Sending a finished report | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Er rapporten klar?

   Is the report ready?

   Er

   is

   rapporten

   the report

   klar

   ready

   More detail

   Er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). In Danish, er is used with all persons and numbers, so it is not specifically a third-person form. In this sentence it comes first because Danish forms a yes/no question by placing the finite verb before the subject. rapporten means “the report” here. The base noun is rapport; its definite singular form is rapporten, with -en marking a singular common-gender noun. The definite form identifies a particular report in the situation. For example: Rapporten er færdig. — “The report is finished.” klar means “ready” here. It is the common-gender singular form agreeing with rapporten. Related forms include klart with a neuter singular noun and klare in the plural: Et svar er klart. — “An answer is clear/ready”; Rapporter er klare. — “Reports are clear/ready.” The exact meaning of klar depends on context; the fixed translation and the following context support “ready” here. Together, Er + rapporten + klar forms a Danish yes/no question: the present form of “to be” comes before the subject, followed by the adjective. Er rapporten klar? therefore means “Is the report ready?”

2. Den er næsten klar.

   It is almost ready.

   Den er

   it is

   næsten

   almost

   klar

   ready

   More detail

   Den er means “it is” here. Den is a singular third-person pronoun used with a common-gender referent; the supplied sentence does not uniquely identify what “it” refers to. Er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). This same present form is used with different subjects: jeg er (“I am”), du er (“you are”), and den er (“it is”). næsten means “almost” and limits the following description: the state is close to being true, but is not presented as fully true yet. For example, Rapporten er næsten klar. means “The report is almost ready.” klar is the adjective “ready” in this sentence. Its base form is klar; with a common-gender singular subject such as den, the predicative form is klar. Compare Det er klart. (“It is clear/ready,” with a neuter det) and De er klare. (“They are ready/clear,” plural). The exact English sense depends on what is being described; here the fixed translation establishes “ready.” Together, Den er + næsten + klar gives “It is almost ready.” The sentence states that the unnamed singular common-gender referent is close to being ready, without stating that it is ready already.

3. Send mig filen, når den er klar.

   Please send me the file when it is ready.

   Send

   send

   mig

   me

   filen

   the file

   når

   when

   den

   it

   er

   is

   klar

   ready

   More detail

   Send is the imperative of sende, “to send.” The imperative addresses the listener directly and normally has no subject stated: Send brevet. — “Send the letter.” mig means “me” and is the object form of jeg, “I.” It identifies the recipient of the sending: Hun hjælper mig. — “She helps me.” filen means “the file.” It is the definite singular form of fil: en fil — “a file,” filen — “the file.” The ending -en marks definite singular for this common-gender noun; it is not a separate word. når introduces a time clause meaning “when.” It connects an event with the time or condition for another event: Ring, når du er hjemme. — “Call when you are home.” den means “it” here and refers to filen. In this use it is a third-person singular pronoun for a common-gender noun. The pronoun’s grammatical form is separate from its referent: here the fixed translation identifies the file as the thing that will be ready. er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” Danish uses er with different subjects: Jeg er klar. — “I am ready”; De er klare. — “They are ready.” klar means “ready” here. It is an adjective describing the file’s state. With a common-gender singular noun or its corresponding pronoun, the form is klar; with a neuter singular noun, it is commonly klart, and with plural nouns, klare: Dokumentet er klart. — “The document is ready”; Filerne er klare. — “The files are ready.” Together, Send mig filen means “send me the file.” The comma introduces the time clause når den er klar, “when it is ready.” Thus the complete utterance is a direct request: “Please send me the file when it is ready.” The imperative is appropriate for a straightforward request; please is supplied by the fixed translation rather than represented by a separate word in the Danish sentence.

4. Jeg har lige gjort den sidste side færdig.

   I just finished the last page.

   Jeg

   I

   har lige

   have just

   gjort

   done

   den

   the

   sidste

   last

   side

   page

   færdig

   finished

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. The related object form is mig, as in Send mig filen in the preceding sentence. Example: Jeg læser. — “I am reading.” har lige is a reusable pattern meaning “have just.” har is the present form of have; together with a past participle, it helps form the perfect construction. lige places the event very recently before the speaking moment. Example: Jeg har lige spist. — “I have just eaten.” gjort is the past participle of gøre, “to do” or “to make.” The infinitive is gøre, the simple past is gjorde, and gjort is used here with har. In the construction gøre noget færdig, it contributes to the meaning “finish something,” rather than simply “do” on its own. den is the singular definite determiner used before the adjective in the common-gender noun phrase den sidste side. It marks the noun phrase as definite; it does not itself state a numeric quantity. Danish also uses den as a pronoun in other contexts, but that is not its role here. sidste means “last” here, identifying the final item in an ordered sequence. This form is invariant across common-gender, neuter, and plural uses. Example: den sidste dag — “the last day.” side means “page.” It is a common-gender noun: en side means “a page,” and siden means “the page.” Here it is singular and forms the definite noun phrase den sidste side. færdig means “finished” or “complete.” In gjøre noget færdig, it is the adjective complement describing the object as completed; here it has the common-gender singular form matching side. The forms are færdig for common-gender singular, færdigt for neuter singular, and færdige for plural and for attributive definite forms. Example: Arbejdet er færdigt. — “The work is finished.” Together, Jeg har lige gjort gives “I have just finished/done,” den sidste side gives “the last page,” and færdig completes the construction gøre noget færdig, “finish something.” The whole utterance therefore means: “I just finished the last page.”

5. Jeg har brug for den, før mødet starter.

   I need it before the meeting starts.

