Checking a Close Deadline | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Er deadlinen tæt på?

   Is the deadline coming up soon?

   Er

   is

   deadlinen

   the deadline

   tæt på

   close / near

   More detail

   Er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” In this sentence it appears before the subject because Danish forms a yes/no question by placing the finite verb before the subject: Er ...? means “Is ...?” A useful contrast is Deadlinen er tæt på. (“The deadline is close.”), where the subject comes before er in a statement. deadlinen means “the deadline” here. The base noun is deadline; the ending -en marks its definite singular form: deadline → deadlinen. The noun is the subject of the question. The fixed translation identifies it as a particular deadline, not an unspecified one. tæt på means “close” or “near” in this sentence. It is a reusable expression for something being near in distance or time. Here it describes the deadline’s temporal proximity, so the question asks whether the deadline is coming up soon. Tæt is an adjective; its comparison forms are tættere (“closer”) and tættest (“closest”). Example: Mødet er tættere på. means “The meeting is closer.” Together, Er + deadlinen + tæt på form a yes/no question: “Is the deadline close?” In the intended time-related reading, the natural meaning is “Is the deadline coming up soon?”

2. Deadlinen er tæt på.

   The deadline is close.

   Deadlinen

   the deadline

   tæt

   close

   på

   near; close to

   More detail

   Deadlinen means “the deadline” here. It is the Danish noun deadline with the definite singular ending -en: deadline can mean “a deadline,” while deadlinen means “the deadline.” The ending marks definiteness, not a separate word. Example: Deadlinen er i morgen. — “The deadline is tomorrow.” er means “is.” It is the present-tense form of være (“to be”), used here to link the subject to its description. tæt means “close” here, specifically close in time. It is the basic form of the adjective; its comparative is tættere (“closer”) and its superlative is tættest (“closest”). Example: Datoen er tæt på. — “The date is near.” på means “near” or “close to” in the construction tæt på. Danish uses this preposition with tæt to express proximity. Here, tæt på describes the deadline as temporally near rather than giving a physical location. Together, Deadlinen er (“The deadline is”) and tæt på (“close/near”) form the complete statement: “The deadline is close.” In this context, “close” means that the deadline is approaching soon; the sentence does not specify an exact amount of time.

3. Så lad os starte med hoveddelen.

   So let's start with the main part.

   Så

   so

   lad os

   let’s

   starte

   start

   hoveddelen

   the main part

   More detail

   Så means “so” here and links the utterance to what has just been said. Danish så can have other uses, but this sentence uses it as a connective introducing the proposed action. lad os is the Danish “let’s” construction: lad is the imperative of lade (“let” or “allow”), and os means “us”. Together, lad os + infinitive proposes a joint action. The following infinitive is starte, not another imperative form. starte means “to start” or “to begin”. It is the infinitive after lad os. For example, Lad os spise. means “Let’s eat.” hoveddelen means “the main part”. It is built from hoveddel (“main part”) plus the definite ending -en, so hoveddelen is the definite form. The noun’s definiteness is expressed within the word rather than by a separate word corresponding to English “the”. The connector med means “with” and introduces what the action starts with. Thus starte med + noun is a reusable pattern meaning “start with + noun”. Putting the parts together, Så lad os starte med hoveddelen. means “So let’s start with the main part.” The sentence proposes that the speaker and the listener begin with that part; it does not itself specify what the main part is.

4. Vil du tage dig af det nu?

   Do you want to take that on now?

   Vil du

   do you want to

   tage dig af

   take care of; take on

   det

   that

   nu

   now

   More detail

   Vil du contains vil, the present-tense form of ville (“to want; would like”), followed by du (“you”). In this question, vil expresses willingness or desire, not a firm future prediction. Danish commonly places the finite verb before the subject in a direct yes/no question: Vil du ...? = “Do you want to ...?” Example: Vil du vente? — “Do you want to wait?” tage dig af is the reusable expression tage sig af noget, meaning “to take care of something” or “to take something on.” Here tage is the infinitive after vil, while dig is the reflexive object form corresponding to du; the expression uses this reflexive form rather than an ordinary non-reflexive object. The preposition af is part of the construction. Example: Hun tager sig af opgaven. — “She takes care of the task.” det is a pronoun meaning “that” here, referring to the matter or task being discussed. Its form is neuter singular; the pronoun’s grammatical form does not by itself identify the exact referent. Example: Jeg gør det nu. — “I’ll do that now.” nu means “now” and places the intended action at the present time. Example: Vi begynder nu. — “We are starting now.” Together, Vil du asks about willingness, tage dig af det asks whether the listener will take care of the matter, and nu adds the time reference: “Do you want to take that on now?” The pattern Vil du + infinitive ...? is a useful way to ask whether someone wants to do something.

5. Jeg kan begynde, mens du tjekker filen.

   I can start while you check the file.

   Jeg kan

   I can

   begynde

   start

   mens

   while

   du

   you

   tjekker

   check

   filen

   the file

   More detail

   Jeg kan means “I can” here. Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I”. kan is the present form of kunne (“can; be able to”) and expresses ability or possibility. In Danish, a modal such as kan is followed by an infinitive without at: Jeg kan begynde = “I can start.” begynde is the infinitive “to start” or “to begin”. Its infinitive form is used after kan; after another modal, the same pattern applies: Jeg skal begynde = “I have to start” or “I will start,” depending on context. mens is the conjunction “while”. It links two situations that take place at the same time. For example, Hun læser, mens jeg skriver means “She reads while I write.” du is the second-person singular pronoun “you”. Danish uses du for one person in both subject positions such as “you check” and “you are”; the verb form, rather than the pronoun, supplies the tense here. tjekker means “check” here. It is the present-tense form of tjekke. Danish present-tense verbs generally do not change according to the subject: jeg tjekker, du tjekker, and de tjekker all use tjekker. In this sentence, du tjekker means “you check” or “you are checking”. filen means “the file”. The noun is fil (“file”), and filen is its singular definite form: en fil = “a file”, filen = “the file”. The ending -en marks singular definiteness for this noun; it is part of the noun form, not a separate word. Together, Jeg kan begynde says “I can start”, and mens du tjekker filen says “while you check the file”. The whole utterance means: “I can start while you check the file.”

