Finding the back of the line | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Hvor er enden af køen?

   Where is the end of this line?

   Hvor

   where

   er

   is

   enden

   the end

   af

   of

   køen

   the queue

   More detail

   Hvor means “where” and asks about a place or location. A reusable question pattern is Hvor er ...? — “Where is ...?” Example: Hvor er døren? — “Where is the door?” er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” This form is used with subjects of different persons and numbers: jeg er — “I am,” du er — “you are,” and de er — “they are.” Here it helps ask about the location of the subject. enden means “the end” here. Its base form is ende, and enden is the definite singular form: en ende — “an end,” enden — “the end.” Danish commonly marks definiteness with a suffix attached to the noun rather than with a separate word before it. af means “of” in the relationship between a part and the larger thing it belongs to. The pattern enden af ... means “the end of ...”. køen means “the queue” or “the line.” Its base form is kø, and køen is its definite singular form: en kø — “a queue,” køen — “the queue.” Together, enden af køen means “the end of the line,” and Hvor er ...? asks for its location. The whole utterance means “Where is the end of this line?”

2. Enden er henne ved døren.

   The end is over by the door.

   Enden

   the end

   er henne

   is over there

   ved

   by; near

   døren

   the door

   More detail

   Enden means “the end” here. It is the definite form of the Danish noun ende (“end”): en ende = “an end,” enden = “the end.” The ending -en marks definiteness for this common-gender noun; it is not a separate word. In the preceding question, enden af køen means “the end of the line,” but enden in the fixed utterance is identified only as “the end,” without adding an unstated complement. er henne says that something is located over there. er is the present form of være (“to be”), used here for location. Henne is a location word meaning “over there,” often pointing to a place away from the speaker. It is different from her (“here”). Together, enden er henne means “the end is over there”; the location meaning comes from the combination of the verb and the location word. Ved means “by” or “near” and introduces a nearby location. It can be reused in patterns such as ved døren (“by the door”) or ved huset (“by the house”). Døren means “the door.” It is the definite form of the noun dør: en dør = “a door,” døren = “the door.” The form uses -en because dør is a common-gender noun. The vowel ø belongs to the noun itself and is not an added definiteness marker. The utterance assembles as Enden (“the end”) + er henne (“is over there”) + ved døren (“by the door”). Thus, “The end is over by the door.” The wording locates the end at a place near the door; ved gives the nearby relation, while henne presents that location as over there.

3. Skal jeg vente der?

   Should I wait there?

   Skal jeg

   Should I

   vente

   wait

   der

   there

   More detail

   Skal jeg asks whether the speaker should do something. skal is the present form of skulle; in this question it expresses “should,” and jeg is the first-person singular subject, “I.” In a Danish yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Skal jeg ...? Compare the reusable pattern Skal du ...? — “Should you ...?” vente means “to wait.” It is the infinitive, used here after the modal verb skal; the modal carries the finite form, while vente remains in the infinitive. Example: Jeg skal vente. — “I have to/should wait.” der means “there,” referring to a location understood from the situation. It is a location word, not a noun that changes form. The contrasting word her means “here”: Skal jeg vente her? — “Should I wait here?” Together, Skal jeg + vente forms the question “Should I wait?”, and der specifies the location. The complete utterance therefore means “Should I wait there?”

4. Stil dig bag den sidste person.

   Stand behind the last person.

   Stil

   stand

   dig

   yourself

   bag

   behind

   den

   the

   sidste

   last

   person

   person

   More detail

   Stil is the imperative of stille here, meaning “stand” or “position yourself.” Danish imperatives commonly use a shortened form: stille becomes stil. The verb is combined with the reflexive pronoun dig in this instruction, rather than standing alone with the same meaning. dig is the second-person singular reflexive pronoun, “yourself.” It refers back to the person being addressed. The reusable pattern is verb + dig when someone is told to do something to or with their own body or position. Example: Sæt dig ned. — “Sit down.” Together, Stil dig means “stand” in the sense of “place yourself standing.” This is an imperative addressed to one person. The form dig does not identify the addressee by name; it simply marks the addressee as the reflexive participant. bag is a preposition meaning “behind.” It introduces the location of the person being addressed. Example: Bilen står bag huset. — “The car is behind the house.” den is the definite article used here with a singular common-gender noun. Danish articles agree with the noun’s grammatical gender and number: en person is “a person,” while den person is the corresponding definite pattern in this phrase. The article itself does not assert a numerical quantity. sidste means “last” here, as in final position in an ordered line or sequence. In den sidste person, it is the adjective in the definite noun phrase. The adjective is not the noun’s base form; person remains a separate noun. Example: Hun tog den sidste bus. — “She took the last bus.” person means “person.” It is a common-gender singular noun: en person means “a person,” and personen means “the person.” The plural is personer, while personerne means “the people/persons” in the definite plural. The complete structure is Stil dig + bag + den sidste person: “Position yourself standing behind the person who is last in the line or sequence.” The imperative supplies the instruction, dig marks the addressee as the person being positioned, and the prepositional phrase gives the required location.

