Using a Notebook in Class | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Jeg glemte at tage min notesbog med.

   I forgot to bring my notebook.

   glemte

   forgot

   at tage

   to take/bring

   min

   my

   notesbog

   notebook

   med

   along

   More detail

   glemte is the past-tense form of glemme, “to forget.” Here it describes a completed forgetting in the past. Danish commonly uses glemme at + infinitive for forgetting to do something: Jeg glemte at ringe. — “I forgot to call.” at tage contains the infinitive marker at and the infinitive tage, “to take.” In this sentence, tage ... med means “bring/take ... along,” so the English translation naturally uses “bring.” The verb is also used independently: Jeg vil tage bogen. — “I will take the book.” min means “my” before a singular common-gender noun. Its form agrees with the possessed noun, not with the possessor: min notesbog uses min, while a singular neuter noun uses mit, and a plural noun uses mine. For example, min stol means “my chair,” but mit hus means “my house.” notesbog means “notebook.” It is a compound noun: note + bog; the full compound is the noun used here. A useful related contrast is bog, “book,” versus notesbog, “notebook.” Example: Jeg skriver i min notesbog. — “I write in my notebook.” med means “along” in the construction tage ... med. This particle adds the idea that the object accompanies the person, rather than merely being taken from one place to another. Example: Tag paraplyen med. — “Bring the umbrella along.” Together, Jeg glemte at tage min notesbog med. means “I forgot to bring my notebook.” Jeg is the subject, glemte places the forgetting in the past, at tage introduces the action that was forgotten, and min notesbog med identifies the notebook as the thing to bring along. The construction glemme at + infinitive is reusable for saying that someone forgot to do an action.

2. Du kan bruge dette papir.

   You can use this paper.

   Du kan

   you can

   bruge

   use

   dette

   this

   papir

   paper

   More detail

   Du kan means “you can” here. Du is the second-person singular pronoun “you.” Kan is the present-tense form of kunne, expressing ability or possibility; it does not itself say whether the action will happen. Example: Du kan læse. — “You can read.” bruge means “use.” After kan, Danish uses the infinitive, so bruge stays in this form rather than taking a present-tense ending. The same pattern is reusable with other verbs: Du kan skrive. — “You can write.” dette means “this.” It is the singular neuter form used here because papir is a neuter noun: et papir. The corresponding singular common-gender form is denne, as in denne bog (“this book”). papir means “paper.” In this sentence it refers to the paper that can be used; the form itself does not state a numerical count. Danish can use papir for the material or for a piece or sheet when the context makes that reading clear. Together, Du kan + the infinitive bruge gives “you can use,” and dette papir identifies what can be used. The complete utterance is: “You can use this paper.”

3. Tak. Jeg vil skrive de nye ord.

   Thank you. I want to write the new words.

   Tak

   Thanks

   Jeg vil

   I want to

   skrive

   write

   nye

   new

   ord

   words

   More detail

   Tak is the short, common way to say “thanks” or “thank you.” Example: Tak for hjælpen. — “Thanks for the help.” Jeg vil combines jeg, the first-person singular pronoun “I,” with vil, the present form of ville. In this sentence, vil expresses the speaker’s desire or intention: “want to.” The reusable pattern is Jeg vil + an infinitive. Example: Jeg vil læse. — “I want to read.” skrive means “to write.” It is the infinitive used after vil; after this modal verb, Danish uses the infinitive without at. Example: Jeg vil skrive. — “I want to write.” nye is the form of the adjective ny (“new”) used here with a plural noun in the definite noun phrase de nye .... Its main forms are ny in one common-gender singular context, nyt with a neuter singular noun, and nye with plural or definite noun phrases. Example: nye bøger — “new books.” ord means “words” here. Its singular indefinite form is et ord, and its plural indefinite form is also ord; the plural definite form is ordene. In de nye ord, de and the adjective make the phrase mean “the new words.” Example: Jeg lærer nye ord. — “I am learning new words.” Together, Jeg vil skrive de nye ord means “I want to write the new words”: jeg vil expresses the speaker’s intention, skrive names the intended action, and de nye ord identifies what will be written. Tak. is a separate expression of thanks.

4. God idé. Jeg vil også skrive dem.

   Good idea. I will write them too.

