A short break from the screen | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Mine øjne er trætte.

   My eyes are tired.

   Mine

   my

   øjne

   eyes

   er

   are

   trætte

   tired

   More detail

   Mine means “my” here and is the possessive form used with a plural noun. Compare min with a common-gender singular noun, mit with a neuter singular noun, and mine with plural nouns: min bog, mit hus, mine øjne. The possessive identifies the eyes as belonging to the speaker; it does not itself indicate how many eyes there are. øjne means “eyes.” It is the plural form of øje (“eye”): et øje → øjne. The form øjne is the subject of the sentence, the thing described as tired. er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). It is used with both singular and plural subjects in the present: Jeg er træt (“I am tired”) and Mine øjne er trætte (“My eyes are tired”). trætte means “tired” here. Its base form is træt; the adjective takes the plural form trætte because it describes plural øjne. For comparison, mere træt means “more tired.” Example: Mine ben er trætte. — “My legs are tired.” Together, Mine øjne gives the subject “my eyes,” er links that subject to a description in the present, and trætte describes the eyes. The complete utterance therefore means “My eyes are tired.”

2. Hold en kort pause fra skærmen.

   Take a short break from the screen.

   Hold

   take; have (imperative)

   kort

   short

   pause

   break

   fra

   from

   skærmen

   the screen

   More detail

   Hold is the imperative of holde. Its basic meaning is “hold,” but in the construction holde en pause, it means “take/have a break.” Imperatives give a direct instruction. Example: Hold pause. — “Take a break.” en is the indefinite article used with the common-gender noun pause. It introduces a non-specific break; the article itself does not assert a numerical count. The definite form is pausen — “the break.” kort means “short” here and describes pause. Its base form is kort; the comparative is kortere — “shorter.” Example: en kort vej — “a short road.” pause is a noun meaning “break,” especially a period when an activity is stopped. With the indefinite article, it is en pause; the definite singular form is pausen — “the break.” fra means “from” and marks the source or point away from which something moves or is separated. In this sentence it connects the break with the screen: the break is away from screen use. Example: gå væk fra døren — “walk away from the door.” skærmen means “the screen.” It is the definite singular form of skærm: en skærm — “a screen,” skærmen — “the screen.” The ending -en marks definite singular for this common-gender noun. Together, Hold en kort pause gives the imperative “Take a short break.” fra skærmen specifies what the break is away from, producing the full meaning: “Take a short break from the screen.”

3. Hvor længe skal jeg kigge væk?

   How long should I look away?

   Hvor længe

   how long

   skal jeg

   should I

   kigge væk

   look away

   More detail

   Hvor længe asks about duration: literally, “for how long?” It is a reusable question pattern. Compare Hvor længe varer filmen? — “How long does the film last?” The question word comes first because the utterance asks for the length of the action. skal jeg combines present-tense skal, from skulle, with the first-person singular pronoun jeg (“I”). Here skal expresses what the speaker should do, rather than a firm future prediction. In this question, the modal comes before the subject: skal jeg ...? — “should I ...?” For example, Skal jeg vente? means “Should I wait?” kigge væk means “look away.” kigge is the infinitive of the verb “to look”; after the modal skal, the infinitive is used. væk means “away” and specifies the direction or result of the looking. For example, Kig væk fra skærmen. means “Look away from the screen.” The form kigge is not the imperative; the imperative is kig. Together, Hvor længe asks for the duration, skal jeg asks what is recommended for the speaker, and kigge væk names the action. The complete meaning is: “How long should I look away?”

4. Kig væk i et minut.

   Look away for a minute.

   Kig

   look

   væk

   away

   minut

   minute

   More detail

   Kig means “look” here and is the imperative form of kigge (“to look”). It gives a direct instruction to the listener. Example: Kig her. — “Look here.” væk means “away.” Together, kig væk is a reusable pattern meaning “look away.” The related infinitive is kigge, as in skal jeg kigge væk (“should I look away?”); after skal, Danish uses the infinitive rather than the imperative. minut means “minute” here. Its singular form is minut, and its plural form is minutter. In the duration expression i et minut, et is the neuter singular indefinite article that agrees with minut. This expression means “for a minute”; the article does not by itself assert a numerical count. The chunks combine as Kig væk (“Look away”) + i et minut (“for a minute”). The complete utterance is therefore “Look away for a minute.” It is a direct instruction that specifies how long the action should continue.

5. Jeg kan drikke noget vand, mens jeg hviler.

   I can drink some water while I rest.

   Jeg kan

   I can

   drikke

   drink

   noget

   some

   vand

   water

   mens

   while

   hviler

   rest

   More detail

   Jeg kan means “I can” here. Jeg is the first-person singular subject, and kan is the present form of the modal verb kunne (“can/be able to”). Danish normally places the next verb in the infinitive after kan, without at: Jeg kan drikke = “I can drink.” drikke is the infinitive “to drink.” After the modal kan, it stays in this form rather than taking a present-tense ending. Example: Hun kan svømme. — “She can swim.” noget contributes the unspecified amount “some” in noget vand. It is used here with the mass noun vand; the sentence does not give a measured quantity. This is different from a specific amount such as et glas vand (“a glass of water”). vand means “water.” Danish uses the noun as a mass noun here, so noget vand naturally means “some water.” mens introduces a time clause meaning “while.” A useful reusable pattern is mens + subject + present-tense verb: Jeg læser, mens hun laver mad. — “I read while she cooks.” hviler is the present form of hvile, “to rest.” In this clause, jeg hviler means “I rest” or “I am resting.” Danish present-tense verbs do not change form for person or number here: jeg hviler, du hviler, han/hun hviler, and vi hviler all use hviler. Together, Jeg kan drikke noget vand means “I can drink some water,” and mens jeg hviler adds the simultaneous action “while I rest.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I can drink some water while I rest.”

