Understanding a lesson question | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Jeg forstår ikke denne del af lektionen.

   I don't understand this part of the lesson.

   Jeg

   I

   forstår

   understand

   ikke

   not

   denne

   this

   del

   part

   af

   of

   lektionen

   the lesson

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It does not change for the speaker’s gender. Example: Jeg lærer dansk. — “I am learning Danish.” forstår is the present form of forstå, “to understand.” The form forstår can describe understanding now or a general state. Example: Jeg forstår spørgsmålet. — “I understand the question.” ikke means “not” and supplies the negation. In this main clause, it follows the finite verb: Jeg forstår ikke ... — “I do not understand ...”. denne means “this” and is the singular common-gender form used with del. Danish also has dette with singular neuter nouns and disse with plural nouns. Example: Denne bog er ny. — “This book is new.” del means “part” or “section.” It is a common-gender noun: en del; with the definite suffix, delen means “the part.” Example: Jeg læser en del af bogen. — “I am reading a part of the book.” af is the preposition “of” here. The pattern en del af ... means “a part of ...,” while denne del af ... means “this part of ...”. lektionen means “the lesson.” Its base form is lektion, “lesson”; en lektion is indefinite singular, and lektionen is definite singular, formed with the ending -en. Example: Lektionen er kort. — “The lesson is short.” Together, denne del af lektionen means “this part of the lesson.” The full sentence Jeg forstår ikke denne del af lektionen. assembles as “I do not understand this part of the lesson.”

2. Hvilket spørgsmål har du problemer med?

   Which question is giving you trouble?

   Hvilket

   which

   spørgsmål

   question

   har du

   do you have

   problemer

   problems; trouble

   More detail

   Hvilket means “which” here and takes the form used with a singular neuter noun. The noun spørgsmål is neuter in Danish (et spørgsmål), so the corresponding form is hvilket; compare hvilken with a common-gender singular noun and hvilke with plural nouns. Example: Hvilket svar vil du have? — “Which answer do you want?” spørgsmål means “question.” Its base form is spørgsmål; the definite singular is spørgsmålet, and the plural is also spørgsmål, while the definite plural is spørgsmålene. Example: Jeg har et spørgsmål. — “I have a question.” har du combines the present form har of have with du, “you.” In this question, the finite verb comes before the subject: har du ...? means “do you have ...?” or, depending on the rest of the sentence, “are you experiencing ...?” Example: Har du tid? — “Do you have time?” problemer is the plural indefinite form of problem, “problem.” In have problemer med, the plural noun forms the reusable expression “to have trouble with.” The following med means “with”; it is not included in the quoted phrase. Example: Jeg har problemer med denne opgave. — “I am having trouble with this exercise.” Together, Hvilket spørgsmål asks which question is meant, and har du problemer med asks which one is causing difficulty. The whole utterance therefore means “Which question is giving you trouble?” The Danish question structure places the questioned noun phrase first, followed by har du; med connects the difficulty to the question.

3. Svaret her giver ikke mening for mig.

   The answer here doesn't make sense to me.

   Svaret

   the answer

   her

   here

   giver

   gives

   ikke

   not

   mening

   meaning; sense

   for mig

   to me

   More detail

   Svaret means “the answer” here. It is the definite singular form of svar (“answer”): et svar = “an answer,” svaret = “the answer.” The ending -et belongs to this noun and marks its definite form; it is not part of a separate word. her means “here.” It is a place adverb and can be reused without changing for the speaker or the place being referred to. Example: Jeg bor her. — “I live here.” giver is the present-tense form of give (“to give”). Danish present-tense verbs normally keep the same form across persons: jeg giver = “I give,” and du giver = “you give.” In this sentence, giver mening is the reusable expression “makes sense” rather than a literal transfer of an object. Example: Det giver mening. — “That makes sense.” ikke means “not.” It normally comes before the main lexical verb in a simple sentence such as this one, turning giver mening (“makes sense”) into giver ikke mening (“doesn’t make sense”). mening means “meaning” or “sense.” In the expression give mening, it refers to coherence or intelligibility: something “makes sense.” As a noun, it can also mean an opinion in other contexts, but that is not the meaning here. Its indefinite form is en mening, and its definite form is meningen. for mig means “to me.” mig is the object form corresponding to the subject form jeg (“I”); after for, this object form is used. Example: Det er vigtigt for mig. — “It is important to me.” Together, Svaret her identifies “the answer here,” giver ikke mening says that it does not make sense, and for mig specifies the speaker as the person for whom this is true. The complete meaning is: “The answer here doesn’t make sense to me.”

