Giving a taxi driver clear directions | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kan du sætte os af nær klinikkens indgang, tak?

   Could you drop us near the clinic entrance, please?

   Kan du

   Could you

   sætte … af

   drop off

   os

   us

   nær

   near

   klinikkens

   the clinic’s

   indgang

   entrance

   tak

   please

   More detail

   Kan du begins a yes/no question with the modal verb kan (“can/could”) before the subject du (“you”). In this utterance, kan makes the request polite; it is not simply a statement about physical ability. After a modal verb, the next verb is in the infinitive form. sætte ... af is the separable verb construction meaning “drop off”. The infinitive sætte appears after kan, while the particle af comes later in the sentence. In another sentence, the same pattern can be reused with a different object: Kan du sætte hende af? — “Could you drop her off?” os is the first-person plural object pronoun, “us”. It is the object of sætte ... af: the people being dropped off. The corresponding subject form is vi (“we”); Danish uses os rather than vi when the group receives the action. nær is a preposition meaning “near” or “close to”. It introduces the location used as the destination reference here. For example, Vi bor nær stationen. means “We live near the station.” klinikkens means “the clinic’s” or “of the clinic”. It is formed from the noun klinik (“clinic”) with the possessive ending -s; the spelling includes the doubled k: klinik → klinikkens. This ending marks the clinic as the possessor of what follows. indgang means “entrance”. It is a noun referring here to the entrance belonging to the clinic. In a different sentence, indgangen means “the entrance” with the Danish definite ending -en: Indgangen er åben. — “The entrance is open.” tak literally means “thanks/thank you” and is commonly used at the end of a request as “please”. Here it softens the request rather than describing a separate action. Together, Kan du + the infinitive verb phrase sætte os af forms a polite request: “Could you drop us off”. nær klinikkens indgang specifies the place, “near the clinic entrance”, and final tak adds “please”. The complete utterance therefore means: “Could you drop us near the clinic entrance, please?”

2. Er det lige efter det store kryds?

   Is that just past the main intersection?

   Er det

   is that

   lige efter

   just past

   store

   large

   kryds

   intersection

   More detail

   Er det is a reusable Danish way to ask whether something is the case: literally, “Is it/that?” Here, det is the pronoun used for the thing being located, and the translation identifies that thing as “that.” The verb er is the present form of være (“to be”). A useful contrast is Er det her? — “Is it here?” lige efter combines lige (“just”) with efter (“after” or “past”). Together they indicate a location immediately beyond a reference point, not merely any place after it. In a route description, efter can therefore correspond to “past”: lige efter banken means “just past the bank.” store describes kryds here as “large/main.” It is the form of the adjective stor used with the neuter singular noun kryds; the neuter form is stort, but the form shown here is store because the noun phrase has the definite form det ... kryds. Compare the indefinite phrase et stort kryds (“a large intersection”) with the definite phrase det store kryds (“the large/main intersection”). kryds means “intersection” in this location context. Its definite form is krydset, as in efter krydset (“past the intersection”). In the fixed utterance, the noun appears after the adjective inside det store kryds. The chunks combine as Er det lige efter det store kryds?: “Is that just past the main intersection?” The question asks whether the indicated place is immediately beyond the specified intersection. The following route instruction uses the same spatial pattern with efter: Drej til venstre efter banken. — “Turn left past the bank.”

3. Drej til venstre efter banken.

   Turn left after the bank.

   Drej

   turn

   til venstre

   left

   efter

   after

   banken

   the bank

   More detail

   Drej is the imperative of dreje, “to turn.” It gives a direction to the listener: Drej ... = “Turn ...”. Example: Drej til højre. — “Turn right.” til venstre means “to the left” or, in a direction instruction, simply “left.” The pattern til + direction is reusable: til højre means “to the right.” Here, venstre names the left-hand direction; it is not a verb. efter means “after” in this route instruction. It places the turn beyond the landmark named next. Example: Drej efter skolen. — “Turn after the school.” banken means “the bank.” Its base noun is bank; the ending -en marks the common-gender singular definite form: en bank = “a bank,” banken = “the bank.” The ending belongs to the noun, not to efter. Together, Drej til venstre efter banken. forms an imperative direction: Drej (“turn”) + til venstre (“left”) + efter banken (“after the bank”). The complete meaning is “Turn left after the bank.”

4. Følg så vejen mod apoteket.

   Then follow the road toward the pharmacy.

   Følg

   follow

   så

   then

   vejen

   the road

   mod

   toward

   apoteket

   the pharmacy

   More detail

   Følg is the imperative of følge, “to follow.” The imperative gives a direct instruction; Danish commonly forms it from the verb stem, so følg is used to address one or more people. Example: Følg pilen. — “Follow the arrow.” så means “then” here. It is a time/order adverb that places this instruction after an earlier step. It is different from a word meaning “so” when that word expresses a result or degree; the intended meaning in this sentence is temporal. vejen means “the road” here. Its base noun is vej, “road,” and vejen is the definite singular form: en vej — “a road”; vejen — “the road.” The ending -en marks definiteness for this common-gender noun. mod means “toward.” It introduces the direction in which something is followed or moves: gå mod byen — “walk toward the town.” It indicates direction, not necessarily arrival at the destination. apoteket means “the pharmacy” here. Its base noun is apotek, “pharmacy,” and the definite singular form is apoteket: et apotek — “a pharmacy”; apoteket — “the pharmacy.” The ending -et marks definiteness for this neuter noun. Together, Følg vejen gives the instruction “follow the road.” mod apoteket specifies its direction, “toward the pharmacy,” and så places this step next in the sequence. The whole utterance therefore means: “Then follow the road toward the pharmacy.”

