{"id":1905,"date":"2020-08-31T23:40:44","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T23:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=1905"},"modified":"2020-09-01T02:01:12","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T02:01:12","slug":"if-we-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2020\/08\/31\/if-we-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"If We Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hvis du g\u00e5r til venstre, s\u00e5 [then]\u2026<\/strong> (Free image from Pixabay; no copyright.)<\/p><\/div>If you ever tried coding, you may have come across \u201dif-then-else\u201d (if X happens then Y should happen, else Z should happen). If you haven\u2019t, no worries \u2013 you can probably get along for a long while without any if-clauses\u2026 But if I were you, I\u2019d still take a look at the little word in Danish. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

To make an if-clause, use the word hvis<\/strong> [viss] (if):<\/p>\n

Hvis det bl\u00e6ser\u2026<\/strong> (If it\u2019s blowing\/windy\u2026)
\nHvis du vil\u2026 <\/strong>(If you want to\u2026)
\nHvis det ikke sner\u2026 <\/strong>(If it doesn\u2019t snow\u2026) < Be aware of the word order<\/a> here!<\/em> \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Add a main clause to the \u201dif\u201d, and you\u2019ve got a full conditional sentence:<\/p>\n

Hvis det bl\u00e6ser, tager vi toget. <\/strong>(If it\u2019s windy, we take\/we\u2019ll take the train.)
\nHvis du vil, m\u00e5 du gerne spise aftensmad her. <\/strong>(If you want, feel free to eat dinner here [= at our place].)
\nHvis det ikke sner, f\u00e5r vi en gr\u00f8n jul. <\/strong>(If it doesn\u2019t snow, we\u2019ll have a green Christmas.)<\/p>\n

The two clauses may also be reversed (note how some of the words are reshuffled in the process):<\/p>\n

Vi tager toget, hvis det bl\u00e6ser.<\/strong>
\nDu m\u00e5 gerne spise aftensmad her, hvis du vil.<\/strong>
\nVi f\u00e5r en gr\u00f8n jul, hvis det ikke sner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The above three phrases may also be written without a comma. (The big Danish \u201dcomma war\u201d might be a topic for a future post. \ud83d\ude42 )<\/p>\n

BTW, if you say \u2019if\u2019 but mean \u2019whether\u2019, there is only one word to use in Danish \u2013 om: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Hun vidste ikke om hun skulle gr\u00e6de eller grine. <\/strong>(She didn\u2019t know if [= whether] she should cry or laugh.)
\nHan spurgte om hun ville danse.<\/strong> (He asked if [= whether] she would like to dance.)<\/p>\n

Conditional phrases can get tricky<\/a> when you describe hypothetical situations (just think about the verb form in If I were you<\/em>)\u2026 This is not the time to go into great detail \u2013 I\u2019ll just give you a couple of examples:<\/p>\n

Hvis jeg var rig, (s\u00e5) ville jeg k\u00f8be et slot. <\/strong>(If I were rich, [then] I\u2019d by a castle.)
\nHvis grise kunne flyve, ville de stikke af fra landm\u00e6ndene. <\/strong>(If pigs could fly, they\u2019d leave the farmers.)<\/p>\n

A cool feature of Danish is that the word \u2019if\u2019 can be dropped altogether from the start of a sentence (the verb then takes its place):<\/p>\n

Hvis du er tr\u00e6t, s\u00e5 l\u00e6g dig p\u00e5 sofaen. <\/strong>(If you\u2019re tired, then lie down on the couch.)
\nEr du tr\u00e6t, s\u00e5 l\u00e6g dig p\u00e5 sofaen.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

If you ever tried coding, you may have come across \u201dif-then-else\u201d (if X happens then Y should happen, else Z should happen). If you haven\u2019t, no worries \u2013 you can probably get along for a long while without any if-clauses\u2026 But if I were you, I\u2019d still take a look at the little word in…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":1908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[218992,537731,408440,537734,3562,537733,537736],"class_list":["post-1905","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-comma","tag-conditional-phrase","tag-conditional-sentence","tag-flying-pigs","tag-if","tag-if-clause","tag-whether"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t