4. Lad os læse sætningen først.

   Let's read the sentence first.

   Lad os

   let's

   læse

   read

   sætningen

   the sentence

   først

   first

   More detail

   Lad os is the Danish construction for “let’s …”: lad is the imperative of lade (“let/allow”), and os is the object pronoun meaning “us.” It introduces a suggestion involving the speaker and at least one other person. The verb that follows is in the infinitive: Lad os læse = “Let’s read.” læse means “to read.” This is the infinitive form, which is used after lad os; it does not itself mark the person who will read. For example, Vi læser means “We read/are reading,” while Lad os læse means “Let’s read.” sætningen means “the sentence.” Its base form is sætning (“sentence”), and the ending -en marks the common-gender singular definite form: sætning → sætningen. The definite form identifies a particular sentence in the situation, rather than asserting a numeric quantity. For example, Jeg læser sætningen means “I am reading the sentence.” først is the adverb “first.” It indicates that the reading should happen before the other relevant action or step. In this utterance, it modifies the proposed reading, giving læse sætningen først = “read the sentence first.” Together, Lad os + infinitive læse forms the suggestion “let’s read.” Adding sætningen gives “let’s read the sentence,” and først places that reading first in the sequence: “Let’s read the sentence first.”

5. Så tjekker du svaret.

   Then check the answer.

   Så

   then

   tjekker

   check

   du

   you

   svaret

   the answer

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and places this action after the preceding step. It can also have other meanings in Danish, but this sentence uses it to mark sequence. tjekker comes from tjekke, “to check”. The form tjekker is the present-tense form. In this utterance, the present-tense clause functions as a direct instruction in context: “check”. For a regular present-tense statement, the same form can mean “checks” or “is checking”, depending on the subject and context. du means “you”. It is the singular informal second-person pronoun. Danish keeps the same du form for subject use across ordinary present-tense clauses; the verb does not change to agree with this pronoun. svaret means “the answer”. It is built from svar, “answer”, with the definite ending -et, giving “the answer”. The indefinite form is et svar, “an answer”; the definite form is svaret. The ending belongs to the noun, not to tjekker. Together, Så tjekker du svaret literally presents the sequence as “Then you check the answer.” With the instructional context supplied by the fixed translation, it is naturally understood as “Then check the answer.” The order is Så + present-tense verb tjekker + subject du + object svaret, a reusable pattern for telling someone what to do in a sequence.

6. Kan du læse sætningen højt?

   Can you read the sentence aloud?

   Kan du

   can you

   læse

   read

   sætningen

   the sentence

   højt

   aloud

   More detail

   Kan du means “can you” here. kan is the present form of kunne (“to be able to/can”), and du is the second-person singular pronoun “you.” In a yes/no question, Danish commonly places the finite verb before the subject: Kan du ...? Compare the statement pattern Du kan ... (“You can ...”). læse means “read.” It is the infinitive of læse; after the modal kan, Danish uses the infinitive without an extra infinitive marker. The reusable pattern is kan + subject + infinitive, as in Kan du skrive? (“Can you write?”). Here, læse names the requested action; the ability or request-like force comes from kan du. sætningen means “the sentence.” Its base form is sætning (“sentence”); sætningen is the singular definite form, formed with the ending -en. The definite form refers to a particular sentence identifiable in the situation, rather than asserting a numerical quantity. højt means “aloud” in this sentence. It is the adverbial form used with læse to specify how the reading should be done. Danish høj can mean “high” and, in relevant contexts, “loud”; højt is also used adverbially, as in Læs højt (“Read aloud”). Together, Kan du læse sætningen højt? asks whether the addressee can read the particular sentence aloud: “Can you read the sentence aloud?”

7. Jeg læser den langsomt.

   I'll read it slowly.