   Jeg har brug for

   I need

   den

   it

   før

   before

   mødet

   the meeting

   starter

   starts

   More detail

   Jeg har brug for is the Danish construction for “to need” or “to be in need of.” Its central verb is har, the present form of have; brug for completes the construction, so it is best learned as a reusable pattern rather than translated word by word. Example: Jeg har brug for hjælp. — “I need help.” den means “it” here. It is the singular pronoun used for a common-gender referent; the neuter counterpart is det. The supplied texts do not uniquely identify what den refers to, so its grammatical form is supported, but its exact referent remains unspecified. før means “before” and introduces the event that sets the time boundary. A useful pattern is før + clause: Ring, før du går. — “Call before you leave.” mødet means “the meeting.” Its base form is møde; mødet is the definite singular form, with -et marking definiteness for this neuter noun. The definite form presents the meeting as identifiable in the situation, without stating how many meetings there are. starter means “starts” in this sentence. Its base form is starte, and starter is the present form. Danish present tense can describe an event that occurs later when it is placed in a time clause such as one introduced by før. Example: før filmen starter — “before the film starts.” Together, Jeg har brug for den says “I need it,” and før mødet starter specifies that this need applies before the meeting starts. The complete meaning is therefore “I need it before the meeting starts.”

6. Jeg vedhæfter den nye fil nu.

   I am attaching the new file now.

   Jeg

   I

   vedhæfter

   attach

   den

   the

   nye

   new

   fil

   file

   nu

   now

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It does not change for grammatical gender. For example, Jeg læser. means “I am reading.” vedhæfter is the present-tense form of vedhæfte, “to attach,” used here with Jeg. Danish present tense commonly uses the same verb form with different subjects: Jeg vedhæfter means “I attach” or, in this context, “I am attaching.” The verb describes the attachment action; nu supplies the “now” meaning. den is the definite article used with a singular common-gender noun. In den nye fil, it marks the noun phrase as definite, meaning “the new file.” It is not expressing a numeric quantity here. Danish also uses den as a pronoun in other contexts, but here it belongs to the noun phrase before fil. nye is the definite-form adjective corresponding to ny, “new.” After the definite article den and before a definite common-gender singular noun, the adjective takes the -e form: den nye fil. Compare the indefinite phrase en ny fil, “a new file,” with the definite phrase den nye fil, “the new file.” The adjective describes fil, not den. fil means “file.” It is a common-gender noun, so an indefinite singular form uses en: en fil, “a file.” In this utterance, fil appears in the definite phrase den nye fil, “the new file.” nu means “now” and places the attaching action at the present time. It can be reused in a short sentence such as Jeg starter nu., “I am starting now.” Together, Jeg vedhæfter gives the subject and present-time attaching action, den nye fil identifies the definite object, and nu specifies the time. The complete meaning is “I am attaching the new file now.”

7. Jeg tjekker den med det samme.

   I will check it right away.

   Jeg

   I

   tjekker

   check

   den

   it

   med det samme

   right away

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It identifies the speaker as the person doing the checking. In Danish, the same form is used whether the speaker is male or female. tjekker is the present-tense form of tjekke, “to check.” Danish present tense can describe an action happening now or an action planned for the near future; here, with the intended translation, it means “will check.” Example: Jeg tjekker beskeden. — “I am checking the message” or, in a suitable context, “I will check the message.” den is an object pronoun meaning “it” here. It is the Danish singular pronoun used for a common-gender referent; in the supplied context, it refers to the newly attached file. This is a pronoun use, not the definite article before a noun. Compare the neuter singular pronoun det in contexts with a neuter-gender referent. med det samme is a reusable adverbial construction meaning “right away” or “immediately.” It tells when the checking will happen. Example: Jeg svarer med det samme. — “I will reply right away.” Together, Jeg tjekker den med det samme means “I will check it right away”: the speaker is the subject, tjekker expresses the checking action, den is its object referring to the file, and med det samme places the action immediately.

8. Den burde være i din indbakke nu.

   It should be in your inbox now.

   Den

   it

   burde

   should

   være

   be

   i

   in

   din

   your

   indbakke

   inbox

   nu

   now

   More detail

   Den means “it” here. In Danish, den is the singular pronoun used for a common-gender referent; its form gives grammatical information, but the fixed sentence does not independently identify exactly what “it” refers to. The same form can also function as a common-gender singular definite determiner before a noun, but that is not its role here. burde expresses an expectation or recommendation corresponding here to “should.” It is the past-form modal related to bør; with an infinitive, it commonly expresses what is expected or ought to be the case. In this sentence, the intended meaning is an expectation about the item's location, not a command to put it there. Example: Det burde virke. — “It should work.” være means “be.” It is the infinitive form used after the modal burde. A reusable pattern is burde + infinitive: Han burde komme. — “He should come.” i means “in” here and introduces the location. The preposition is separate from the following noun phrase: i + a place expression. din means “your,” referring to one addressee. It is the possessive form used with a singular common-gender noun. With a singular neuter noun, Danish uses dit, and with a plural noun, dine. The possessive agrees with the possessed noun, not with the person who owns it. indbakke means “inbox.” It is a common-gender noun. Its basic singular form is indbakke; the definite singular is indbakken, and the plural is indbakker. In din indbakke, the noun is singular and indefinite within the possessive noun phrase. nu means “now,” specifying the relevant time. It modifies the whole situation rather than changing the form of the noun or verb. Together, Den burde være gives “It should be,” and i din indbakke gives “in your inbox.” Adding nu makes the expected location apply at the present time. The complete utterance therefore means: “It should be in your inbox now.”