Homework in class | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Hvad skal jeg lave som lektier?

   What should I do for homework?

   Hvad

   what

   skal jeg

   should I

   lave

   do

   lektier

   homework

   More detail

   Hvad means “what” and asks about an unspecified thing or activity. It is a question word; compare hvem (“who”) for a person and hvor (“where”) for a place. skal jeg combines present-tense skal with the first-person singular pronoun jeg (“I”). Skal is the present form of skulle and can express what someone should or is expected to do. In this question, the verb comes before the subject: skal jeg ...? = “should I ...?” lave is the infinitive of at lave. Here it means “do” an activity or task. The same verb can also mean “make” when its object is something produced. Example: Jeg skal lave mad. — “I have to make food.” lektier is the plural form of lektie, meaning “homework” or “homework assignments.” Danish commonly uses this plural noun for schoolwork done outside class. In som lektier, som means “as,” so the phrase identifies the activity as homework. Together, Hvad skal jeg lave som lektier? asks which task or activity the speaker should do as homework: “What should I do for homework?”

2. Start med at lave denne øvelse.

   Start by completing this exercise.

   Start

   start; begin

   med at

   by/to (introduces an action)

   lave

   do; make; complete

   denne

   this

   øvelse

   exercise

   More detail

   Start is the imperative of starte, meaning “begin!” when addressing one or more people. The imperative gives a direct instruction; the subject is understood rather than stated. For example: Start nu. — “Start now.” med at forms the pattern starte med at + infinitive, meaning “start by doing …”. Here it connects the instruction to the action that should begin first. After at, the verb is in its infinitive form. lave is the infinitive of lave. Its basic meanings include “do” and “make”; with an exercise, as here, it means carrying out or completing the exercise. The same infinitive can be used in other patterns, for example: Jeg vil lave øvelsen. — “I want to do the exercise.” denne means “this” and is the singular common-gender form of the demonstrative. Danish also has dette for singular neuter nouns and disse for plural nouns. Its form is chosen together with the noun it modifies; denne does not itself state a number beyond singularity. øvelse means “exercise” in the sense of a learning or practice task. It is a common-gender noun; its definite form is øvelsen, “the exercise.” For example: Denne øvelse er kort. — “This exercise is short.” Together, Start med at lave means “Start by doing/completing,” and denne øvelse means “this exercise.” The complete utterance is therefore an instruction: “Start by completing this exercise.”

3. Hvilken side skal jeg bruge?

   Which page should I use?

   Hvilken

   which

   side

   page

   skal jeg

   should I

   bruge

   use

   More detail

   Hvilken means “which” when it modifies a singular common-gender noun. Danish contrasts hvilken with hvilket before a singular neuter noun and hvilke before plural nouns. Example: Hvilken bog læser du? — “Which book are you reading?” side means “page” here. It is a common-gender noun, so the form of the question word is hvilken side. In other contexts, side can also mean “side,” but the fixed translation and the surrounding exercise context support “page” here. Example: Jeg bruger side fem. — “I am using page five.” skal jeg is the reusable question pattern “should I …?” Here skal is the present form of skulle, and jeg means “I.” In this question, skal expresses what the speaker ought to do, rather than simply describing a future event. The lexical verb stays in the infinitive after it: Skal jeg vente? — “Should I wait?” bruge means “use” in the infinitive. Its base form is bruge; after the modal skal, this infinitive completes the action being considered. Example: Du skal bruge denne side. — “You should use this page.” Together, Hvilken side asks which page is intended, and skal jeg bruge asks which page the speaker should use. The whole utterance therefore means “Which page should I use?”

4. Brug siden med de korte spørgsmål.

   Use the page with the short questions.

