Borrowing cleaning supplies | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Har du en klud, jeg kan bruge?

   Do you have a cleaning cloth I can use?

   Har du

   do you have

   klud

   cleaning cloth

   jeg kan

   I can

   bruge

   use

   More detail

   Har du places the verb before the subject to form a yes/no question in Danish: har is the present form of have, and du means “you.” Compare the statement Du har ... (“You have ...”) with the question Har du ...? (“Do you have ...?”). The question asks about possession or availability; it does not itself state that the answer is yes. klud is the noun “cloth,” with the intended sense here of a cleaning cloth. Danish uses the indefinite article en before this noun in en klud (“a cloth”); the article marks an unspecified instance, not a stated numerical count. Useful forms are en klud (an indefinite cloth), kluden (the cloth), and klude (cloths). In the sentence, en klud is the thing being asked about. jeg kan means “I can.” jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” kan is the present form of the modal verb kunne (“can/be able to”); it does not change to agree with jeg. After this modal, Danish uses an infinitive without an English-style “to.” For example, Jeg kan hjælpe. means “I can help.” bruge is the infinitive of bruge (“use”). It follows kan in jeg kan bruge, giving the meaning “I can use.” The clause jeg kan bruge describes a possible use of the cloth: the cloth is something that I can use. For example, Jeg kan bruge denne klud. means “I can use this cloth.” Together, Har du en klud asks whether the listener has a cloth available. The following clause, jeg kan bruge, identifies the requested cloth by its purpose: it is one that the speaker can use. Thus the whole utterance means “Do you have a cleaning cloth I can use?”

2. Der er en i kassen.

   There is one in the box.

   Der er

   there is/are

   en

   one

   kassen

   the box

   More detail

   Der er is the Danish existential pattern for saying that something exists or is present: “there is/are.” It is a fixed construction, so its word order does not correspond word-for-word to English. Example: Der er kaffe. — “There is coffee.” en means “one” here because it stands alone and refers to a single, understood item. Danish en is also the indefinite article used with common-gender nouns, but in this sentence the fixed translation establishes the numeral meaning. Example: Jeg har en. — “I have one.” kassen means “the box.” Its base form is kasse, “box”; the ending -n marks the definite singular form: kasse → kassen. Example: Kassen er her. — “The box is here.” Together, Der er en i kassen. says that one understood item is present inside the box: “There is one in the box.” The prepositional phrase i kassen specifies the location of that item.

3. Har du også rengøringsspray?

   Do you have cleaning spray too?

   Har

   have

   du

   you

   også

   also; too

   rengøringsspray

   cleaning spray

   More detail

   Har is the present-tense form of have (“to have”). In a Danish question, the finite verb commonly comes before the subject: Har du ...? means “Do you have ...?” The same form har is also used in statements, for example: Jeg har kaffe. — “I have coffee.” du is the second-person singular pronoun, “you,” used for the person being addressed. In this sentence, du is the subject of har. A reusable question pattern is Har du + thing? — “Do you have + thing?” også means “also” or “too.” Here it adds the idea that cleaning spray is included in the question in addition to something already mentioned. Its position after du is natural in this short question. For example: Har du også en klud? — “Do you have a cloth too?” rengøringsspray is a compound noun meaning “cleaning spray”: rengøring relates to cleaning, and spray means spray. Danish commonly joins components into one written compound, so this is one word rather than two. The word is not marked here with an indefinite article; the sentence asks whether the addressee has cleaning spray as the relevant item or substance. In the following context, the definite form sprayen refers to “the spray.” Together, Har du også rengøringsspray? forms a yes-or-no question: “Do you have cleaning spray too?” The structure is Har du også + noun?, with the verb first because it is a question, the subject du next, and også marking the additional item. This is a practical pattern for asking whether someone has another item as well.

4. Sprayen står ved siden af den.

   The spray is beside it.

   Sprayen

   the spray

   står

   stands; is located

   ved siden af

   beside; next to

   den

   it

   More detail

   Sprayen is the definite singular form of the noun spray: en spray means “a spray,” while sprayen means “the spray.” The ending -en marks a common-gender noun as definite. Here it is the subject. står is the present-tense form of stå, “to stand.” Danish also uses stå for something’s fixed position or location, so står can mean “is located” here, not only “stands upright.” ved siden af is a reusable prepositional construction meaning “beside” or “next to.” It is followed by the thing that provides the reference point: X står ved siden af Y means “X is beside Y.” den is a third-person singular pronoun for a common-gender referent. Its specific referent is not identified by the fixed sentence, translation, or supplied context; the sentence says that the spray is beside it. Together, Sprayen står ved siden af den. means “The spray is beside it.” The subject is Sprayen, its location is expressed by står, and ved siden af den gives the adjacent reference point.

5. Jeg skal gøre dette skrivebord rent.

   I need to clean this desk.