6. Hvad skal jeg se efter først?

   What should I look for first?

   Hvad

   what

   skal jeg

   should I

   se efter

   look for

   først

   first

   More detail

   Hvad means “what” here and asks for the thing or things being sought. It is also useful in questions such as Hvad gør du? — “What are you doing?” skal jeg combines skal, the present form of skulle, with jeg, “I.” In this sentence, skal expresses what the speaker ought to do: “should.” Danish question word order places the finite verb before the subject: Skal jeg vente? means “Should I wait?” The form skal does not change for the person or number of the subject. se efter is a useful two-word verb meaning “look for” in this context. se is the infinitive “to see/look,” and efter completes the meaning “for”; this is not the same as simply seeing something. For example, Jeg ser efter nøglerne. means “I am looking for the keys.” først means “first,” indicating the initial step in an order. It can also be used in a statement such as Jeg læser først. — “I read first.” Together, Hvad asks what the object of the search is, skal jeg asks what action the speaker should take, se efter supplies the action “look for,” and først specifies that it should be the first thing done. The full utterance therefore means “What should I look for first?”

7. Sørg for, at noterne passer til forespørgslen.

   Make sure the notes match the request.

   Sørg for

   make sure

   noterne

   the notes

   passer til

   match

   forespørgslen

   the request

   More detail

   Sørg for is the imperative of sørge for, used here in the fixed expression “make sure that …”. The imperative addresses the listener directly. for, at introduces the content that should be ensured: for, at + clause is a useful pattern for “make sure that + clause.” noterne means “the notes.” It is the definite plural of note: noter means “notes,” and noterne means “the notes.” The ending -ne marks definite plural here; it is attached to the noun itself. passer til means “matches” or “fits.” The verb is passe, with present form passer; Danish verbs do not change form for different subjects in the present tense. passe til + noun is a reusable pattern for saying that one thing corresponds appropriately to another. Example: Farven passer til værelset. — “The color matches the room.” forespørgslen means “the request.” It is the definite singular of forespørgsel: en forespørgsel means “a request,” while forespørgslen means “the request.” The noun’s definite ending is -en. Together, noterne passer til forespørgslen says that the notes match the request. With the initial imperative, the complete utterance means: “Make sure the notes match the request.”

8. Så skriver jeg en kort opdatering.

   Then I'll write a short update.

   Så

   then

   skriver

   write

   jeg

   I

   kort

   short

   opdatering

   update

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links this action to what came before. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but the intended meaning here is temporal sequence. skriver is the present-tense form of skrive, “to write.” Danish present tense is used for a current or planned action; the future meaning here comes from the context and English translation, not from a separate future ending. Example: Jeg skriver en besked. — “I am writing a message.” jeg means “I” and identifies the writer. Danish uses jeg as the subject form; it is distinct from the object form mig, as in Hun ser mig — “She sees me.” kort means “short.” It is the adjective modifying opdatering. With this singular indefinite noun, the adjective is kort; for a plural noun, the form is also korte, as in korte opdateringer — “short updates.” opdatering means “update.” Its base form is opdatering, and the plural is opdateringer. In this sentence, en marks it as one singular indefinite common-gender noun; it does not by itself need to be translated as a numeric “one.” Together, Så skriver jeg means “Then I’ll write”: because Så occupies the first position in this main clause, the finite verb skriver comes before the subject jeg. The noun phrase en kort opdatering means “a short update,” giving the complete meaning: “Then I’ll write a short update.”

9. Når den er klar, kan vi dele den.

   When it's ready, we can share it.

   Når

   when

   den

   it

   klar

   ready

   kan vi

   we can

   dele

   share

   den

   it

   More detail

   Når introduces a time clause: “when.” It connects an event or condition with the main clause. Example: Når jeg kommer, spiser vi. — “When I arrive, we eat.” den is the Danish singular pronoun used here for “it.” Its grammatical form is associated with a common-gender singular referent, but the supplied sentence does not identify what the referent is. The same form can also mean “that one” in other contexts; here the fixed translation supports the pronoun meaning “it.” klar means “ready” here. It is the common-gender singular form of the adjective: klar (common singular), klart (neuter singular), and klare (plural and certain definite uses). In den er klar, the adjective agrees with the common-gender singular subject den. Example: Planen er klar. — “The plan is ready.” kan vi combines kan, the present form of the modal verb kunne (“can,” “be able to”), with vi, “we.” In the main clause, the modal comes before the subject because the clause begins with the time clause: Når ..., kan vi ... — “When ..., we can ...”. After a modal such as kan, the following verb uses its infinitive form without at. dele means “share” here. It is the infinitive of dele; after kan, Danish uses this bare infinitive: vi kan dele — “we can share.” Example: Vi kan dele filen. — “We can share the file.” The final den is again “it,” functioning as the object of dele. In this sentence, the two occurrences of den support the same intended “it” in the fixed translation: it is ready, and then we can share it. Together, Når den er klar means “When it is ready.” The main clause kan vi dele den means “we can share it.” The complete utterance is therefore: “When it’s ready, we can share it.” The reusable pattern is Når [condition], kan vi [bare infinitive] [object].