   Brug

   use

   siden

   the page

   med

   with

   de

   the (plural)

   korte

   short

   spørgsmål

   questions

   More detail

   Brug is the imperative of bruge, “to use.” It gives a direct instruction to one or more people. Compare the useful forms bruge (infinitive) and brug (imperative). Example: Brug denne pen. — “Use this pen.” siden is the definite singular form of side, “page”: en side = “a page,” siden = “the page.” The ending -en marks definiteness for this common-gender noun; it does not itself state a number beyond the singular form. med means “with” and introduces what the page contains or is associated with here. Example: en bog med billeder — “a book with pictures.” de korte spørgsmål is the definite plural noun phrase “the short questions.” de is the form used with definite plural nouns. korte is the plural/definite form of the adjective kort, “short”; the adjective agrees with the plural definite noun phrase. The noun spørgsmål means “questions” here. Its plural has the same spelling as its indefinite singular: et spørgsmål = “a question,” spørgsmål = “questions,” while definite plural is spørgsmålene = “the questions.” The sentence is assembled as Brug + siden + med de korte spørgsmål: “Use the page with the short questions.” The imperative selects the page, and med de korte spørgsmål specifies which page is intended by associating it with the short questions.

5. Hvornår skal jeg gøre den færdig?

   When should I finish it?

   Hvornår

   when

   skal jeg

   should I

   gøre

   do

   den

   it

   færdig

   finished

   More detail

   Hvornår means “when” and asks about the time of an event. It is a question word and commonly appears at the beginning of a direct question. For example: Hvornår kommer du? — “When are you coming?” skal jeg combines the modal verb skal with the subject pronoun jeg. Here, skal expresses what ought to happen or is expected to happen, so the intended meaning is “should I.” Skal is the present form of skulle; after a modal verb, the following verb normally appears in the infinitive. Jeg means “I” and is the subject of the question. In a Danish question with an initial question word, the finite verb comes before the subject: Hvornår skal jeg ...? gøre is the infinitive of gøre, “to do” or “to make.” In this utterance it is part of the expression gøre ... færdig, meaning “finish ...”; the object comes between the verb and færdig. The infinitive is used because it follows the modal verb skal. Example: Jeg skal gøre arbejdet færdigt. — “I should finish the work.” den is the singular common-gender form of the pronoun meaning “it” when referring to the intended item. Its specific referent is supplied by the situation rather than by the pronoun alone. In gøre den færdig, it is the object being finished. Danish also has det for singular neuter reference, so the choice between den and det depends on the grammatical gender of the noun being replaced, not on the English word “it” alone. færdig is an adjective meaning “finished” or “complete.” Here it describes the state that den should reach. In the expression gøre den færdig, the adjective is used predicatively with the object: literally, “make it finished,” or naturally, “finish it.” The adjective’s base form is færdig; its other forms include færdigt and færdige in contexts requiring them. With the common-gender singular object represented by den, the form here is færdig. Together, Hvornår skal jeg gøre den færdig? forms a question about the time by which or at which the speaker should finish the item: “When should I finish it?” The pattern is Hvornår skal jeg + infinitive + object + adjective, with gøre ... færdig functioning as the reusable “finish ...” construction.

6. Gør den færdig før timen.

   Finish it before class.

   Gør

   do; make

   den

   it

   færdig

   finished; done

   før

   before

   timen

   class; lesson

   More detail

   Gør is the imperative of gøre (“to do; to make”). The imperative addresses the listener directly and normally has no written subject: Gør ... means “Do/make ...”. In this construction, gøre combines with færdig to mean “finish.” Example: Gør arbejdet færdigt. — “Finish the work.” den is the object pronoun “it.” It is the singular common-gender form; its specific referent is identified by the preceding question as the same “it” being discussed in this exchange. Danish also uses det as the singular neuter form; the choice depends on the grammatical gender of the referent, not simply on its being one thing. færdig means “finished” or “done.” It is an adjective used after gøre to describe the object’s resulting state. With the common-gender singular object den, the form here is færdig; with a neuter singular object, it is færdigt, and with a plural object it is færdige. In attributive definite noun phrases, the adjective also commonly has the form færdige, as in den færdige opgave (“the finished assignment”); that is a different position from the form used here. Example: Hun gør opgaven færdig. — “She finishes the assignment.” før means “before” here and introduces the time limit. It can also introduce a full clause, as in før timen begynder (“before class begins”), but here it is followed directly by the noun phrase timen. Timen is the definite singular form of time, meaning “hour” or, in this context, “class/lesson.” The ending -en marks the common-gender definite singular: en time means “a class/lesson” or “an hour,” while timen means “the class/lesson” or “the hour.” The fixed translation identifies the intended sense here as “class.” Together, Gør den færdig means “Finish it”: the listener is instructed to make the object discussed in the exchange finished. før timen adds the deadline, “before class,” so the complete utterance is “Finish it before class.” It is a direct imperative and can be reused with another object, for example Gør rapporten færdig før fredag. — “Finish the report before Friday.”

