Signing up for a walking event | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Hvor meget koster det at deltage i gåturen?

   How much does it cost to join the walking event?

   Hvor meget

   how much

   koster

   costs

   det

   it

   at deltage

   to participate

   gåturen

   the walk / walking event

   More detail

   Hvor meget asks for an amount: “how much.” In this sentence it asks for the price, not for a number of people or objects. A useful pattern is Hvor meget koster ...? = “How much does ... cost?” koster is the present-tense form of koste, “to cost.” It is used with the subject det here: det koster means “it costs.” The present form can ask about the current or relevant price. det is a pronoun functioning as the grammatical subject of the cost question. Here it is the impersonal “it” in the Danish price pattern; it does not identify a particular participant. The thing whose price is being asked about is supplied by the following infinitive phrase. at deltage means “to participate” or “to take part.” at marks the infinitive, and deltage is the base form of the verb. The same pattern can be reused with another activity, for example at deltage i mødet = “to participate in the meeting.” In this sentence, i belongs with deltage: deltage i means “participate in.” gåturen means “the walk” or, in this context, “the walking event.” It is a definite form: gåtur means “walk” as a noun, while the ending -en marks the common-gender singular definite form, “the walk.” The form refers to the activity named in the fixed translation, not to a person walking. The word is written as one compound noun in Danish. Together, at deltage i gåturen means “to participate in the walk/walking event.” Danish places this infinitive phrase after det koster in the question pattern Hvor meget koster det at ...? The complete utterance therefore asks: “How much does it cost to join the walking event?”

2. Det er gratis for byens beboere.

   It is free for city residents.

   Det er

   it is

   gratis

   free

   byens

   the city's

   beboere

   residents

   More detail

   Det er means “it is” here. Det is the neuter singular third-person pronoun used for the impersonal subject in this statement; the fixed translation identifies the situation as “it,” without identifying a separate concrete referent. Er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). The same present form can be used for a current fact: Det er åbent. — “It is open.” gratis means “free of charge” here. It is an adjective describing the situation, and this form does not change for gender or number in this use. Do not confuse this meaning with “free” in the sense of “not imprisoned”; Danish commonly uses fri for that other sense. Example: Turen er gratis. — “The trip is free.” byens means “the city’s” or “of the city.” It is the possessive form of byen (“the city”): the final -s marks possession. The possessive element comes before the noun it specifies, as in byens centrum — “the city centre.” beboere means “residents” here. Its base form is the singular indefinite noun beboer (“resident”); beboere is the plural indefinite form. The noun names people who live in a place, while indbyggere is another common word for inhabitants or residents. Example: Beboere får rabat. — “Residents get a discount.” Together, Det er gratis states that there is no charge, and for byens beboere specifies who receives that condition: the residents of the city. The complete utterance therefore means, “It is free for city residents.”

3. Vi vil gerne tilmelde os sammen.

   We would like to sign up together.

   Vi

   we

   vil gerne

   would like

   tilmelde

   sign up; register

   os

   us; ourselves

   sammen

   together

   More detail

   Vi means “we” and is the first-person plural subject: the speaker is included with at least one other person. Danish has jeg “I” for one speaker and vi “we” for a group. vil gerne is a useful way to express a wish or polite desire: “would like to.” Vil is the present form of ville, “to want / would,” and gerne adds the sense of being willing or glad to do something. A reusable pattern is [subject] vil gerne + infinitive, as in Jeg vil gerne lære dansk — “I would like to learn Danish.” tilmelde means “to sign up” or “to register.” It is an infinitive, appearing after vil gerne. When the people signing up are also the people affected by the action, Danish uses the reflexive construction tilmelde sig; here the reflexive form is os because the subject is vi. Compare Jeg tilmelder mig — “I sign myself up” — with Vi tilmelder os — “We sign ourselves up.” os is the first-person plural object/reflexive pronoun, corresponding to vi “we.” In this sentence it refers back to the group represented by vi, so tilmelde os means “sign ourselves up,” naturally translated as “sign up.” sammen means “together.” It states that the members of the group carry out the signing-up as a group, rather than separately. For example, Vi arbejder sammen means “We work together.” Together, Vi vil gerne tilmelde os sammen has the structure we + would like + sign up ourselves + together. Its complete meaning is “We would like to sign up together.”

