LESSON NOTES

Beginner S1 #3
How Do You Get a Date with a
Danish Person?

CONTENTS
2 Danish
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
5 Grammar
9 Cultural Insight

# 3
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 DANISH

1. Markus: Jeg tror, jeg går hen og skubber Lisa i poolen.

2. Thor: Gør det ikke. Hun bliver bare sur.

3. Markus: Okay, så sprøjter jeg vand på hende!

4. Thor: Nej, du burde slet ikke gøre noget, der kan gøre hende sur
på dig.

5. Markus: Jamen, hvordan kommer jeg så i kontakt med hende?

6. Thor: Du skulle måske starte med at sige hej til hende.

ENGLISH

1. Marcus: I think I'll go and push Lisa in the pool.

2. Thor: Don't do it. She'll just get mad.

3. Marcus: Okay, then I'll spray water on her!

4. Thor: No, you shouldn't do anything at all that could make her mad
at you.

5. Marcus: But then how do I get in contact with her?

6. Thor: Maybe you should start by saying hi to her?

VOCABULARY

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 Danish English Class

at skubbe to push verb

to have to, to have got

at skulle to, to must, to ought to, verb
should

jamen but conjunction

slet not, no adverb

at burde ought to, should verb

to spray, to squirt, to
at sprøjte spurt veb

sur mad, angry, sour adjective

ikke not adverb

at gøre to do, to make verb

at sige to say, to tell verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Parret skubber bilen op ad Hun skulle ikke have skrevet

bakken. under.

"The couple is pushing t he car "She should not have signed."

up t he hill."

Jamen, jeg f orst år ikke hvorf or. Manden elsker slet ingen
andre.
"But I do not underst and why."
"The man loves no one else at
all."

Chef en burde f yre flere Klovnen sprøjt er vand på

ansat t e. publikum.

"The boss ought t o fire more "The clown is spraying wat er on

employees." t he audience."

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Gør ham ikke sur! Der er ikke nok t id.

"Do not make him angry!" "There is not enough t ime."

Hvordan kunne du gøre det Det siger du ikke.

mod mig?
"You don't say."
"How could you do t hat t o me?"

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

sur "mad," "angry," "sour"

Sur is an adjective and has several meanings depending on the context. It most
often means either "mad," angry," or "sour."

Sur is used in the same way in Danish as in English. You can use it to describe the
condition or acid in food or beverages. Sur can also be used to describe
someone's mood. If someone is really angry or mad, you can use the adjective
vred instead, which means "angry" or "mad." Even though, sur and vred can mean
the same thing, you can use vred to emphasize the degree of someone's anger.
Remember that sur can also mean "grumpy," while vred only means "angry" or
"mad."

You can use the phrase at løbe sur i det to express that you are losing track of the
overview of something. The phrase literally means "to run sour in it," but it is
equivalent of "to get it all mixed up."

For example:

1. De er sure på ham.
"They are mad at him."

slet "not ," "no"

Slet as an adverb means "not" or "no."

As an adverb, slet is used in negative constructions together with the adverb ikke,
which means "not" or "no," or with pronouns to emphasize the negation. For
example, slet ikke is the equivalent of "not at all." When using slet together with the
pronoun ingen, which means "not" or "no," you get the phrase slet ingen. This is
equivalent to "no one at all" in English.

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Slet is sometimes used in the phrase slet og ret and is synonymous to the adverb
simpelthen which means "simply." In English, slet og ret is the equivalent of "pure
and simple."

For example:

1. Tøjet er slet ikke mig.

"These clothes are not me at all."

jamen "but "

Ja is an interjection and means "yes." Men is a conjunction and means "but."

