Practice saying a sentence again | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kan du sige det igen?

   Can you say that again?

   Kan du

   can you

   sige

   say

   det

   that; it

   igen

   again

   More detail

   Kan du is a reusable way to ask whether someone is able or willing to do something: kan is the present form of kunne (“can, be able to”), and du means “you.” In a question, the verb comes before the subject: Kan du ...? = “Can you ...?” After the modal kan, the following verb appears in the infinitive without at. sige is the infinitive of sige, “to say.” The same form can follow other modal verbs: Du skal sige det. = “You must say it.” The form sige itself does not show who performs the action; here, du supplies that subject. det is an object pronoun meaning “that” or “it” here. Its specific referent is not identified by the fixed sentence; it refers to something understood from the situation. det is also the neuter singular form used in other grammatical roles, but this sentence uses it as the object of sige. igen means “again,” indicating that the saying should be repeated. It modifies the action rather than naming what is being repeated. Together, Kan du sige det igen? has the pattern Kan du + infinitive + object + adverb? The modal question asks the listener to repeat the understood content, so the complete meaning is “Can you say that again?”

2. Jeg siger det én gang til.

   I will say it one more time.

   Jeg

   I

   siger

   say

   det

   it

   én gang til

   one more time

   More detail

   Jeg is the Danish first-person singular pronoun, meaning “I” for the speaker. It does not change for grammatical gender. A useful contrast is du, meaning “you” for one person. siger is the present-tense form of sige, “to say.” Danish present tense commonly uses the same verb form with different subjects: jeg siger means “I say/am saying,” while du siger means “you say.” Example: Jeg siger det igen. — “I say it again.” det is a neuter singular form meaning “it” or “that.” Here it refers to the content being said, while the sentence does not identify that content more specifically. Danish pronouns also distinguish forms such as den and det; det is the neuter form in the relevant use. én gang til is a reusable expression meaning “one more time” or “once again.” gang means “time” in the sense of an occurrence, and til adds the meaning “again/additionally” in this expression. The accent in én highlights the numeral “one”; without that emphasis, Danish also commonly writes the numeral as en in contexts where it is not being stressed. Example: Sig det én gang til. — “Say it one more time.” Together, Jeg siger det gives “I will say it” in the fixed translation’s intended context, and én gang til adds “one more time.” Thus the whole utterance means “I will say it one more time.”

3. Nu forstår jeg det.

   Now I understand.

   Nu

   now

   forstår

   understand

   jeg

   I

   det

   it

   More detail

   Nu means “now” and places the understanding in the present moment. It can also appear elsewhere in a sentence when the time reference is clear. forstår is the present-tense form of forstå, “to understand.” With jeg, it means “I understand.” Danish present-tense verb forms generally do not change according to the subject’s person or number, so forstår is also used with other present-tense subjects when the meaning and context require it. Example: Jeg forstår spørgsmålet. — “I understand the question.” jeg is the first-person singular pronoun, “I,” used for the speaker. It is the subject of forstår here. det means “it” here and functions as the object of forstår. As a Danish pronoun, det is the neuter singular form; den is used for common-gender singular reference in relevant contexts. The choice depends on the grammatical gender of the referenced noun, not simply on English “it.” The supplied context does not uniquely identify what det refers to, so only its grammatical role and supported meaning can be stated here. Together, Nu forstår jeg det. means “Now I understand it.” The time word comes first; forstår is the finite verb, followed by the subject jeg and the object det. The fixed English translation, “Now I understand,” renders the meaning naturally without repeating the object, while the Danish sentence explicitly contains that object.

4. Lad os øve sætningen sammen.

   Let's practice the sentence together.

