Choosing an Event Activity | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Undskyld, hvilke arrangementer kan vi deltage i nu?

   Excuse me, which events can we join now?

   Undskyld

   Excuse me

   hvilke

   which

   arrangementer

   events

   kan vi

   can we

   deltage i

   participate in

   nu

   now

   More detail

   Undskyld is the imperative form of undskylde, commonly used as the polite formula “excuse me” and also “sorry.” Example: Undskyld, hvor er stationen? — “Excuse me, where is the station?” hvilke asks “which” when the thing selected is plural. Its singular counterparts are hvilken for a common-gender noun and hvilket for a neuter noun. Here it matches the plural noun arrangementer; it asks for a choice from a set rather than simply asking how many. arrangementer means “events” here. It is the plural indefinite form of the neuter noun arrangement: et arrangement — “an event,” arrangementer — “events.” Example: Hvilke arrangementer er gratis? — “Which events are free?” kan vi is a reusable modal-question pattern: the modal verb kan (“can”) comes before the subject vi (“we”). In a question, this placement signals the question, while vi identifies the participants as “we.” Danish normally puts the following verb in the infinitive after kan, without at: Kan vi komme? — “Can we come?” deltage i means “participate in” or “take part in.” deltage is the infinitive verb, and i is the preposition required for the activity or event taken part in. The verb does not mean merely “join” in every context; here it expresses taking part in events. Example: Vi vil deltage i mødet. — “We want to participate in the meeting.” nu is the time adverb “now.” It places the possibility or choice at the present time. Example: Kan vi starte nu? — “Can we start now?” Together, hvilke arrangementer asks which events, kan vi deltage i asks whether we are able to take part in them, and nu specifies the present time. The complete utterance is a polite question asking: “Excuse me, which events can we join now?”

2. I kan vælge mellem en guidet gåtur og en dansetime.

   You can choose between a guided walk and a dance session.

   I kan

   you can

   vælge

   choose

   mellem

   between

   guidet

   guided

   gåtur

   walk

   dansetime

   dance session

   More detail

   I kan means “you can” here. I is the Danish second-person plural pronoun, while kan is the present form of kunne (“can, be able to”). With kan, the next verb is normally in the infinitive without at: I kan vælge = “you can choose.” vælge means “to choose.” It is the infinitive after the modal kan; its present form is vælger, as in I vælger (“you choose”). Example: Du kan vælge en bog. — “You can choose a book.” mellem means “between” and introduces the alternatives in the pattern mellem X og Y (“between X and Y”). Here it connects the two activities that can be chosen. guidet means “guided” in this sentence. It is the past participle of guide used before a noun as a descriptive form. It describes gåtur, rather than expressing a separate action by the speaker. Example: en guidet tur — “a guided tour.” gåtur means “walk” or “walking tour.” It is a noun, and the form with the indefinite article is en gåtur. In this sentence it is the first option after mellem: en guidet gåtur means “a guided walk.” dansetime means “dance session” or “dance lesson.” It is a noun with the indefinite form en dansetime. In this sentence it is the second option, joined to the first by og (“and”): en dansetime = “a dance session.” The whole pattern is I kan vælge mellem en guidet gåtur og en dansetime: “You can choose between a guided walk and a dance session.” The modal kan expresses available possibility or permission, and mellem ... og ... presents the two stated alternatives.

3. Hvordan er den guidede gåtur?

   What is the guided walk like?

   Hvordan er

   what is ... like?

   den

   the

   guidede

   guided

   gåtur

   walk

   More detail

   Hvordan er asks for the qualities or nature of something: literally, “how is …?”, and in this pattern it corresponds to “what is … like?”. er is the present-tense form of være, “to be”. A reusable pattern is Hvordan er + [thing]? For example: Hvordan er filmen? — “What is the film like?” den is the definite article used with a singular common-gender noun. Here it introduces the specific walk being discussed. It does not itself state a quantity; it marks the noun phrase as definite. guidede means “guided” here. Its base form is guidet, from guide, “to guide”. In the definite noun phrase den guidede gåtur, the adjective has the definite form guidede, agreeing with the definite singular noun phrase. Compare the indefinite phrase en guidet gåtur (“a guided walk”) with the definite phrase den guidede gåtur (“the guided walk”). gåtur means “walk” in the sense of a walk or walking outing. It is a common-gender noun: en gåtur means “a walk”, and gåturen means “the walk”. For example: Vi tager en gåtur. — “We are going for a walk.” Together, den guidede gåtur is “the guided walk”. The question combines Hvordan er with that noun phrase, producing “What is the guided walk like?”

