{"id":2048,"date":"2021-08-28T21:44:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T21:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=2048"},"modified":"2021-08-28T21:44:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T21:44:33","slug":"its-a-numbers-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2021\/08\/28\/its-a-numbers-game\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s a Numbers Game"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you don\u2019t know how to read Danish numbers correctly, you might get the wrong impression of prices in tourist places such as Tivoli, Copenhagen! ? (Picture by Lena Svensson<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a>; no copyright.)<\/p><\/div>\n

How often do you need to do number tricks in a foreign language? Det st\u00e5r nok ikke \u00f8verst p\u00e5 listen<\/strong> (it probably isn\u2019t on top of the list), but still, if you\u2019re a little bit like me, you\u2019ll sometimes find yourself in situations where simply counting<\/a> is not enough\u2026<\/p>\n

In Danish, saying basic calculations out loud is quite straightforward:<\/p>\n

2 + 2 = 4 <\/strong><\/p>\n

to plus to er fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

4 – 1 = 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

fire minus et er tre<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 * 2 = 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

to gange to er fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

10 \/ 2 = 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

ti delt med to er fem<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead of \u201ddelt<\/strong>\u201d you can also say \u201ddivideret<\/strong>\u201d, which is relatively common. If you want to sound a bit formal, you can even say \u201der lig med<\/strong>\u201d (equals) instead of \u201der<\/strong>\u201d, but this is rarely necessary: ni divideret med tre er lig med tre <\/strong>(nine divided by three equals three)\u2026<\/p>\n

In order to get somebody\u2019s math help, you can use the question words hvad<\/strong> (what) or hvor meget <\/strong>(how much):<\/p>\n

Hvad er otte gange otte? Hvor meget er nitten plus syv? <\/strong>(What is eight times eight? How much is nineteen plus seven?)<\/p>\n

Be ware of .<\/strong> and ,<\/strong> !!! In Danish, the \u201ddecimal point\u201d is written with a comma:<\/span><\/p>\n

7 \/ 2 = 3,5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

syv delt med to er tre komma fem <\/strong>(seven divided by two is three point five)<\/span><\/p>\n

Conversely, a point is sometimes used to make large numbers easier to read:<\/span><\/p>\n

Billetten koster kun 2.600 kroner!<\/strong> (The ticket only costs 2,600 Kroner!)<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s frustrating that the English and Danish systems are like mirror images in this respect! But now you\u2019re warned, so the punctuation doesn\u2019t trick you into buying everything you see in Copenhagen\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, some examples of fractions and percentages and \u201dstuff\u201d1<\/a><\/sup>This is not a math blog, so be kind! \ud83d\ude09<\/span>:<\/p>\n

50% [halvtreds procent] rabat! Halv pris! <\/strong>(50% discount! Half price!)<\/p>\n

en halv, en tredjedel, en fjerdedel, en femtedel, tre femtedele\u2026<\/strong> (1\/2, 1\/3, 1\/4, 1\/5, 3\/5)<\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s right, with the exception of 1\/2, fractions are made by adding del(e)<\/strong> \u201dpart(s)\u201d to an ordinal number such as \u201dfourth\u201d, \u201dseventh\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

Langeland er cirka dobbelt s\u00e5 stor som \u00c6r\u00f8. <\/strong>(Langeland is about twice as big as \u00c6r\u00f8.)<\/p>\n

Nogle b\u00e5de sejler tre gange hurtigere end vinden. <\/strong>(Some boats sail three times faster than the wind.2<\/a><\/sup>Yes, really!<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n