4. Skriv venligst jeres navne, adresser og telefonnumre på denne formular.

   Please write your names, addresses, and phone numbers on this form.

   Skriv

   write

   venligst

   please

   jeres

   your (plural)

   navne

   names

   adresser

   addresses

   telefonnumre

   phone numbers

   denne

   this

   formular

   form

   More detail

   Skriv is the imperative of skrive, “to write.” The imperative gives a direct instruction and normally uses the verb stem without a subject: Skriv her. means “Write here.” venligst is a polite word meaning “please.” It softens an instruction without changing what action is requested. In this sentence, Skriv venligst means “Please write.” jeres is the possessive form meaning “your” when the possessor is plural. It addresses more than one possessor, but the supplied sentence does not identify those possessors more specifically. The possessed noun keeps its own number form; jeres does not itself give that noun a plural ending. navne is the plural of navn, “name”: et navn → navne. Here it refers to names in the plural, without by itself specifying how many people the names belong to. Example: Skriv dit navn. — “Write your name.” adresser is the plural of adresse, “address”: en adresse → adresser. Example: Vi har to adresser. — “We have two addresses.” telefonnumre is the plural of the compound noun telefonnummer, “phone number”: et telefonnummer → telefonnumre. The plural form changes the ending and the stem spelling, so it is not formed by simply adding -er. Example: Skriv dit telefonnummer. — “Write your phone number.” denne means “this” and is the common-gender singular form of the demonstrative used with a common-gender noun. It identifies the form as the one being indicated here. Danish also has dette with neuter singular nouns and disse for plural nouns; the choice depends on the noun’s grammatical number and gender, not merely on physical distance. formular means “form,” in the sense of a document to fill in. It is a common-gender noun: en formular, so the phrase is denne formular (“this form”). Example: Udfyld denne formular. — “Fill in this form.” Together, Skriv venligst jeres navne, adresser og telefonnumre på denne formular means “Please write your names, addresses, and phone numbers on this form.” Skriv venligst gives the polite instruction, the three plural nouns list the requested information, and på denne formular specifies where to write it.

5. Skal vi også skrive en e-mailadresse?

   Should we add an email address too?

   Skal vi

   Should we

   skrive

   write; add

   også

   too; also

   e-mailadresse

   email address

   More detail

   Skal vi combines skal with vi. Skal is the present form of skulle, a modal verb that can express what someone should or is going to do; in this question, the fixed translation gives the intended “should we” meaning. Vi means “we” and is the subject. In a Danish yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Skal vi ...? Compare the statement order Vi skal ... (“We should ...”). skrive is the infinitive of skrive. Its basic meaning is “write”, but in this context it means writing or adding an item to the form. After the modal skal, the following verb is in the infinitive: skal skrive. Example: Vi skal skrive vores navne. — “We should write our names.” også means “also” or “too”. Here it marks the email address as an additional item. In this utterance it comes after the subject vi and before the infinitive skrive: Skal vi også skrive ...? e-mailadresse is the compound noun “email address”. With the indefinite article, the phrase is en e-mailadresse; the noun is common gender. Its definite singular form is e-mailadressen, and its plural is e-mailadresser. Together, Skal vi asks about the action, også marks it as additional, skrive names the action, and e-mailadresse names what would be written or added. The whole utterance therefore asks whether they should add an email address too. In the surrounding form-filling situation, the following statement says that this part is optional.

6. Den del er valgfri.

   That part is optional.