4. En guide leder gåturen i et roligt tempo.

   A guide leads the walk at a slow pace.

   guide

   guide

   leder

   leads

   gåturen

   the walk

   roligt

   calm, slow

   tempo

   pace

   More detail

   guide means “guide” here. It is a common-gender noun, so the indefinite article is en: en guide = “a guide.” Danish also has et with neuter nouns; the article is chosen by the noun’s grammatical gender, not by a numeric count. leder means “leads” in this sentence. Its base form is lede (“to lead”), and leder is the present-tense form. For example, Hun leder gruppen. means “She leads the group.” gåturen means “the walk.” It is the definite singular form of gåtur (“walk”): gåtur = “a walk,” while gåturen = “the walk.” The ending -en marks definiteness for this common-gender noun. roligt describes the pace as calm and unhurried, which is rendered as “slow” in the fixed translation. Its base form is rolig (“calm”); roligt is the form used with the neuter noun tempo. For example, et roligt sted means “a quiet/calm place.” tempo means “pace.” It is a neuter noun, shown by et in et tempo. The phrase i et ... tempo means “at/in a ... pace,” so the adjective agrees with tempo: et roligt tempo = “a calm, slow pace.” Together, En guide identifies the actor, leder gåturen says that the guide leads the walk, and i et roligt tempo describes how this happens. The complete meaning is: “A guide leads the walk at a slow pace.”

5. Så er den nem at følge.

   So it is easy to follow.

   Så

   so

   er

   is

   den

   it

   nem

   easy

   at følge

   to follow

   More detail

   Så means “so” here and links the statement to a conclusion. Danish så can have other uses, such as “then,” but this sentence uses the result/conclusion sense. er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). The present form is er for all persons, so it does not change between “I am,” “you are,” and “it is.” den is the singular common-gender pronoun corresponding to “it” here. Its exact referent is not named in this sentence; the fixed translation supports the pronoun reading without identifying what “it” is. In other contexts, den can also function as a common-gender demonstrative or determiner, but here it stands as the subject. nem means “easy” in this use. Danish adjectives have forms such as nem (common-gender singular), nemt (neuter singular), and nemme (plural or definite contexts). Here nem agrees with the common-gender singular den. The adjective is predicative: it describes the subject after er. at følge is the infinitive “to follow.” følge is the base verb, and at marks the infinitive. Danish commonly places an adjective before an infinitive to express that an activity is easy or difficult: nem at følge means “easy to follow.” For example, Den er svær at forstå. means “It is difficult to understand.” Together, Så er den nem at følge means “So it is easy to follow.” The pattern er + adjective + at + verb describes how easy or difficult an activity involving the subject is.

6. Det lyder nemt nok til første gang.

   That sounds manageable for a first try.

   Det lyder

   That sounds

   nemt

   easy; manageable

   nok

   enough

   til

   for; to

   første

   first

   gang

   time; try

   More detail

   Det lyder means “that sounds” here. lyder is the present-tense form of lyde (“to sound”): Det lyder ... is a reusable pattern for giving an impression of something, often followed by an adjective. Example: Det lyder godt. — “That sounds good.” nemt means “easy” or, in this sentence, “manageable.” Its base form is nem. The -t form is the neuter singular form used with det in this predicative description; compare Det er nemt. (“It is easy”) with Det er nem. not being the form used there. Nemt is not the form of the noun gang; it is the adjective describing what “that” sounds like. nok means “enough” in this use. Together, nemt nok means “easy enough” or “manageable,” expressing sufficient ease for the situation rather than stating a numerical amount. Example: Det er stort nok. — “It is big enough.” til means “for” here and introduces the situation for which something is sufficient. The pattern adjective + nok til ... can mean “adjective enough for ...”. første means “first.” It is the ordinal form corresponding to en (“one”), and it is used in the fixed expression første gang for “first time” or, in this context, “first try.” gang is a noun meaning “time” in the sense of an occasion or attempt here. første gang is a reusable noun phrase meaning “the first time” or “a first try,” depending on the surrounding meaning. Example: Det var min første gang. — “It was my first time.” Together, Det lyder + nemt nok + til første gang gives “That sounds manageable for a first try.” The utterance presents the activity or situation referred to by det as sufficiently easy for someone’s first attempt.

7. Hvor aktiv er dansetimen?

   How active is the dance session?

