Planning lunch at a restaurant | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Vil du spise frokost sammen?

   Would you like to have lunch together?

   Vil du

   would you like to

   spise

   eat

   frokost

   lunch

   sammen

   together

   More detail

   Vil du is a common Danish way to ask whether someone is willing to do something; here it means “would you like to …?” The form du is the second-person singular pronoun “you.” Vil is the present-tense form of ville, which can express wanting or willingness and can also correspond to “will” in other contexts. Example: Vil du komme? — “Would you like to come?” spise means “to eat.” It is the infinitive form, used after vil: vil spise — “would like to eat.” The infinitive is also used in a basic statement such as Jeg vil spise — “I want to eat.” frokost means “lunch.” It is a noun; its common definite form is frokosten, meaning “the lunch.” Example: Jeg spiser frokost. — “I am having lunch.” sammen means “together.” It is an adverb describing joint action. Example: Vi spiser sammen. — “We eat together.” Together, Vil du spise frokost sammen? asks the listener whether they would like to have lunch together. The question structure is vil du + infinitive + the activity, with sammen specifying that the activity is shared by the speaker and listener.

2. Det lyder godt. Hvor skal vi gå hen?

   That sounds nice. Where should we go?

   Det

   That

   lyder

   sounds

   godt

   good; nice

   Hvor

   where

   skal vi

   should we

   gå

   go

   hen

   there; to a place

   More detail

   Det is the Danish pronoun used here as the subject of the first sentence. In this context, it refers to the situation or proposal just mentioned, giving the meaning “that” without naming a separate noun. It is also the form used with a neuter singular subject; its exact referent is supplied by the conversation, not by the word alone. lyder is the present-tense form of lyde, “to sound.” The present form can describe how something sounds now: Det lyder godt means “That sounds good/nice.” godt is the neuter singular form of the adjective god. The form agrees with the neuter subject det: god is used with common-gender singular nouns, godt with neuter singular nouns, and gode in plural or definite contexts. Here, godt describes the proposal as favorable or appealing; it is not the adverb “well” in this sentence. Hvor asks about a place or destination and means “where.” For example, Hvor bor du? means “Where do you live?” skal vi is a useful question pattern: the present form skal of skulle comes before the subject vi, “we,” in this question. Here skal expresses a suggested or intended action, so the pattern means “should we ...?” In other contexts, skal can express obligation or an expected plan, but that is not the intended meaning here. gå means “go” or “walk.” It is the base form used after skal, as in skal vi gå (“should we go”). After this modal, Danish uses the infinitive without an extra infinitive marker. hen adds a directional sense to gå: it points toward or to a place. In Hvor skal vi gå hen?, hvor ... hen forms a natural way to ask “where ... to?” The destination is being requested; it is not identified by hen itself. Together, Hvor skal vi gå hen? has the pattern Hvor + skal + subject + infinitive + hen?: “Where should we go?” The first sentence, Det lyder godt, responds positively to the proposed activity. As a whole, the utterance means “That sounds nice. Where should we go?”

3. Måske den lille restaurant her i nærheden.

   Maybe the small restaurant near here.

   Måske

   maybe

   den

   the

   lille

   small

   restaurant

   restaurant

   her i nærheden

   near here

   More detail

   Måske means “maybe” and marks the suggestion as uncertain rather than definite. It is an adverb and can introduce a possible option: Måske i morgen. — “Maybe tomorrow.” den is the definite article used here with a singular common-gender noun. Danish definite articles agree with the noun’s gender and number: en restaurant means “a restaurant,” while den restaurant means “the restaurant.” The article itself does not express a numeric count. lille means “small” here. Its base form is also lille; with a common-gender singular noun after den, this form is used: den lille restaurant — “the small restaurant.” For comparison, mindre means “smaller,” and mindst means “smallest.” restaurant is a noun meaning “restaurant.” Its indefinite form is en restaurant, and its definite form is restauranten — “the restaurant.” In this utterance, the separate word den is the definite article before the adjective, so the noun remains restaurant rather than taking the definite ending. her i nærheden means “near here.” her means “here,” while i nærheden means “in the vicinity.” Together they form a reusable location phrase: Der er en café her i nærheden. — “There is a café near here.” Together, den lille restaurant identifies “the small restaurant,” and her i nærheden locates it near the speaker or the relevant place. With Måske at the beginning, the utterance is the fragment “Maybe the small restaurant near here,” suggesting that this is a possible place to go. The following context supports that proposed destination without changing the meaning of the fixed utterance.

