Basic greetings and introductions | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Godmorgen allesammen.

   Good morning, everyone.

   Godmorgen

   Good morning

   allesammen

   everyone

   More detail

   Godmorgen means “good morning.” Danish commonly writes this greeting as one word. It is a greeting used in the morning; compare god aften (“good evening”), which is written as two words. allesammen means “everyone” or “all of you” here. It is a single word referring collectively to the people being addressed. The related form alle means “all” or “everyone,” while sammen means “together”; do not treat the greeting as a literal word-for-word instruction to be together. Together, Godmorgen allesammen. means “Good morning, everyone.” The greeting is addressed to a group rather than to one specifically identified person.

2. Hvordan har du det?

   How are you?

   Hvordan

   how

   har du det

   are you

   More detail

   Hvordan means “how” and asks about the way or state of something. It is a question word; compare hvad (“what”) when asking about an identity or thing. Example: Hvordan går det? — “How is it going?” har du det is the Danish expression used here for asking about someone’s condition. har is the present-tense form of have; its base form is have. du means “you,” and det is a neuter pronoun meaning “it” or “that” in other contexts. In this expression, det does not identify a separate specific thing; the whole pattern have det + adjective describes a person’s state. For example, Jeg har det fint. means “I am fine.” The subject changes while the pattern remains reusable: Jeg har det fint — “I am fine”; du har det fint — “you are fine.” Together, Hvordan asks about the manner or state, and har du det supplies the Danish state-expression addressed to du, producing “How are you?”

3. Jeg har det fint.

   I am fine.

   Jeg

   I

   har det fint

   am fine

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It is used for the person speaking. For comparison, du means “you” when addressing one person, as in Hvordan har du det? — “How are you?” har det fint is a common Danish expression meaning “am/is fine” or “am/is doing well.” har is the present form of have (“to have”). In this expression, Danish uses have with det (“it”), rather than the English verb “be.” Det is a neuter pronoun in this construction; the form fint is the neuter singular form of the adjective fin (“fine”). The adjective carries the ending -t; har does not inflect for this distinction. Together, Jeg + har det fint gives “I am fine.” This pattern can be reused with another subject, for example Hun har det fint. — “She is fine.”

4. Rart at møde dig.

   Nice to meet you.

   Rart

   nice; pleasant

   møde

   meet

   dig

   you

   More detail

   Rart means “nice” or “pleasant” here. It is the neuter singular form of the adjective rar; Danish uses this form in the impersonal pattern Det er rart at ... (“It is nice to ...”). The fixed utterance leaves det unspoken, which is natural in this greeting. møde means “meet”. It is the infinitive form, introduced here by at: at møde = “to meet”. The same infinitive can be reused after other expressions, for example: Det er godt at lære. — “It is good to learn.” dig means “you” as the object of the action. Danish uses du for a subject and dig for an object: Du møder mig. — “You meet me.” In the fixed sentence, the person being met is therefore expressed by dig. Together, the pattern Rart at + infinitive + object pronoun conveys “Nice to ...”. Thus Rart at møde dig. means “Nice to meet you.”

5. Hav en god dag.

   Have a nice day.

   Hav

   have

   god

   good; nice

   dag

   day

   More detail

   Hav is the imperative of have (“to have”). In this sentence it is used in a friendly wish: “Have ...”. The imperative addresses the listener directly and does not need an expressed subject. For example: Hav en god weekend. — “Have a nice weekend.” god means “good” here and describes dag. It is the common-gender singular indefinite form, matching en dag; other forms include godt with neuter singular nouns and gode in plural or definite contexts. For example: Det er en god idé. — “It is a good idea.” dag means “day”. Its indefinite singular form is dag, while the plural is dage. For example: Jeg har en travl dag. — “I have a busy day.” Together, Hav en god dag. literally uses the pattern Hav en/et + adjective + noun to express the wish “Have a nice day.” The article en belongs with the common-gender noun dag, and god agrees with that noun. The sentence is a conventional, polite parting wish.

6. Det var så lidt.

   You are welcome.

   Det var så lidt

   You’re welcome; literally, “it was so little.”

   More detail

   Det is a Danish pronoun meaning “it” here. Its specific referent is not identified in the fixed exchange; in this expression, it is part of a conventional impersonal wording rather than a clearly named object. var is the past-tense form of være, “to be.” The form var is used with singular subjects and also with plural subjects in the past, so its shape does not by itself identify a particular referent or number here. så means “so” in this expression and strengthens the following description. It can also have other meanings in Danish, but here it contributes to the idiomatic phrase så lidt. lidt means “little” or “a little.” It is the neuter form associated with the non-count quantity word lidt; compare lidt tid (“a little time”) with lidt vand (“a little water”). In this fixed expression, however, så lidt is not presenting a literal measured amount as the main message. Together, Det var så lidt is a conventional Danish response meaning “You’re welcome.” Literally, its parts are close to “It was so little,” expressing that the help or favor was no trouble. In the supplied exchange, it follows Hav en god dag (“Have a nice day”), but the fixed translation establishes the intended function and meaning as the response “You’re welcome.”