Paying and packing bags at checkout | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Er denne kasse åben nu?

   Is this checkout open now?

   Er

   is

   denne

   this

   kasse

   checkout

   åben

   open

   nu

   now

   More detail

   Er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” In a yes/no question, Danish commonly places the finite verb before the subject: Er ...? means “Is ...?” The statement pattern is Denne kasse er åben. (“This checkout is open.”), while the question pattern is Er denne kasse åben? denne means “this” and points to one nearby or contextually identified item. It is used here with the singular common-gender noun kasse; the form does not itself identify which physical checkout is meant beyond the context. kasse means “checkout” here, referring to the place where the items can be placed and processed. The same noun can have other meanings in other contexts, such as “box,” so the fixed translation and the following sentence establish the intended sense here. åben means “open.” It is the adjective form used with the singular common-gender noun phrase denne kasse. Its base form is also åben; the related opposite is lukket, “closed.” Example: Butikken er åben. — “The shop is open.” nu means “now” and places the question at the present time. It modifies the whole situation, asking about the checkout’s status at this moment rather than at an unspecified time. Together, Er + denne kasse + åben forms a yes/no question about the state of this checkout, and nu specifies the time: “Is this checkout open now?”

2. Du kan lægge dine varer her.

   You can place your items here.

   Du kan

   you can

   lægge

   place; put

   dine

   your

   varer

   items; goods

   her

   here

   More detail

   Du kan combines du, the second-person singular subject “you,” with kan, the present form of kunne (“can; be able to”). Here it expresses that the addressee is allowed or able to do the action. Danish places the infinitive directly after a modal: Du kan lægge ... (“You can place ...”). lægge is the infinitive “to place; to put.” After kan, it stays in the infinitive rather than taking a present-tense ending. Compare lægge (“put something somewhere”) with ligge (“lie; be situated”): Jeg lægger bogen her means “I put the book here,” while Bogen ligger her means “The book is here/lying here.” dine is the second-person singular possessive form meaning “your” with a plural possessed noun. Its form agrees with the possessed noun, not with the possessor: din is used with a singular common-gender noun, dit with a singular neuter noun, and dine with a plural noun. Since the possessor is du, this is not the plural-addressee form jeres. varer means “items” or “goods” here. It is the plural of vare (“item; product; good”). The plural form fits dine: dine varer means “your items.” her means “here,” referring to the relevant location in the situation. It is an adverb and does not change form for number or gender. Together, Du kan + lægge gives “you can place,” dine varer gives “your items,” and her specifies the location. The complete utterance is therefore “You can place your items here.” It presents the placement as permitted or possible; it does not state that the addressee has already placed the items.

3. Skal jeg bruge skærmen til at betale?

   Should I use the screen to pay?

   Skal jeg

   Should I

   bruge

   use

   skærmen

   the screen

   til at

   to (before an infinitive)

   betale

   pay

   More detail

   Skal jeg asks whether the speaker ought to do something: literally, “Should I …?” In Danish, skal is the present form of skulle and can express obligation, a planned action, or—here, with a question—a request for guidance about what the speaker should do. jeg means “I” and is the subject of the question. The pattern Skal jeg + infinitive? is reusable: Skal jeg vente? = “Should I wait?” bruge means “use” here. It is the infinitive form; after the modal verb skal, Danish uses the infinitive without at: skal bruge, not skal at bruge. The same verb can be used with many objects, for example Jeg bruger telefonen = “I use the phone.” skærmen means “the screen.” The noun is skærm (“screen”); -en marks the definite singular form, “the screen.” Danish often expresses definiteness by adding an ending to the noun: en skærm = “a screen,” skærmen = “the screen.” The form skærmen itself does not indicate who owns or operates the screen. til at introduces the purpose of an action before an infinitive. In this sentence, til at betale means “in order to pay” or simply “to pay.” This purpose pattern is reusable: Jeg bruger telefonen til at ringe = “I use the phone to call.” The at belongs with the following infinitive; it is different from the infinitive-less construction after skal. betale means “pay.” It is the infinitive and keeps this form after at. For example, Jeg skal betale means “I have to pay” or “I am going to pay,” depending on context. Together, Skal jeg bruge skærmen asks whether the speaker should use the screen, and til at betale specifies the purpose of using it. The complete meaning is: “Should I use the screen to pay?”