   Jeg

   I

   læser

   read

   den

   it

   langsomt

   slowly

   More detail

   Jeg means “I.” It is the first-person singular subject pronoun. Danish subject pronouns include jeg “I,” du “you” (singular), and vi “we”; the choice depends on the participant acting, not on the object. læser is the present-tense form of læse, “read.” Danish verbs do not change their present-tense form according to the subject: jeg læser and de læser both use læser. In Danish, the present tense can also refer to a planned or imminent action when the context makes that time clear, so here it is compatible with “I’ll read.” den means “it” here and refers to the sentence identified in the supplied context. It is a singular common-gender object pronoun. Danish uses den for a common-gender singular referent and det for a neuter singular referent; the form is determined by the grammatical gender of the referent, not simply by its being an object. langsomt means “slowly” here. It is the adverbial form related to the adjective langsom, “slow.” Compare en langsom læser (“a slow reader”) with han læser langsomt (“he reads slowly”): the adjective describes a noun, while the adverb describes how the reading happens. Together, Jeg læser den langsomt means “I’ll read it slowly.” Jeg is the reader, læser expresses the reading action, den is the sentence being read, and langsomt describes the manner of reading.

8. Jeg skriver nøgleordene i min notesbog.

   I'll write the key words in my notebook.

   Jeg

   I

   skriver

   write

   nøgleordene

   the key words

   i

   in

   min

   my

   notesbog

   notebook

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here. It is the first-person singular subject pronoun. Danish does not mark this pronoun for the speaker’s gender, and the present-tense verb form does not change for person or number. skriver is the present-tense form of skrive, “to write.” In this utterance, the Danish present form is understood with the future intention given by the fixed translation: “I’ll write.” The same form can also mean “write” or “am writing” in a different context. Example: Jeg skriver et brev. — “I am writing a letter.” nøgleordene means “the key words.” nøgleord is the noun form used without a definite ending in both the singular and plural, while -ene marks definite plural, giving “the key words.” The noun is a compound: nøgle + ord; learn the complete word nøgleord as the reusable noun. Example: Jeg husker nøgleordene. — “I remember the key words.” i is the preposition “in.” It introduces the place or container where something is written. Example: Hun skriver i bogen. — “She writes in the book.” min means “my” before the singular common-gender noun notesbog. Possessive forms agree with the possessed noun: min with a singular common-gender noun, mit with a singular neuter noun, and mine with a plural noun. Here min identifies the notebook as belonging to the speaker; it does not itself mark a number of notebooks. notesbog means “notebook.” It is a common-gender compound noun formed from note, a linking s, and bog (“book”). After a possessive such as min, the noun normally appears without a separate indefinite article: min notesbog means “my notebook.” Together, Jeg skriver gives “I’ll write,” nøgleordene gives “the key words,” and i min notesbog gives “in my notebook.” The complete meaning is: “I’ll write the key words in my notebook.”

9. Så prøver vi svaret igen.

   Then let's try the answer again.

   Så

   then

   prøver

   try

   vi

   we

   svaret

   the answer

   igen

   again

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links this action to what came before. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but “then” is the relevant meaning in this sentence. prøver is the present-tense form of prøve, “to try.” In Danish, the present form is used with vi (“we”): vi prøver = “we try” or, in this context, “let’s try.” Example: Jeg prøver igen. — “I’ll try again.” vi means “we.” Together with the present-tense verb, vi prøver presents the speaker and at least one other person as the people who will try. This is a common way to express a suggestion such as “let’s try.” svaret means “the answer.” Its base form is svar, “answer,” and -et marks the definite form: svar = “an answer” or “answer” in a general sense, while svaret = “the answer.” The noun itself, not prøver, carries this ending. Example: Jeg kender svaret. — “I know the answer.” igen means “again” and shows that the trying is repeated. It modifies the action prøver; it is not part of the noun svaret. The utterance follows the pattern Så + [present-tense verb] + vi + [definite noun] + igen: “Then let’s try the answer again.” Så connects the suggestion to the preceding situation, vi prøver expresses the suggestion involving the speaker and others, svaret identifies the object as the answer, and igen adds repetition. The wording is natural and conversational.