4. Lad os gå derhen, hvis der ikke er travlt.

   Let's go there if it isn't busy.

   Lad os

   let’s

   gå

   go

   derhen

   there

   hvis

   if

   travlt

   busy

   More detail

   Lad os is a reusable way to suggest an action together: Lad os + infinitive means “Let’s …”. Lad is the imperative of lade (“let/allow”), and os is the object form of the first-person plural pronoun (“us”). Here the construction proposes that the speaker and the listener go together. gå means “go” here. It is the infinitive after Lad os; the pattern is Lad os gå (“Let’s go”). The same verb can be used in other movement expressions, for example: Vi går hjem. — “We are going home.” derhen means “there” with a directional sense: “to there” or “to that place.” It tells us the destination of gå, while der by itself commonly means “there” without expressing movement toward the place. Example: Vi går derhen. — “We are going there.” hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” The conditional clause after it is hvis der ikke er travlt (“if it isn’t busy”). A reusable pattern is hvis + clause, as in Vi går, hvis det regner. — “We will go if it rains.” travlt is the neuter singular form of the adjective travl (“busy”). The forms are travl with common-gender singular nouns, travlt with neuter singular nouns, and travle in the plural and definite forms. In der er travlt, Danish uses the impersonal expression “it is busy,” commonly referring to how busy a place or situation is; ikke negates the expression, giving “isn’t busy.” Together, Lad os gå derhen means “Let’s go there.” The conditional clause hvis der ikke er travlt limits that suggestion: “if it isn’t busy.” Thus the complete utterance is “Let’s go there if it isn’t busy.”

5. Skal vi mødes ved hoveddøren?

   Should we meet by the front door?

   Skal vi

   Should we

   mødes

   meet

   ved

   by; at

   hoveddøren

   the front door

   More detail

   Skal vi puts the modal verb skal before the subject vi because this is a yes/no question. skal is a form of skulle, commonly used for “should,” “shall,” or a planned arrangement; here the fixed translation supports a suggestion about meeting. In a statement, the same core order is Vi skal ... (“We should/will ...”). mødes means “meet each other” here. Its useful base form is møde (“meet”); the -s form marks the reciprocal/reflexive use, so the participants meet one another. After a modal such as skal, Danish uses the infinitive without at: Vi skal mødes. Example: De skal mødes i morgen. — “They are going to meet tomorrow.” ved is a preposition meaning “by” or “at” when locating something near a place or object. Example: Jeg står ved døren. — “I am standing by the door.” hoveddøren means “the front door.” The noun’s base form is hoveddør; -en marks the definite singular form, “the front door.” The compound combines hoved (“main/front”) with dør (“door”), but the complete noun hoveddør is the reusable form for “front door.” Example: Døren er åben. — “The door is open.” Together, Skal vi mødes ved hoveddøren? asks whether the speaker and the other person should meet by the front door. The question structure is reusable as Skal vi mødes ved ...?, with the final location replaced as needed.

6. Jeg venter et sted, hvor du kan se mig.

   I'll wait where you can see me.