   Hvor aktiv

   how active

   er

   is

   dansetimen

   the dance session

   More detail

   Hvor aktiv asks about the degree of activity: “how active.” hvor can introduce a question about the degree of an adjective, as in Hvor svær er opgaven? — “How difficult is the task?” Here aktiv describes dansetimen. Danish adjectives can change form with the noun: aktiv is used with a common-gender singular noun, aktivt with a neuter singular noun, and aktive with plural or definite noun phrases. In this sentence, aktiv is the form used with the singular common-gender noun dansetimen. er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” In this question, it appears before the subject, following the question phrase: Hvor aktiv er ...? Compare the statement order Dansetimen er aktiv — “The dance session is active.” dansetimen means “the dance session” here. It is the definite singular form of dansetime, “dance session” or “dance lesson.” The ending -en marks a singular common-gender noun as definite: en dansetime means “a dance session,” while dansetimen means “the dance session.” The compound combines danse (“dance”) with time (“hour” or, in this context, a scheduled session/lesson); the whole compound is the useful noun to learn here. Together, Hvor aktiv asks for the session’s degree of activity, er links the description to its subject, and dansetimen identifies that subject. The complete meaning is: “How active is the dance session?”

8. Det går hurtigere, og I danser i en gruppe med enkle trin.

   It moves faster, with simple steps in a group.

   Det går

   it moves/goes

   hurtigere

   faster

   I

   you (plural)

   danser

   dance

   gruppe

   group

   enkle

   simple

   trin

   steps

   More detail

   Det går means “it goes” or, in this sentence, “it moves/proceeds.” går is the present form of gå (“to go”), and Danish present forms do not change for the subject’s person or number. Here det is the subject pronoun used in the fixed meaning “it”; the sentence does not identify a more specific referent. hurtigere means “faster.” It is the comparative form of hurtig (“fast”): hurtig → hurtigere → hurtigst (“fast” → “faster” → “fastest”). The comparative signals a comparison, while this sentence does not state what the movement is faster than. I is the Danish second-person plural subject pronoun, “you” when addressing more than one person. It is distinct from singular du, “you.” danser means “dance” here. It is the present form of danse (“to dance”), and the present form is the same for different subjects: jeg danser (“I dance”), du danser (“you dance”), and I danser (“you [plural] dance”). gruppe means “group.” The noun is commonly used with the indefinite article as en gruppe (“a group”); its definite form is gruppen (“the group”). In this sentence, en marks an indefinite noun phrase, not a stated numerical count. enkle means “simple.” It is an inflected form of enkel (“simple”) used here with plural trin. For example, et enkelt trin means “a simple step,” while enkle trin means “simple steps.” trin means “steps” here. Its singular is also trin (et trin, “a step”), so the plural is identical in form: trin. The surrounding noun phrase and meaning show the plural use here. The remaining function words connect these pieces: og means “and,” i en gruppe means “in a group,” and med enkle trin means “with simple steps.” In source order, the utterance says that it moves faster, and that you plural dance in a group with simple steps. Together: “It moves faster, with simple steps in a group.”

9. Den guidede gåtur passer bedre til os.

   The guided walk suits us better.

   Den

   the

   guidede

   guided

   gåtur

   walk

   passer

   suits

   bedre

   better

   til os

   to us

   More detail

   Den is the definite determiner used here with a singular common-gender noun before an adjective: den + adjective ending in -e + noun. It gives the meaning “the” in this sentence. The exact referent is the walk identified by the rest of the phrase, not a newly introduced indefinite item. guidede means “guided” here. Its base form is guidet, as in en guidet gåtur (“a guided walk”). Before a definite singular noun, the adjective takes the -e form: den guidede gåtur. This adjective describes gåtur, not Den. gåtur is a noun meaning “walk,” specifically a walk as an activity or route. It is a compound built into one Danish noun; its definite form is gåturen (“the walk”). Example: Vi tager en gåtur. — “We are going for a walk.” passer is the present-tense form of passe, meaning “suit” or “be suitable” in this context. Danish present-tense verbs generally use the same form with different subjects, so passer can occur with singular or plural subjects. Example: Tiden passer mig. — “The time suits me.” bedre means “better” here and compares the suitability expressed by passer. It is the comparative form related to god/godt (“good”), not an inflection of passer: god/godt → bedre (“better”). Example: Denne tid passer bedre. — “This time suits [me/us] better.” til os means “to us” in this sentence. os is the object form corresponding to vi (“we”); the preposition til selects this form. Example: Det passer til os. — “It suits us.” Together, Den guidede gåtur is “the guided walk,” passer bedre says that it is more suitable than another relevant option, and til os identifies the people it suits. The complete meaning is: “The guided walk suits us better.”