4. Brug skærmen til højre for dig.

   Use the screen on your right.

   Brug

   use

   skærmen

   the screen

   til højre for dig

   on your right

   More detail

   Brug is the imperative of bruge, “to use.” The imperative gives a direct instruction and does not state who should carry it out; the context makes the addressee the intended user. Compare bruge (to use) with brug (use!). Example: Brug kortet. — “Use the card.” skærmen means “the screen” here. Its base form is skærm, “screen,” and the ending -en marks the definite singular form: en skærm (a screen) → skærmen (the screen). The noun itself carries this definiteness marking. Example: Jeg ser skærmen. — “I can see the screen.” til højre for dig identifies the screen’s position relative to the addressee: “on your right.” højre means “right” in this spatial expression, while for dig sets the person whose right side is used as the reference point. dig is the object form of the second-person pronoun corresponding to “you”; it does not identify a separate participant. The phrase til højre for ... is a reusable way to describe something as being to someone’s right. Example: Døren er til højre for dig. — “The door is on your right.” Together, the imperative Brug instructs the addressee to use skærmen, and til højre for dig specifies which screen by its position. The whole utterance therefore means: “Use the screen on your right.”

5. Posen virker for fuld.

   The bag feels too full.

   Posen

   the bag

   virker

   seems; feels

   for fuld

   too full

   More detail

   Posen is the definite singular form of pose, “bag”: en pose = “a bag”, posen = “the bag”. Danish definite nouns often add -en or -et to the noun, depending on the noun’s grammatical gender. Example: Jeg har en pose. — “I have a bag.” virker is the present-tense form of virke. Here it means “seems” or “feels” based on how the bag appears or gives an impression. The present form is used for the current assessment. Example: Det virker mærkeligt. — “That seems strange.” for fuld combines for, “too”, with fuld, “full”. Fuld describes the bag’s state; in this sentence it is the common-gender singular form used after virker. Related forms include fuldt with a neuter singular noun and fulde in contexts requiring the plural or definite adjective form. For expresses excess: the bag is full to an undesirable or excessive degree. Example: Tasken er for tung. — “The bag is too heavy.” Together, Posen virker says that the bag gives a particular impression, and for fuld specifies that impression as excessive fullness. The complete utterance means: “The bag feels too full.”

6. Jeg kan flytte den tunge vare til en anden pose.

   I can move the heavy item to another bag.

   Jeg kan

   I can

   flytte

   move

   den

   the

   tunge

   heavy

   vare

   item

   til

   to

   anden

   another

   pose

   bag

   More detail

   Jeg kan means “I can.” Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I”. Kan is the present-tense form of kunne (“can, be able to”). After this modal, Danish uses the infinitive without at: Jeg kan flytte = “I can move.” flytte is the infinitive “move”. It is the action presented as possible for the speaker under kan. For example, Jeg kan flytte stolen means “I can move the chair.” den is the common-gender singular form of the definite determiner “the” in this noun phrase. With an adjective before the noun, Danish uses a pattern such as den + adjective ending in -e + noun: den tunge vare. The form det is used with neuter singular nouns, while de is used with plural noun phrases. tunge means “heavy” here. Its base form is tung; tunge is the form used in this definite noun phrase and also in plural contexts. A neuter singular noun uses tungt, as in et tungt ..., whereas tung is used in the relevant indefinite common-gender singular pattern, as in en tung vare. vare means “item” here. It is a common-gender noun: en vare is “an item”, and varen is “the item”. In den tunge vare, the definiteness is marked by den together with the adjective form, so the noun itself remains vare rather than taking the definite ending. til means “to” when it introduces the destination of movement. The pattern flytte ... til ... is reusable for saying that something is moved to a destination. This til is different from the infinitive marker at, which is not used after the modal kan here. anden means “another” or “a different one” here. It is the common-gender singular form of the adjective/pronominal form anden; compare andet with a neuter singular noun and andre in plural contexts. With en pose, the common-gender form is anden. “Another” identifies a different bag, but it does not by itself assert a particular numerical count. pose means “bag”. It is a common-gender noun: en pose is “a bag”, posen is “the bag”, and poser is the plural “bags”. In en anden pose, en marks an indefinite common-gender singular noun phrase, while anden adds the meaning “another”. Together, Jeg kan flytte gives “I can move”, den tunge vare gives “the heavy item”, and til en anden pose gives “to another bag”. The complete utterance therefore means: “I can move the heavy item to another bag.”

