Basic Permission Questions | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Må jeg bruge den her?

   Can I use this?

   Må jeg

   Can I

   bruge

   use

   den her

   this

   More detail

   Må jeg begins a yes/no question. må is the present form of måtte, meaning “may / be allowed to” and, in this sentence, expressing permission. jeg means “I”. Danish commonly places the finite verb before the subject in a main-clause question: Må jeg ...? = “May I ...?” The same reusable pattern appears in Må jeg sidde her? (“Can I sit here?”), with a different verb. bruge means “use”. It is the infinitive after the modal verb må; Danish uses the infinitive without at after this kind of modal: Må jeg bruge ...? A useful contrast is jeg bruger (“I use / am using”) for the present-tense form in an ordinary statement. den her is a demonstrative expression meaning “this”. den is the singular common-gender form used here, while her means “here” and makes the demonstrative proximal: “this one here”. The expression points to a specific item understood from the situation; the supplied sentence does not identify which item it is. A related contrast is den der, “that one there”. Together, Må jeg + bruge forms a permission question, and den her supplies the item being used: “Can I use this?” The question asks whether the speaker is allowed to use the indicated item.

2. Må jeg sidde her?

   Can I sit here?

   Må jeg

   Can I / May I

   sidde

   sit

   her

   here

   More detail

   Må jeg is a reusable Danish question pattern meaning “Can I…?” or “May I…?”. Må is the present form of måtte, a modal verb expressing permission here. After this modal, the subject jeg comes before the main verb, while the main verb stays in the infinitive: Må jeg bruge den her? means “Can I use this?” In the supplied examples, må has the permission meaning, not a statement of necessity. sidde means “to sit”. It is the infinitive form, and it follows the modal må; Danish does not add an infinitive marker equivalent to English “to” after this modal. The related movement verb is sætte sig, “to sit down”, whereas sidde describes being seated or sitting. Example: Jeg sidder her. — “I am sitting here.” her means “here” and points to the place relevant in the situation. It is an adverb, so it does not change form for the person asking. A useful contrast is der, “there”: Jeg sidder der. — “I am sitting there.” Together, Må jeg asks for permission, sidde names the action or state permitted, and her specifies the place. The whole utterance therefore means “Can I sit here?” Its basic reusable pattern is Må jeg + infinitive verb + place or other relevant information.

3. Må jeg komme ind?

   Can I come in?

   Må jeg

   Can I…?

   komme

   come

   ind

   in

   More detail

   Må jeg is a reusable way to ask for permission: “May/Can I …?” Here, jeg is the subject “I,” and må is the present form of måtte. In this question, må expresses permission, not physical ability. The same pattern appears in Må jeg sidde her? (“Can I sit here?”) and Må jeg se den? (“Can I see it?”). komme means “come.” It is the infinitive form; after the modal må, Danish uses the infinitive without at: Må jeg komme ...? (“May I come ...?”). A useful contrast is kommer, the present form: Jeg kommer nu. (“I am coming now.”) ind means “in” and indicates movement toward the inside. Together with komme, komme ind means “come in” or “enter.” The opposite directional word is ud (“out”): Jeg går ud. (“I am going out.”) The sentence follows the reusable pattern Må + subject + infinitive + direction/place?. Thus Må jeg asks for permission, komme names the movement, and ind specifies that the movement is inward. The complete meaning is “Can I come in?”

4. Må jeg se den?

   Can I see it?

   Må jeg

   Can I? / May I?

   se

   see

   den

   it

   More detail

   Må jeg is a reusable Danish question pattern meaning “Can I …?” or “May I …?” Here, må is the modal verb and jeg is the first-person singular subject. The modal is followed by the main verb in its infinitive form, without an extra infinitive marker: Må jeg komme ind? means “Can I come in?” se means “see” here. It is the infinitive form and follows the modal må; Danish modal constructions use this bare infinitive. Example: Må jeg prøve den? — “Can I try it?” den is a singular object pronoun meaning “it” in this sentence. Its grammatical form is used for a common-gender singular referent, but the supplied sentence and translation do not identify exactly what the referent is. The form contrasts with det, which is used with a neuter-gender singular referent. This is a grammatical distinction, not a claim about the referent’s natural properties. Together, Må jeg + se + den forms a permission question: “Can I see it?” The word order places the modal before the subject in this question, followed by the bare infinitive and then the object pronoun.

5. Må jeg prøve den?

   Can I try it?

   Må jeg

   Can I

   prøve

   try

   den

   it

   More detail

   Må jeg is a reusable Danish way to ask for permission: “May/Can I …?” Må is the present form of måtte, a modal verb meaning that the speaker is allowed to do something. The subject jeg means “I”. After a modal verb, the next verb appears in the infinitive without at. Example: Må jeg komme ind? — “May I come in?” prøve means “try” here. It is the infinitive form, and it stays prøve after må: Må jeg prøve …? — “Can I try …?” The same form can also mean “to taste” when the context is food, but the fixed translation supports “try” here. Example: Jeg vil prøve igen. — “I want to try again.” den is the object pronoun “it” in this sentence. It is a singular common-gender form; here, the translation identifies its intended referent simply as “it”, without specifying what that object is. Danish pronoun choice depends on the grammatical gender and number of the noun being replaced, so den is not interchangeable with the neuter singular form det in every context. Example: Jeg ser den. — “I see it.” Together, Må jeg asks for permission, prøve names the permitted action, and den identifies the object being tried. The complete utterance Må jeg prøve den? therefore means “Can I try it?”

6. Må jeg få den her?

   Can I have this?

   Må jeg

   May I

   få

   have; get

   den her

   this

   More detail

   Må jeg is a reusable Danish way to ask for permission: “May I …?” or, as here, “Can I …?” Må is the present form of måtte, a modal verb. It is followed by the subject jeg and then an infinitive: Må jeg prøve ...? means “May I try ...?” The modal construction does not itself state that permission has been granted. få means “get” or “receive”; in this sentence, the intended meaning is “have” something given to the speaker. It is the infinitive form, used after the modal må. The same form can express receiving in other contexts, for example: Jeg får en besked. — “I receive a message.” den her is a demonstrative expression meaning “this” or “this one.” den is the common-gender singular form used with or standing for a common-gender noun, while her adds the meaning “here,” making the expression point to something nearby. The exact item is not named in the utterance; the expression identifies it as the nearby item intended by the speaker. Together, Må jeg få den her? literally combines a permission question with “receive/have this one,” giving the natural meaning “Can I have this?” The pattern Må jeg få ...? is reusable when asking whether one may receive or take a specified item.