{"id":198,"date":"2011-10-24T20:16:08","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T20:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=198"},"modified":"2014-08-06T18:23:56","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T18:23:56","slug":"asking-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2011\/10\/24\/asking-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking Questions We Like, Yes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Danish newspaper recently claimed Danish university students were too shy to ask questions at lectures. Too bad for them \u2013 asking a lot of questions helps you keeping an open mind. And with your eyes and ears wide open you\u2019ll quickly assimilate a lot of words and succeed in your mission to learn the language. (Trust me, I\u2019ve been there a couple of times!)<\/p>\n

How, then, does one go about asking questions? In English, that\u2019s a good question. On the one hand, we\u2019ve got the whole bunch of question words: How much does the cheese cost? Where is Amy? What\u2019s that?<\/em> All these questions beg for specific answers: 20 dollars. In the garden. It\u2019s a border collie.<\/em> On the other hand, sometimes we\u2019re just asking if something\u2019s true or<\/span> false<\/span><\/span>. We don\u2019t want elaborate roadmaps, just a plain yes<\/em>\u00a0or no<\/em>, got it! Does it really cost 40 bugs? No. Isn\u2019t it Amy in the garden? Yes. Is that a dachshund? No. See what happened? Yeah, that\u2019s right, you take a dummy verb and make it the front runner of the sentence: Does\u2026 Isn\u2019t\u2026 Is\u2026<\/em> (In a language like Spanish you\u2019d just add a rising tone to a phrase in order to question-ify it: Amy est\u00e1 en el jard\u00edn.<\/em> > \u00bfAmy est\u00e1 en el jard\u00edn?<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n

In Danish, you don\u2019t need to worry about whether to \u201ddo\u201d or \u201ddon\u2019t\u201d your yes\/no questions. The rule is piece of cake: Take the main verb, and move it up front!<\/span> Everything else remains the same:<\/p>\n

Amy er i haven.<\/strong> >> Er Amy i haven?<\/strong>
\nKatten bed hunden.<\/strong> The cat bit the dog<\/em>. >> Bed katten hunden?\u00a0<\/strong>Did the dog bite the cat?<\/em>
\nHun danser altid fredag aften.<\/strong>\u00a0She always dances Friday evening.<\/em>\u00a0>> Danser hun altid fredag aften?<\/strong>\u00a0Does she always dance Friday evening?<\/em>
\nElsker du mig?<\/strong>\u00a0Do you love me?<\/em>\u00a0<< Jeg elsker dig!<\/strong>\u00a0I love you! <\/em>(At last you got this important phrase! \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n

And for those of you who love lists, here are the most important Danish question words. Make sure to study the example phrases, so you catch the slight structural difference between the Danish and the English ways of asking things!<\/p>\n

Hvad<\/span> laver du?<\/strong> What<\/span> are you doing?<\/em> (\u201dWhat make you?\u201d)
\nHvem<\/span> kender du ikke?!<\/strong> Who(m)<\/span> don\u2019t you know?!<\/em> (\u201dWho know you not?\u201d)
\nHvilken<\/span> h\u00e5nd v\u00e6lger du s\u00e5?<\/strong> Which<\/span> hand do you choose, then?<\/em> (\u201dWhich hand choose you then?\u201d)
\nHvor<\/span> bor du? <\/strong>Where<\/span> do you live?<\/em> (\u201dWhere live you?\u201d)
\nHvor<\/span> kommer du fra<\/span>? Hvorfra?<\/strong> Where<\/span> do you come from<\/span>? From where?\u00a0<\/em>(\u201dWhere come you from? Wherefrom?\u201d)
\nHvor<\/span> g\u00e5r du hen<\/span>? Hvorhen?<\/strong> Where<\/span> are you going? Whereto?<\/em> (\u201dWhere go you to? Whereto?\u201d)
\nHvorfor<\/span> vil du gifte dig med mig?<\/strong> Why<\/span> do you want to marry me?<\/em> (\u201dWhy want you marry you with me?\u201d)
\nHvordan<\/span> smager pizzaen?<\/strong> How does the pizza taste?<\/em> (\u201dHow tastes the pizza?\u201d)
\nHvorn\u00e5r<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0ses vi igen? <\/strong>When<\/span> will I see you again?\u00a0<\/em>(\u201dWhen are-seen we again?\u201d)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

A Danish newspaper recently claimed Danish university students were too shy to ask questions at lectures. Too bad for them \u2013 asking a lot of questions helps you keeping an open mind. And with your eyes and ears wide open you\u2019ll quickly assimilate a lot of words and succeed in your mission to learn the…<\/p>\n

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