Danish Language Blog

Asking about Origins Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Sep 24, 2017

Hvor kommer du/I fra? (Where do you/you guys come from?) Some people don’t like this question, but as a tourist it’s hard to avoid the natives’ curiosity. 🙂 When asked in a friendly way, it can be a genuine icebreaker… Let’s look at origins. The easiest way to reply is, of course, by means of…

Let’s Look at Stars Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Aug 31, 2017

Kan du lide at kigge stjerner? (Do you like watching stars?) Om sommeren er der lyse nætter i Danmark, men snart begynder den mørke tid… (In summer there are Bright Nights in Denmark, but soon the dark period will begin…) Here’s some star-spangled Danish for chatting about stjernehimlen (the starry sky). Use it with caution,…

Matching words to make them stick Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Aug 27, 2017

Which is most important when learning a new language – grammar or words (vocabulary)? Well, most native speakers will forgive you if you make a grammatical mistake or two. Without basic words, however, you can only point and smile. Here is a neat trick to increase your vocabulary: Learn micro-phrases with two or three words…

Where not to put IKKE? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 31, 2017

Ikke (not) phrases are often called negative phrases – even if some of them have a very positive meaning: Vi vil ikke have mere vold! (We don’t want any more violence!) Sometimes, though, even the most positive negative sentence can drive a poor language-learner mad: Where do(n’t) I put ikke? Let’s take some simple…

Spelling your name in Danish Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 29, 2017

When you check in at a hostel or meet a new friend, you’re sometimes asked to spell your navn [naoon] (name). Fortunately, the Danish alfabet [alfaBEHT] is quite similar to the English one you already know. In case you forgot bogstaverne (the letters), here’s a crash course. The first pitfall: i and e. (I’ve heard…