In general, jamen is used when expressing a contradiction or a protest related to

the preceding statement. For example, when expressing slightly a reluctant
confession or hesitatingly giving permission. Another example is when expressing
a personal feeling, such as surprise or excitement. In this case, jamen is used
exclamatorily in order to bring more life to your speech. When expressing mild
reproach or disapproval, you can also use jamen as an exclamation. Finally, when
you want to create a transition to a statement that does not immediately answer
the preceding statement, you can also use jamen. Jamen and the conjunction men
are not always interchangeable. Jamen is always used at the very beginning of a
sentence while men can be used in the middle of a sentence. In written Danish,
men usually follows a comma. In this case, men cannot be replaced with jamen.
When men is the first word of a spoken sentence, you can replace it with jamen.

For example:

1. Jamen, så får du ikke dessert.

"But then you will not get dessert."

GRAMMAR

T he Focus of t his Lesson is Modal Verbs and t he Imperat ive Form

Du burde slet ikke gøre noget, der kan gøre hende sur på dig.
"You shouldn't do anyt hing at all t hat could make her mad at you."
Gør det ikke. Hun bliver bare sur.
"Don't do it . She'll just get mad."

In this lesson, we will learn how to:

1. Use common modal verbs, including at skulle

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2. Warn or give advice in t he imperat ive mode, using t he verb at
gøre

3. Warn or give advice in t he negat ive f orm, using t he adverb ikke

1. Using common modal verbs, including at skulle

A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb used to show modality; that is, if we
believe something is or is not certain, probable or possible. In other words, it is
used to indicate likelihood, ability, permission, and obligation. For example, in the
dialogue, the modal verbs at kunne and at skulle were used. At kunne was
introduced in a previous lesson, and now it is time for at skulle. This modal verb is
used to express order, command, or forcing necessity. It can also be used in
connection with relaying a message or an order, or the like. Another usage is for
expressing moral obligation or correctness, i.e. when someone ought to do
something.

At skulle is also used for stating a future condition or circumstance in connection

with a promise, insurance, prediction, threat, or the like. When in past tense, it can
be used to state that something is thought, possible, or in another way
hypothetical. Another way of using at skulle is for expressing offers or suggestion
in questions. The modal verb is not conjugated according to person, only tense:

Infinit ive Present Past Part iciple

skulle skal skulle skullet

Let's look at some examples with this modal verb:

Jeg skal gøre rent på mit værelse.

This means "I have to clean (in) my room." Jeg is the pronoun "I," skal is the modal
verb at skulle ("to have to"/"to have got to"/"to must") as auxiliary verb in present
tense, the phrase gøre rent literally means "make clean," på is the preposition "in,"
mit is the pronoun "my," and værelse is the neuter gender noun "room." Here, at
skulle is used to indicate that someone is forced by external circumstances to
clean their room. Let's have another example:

Du skulle skamme dig.

This literally means "You should be ashamed of you(rself)," but is the equivalent of
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself." Du is the pronoun "you," skulle is the modal
verb at skulle ("ought to"/"should") as an auxiliary verb in past tense, skamme is

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the verb at skamme sig ("to be ashamed (of)") in infinitive form, and dig is the
pronoun "you." Here, at skulle is clearly used to indicate both moral obligation or
correctness, i.e. they ought to do something. Another example with this modal verb
is:

Vi skal mødes i morgen.

This literally means "We shall meet tomorrow," but is equivalent to "We are to meet
tomorrow. Vi is the pronoun "we," skal is the modal verb at skulle ("to be to") as
auxiliary verb in present tense, mødes is the verb at mødes ("to meet"/"to get
together") in the infinitive form, and i morgen means "tomorrow." In this case, "at
skulle" is used to indicate that something is planned or intended. Let's look at a
final example:

Det skal nok blive bedre.

This literally means "It shall probably become better," but is equivalent of "It will
get better." Det is the pronoun "it," skal is the modal verb at skulle ("to will") as an
auxiliary verb in present tense, nok is the adverb "probably," blive is the verb at
blive ("to become") in infinitive form, and bedre is the comparative adjective
"better." In this example, at skulle is used to state a future condition or
circumstance.