5. Jeg så ikke skiltet.

   I missed the sign.

   Jeg

   I

   så

   saw

   ikke

   not

   skiltet

   the sign

   More detail

   Jeg is the Danish first-person singular subject pronoun: “I.” It does not change for grammatical gender. Compare jeg “I” with du “you” when the subject changes. så is the past-tense form of se, “to see.” By itself here it means “saw,” not “missed.” Combined with ikke and the object, it expresses failing to notice the sign; the fixed translation naturally renders that as “missed.” In another context, the same past form can simply mean “saw”: Jeg så døren. — “I saw the door.” ikke is the ordinary Danish negation word, “not.” In this main clause it follows the finite verb: Jeg så ikke ... — “I did not see/miss ...” This placement is a useful basic pattern for negating a statement. skiltet means “the sign.” Its base noun is skilt, “sign”; the ending -et marks the definite singular form for this neuter noun: et skilt — “a sign,” skiltet — “the sign.” The ending belongs to the noun, not to så or ikke. Together, Jeg så ikke skiltet has the pattern “I did not see the sign.” In the supplied translation, “missed the sign” conveys the same event: the speaker failed to notice it. The word order is subject + past-tense verb + negation + definite noun: Jeg + så + ikke + skiltet.

6. Det hænger ved siden af døren.

   It is posted next to the door.

   Det

   it

   hænger

   hangs; is posted

   ved siden af

   next to

   døren

   the door

   More detail

   Det is the Danish neuter singular pronoun “it.” Here, the fixed translation and the preceding sentence identify det as the sign: “It” refers to that sign. Danish pronouns must match the grammatical features of their referent; det is the neuter singular form, while den is used for common-gender singular referents. hænger is the present-tense form of hænge, “to hang.” In this sentence, the ordinary physical meaning is extended to the sign’s position: it is hanging or posted somewhere. The present form ends in -r, as in hænge → hænger. Example: Billedet hænger på væggen. — “The picture is hanging on the wall.” ved siden af is a reusable prepositional construction meaning “next to” or “beside.” It introduces the location of something relative to another thing. Example: Stolen står ved siden af bordet. — “The chair is next to the table.” døren means “the door.” Its base form is dør; the ending -en marks the definite singular form, “the door.” Example: Døren er åben. — “The door is open.” Together, Det hænger says “It is hanging” or, in this context, “It is posted,” and ved siden af døren gives its location: “next to the door.” The complete utterance therefore means “It is posted next to the door.”

7. Jeg går om til enden af køen.

   I will head to the back.

   Jeg

   I

   går om til

   head to

   enden

   the end; the back

   køen

   the queue

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It does not show the speaker’s gender. Example: Jeg kommer nu. — “I am coming now.” går om til contains går, the present form of gå (“go”), together with om til, “over to / to.” Here the combination means “head to” or “go over to.” Danish commonly uses the present tense for a planned or expected future action when the context makes that clear; the fixed translation therefore uses “will head.” Example: Jeg går om til døren. — “I’ll go over to the door.” enden is the definite singular form of ende, “end”: ende → enden. In this setting, “the end” means the back end of a line or queue. The ending -en marks definiteness here; it is part of enden, not of the adjective or another neighboring word. køen is the definite singular form of kø, “queue” or “line”: kø → køen. The definite form identifies the queue as a particular one in the situation. Example: Køen er lang. — “The queue is long.” Together, Jeg går om til states that the speaker is heading over to a destination. enden af køen means “the back/end of the queue,” with af linking the end to the queue. The whole utterance means: “I will head to the back.”

8. Det er der, folk stiller sig i kø.

   That is where people are joining.

   Det er der

   That is where

   folk

   people

   stiller sig i kø

   join the queue

   More detail

   Det er der means “That is where” in this sentence. er is the present form of være (“to be”). der is a place word meaning “there”; in the pattern Det er der, ..., it introduces the place in which the following action happens. Example: Det er her, vi bor. — “This is where we live.” folk means “people” here. It is a plural noun referring to people in general; the form is not marked for a specific gender. Example: Folk venter udenfor. — “People are waiting outside.” stiller sig i kø means “join the queue” here. stiller is the present form of stille (“to place” or “to stand/place”), and sig is the reflexive form used because the people place themselves. i kø means “in a queue.” Together, stille sig i kø is the reusable expression “to queue up” or “to join a queue.” Example: Hun stiller sig i kø. — “She joins the queue.” The whole utterance has the pattern Det er der, [subject] [verb] sig i kø: “That is where [subject] joins the queue.” Thus, der identifies the relevant place, folk identifies the people, and stiller sig i kø describes their action. In this context, the sentence says that the place is where people are joining the queue.