   Jeg

   I

   venter

   wait

   sted

   place

   hvor

   where

   du

   you

   kan

   can

   se

   see

   mig

   me

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here: the speaker is the subject. Danish personal pronouns include jeg (“I”), du (“you”), and mig (“me”); mig is not the subject form. venter means “wait” here. Its base form is vente; venter is the present-tense form. Danish present tense can describe an action arranged or expected in the future, which is why this sentence is naturally translated with “I’ll wait” in this context. Example: Jeg venter her. — “I’ll wait here.” sted means “place” or “spot.” With the preceding et, the phrase et sted means “a place” or “somewhere.” Danish nouns belong to either common gender, used with en, or neuter gender, used with et; sted is a neuter noun. The article does not by itself assert a numeric count. hvor means “where” and introduces the clause that describes the place. It links a place to information about what can happen there. Example: Vi fandt et sted, hvor vi kunne sidde. — “We found a place where we could sit.” du means “you” here and is the subject of the clause introduced by hvor. Danish uses du for a singular subject “you”; the object form is dig, not du. kan means “can” here. Its base form is kunne; kan is the present-tense form. A modal such as kan is followed by an infinitive without at: du kan se means “you can see.” se means “see.” It is the infinitive after kan, and Danish keeps this form after the modal rather than adding at. Example: Du kan se huset. — “You can see the house.” mig means “me” here and is the object of se: the person who can be seen is the speaker. It is the object form corresponding to subject-form jeg. Example: Hun kan se mig. — “She can see me.” Together, Jeg venter gives “I’ll wait” in this context. et sted identifies an unspecified place, and hvor du kan se mig specifies it as a place where the listener can see the speaker. Thus the whole utterance means: “I’ll wait where you can see me.”

7. Så kommer jeg og finder dig.

   Then I'll come find you.

   Så

   then

   kommer

   come

   jeg

   I

   finder

   find

   dig

   you

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and places the action in sequence with what was mentioned before. It is a temporal adverb; in a different sentence it can also have other uses, but this sentence uses it to mark the next step. kommer is the present-tense form of komme, “to come.” Danish present tense can refer to a future action when the time is clear from context. Here Så and the intended translation make it future-oriented: “then I’ll come,” rather than simply “then I am coming” as a general present event. jeg is the first-person singular subject pronoun, “I.” After the sentence begins with the adverb Så, Danish uses subject–verb inversion: Så kommer jeg literally has the order “Then come I.” The pronoun itself remains the subject form; its object counterpart is mig. finder is the present-tense form of finde, “to find.” It is coordinated with kommer by og, “and,” and shares the subject jeg: “I come and find.” In this utterance, the coordinated action is understood in the same future time frame as kommer. dig is the second-person singular object pronoun, “you.” Danish distinguishes the subject form du (“you” as the doer) from the object form dig (“you” as the person affected): Du finder mig means “You find me,” while Jeg finder dig means “I find you.” Together, Så kommer jeg gives “Then I’ll come,” and og finder dig adds the coordinated action “and find you.” The whole utterance therefore means “Then I’ll come find you.”

8. Bagefter kan vi bede om et bord.

   After that, we can ask for a table.

   Bagefter

   afterward

   kan vi

   we can

   bede om

   ask for

   bord

   table

   More detail

   Bagefter means “afterward” or “after that.” It is an adverb, so it gives the time of the action without changing form. Example: Vi ses bagefter. — “We’ll see each other afterward.” kan vi combines kan with vi. kan is the present form of kunne, “can / be able to,” and vi means “we.” In this sentence, kan expresses that the subject has the possibility or ability to do the action. After a modal verb such as kan, Danish normally uses the infinitive without at: vi kan bede, not vi kan at bede. In a main-clause question, the order can change, as in Kan vi bede om et bord? — “Can we ask for a table?” bede om is a useful construction meaning “ask for” or “request.” The verb is bede; om is part of this construction for the requested thing. The infinitive bede follows kan here. Example: Jeg vil bede om vand. — “I want to ask for water.” bord means “table.” In et bord, et marks the noun as indefinite singular and neuter. The noun’s forms include et bord (“a table”), bordet (“the table”), and borde (“tables”). The indefinite article presents an unspecified table; it should not be treated as an independent numerical statement. Together, Bagefter sets the time, kan vi says that “we” have the possibility, and bede om et bord means “ask for a table.” The complete utterance therefore means: “After that, we can ask for a table.”