7. Læg venligst tingene af glas i en separat pose.

   Please put the glass items in a separate bag.

   Læg

   put; place

   venligst

   please

   tingene

   the things; the items

   af glas

   made of glass

   separat

   separate

   pose

   bag

   More detail

   Læg is the imperative of lægge, “to put/place.” It gives the instruction directly to the listener. The present sentence uses the short command form; for example, Læg bogen her. means “Put the book here.” venligst politely softens the instruction: “please.” It is a polite adverb, not part of the verb’s inflection. Together, Læg venligst forms a reusable polite imperative pattern: “Please put …” tingene means “the items/things” here. Its base noun is ting (“thing/item”), and -ene marks the definite plural, so it refers to multiple specific items rather than one unspecified item. ting can be used for both ordinary things and objects such as the glass items in this sentence. af glas describes what the items are made of: “of glass” or “made of glass.” af introduces the material, while glas is the material noun here. This is a material description, not the noun phrase “a glass.” For example, en skål af glas means “a glass bowl.” separat means “separate” here and describes pose. In en separat pose, the adjective comes before the noun and has the form used with this singular indefinite noun phrase. A useful contrast is separate poser, “separate bags,” where the noun is plural. pose means “bag.” It appears in en separat pose, “a separate bag.” The article en identifies a singular common-gender noun phrase; by itself it does not assert a numerical count as a special emphasis. The sentence assembles as Læg venligst (“please put”) + tingene af glas (“the glass items”) + i en separat pose (“in a separate bag”). The complete meaning is: “Please put the glass items in a separate bag.”

8. Jeg skal nok være forsigtig, når jeg pakker dem i posen.

   I'll be careful while bagging them.

   Jeg skal nok

   I’ll / I will

   være

   be

   forsigtig

   careful

   når

   when / while

   pakker

   pack / bag

   dem

   them

   posen

   the bag

   More detail

   Jeg skal nok is a useful Danish construction for reassuring someone that the speaker will do something: “I’ll make sure to…” or “I will…”. Here, skal is the present form of skulle, used with nok to express confident assurance, not merely a bare prediction. Example: Jeg skal nok hjælpe. — “I’ll help.” være means “be” here. It is the infinitive form used after the modal skal; the pattern is skal + infinitive. Example: Hun skal være rolig. — “She must / will be calm,” with the exact force determined by context. forsigtig describes being careful. Here it is the common-gender singular form of the predicative adjective. Danish adjectives can show agreement in other contexts: Det er forsigtigt. — “It is careful,” and De er forsigtige. — “They are careful.” The pronoun jeg does not itself identify the speaker’s gender, but the observed adjective form is the common-gender singular form. A related contrast is uforsigtig, “careless,” but that is a separate word, not an inflection of forsigtig. når introduces a time clause meaning “when” or “while.” In this sentence it connects the assurance to the activity that will be taking place: når + clause. Example: Jeg læser, når jeg har tid. — “I read when I have time.” pakker is the present-tense form of pakke, “to pack.” Danish present-tense verbs generally do not change according to the subject, so jeg pakker means “I pack / I am packing,” while de pakker means “they pack / they are packing.” In this sentence, the present form is used inside the time clause for the packing activity. dem means “them” as a third-person plural object pronoun. The supplied context identifies the items as the glass things from the previous sentence, so dem refers to those items here. It is distinct from subject de, “they”: Jeg pakker dem. — “I pack them.” posen means “the bag.” It is the definite singular form of pose, “bag”: en pose means “a bag,” while posen means “the bag.” The definite ending is attached to the noun rather than expressed by a separate word. Together, Jeg skal nok være forsigtig gives the reassurance “I’ll be careful.” The time clause når jeg pakker dem i posen means “while I bag them in the bag”: pakker supplies the packing action, dem is its plural object, and posen is the definite bag used as the destination with i. The whole utterance therefore means, “I’ll be careful while bagging them.”