Danish Language Blog

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,…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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You’ve been travelling for a long time and all you need is a cold shower and a nice place to sleep. But – how to ask the natives? Sometimes, expressing what you need is … all you need. Jeg er sulten. (I’m hungry.) Er du sulten? (Are you hungry?) Vi er meget sultne. (We’re very…

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