2. Warning or giving advice in t he imperat ive mood, using t he verb at

gøre

The imperative mood forms orders, commands, or requests, as well as prohibition

or permission. In Danish, there is only one conjugation of the verb at gøre ("to
do"/"to make") when used in affirmative imperative form, and that is gør. Let's look
at some examples:

Gør som jeg siger!

This means "Do as I say!" The first word, gør, is the affirmative imperative form of
the verb at gøre and means "do," som is a conjunction meaning "as" or "like," jeg is
the pronoun "I," and siger is the verb at sige ("to say"/"to tell") in present tense.
This sentence is important if you really want to get through to someone who is not
doing what they are being told. Another useful example is:

Gør det nu bare!

This literally means "Do it now just!" and is equivalent of "Just do it already!" or
"Just do it!" The first word gør is once again the affirmative imperative form of the
verb at gøre and means "do," det is the pronoun "it," nu is the adverb "now," and
bare is the adverb "just." Let's have one more example:

Gør det igen!

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This means "Do it again!" The first word is once again gør, which is the affirmative
imperative form of the verb at gøre and means "do," the next word is the pronoun
det, and the last word is the adverb igen, which means "again." Gør det igen! is
another useful sentence if you want someone to do something that was not good
enough the first time, or something that was good enough to repeat.

3. Warning or giving advice in negat ive f orm, using t he adverb ikke

Like when using the verb at gøre in the affirmative imperative form, gør is also
placed at the very beginning of the sentence when using it as a negated
imperative together with the adverb ikke. This is used to negate sentences and
means "no" or "not." Let's take a closer look at a sentence from the dialogue:

Gør det ikke.

This literally means "Do it not," but it is equivalent of "Do not do it," of course. Gør
is the imperative form of the verb at gøre and means "do," det is the pronoun "it,"
and ikke is the adverb "not." So put together we have "Don't do it," which can
either be an order or a request, like in the dialogue. Let's have another example:

Gør ikke mere ud af det.

This literally means "Make no more out of it," but is equivalent of "Do not make
more out of it." Gør is the imperative form of the verb at gøre and means "do," ikke
is the adverb "not," mere is the comparative adjective "more," ud is the adverb
"out," af is the preposition "of," and det is the pronoun "it." Basically, the adverb
ikke can be added to all imperative sentences to make the verb of the sentence a
negated imperative. Also, at gøre can be replaced with any verb that matches the
desired command or request. There are examples of other imperatives in the chart
below:

English Infinit ive Present Past Imperat ive

"t o go" gå går gik gå

"t o push" skubbe skubber skubbede skub

"t o blive bliver blev bliv

become"

"t o come" komme kommer kom kom

"t o say" sige siger sagde sig

"t o eat " spise spiser spiste spis

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"t o drink" drikke drikker drak drik

Examples f rom t he dialogue:

1. Nej, du burde slet ikke gøre noget, der kan gøre hende sur på dig.
"No, you shouldn't do anything at all that could make her mad at you."

2. Du skulle måske starte med at sige hej til hende.

"Maybe you should start by saying hi to her."

Sample Sent ences

1. Børnene kan ikke gøre for det.

"The children cannot help it."

2. Du skulle gå den anden vej.

"You should go the other way."

3. Vend om med det samme!

"Turn back at once!"

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Flirt ing in Denmark

Many Danes show their interest in someone by keeping eye contact longer than
they actually feel comfortable with, or by smiling a little or a lot to appear open.
Yes, flirting in Denmark is very subtle, so don't try pulling cheesy pick-up lines or
coming on too strong. If you are at a club, figuring out in what way someone is
interested can be quite the challenge, and many people might not be acting like
they normally would. It is common to misunderstand someone or to be
misunderstood when trying to flirt, because keeping eye contact and smiling could
simply be that person or yourself being polite. Also, Danish guys tend to be worse
than Danish girls at picking up on someone flirting with them because it is so
discreet, and they are not used to obvious kinds of flirting.

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