Danish/Lesson 1

^ Lektion 2: Familie ^ Lektion 3: Tal og Farver ^

A note on pronunciation
Danish words are rather difficult for English-speakers to pronounce correctly when given only the written form. Even after hearing the words being spoken, the sounds can be frustrating to reproduce. The pronunciation guide is an attempt to explain how the words should be spoken, but these rules are quite hard to follow when confronted with a word like Smørrebrødsjomfru (refers to a woman making something called "Smørrebrød", which is a slice of dark bread with butter and a lot of fillings on top, like salad, fish, "remoulade" etc.).

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


 * Hej ("Hi") = almost like the English Hi. Sound sample [[Media:Hej.ogg]]
 * Dav = say Dau. Sound sample [[Media:Dav.ogg]]
 * Goddag ("Goodday") = the last g is silent. Sound sample [[Media:Goddag.ogg]]
 * Godmorgen ("Goodmorning") = "go-moarn". The r is pronounced in the back of the throat, nearly silent. Sound sample [[Media:Godmorgen.ogg]]

Hellos and Goodbyes in Danish
Hellos: Hello! Hej! Hejsa! Dav! Goddag! Good morning! Godmorgen! Good evening! Godaften! What's up! Hvad så!

Goodbyes: Goodbye/Farewell     Farvel! Bye! Hej hej! See you later! Vi ses senere! See you!(Shortened)  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
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 each other formally.

Hr. Nilsen: Goddag! Hvordan har De det? Hr. Klaaborg: Goddag! Jeg har det fint, tak. Hr. Nilsen: Godt, Farvel! Hr. Klaaborg: Farvel! Voice sample (one voice)

Ordforklaringer
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 people 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                   homework lektion                  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

Pronominer ~ 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.

^ Lektion 2: Familie ^ Lektion 3: Tal og Farver ^