7. Kan du se på mine svar senere?

   Can you look at my answers later?

   Kan du

   can you

   se på

   look at

   mine

   my

   svar

   answers

   senere

   later

   More detail

   Kan du: This is a reusable way to ask whether someone can or is able to do something. kan is the present form of kunne (“can, be able to”), and du is the second-person singular pronoun (“you”). In this question, the verb comes before the subject: Kan du ...? — “Can you ...?” se på: Here this means “look at” or “review.” se is the infinitive form of “see/look”; after the modal kan, Danish uses the infinitive without an infinitive marker. The preposition på is part of the construction and introduces what is being looked at. Example: Jeg ser på filmen. — “I am watching the film.” mine: This is the possessive form meaning “my” before a plural noun. It does not itself identify the owner by gender; it agrees with the plural noun it modifies. Compare singular min or mit with plural mine, depending on the noun’s grammatical form: min bog, mit brev, mine bøger — “my book,” “my letter,” “my books.” svar: In this sentence, svar means “answers.” It is the plural of the neuter noun svar; the plural has the same written form as the singular indefinite form. The definite plural is svarene, “the answers.” Example: Jeg skriver et svar. — “I am writing an answer.” senere: This means “later,” referring to a time after the present time or after another understood time. It is the comparative form related to sent (“late”): sen/sent expresses “late,” while senere expresses “later.” Example: Vi taler sammen senere. — “We will talk together later.” Together, Kan du se på mine svar senere? asks whether the addressee can look at or review the speaker’s answers at a later time. The pattern Kan du + infinitive ...? is reusable for polite, direct requests about someone’s ability or availability, for example Kan du hjælpe mig senere? — “Can you help me later?”

8. Tag dem med til mig, når du er færdig.

   Bring them to me after you finish.

   Tag

   bring

   dem

   them

   med

   with

   til mig

   to me

   når

   when

   du er

   you are

   færdig

   finished

   More detail

   Tag is the imperative of tage (“to take”). In this sentence, the imperative addresses one person and gives the instruction “bring.” Danish also uses tage ... med for taking or bringing something along: Tag bogen med. = “Bring the book along.” dem is the object form of the third-person plural pronoun. Here it means “them,” referring to the items already mentioned in the context—the answers. A useful contrast is de for a plural subject (“they”) versus dem for a plural object (“them”): De kommer. = “They are coming”; Jeg ser dem. = “I see them.” med means “along/with” here and completes the reusable construction tage ... med, “take or bring ... along.” Its contribution is not the destination; it indicates that the objects should accompany the person. til mig means “to me.” til marks the destination or recipient, while mig is the first-person singular object form, “me.” Compare subject jeg (“I”) with object mig (“me”): Hun giver bogen til mig. = “She gives the book to me.” når introduces a time clause meaning “when.” In this sentence, the fixed translation presents the time relation as “after,” so the instruction is to bring the items once the other action is complete. A reusable pattern is når + clause: Ring, når du kommer hjem. = “Call when you get home.” du er means “you are.” du is the second-person singular subject pronoun, and er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). The present form in this time clause describes the state that will be reached before the main action is carried out. færdig means “finished” or “done.” It is an adjective used after er to describe the subject: Jeg er færdig. = “I am finished.” Danish has related forms such as færdigt and færdige in environments requiring neuter or plural/definite agreement, but færdig is the form used with du here. Together, Tag dem med til mig gives the instruction “Bring them to me,” with med showing that the items are brought along and til mig marking the destination. når du er færdig adds the time condition “after you finish” or “when you are done.” The complete meaning is: “Bring them to me after you finish.”