   God

   good

   idé

   idea

   Jeg vil

   I will

   også

   too; also

   skrive

   write

   dem

   them

   More detail

   God means “good” here and is the basic form of the adjective. In Danish, an adjective commonly changes with the noun’s grammatical gender and number: for example, god can be used with an en-word in the singular, while godt is used with an et-word in the singular and gode in the plural. Here, god describes idé. idé means “idea.” Its plural is idéer. The phrase God idé is a concise, natural way to evaluate an idea positively; the noun remains singular here. Jeg vil combines jeg, “I,” with vil, the present form of ville. With a following infinitive, vil expresses the speaker’s intention or a future action. The infinitive after it does not take an ending for the subject. Example: Jeg vil læse. — “I will read” or “I want to read,” depending on context. In this sentence, the fixed translation supports the future/intention meaning “I will.” også means “also” or “too.” It adds this action to something already mentioned. Its position after vil gives the sense “will also.” skrive is the infinitive “to write.” After vil, Danish uses the infinitive form: vil skrive, “will write.” The same form can be used with other subjects, as in De vil skrive. — “They will write.” dem is an object pronoun meaning “them.” It refers here to the plural items already established in the bounded context, namely the new words mentioned previously. Danish uses dem for a plural object; the corresponding subject pronoun is de, “they.” Example: Jeg ser dem. — “I see them.” Together, God idé means “Good idea.” Then Jeg vil også skrive dem means “I will write them too”: the speaker intends to write the same plural items under discussion, adding this action to the previously mentioned plan to write the new words.

5. Kan vi tjekke dem efter undervisningen?

   Can we check them after class?

   Kan vi

   Can we

   tjekke

   check

   dem

   them

   efter

   after

   undervisningen

   class

   More detail

   Kan vi combines kan, the present-tense form of kunne (“can; be able to”), with vi (“we”). In this question, kan expresses ability or possibility, and vi is the subject. Danish commonly places the finite verb before the subject in a yes/no question: Kan vi ...? Example: Kan vi læse? — “Can we read?” tjekke means “check” here. It is the infinitive form, used after the modal verb kan; the modal carries the tense, so tjekke does not take a present-tense ending in this construction. Example: Vi kan tjekke det. — “We can check it.” dem is an object pronoun meaning “them” in this sentence. It refers to the plural items already being discussed, without the sentence itself specifying exactly what those items are. Compare dem (“them”) with det (“it” or “that” for a singular neuter referent). Example: Vi læser dem. — “We read them.” efter means “after” and introduces the time expression that follows it. The pattern efter + a noun can indicate that an action happens later than that event or period. Example: Vi mødes efter arbejdet. — “We meet after work.” undervisningen means “the class” or “the teaching session” here. Its base noun is undervisning (“teaching; instruction”), and undervisningen is its definite singular form, roughly “the teaching session.” The ending belongs to this noun, not to efter. Example: Undervisningen begynder klokken ni. — “The class begins at nine.” Together, Kan vi tjekke dem asks whether “we” can check the already established plural items. efter undervisningen places that checking after the class or teaching session. The complete utterance is: “Can we check them after class?” It is a neutral, reusable yes/no question about whether an action is possible or can be arranged at a specified time.

6. Vi kan læse dem sammen.

   We can read them together.

   Vi

   we

   kan

   can

   læse

   read

   dem

   them

   sammen

   together

   More detail

   Vi is the Danish subject pronoun “we.” It refers to the speaker together with at least one other person, but the utterance does not identify exactly who is included. Compare jeg (“I”) for one speaker and vi (“we”) for the speaker plus others. kan is the present-tense form of kunne, “can/to be able to.” Danish uses kan with all persons in the present: jeg kan, du kan, and vi kan. It is a modal verb, so the following verb appears in the infinitive without at. læse means “read” here. It is the infinitive after the modal kan; the same form can be used after other modal verbs as well. Example: Jeg kan læse. — “I can read.” dem is the object pronoun “them.” It is the plural object form, and the sentence does not specify what the plural referent is. As an object pronoun, it differs from the subject form de (“they”): De læser means “They read,” while Vi læser dem means “We read them.” sammen is the adverb “together.” It says that the reading is done jointly by the people included in vi, rather than separately. Together, Vi kan læse dem sammen means “We can read them together.” The pattern is subject + kan + infinitive + object + adverb: Vi identifies the people who are able or permitted to act, kan læse expresses the ability or possibility to read, dem is what they read, and sammen describes the joint manner of the action.