellefygert

For a story I am working on, I need the non-necessarily literal translation of the sentence "This hostel sucks!" in down-to-earth, natural every-day Danish. The sentence is said by an angry 20-years girl who is rudely telling the manager of a hostel that his hostel sucks. Thanks

Hello everybody I would like to know the meaning of this expression which I tried to find with no results until now. Context: Jeg kender alt til nødvendigheden af at styre vejen for sådan en stenhob, inden den vælger vejen selv. Greetings Carlos M.S.

Hi, I am a foreigner living in Denmark. It is a beautiful country with a seemingly difficult language. Anyone who has learnt Danish or a Denmark native with any tips would be very helpful. Thanks

Someone wrote "så siger vi det" to me once and I thought that she had agreed to what I said. But then later on it turned out she either didn't or changed her mind. I came to the conclusion that I had misunderstood her and that this phrase is the equivalent of "yeah right." In other words...

Hi I was wondering how you formulate the imperfect in Danish and Norwegian. Ie how one might translate he was eating when the phone rang - I can't seem to find any information about this but it is used in English all the time. Thanks in advance

How do you say this in Danish? I've heard this many times before and I just cannot remember anything other than it ending in "helvede til." What I mean by "everything is going to hell" is "everything is going bad," "things are going to shit" and not "all objects are heading towards the...

Regelmaessige danske verber har jo i datid enten "t" eller "d". Hvordan genkender man egentlig dem med "d"? Kan man komme det naermere end at sige, "brug "d"-boejningen ved dem med doppeltkonsonanter - saa har du de fleste af dem".

God kväll! From Alfred Jarry, I cannot find out how the title «La chanson du décervelage» / «The debraining song» has been translated to Swedish, and I will anyways have the same problem when I will get the same title in the Danish and Norvegian versions of my personnal website. In any attempt...

Hello :) I really want to learn Norweigan; however, it is not offered at my university. Instead my school offers Swedish and Danish. I've already done some research around the forums and I think what I've learned is that Swedish sounds like Norweigan, whereas Danish is written like Norweigan...

Hello! My knowledge of Danish is very limited, so I apologize in advance if this is a very silly question. My question is about ud på dig. Some of the online translators are saying that this means on you, but in the context of the sentence, that doesn't make sense. The sentence is: »Lad os...

Hejsa! I've been trying to find this for quite some time, but the Internet doesn't seem to be very helpful... How do you use the modals for future reference? I'm most interested in saying something like "You will have to...", as in "You will have to take the bus". What I've found is "Du bliver...

Hello! I was trying to translate the book Mis med de blå øjne for my friend using Google Translate (I know, not the best idea; I have been checking it against other sites too, such as this one). One part reads: »Nå skidt med det,« sagde Mis og travede videre, »jeg træffer nok en anden, jeg...

Is there a difference between alt and alting or can they be used interchangeably? What are the rules here?

Jeg fandt i en reklamefolder flg.: Behandlingen kan også anvendes ved høje synsfejl. Er "høj" overhovedet det rigtige adjektiv i den sammenhæng?

I have a very easy question, I hope: I'm reading Andersen's fairy tale about the galoshes of luck, which has two fairies as actors - one of them is called "Sorgen", as I looked up in the Danish original. It seems to be a word in "Old Danish", since I didn't find it in online dictionairies. I've...

Dear All, is it possible to refer to a whole family in Swedish/Danish/Norwegian, as we do in English (The Newmans) or in French (Les Sarkozy)? How do we form the plural in Swedish/Danish/Norwegian if we have the surname in singular?

I've been wondering about this for a while. In English, there are two acceptable ways to use commas in lists of three or more items: Today was sunny, warm and dry. Today was sunny, warm, and dry. The first way is more popular and in a sentence like this there is no chance of...

Hello! I'm working on a valentine's day card and wanted to include some Norwegian and Danish (language projects of my boyfriend and I) idiomatic expressions that have to do with love, knowing someone, life, romance... Any interesting idiomatic expression ideas would be very helpful!

The captain of our sailboat racing team is Danish and we would like to honor him with a Danish saying or appropriate challenge to other racers. The name of his boat is Aquavit. Is there a colloquialism or some saying, or song lyric we can put on t-shirts as a tribute that would have a fun...

Hi, Can somebody help me with the phrase "Fælles salg" in Danish? It's in a text about sales personnel and I think the meaning is something like "making sales together/going on sales visits together". Would that be correct? The compound "fællessalg" seems to appear along with company names...

Hej friends - I am doing some family research on my Danish ancestors and I am stuck. I know that my great-great-grandmother's maiden name was Volk, at least spelled that way on my great-grandfather's death certificate. She was born in Denmark. I have a few leads and a couple of them are for a...

"De ligger og boller" läser jag i en dansk novell, "Kaereste-sofaen", av Hans Hansen. Betyder det kanske "De ligger och hånglar" på svenska; eller på engelska "They are engaged in an amorous caressing without having intercourse"?