   Lad os

   let's

   øve

   practice

   sætningen

   the sentence

   sammen

   together

   More detail

   Lad os is a reusable Danish way to suggest an action involving the speaker and the listener: “let’s …”. Lad is the imperative of lade (“let/allow”), and os means “us” in this construction. The following verb is in the infinitive. øve means “to practice”. After lad os, it names the suggested action without an extra infinitive marker. Example: Lad os læse. — “Let’s read.” sætningen means “the sentence” here. Its base noun is sætning, “sentence”; the ending -en marks the definite singular form, referring to a specific sentence. The indefinite form is en sætning (“a sentence”), while sætninger means “sentences”. Example: Jeg skriver en sætning. — “I am writing a sentence.” sammen means “together”. It indicates that the action is carried out jointly by the people included in os. Example: Vi arbejder sammen. — “We work together.” Together, Lad os øve sætningen sammen. means “Let’s practice the sentence together.” The suggestion is for the speaker and listener to practice one specific sentence jointly.

5. Den første del er stadig svær for mig.

   The first part is still hard for me.

   første

   first

   del

   part

   er

   is

   stadig

   still

   svær

   hard; difficult

   for mig

   for me

   More detail

   første means “first” here and is the ordinal form used before del. The basic sequence is første, anden, tredje (“first,” “second,” “third”). Do not confuse the ordinal adjective første with først, which is commonly used as an adverb meaning “first” in expressions about order. del means “part” or “section.” Its base form is the common-gender noun del; its definite form is delen (“the part”), and its plural is dele (“parts”). In this sentence, del appears after the preceding den første, which together forms the definite noun phrase “the first part.” er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” Danish er is used with all persons and numbers: jeg er (“I am”), du er (“you are”), and de er (“they are”). Here it links “the first part” with its description. stadig means “still.” It indicates that the situation continues at the relevant time. For example: Hun er stadig træt. — “She is still tired.” svær means “hard” or “difficult” in this sentence. It is the common-gender singular form of the adjective; the neuter singular form is svært, and the plural/definite form is svære. For example: Opgaven er svær. — “The task is difficult.” The adjective describes del through er. for mig means “for me.” for is the preposition, and mig is the first-person singular object form of the pronoun corresponding to jeg (“I”). This phrase identifies the person who experiences the difficulty. Compare for dig (“for you”), where dig is the second-person singular object form. The opening Den combines with første del to make the definite noun phrase “the first part.” The sentence then assembles as Den første del (“the first part”) + er (“is”) + stadig (“still”) + svær (“hard/difficult”) + for mig (“for me”). Thus the whole utterance means: “The first part is still hard for me.”

6. Vi kan øve den del langsomt.

   We can practice that part slowly.

   Vi kan

   we can

   øve

   practice

   den

   that

   del

   part

   langsomt

   slowly

   More detail

   Vi kan combines vi, the first-person plural pronoun “we,” with kan, the present-tense form of kunne (“can” or “be able to”). In Danish, a modal such as kan is followed by an infinitive without at: Vi kan øve = “We can practice.” Example: Vi kan vente. — “We can wait.” øve is the infinitive “to practice.” After kan, it stays in the infinitive rather than taking a present-tense ending. Example: Jeg kan øve hver dag. — “I can practice every day.” den is used here before a noun as a demonstrative determiner meaning “that.” It is the common-gender singular form; the choice is connected to the noun it determines, not to the pronoun vi. In den del, it points to the particular part intended in the conversation. Danish can also use den as the definite article in other noun phrases, but the fixed translation gives the demonstrative reading here. del means “part.” It is a common-gender noun. In a definite noun form by itself, it becomes delen (“the part”), but after the demonstrative den, Danish uses den del for “that part.” Example: Denne del er vigtig. — “This part is important.” langsomt is an adverb meaning “slowly,” describing how the practicing is done. It is related to the adjective langsom (“slow”); the adverbial form in this sentence is langsomt. Example: Læs langsomt. — “Read slowly.” Together, Vi kan øve says “we can practice,” den del identifies the particular part, and langsomt specifies the manner. The complete utterance therefore means “We can practice that part slowly.”