   Den

   that

   del

   part

   er

   is

   valgfri

   optional

   More detail

   Den means “that” here and points to a singular common-gender noun. In this sentence it stands directly before del, so it agrees with del, which is common gender. Danish contrasts den with det: den is used with common-gender singular nouns, while det is used with neuter singular nouns. Example: Den bog er ny. — “That book is new.” del means “part.” Its base form is del; with the indefinite article, the phrase is en del (“a part”), and in the definite form it is delen (“the part”). In the fixed sentence, del identifies the thing being described as optional. Er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” It links the subject to a description: X er Y means “X is Y.” The form er is used with different subjects in the present, rather than changing for singular and plural. Example: De er klar. — “They are ready.” Valgfri is the adjective “optional,” meaning that something may be chosen but is not required. Its base form is valgfri. In the fixed sentence it is the common-gender singular form after er, matching del. Related forms include neuter singular valgfrit and plural or definite valgfrie: Et valg er valgfrit. — “A choice is optional.” Together, Den del means “that part,” er means “is,” and valgfri describes it as optional. The complete utterance therefore means: “That part is optional.”

7. Hvad sender I, hvis vi tilføjer en e-mailadresse?

   What will you send if we add one?

   Hvad

   what

   sender

   send

   I

   you (plural)

   hvis

   if

   vi

   we

   tilføjer

   add

   e-mailadresse

   email address

   More detail

   Hvad means “what” and asks for the thing being sent. It is a question word, not a form that changes for the sender. For example, Hvad læser du? means “What are you reading?” sender means “send” here. It is the present-tense form of sende. Danish present tense can describe a current action or a planned/future action when the context makes that clear; it does not by itself mark English “will.” For example, Vi sender planen i morgen. means “We will send the plan tomorrow.” I is the second-person plural pronoun, “you” addressing more than one person. It is separate from vi, which means “we.” hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” It links the condition to the result: hvis vi tilføjer ... is “if we add ...”. vi means “we,” the first-person plural pronoun. In this sentence, it is the subject of tilføjer, so the speaker includes themself in the group that may add something. tilføjer means “add” here. It is the present-tense form of tilføje. The prefix-like part til- belongs to this verb; it is not a separate word in the sentence. For example, Vi tilføjer et navn. means “We add a name.” e-mailadresse means “email address.” It is a compound noun. The surrounding text has en e-mailadresse: en is the indefinite article used with this noun, and the article itself is not independently a numeric claim. Together, Hvad sender I asks “What will you send?” In Danish, sender is present tense, while the intended future reading comes from the situation and context. hvis vi tilføjer en e-mailadresse gives the condition “if we add one email address.” The complete meaning is: “What will you send if we add one?”

8. Vi sender programmet for det næste arrangement.

   We will send the schedule for the next event.

   Vi

   we

   sender

   send

   programmet

   the schedule

   for

   for

   det

   the

   næste

   next

   arrangement

   event

   More detail

   Vi means “we” here: a first-person plural pronoun for the people who will send something. Danish also has jeg “I” for one speaker and I “you” for more than one person; these are different pronouns. sender is the present-tense form of sende, “to send.” In this sentence, the surrounding context and fixed translation give it a future meaning: “will send.” Danish present tense can refer to a planned or expected future action. For example, Vi sender filen i morgen. means “We will send the file tomorrow.” programmet means “the schedule” here. It is the definite singular form of program, “schedule” in this use: program → programmet. The ending -et marks a definite singular noun of the neuter type. The word can have other meanings in other contexts, such as “program,” but “schedule” is the intended meaning here. for is the preposition “for” and links the schedule to the event it concerns. In programmet for arrangementet, it introduces the event whose schedule is being discussed. det is the neuter definite form used before an adjective and noun in this noun phrase. Together with næste arrangement, it contributes “the” in “the next event.” Its form agrees with the neuter noun arrangement; it is not itself identifying a separate participant or object. næste means “next.” In this phrase it describes the event that comes next in the relevant sequence. Danish uses næste with both common- and neuter-gender singular nouns, as in den næste uge “the next week” and det næste arrangement “the next event.” arrangement means “event” here. It is a neuter singular noun, shown in the indefinite form after det næste; the full noun phrase det næste arrangement is definite because of the preceding det plus adjective structure. For example, et arrangement means “an event,” while det næste arrangement means “the next event.” Together, Vi sender gives “we will send” in this context, programmet gives “the schedule,” and for det næste arrangement specifies which schedule: it is for the next event. The complete meaning is: “We will send the schedule for the next event.”