   Jeg skal

   I need to

   gøre

   do; make

   dette

   this

   skrivebord

   desk

   rent

   clean

   gøre … rent

   clean (as a task)

   More detail

   Jeg skal means “I need to” here. skal is the modal verb skulle in the present form; with jeg it expresses a present need or obligation in this sentence. It is followed by an infinitive: Jeg skal gøre ... = “I need to ...”. gøre is the infinitive of gøre, “to do” or “to make”. In this sentence, the combination with rent describes making something clean. Example: Jeg skal gøre bilen ren. — “I need to clean the car.” dette means “this”. It is a demonstrative that agrees with the noun it identifies. Before the neuter noun skrivebord, the form is dette; the corresponding common-gender form is denne, as in denne stol — “this chair.” skrivebord means “desk”. It is a neuter noun: et skrivebord — “a desk”; its definite form is skrivebordet — “the desk.” rent is the neuter singular form of the adjective ren, “clean”. It agrees with the neuter singular object skrivebord in the construction gøre ... rent. The common-gender form is ren, as in gøre bilen ren — “clean the car.” gøre rent is a reusable cleaning construction. With an object, the pattern is gøre [object] ren/rent: the object is made clean, and the adjective agrees with that object. Here, dette skrivebord is the object and rent describes its resulting state. Together, Jeg skal gøre dette skrivebord rent means “I need to clean this desk.”

6. Brug kun en lille smule.

   Use only a small amount.

   Brug

   use

   kun

   only

   lille

   small

   smule

   amount

   More detail

   Brug is the imperative form of bruge, “to use.” It gives a direct instruction, with an understood addressee rather than an expressed subject. Useful forms are bruge (infinitive), bruger (present), and brugte (past). Example: Brug denne klud. — “Use this cloth.” kun means “only” here. It limits the quantity that follows: the instruction is to use no more than the specified small amount. Its exact scope comes from its position before en lille smule. lille means “small” in this sentence and describes smule. The observed form is the common-gender singular indefinite form used with en smule; it is not the noun’s base form. Danish comparison is irregular: lille — mindre — mindst (“small” — “smaller” — “smallest”). Example: et lille hus — “a small house”; here lille also appears before a singular neuter noun. smule is a noun meaning “a small amount” or “a little.” With the indefinite article, en smule is a reusable quantity expression, often used for an uncounted substance or amount. Example: Jeg vil have en smule vand. — “I would like a little water.” Together, Brug kun en lille smule is an imperative: “Use only a small amount.” The article en belongs to the quantity expression en lille smule; it does not by itself state a numeric count. The sentence leaves the material or object being used implicit.

7. Jeg vil tørre skrivebordet af og lægge begge dele tilbage.

   I will wipe the desk and put both back.

   Jeg vil

   I will

   tørre … af

   wipe off

   skrivebordet

   the desk

   lægge

   put

   begge dele

   both

   tilbage

   back

   More detail

   Jeg vil means “I will” here: jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I”, and vil is the present form of ville. With an infinitive, ville can express a future intention, as in this sentence. The same form can also mean “want” in other contexts, so the following verb and context determine the intended reading. Danish uses the infinitive after vil: Jeg vil læse means “I will read” or “I want to read,” depending on context. tørre ... af is the reusable verb construction “wipe off.” The lexical verb is tørre, whose infinitive form appears here; af is a particle. Because the desk comes between the verb and particle, the construction is discontinuous in this sentence. tørre alone can mean “dry” or “wipe,” but tørre ... af gives the wiping-away meaning. Example: Hun tørrer bordet af. — “She wipes the table.” skrivebordet means “the desk.” It is the definite singular form of skrivebord (“desk”): the ending -et marks definite singular in this noun. The form does not itself indicate who owns the desk. Example: Jeg ser skrivebordet. — “I see the desk.” lægge means “put” or “lay” here, and it is the infinitive form. A useful Danish contrast is lægge for placing something somewhere, versus ligge for being located or lying somewhere: Jeg lægger bogen på bordet. — “I put the book on the table”; Bogen ligger på bordet. — “The book is on the table.” begge dele means “both” in the sense of both relevant things or items. begge means “both,” while dele is the plural of del (“part” or “thing”); together, this expression refers to two items without naming them individually. The specific items are not identified by this sentence alone, although the surrounding context confirms that the speaker is referring to previously established items. Example: Jeg tager begge dele. — “I’ll take both.” tilbage means “back,” indicating return to an earlier place or position. It modifies the placing action: the items are to be put back, rather than merely put somewhere. Example: Læg bogen tilbage. — “Put the book back.” The structure is Jeg vil + tørre ... af + skrivebordet + og + lægge + begge dele + tilbage. The shared subject is “I,” and vil introduces the two coordinated infinitives tørre and lægge. Thus the complete meaning is: “I will wipe the desk and put both back.”

8. Læg dem sammen i kassen.

   Keep them together in the box.

   Læg

   put; place

   dem

   them

   sammen

   together

   kassen

   the box

   More detail

   Læg is the imperative of lægge, “to put” or “to place.” It gives a direct instruction. Do not confuse it with ligge, “to lie” or “to be located”: lægge describes placing something, while ligge describes something already being in a position. Example: Læg bogen her. — “Put the book here.” dem is an object pronoun meaning “them.” In this context, it refers to the two things mentioned in the preceding context (begge dele, “both”), and it is the object of Læg—the things being placed. Compare the subject form de, “they,” with the object form dem, “them”: De lægger dem i kassen. — “They put them in the box.” sammen means “together.” It indicates that the objects are to be kept or placed together rather than separately. It can be used with different verbs: De arbejder sammen. — “They work together.” kassen means “the box.” It is the definite singular form of the noun kasse, “box”: en kasse means “a box,” while kassen means “the box.” The ending -en marks common-gender singular definiteness here. After i, this noun phrase identifies the place where the objects should be placed. Together, Læg dem sammen i kassen. forms an imperative instruction: “Keep them together in the box,” or more literally, “Put them together in the box.” Læg supplies the command, dem names the objects, sammen says they should be together, and i kassen gives their destination.