Archive for 'Grammar'
Lying, sitting, standing Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jun 20, 2013
Do you know teatersport? It’s basically a kind of unscripted theatre, where you and your mates pick an øvelse (exercise) or ”set-of-rules” and use it to make a scene that’s totally improvised. I love to take part in creative collaborations like that, and one øvelse always makes me think about Scandinavian languages… It’s called sidde…
How to get directions from a dropped letter Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 10, 2013
When you want to tell the world where you are, prepositions come handy: I’m in the garden; we’re on the beach. (And so it is in Danish: Jeg er i haven; vi er på stranden.) However, very often some kind of adverb can do the job as well: I’m home; we’re out. Jeg er hjemme…
4 Easy Ways To Be Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 8, 2013
It’s been a while since I last talked to you about grammatik ([gramaTICK], grammar). For some learners, that’s more or less a necessary evil. I always say that learning grammar can be just as sjovt ([shorwt], fun) as exploring the culture or learning vocabulary. Let’s talk about at være (to be). One of the first…
The War of the Words Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Nov 23, 2012
Whoa, the new edition of Retskrivningsordbogen has arrived! The Dictionary of Correct Writing, as the title translates in English, is the Holy Grail of journalists, teachers and just about everyone who uses the Danish Language. Edited by Dansk Sprognævn – the Danish Language Council – it contains the official spellings of those ord (words) that are considered a part of the…
From Play to Playful Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Nov 14, 2012
Sometimes you need to change a word from one grammatical class to another. In English you do that all the time, for example when you make the verb ”to read” into a noun by adding an -ing suffix: Reading makes me happy. When you want to swap the class of a Danish word, you have several…
What time is it? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Oct 28, 2012
I dag [ee da-y] (today) Denmark went from sommertid (summer time) to vintertid. 12 o’clock became 11 o’clock, as every ur (watch) had to be adjusted by one hour. But in what direction? To solve this eternal problem, the Danes have a saying: In spring, you put your havemøbler (garden furniture) frem (forward, out in…
Danish Compounds Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Aug 2, 2012
Having taken a svømmetur (swim) at one of the lovely Danish beaches, you’ve just returned to your friends. A stupid cloud is drifting across the sun, and you’re drypvåd (soaking wet). You’re bound to reach out for your badehåndklæde (bath towel). The bold words above are all compounds – single words squeezed together to form new words. This…