6. Det burde hjælpe dine øjne, så de får det bedre.

   That should help your eyes feel better.

   Det

   That

   burde

   should; ought to

   hjælpe

   help

   dine

   your

   øjne

   eyes

   så

   so that

   de

   they

   får

   get

   bedre

   better

   More detail

   Det is the pronoun meaning “that” here. Its exact referent comes from the surrounding context rather than from the form alone. burde expresses an expectation or recommendation with the force of “should” or “ought to.” It is the past-tense form of the modal bør, and after it the next verb appears in the infinitive without at: burde hjælpe (“should help”). Example: Det burde virke. — “That should work.” hjælpe means “to help.” It is the infinitive used after the modal burde. The verb can take a person or thing as its object: Jeg vil hjælpe dig. — “I want to help you.” dine means “your” before a plural noun. It agrees with the possessed noun’s number, not with the owner’s number or gender: din is used with a singular common-gender noun, dit with a singular neuter noun, and dine with a plural noun. Here it introduces øjne, “eyes.” øjne means “eyes,” the plural of øje, “eye.” This plural has a spelling change, so learn the pair øje → øjne. Example: Mine øjne er trætte. — “My eyes are tired.” så links the result clause and means “so that” here. It introduces the expected result of the help: så ... (“so that ...”). In other contexts, så can also mean “then” or “so.” de is the plural subject pronoun “they.” In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the eyes as the intended plural subject of the following clause. Danish de can refer to people or things, depending on context. får is the present-tense form of få, “to get” or “to receive.” In få det bedre, it forms the expression “get or feel better,” rather than referring to receiving a particular object. Example: Hun får det bedre. — “She feels better.” bedre means “better,” the comparative form of god (“good”). The useful comparison chain is god → bedre → bedst (“good” → “better” → “best”); bedre is irregular and is not formed by adding a regular comparative ending to god. Together, burde hjælpe dine øjne means “should help your eyes.” The clause så de får det bedre adds the result “so that they feel better.” The complete utterance means “That should help your eyes feel better.”

7. Så kan jeg gøre opgaven færdig.

   Then I can finish the task.

   Så

   then

   kan jeg

   I can

   gøre

   do; make

   opgaven

   the task

   færdig

   finished

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and places the action in sequence with something already mentioned. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but the following clause and the fixed translation support the temporal meaning here. Example: Så går vi. — “Then we’ll go.” kan jeg combines kan, the present form of kunne (“can, be able to”), with jeg (“I”). In this main clause, Så comes first, so the finite verb comes before the subject: Så kan jeg .... This is ordinary Danish main-clause word order after an initial adverb, not necessarily a question. Jeg kan ... has the same basic meaning without this word-order effect. Here kan expresses ability or possibility, not a command. gøre is the infinitive of gøre (“do; make”). After the modal kan, Danish uses the infinitive without an infinitive marker equivalent to English “to”: kan jeg gøre ... means “I can do ...”. In this sentence, gøre ... færdig is the useful pattern for “finish” or “complete” something. Example: Jeg kan gøre arbejdet færdigt. — “I can finish the work.” opgaven is the definite singular form of opgave (“task, assignment”): en opgave means “a task” and opgaven means “the task”. The ending -en marks definiteness for this noun; it does not by itself state a numerical count. Example: Opgaven er vigtig. — “The task is important.” færdig is an adjective meaning “finished” or “complete”. With the common-gender singular noun opgaven, it appears as færdig; the neuter singular form is færdigt, and the plural/definite form is færdige. In gøre opgaven færdig, it describes the resulting state of the task, so the whole construction means “finish the task,” rather than merely “do the task.” Together, Så kan jeg gives “Then I can,” and gøre opgaven færdig gives “finish the task.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Then I can finish the task.”

8. Tag pausen først, og gør så opgaven færdig.

   Take the break first, then finish the task.

   Tag

   take

   pausen

   the break

   først

   first

   gør

   do or make

   så

   then

   opgaven

   the task

   færdig

   finished or complete

   More detail

   Tag is the imperative of tage (“to take”). It gives a direct instruction to the understood addressee; the subject is normally omitted in a Danish imperative. The same verb appears as the infinitive tage and, for example, as tager in present-tense statements. pausen means “the break” here. It is the definite singular form of pause: en pause = “a break”, pausen = “the break”. The ending -en marks common-gender singular definiteness in this noun. først is the adverb “first”. It places this action before the next one in the instruction. A useful contrast is sidst, “last”. gør is the imperative of gøre, “to do” or “to make”. In the preceding sentence, gøre is the infinitive after kan (“can”): kan jeg gøre ... = “I can ...”. Here gør directly instructs the listener. The meaning “finish” comes from the combination gør ... færdig, not from gør alone. så means “then” in this sentence. It marks the next step in sequence: first take the break, then do the task to completion. In other contexts, så can have other functions, but “then” is the intended meaning here. opgaven means “the task”. It is the definite singular form of opgave: en opgave = “a task”, opgaven = “the task”. As with pausen, the definite form identifies a particular task in the utterance’s intended context; the article does not itself assert a numerical count. færdig means “finished” or “complete”. In gøre opgaven færdig, it is an adjective used as a complement describing the task’s resulting state. Its common-gender singular form is færdig; compare neuter singular færdigt and plural or definite forms such as færdige when the relevant agreement conditions require them. The construction gøre + object + færdig is a reusable way to say “finish” that object. Together, Tag pausen først means “Take the break first”. The coordinated next instruction, gør så opgaven færdig, means “then finish the task”: gør supplies the action, opgaven is what the action affects, and færdig describes the completed result. The whole utterance is therefore a two-step imperative: “Take the break first, then finish the task.”