Suppose you came from another planet, and you crashed in Denmark with absolute no knowledge of the language… (Or English, for that matter!) What phrases would you need to get along on a very basic level? A friend recently asked me for such a list, so here you are. (Sorry, sci-fi dudes, I have to keep it pretty down-to-earth!)

The VERY basics

– Ja     Yes
– Nej     No
– Måske     Maybe
– Hm     Hm
– Okay     Okay
– Tak!     Thanks!
– Det var så lidt!     You’re welcome!
– Vær så god/værsgo!     Here you are!
– Velbekomme!     ”Much good may it do you!”/Hope it’s tasty! (Said by the cook in conjunction with a meal, or by anyone when watching someone eating.)
– En, to, tre, fire, fem, seks, syv, otte, ni, ti     1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (See also the numbers article.)
– Seng     Bed
– Mad     Food
– Vand     Water
– Øl     Beer

Getting to know each other

– Hej!     Hi!/Hello!
– Hvordan går det?     How are you?
– Det går godt. Hvad med dig?     I’m fine. How about you?
– Hvad hedder du?     What’s your name? (Literally: What are you called?)
– Jeg hedder Lise/Poul…     My name’s Lise/Poul…
– Hvor kommer du fra?     Where do you come from?
– Jeg kommer fra Mars/Kentucky/Valby…     I come from Mars/Kentucky/Valby…
– Hvor gammel er du?     How old are you?
– Jeg er 36 år gammel. / Det er en hemmelighed!     I’m 36 years old. / That’s a secret!
– Er du gift?     Are you married?
– Nej, jeg er single!     No, I’m alone/a single!
– Det var hyggeligt at møde dig!     It was nice meeting you!
– Hej hej!     Bye!
– Farvel!     Farewell!
– Vi ses!    See you!

Now try this!

Danish can be hard to pronounce… To get a grip on the words, why don’t you paste a few of them into Acapela’s Danish text-to-speech engine! Please notice that you have to select one of the Danish voices (Mette, female, or Rasmus, male) from the pull-down list.

To be continued…