5. Skal jeg fortsætte ligeud efter svinget?

   Should I keep going straight after the turn?

   Skal jeg

   Should I…?

   fortsætte

   continue; keep going

   ligeud

   straight ahead

   efter

   after

   svinget

   the turn

   More detail

   Skal jeg combines the present-tense modal verb skal with the subject pronoun jeg (“I”). In this question, it asks whether the speaker should do the following action. A reusable pattern is Skal jeg + infinitive...? — “Should I ...?” Example: Skal jeg dreje her? — “Should I turn here?” fortsætte means “continue” or “keep going” here. It is the infinitive form, used after the modal skal; the present form is fortsætter. Example: Jeg fortsætter. — “I’m continuing” or “I’ll keep going,” depending on context. ligeud is an adverb meaning “straight ahead.” It describes the direction of continuing. Example: Gå ligeud. — “Go straight ahead.” efter is a preposition meaning “after.” In efter svinget, it introduces the point in the route that comes after the action or location being discussed. Example: Vi mødes efter mødet. — “We’ll meet after the meeting.” svinget means “the turn” here. The base noun is sving; the ending -et marks the singular definite form, corresponding to “the” with this noun. Thus et sving is “a turn,” while svinget is “the turn.” Together, Skal jeg fortsætte ligeud asks whether the speaker should keep going straight, and efter svinget specifies that this should be done after the turn. The whole utterance therefore means: “Should I keep going straight after the turn?”

6. Fortsæt, til apoteket er på din højre side.

   Keep going until the pharmacy is on your right.

   Fortsæt

   Keep going

   til

   until

   apoteket

   the pharmacy

   er

   is

   på

   on

   din

   your

   højre

   right

   side

   side

   More detail

   Fortsæt is the imperative of fortsætte, meaning “to continue.” The imperative gives a direct instruction: Fortsæt! = “Keep going!” The form does not mark the person being addressed. til introduces the endpoint of the action in time or space. Here it means “until,” introducing the point at which the instruction changes or ends: Vent, til han kommer. = “Wait until he comes.” apoteket means “the pharmacy.” Its base noun is apotek; the ending -et marks the singular definite form: et apotek = “a pharmacy,” apoteket = “the pharmacy.” The definite form identifies a particular pharmacy in this route instruction. er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” It links the pharmacy with its location: Apoteket er her. = “The pharmacy is here.” på means “on” here, as in a position relative to a side or surface. In på din højre side, it helps express that something is located on the listener’s right-hand side. din means “your” for one person and agrees with a singular common-gender noun. Danish uses dit with a singular neuter noun and dine with plural nouns; the possessive itself marks the owner, not a numeric quantity. højre means “right” in the directional sense. It contrasts with venstre, “left.” In din højre side, it specifies which side is meant. side means “side.” It is a common-gender noun: en side; its definite form is siden. In this phrase, it refers to the right-hand side relative to the person being addressed. Together, til apoteket er på din højre side means “until the pharmacy is on your right.” The full sentence combines the imperative Fortsæt with this endpoint clause: “Keep going until the pharmacy is on your right.”

7. Hvor vil du gerne have, at jeg stopper?

   Where would you like me to stop?

   Hvor

   where

   vil du gerne

   would you like

   have

   have

   jeg

   I

   stopper

   stop

   More detail

   Hvor asks for a place: “where.” It can introduce a question about location, as here. For example, Hvor bor du? means “Where do you live?” vil du gerne is a polite way to ask what someone would like. vil is the present form of ville, while gerne adds the sense of being willing or pleased to do something. The reusable pattern is vil du gerne + infinitive?, for example Vil du gerne vente? — “Would you like to wait?” have is the infinitive of at have, “to have.” In vil ... have, at ..., it introduces a desired situation: literally, “would you like to have that ...” In this sentence, that construction means “would you like ... to ...,” rather than possession. jeg is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” It is the subject of the following clause and identifies the person who is to stop. Danish jeg does not change for grammatical gender. stopper is the present form of at stoppe, “to stop.” Here the present form appears in the clause introduced by at, but the desired stopping is understood from the surrounding vil ... have construction. The subject is jeg, so the clause says that I stop; stopper is not an imperative addressed to the listener. For example, Jeg stopper her. means “I stop here.” Together, Hvor asks for the location, vil du gerne have asks what location the listener wants, and at jeg stopper specifies the desired action by the speaker. The complete meaning is: “Where would you like me to stop?”

8. Du kan stoppe hvor som helst i nærheden af hoveddøren.

   Anywhere near the front door is fine.

   Du kan

   you can

   stoppe

   stop

   hvor som helst

   anywhere

   i nærheden af

   near

   hoveddøren

   the front door

   More detail

   Du kan means “you can” here. du is the second-person singular pronoun, and kan is the present form of kunne (“can; be able to”). With an infinitive, kan forms a modal construction: Du kan + infinitive means that you are able or permitted to do something. Example: Du kan vente her. — “You can wait here.” stoppe means “to stop.” It is the infinitive used after the modal kan; the form itself does not mark the subject or tense here. Example: Jeg vil stoppe. — “I want to stop.” hvor som helst is a reusable expression meaning “anywhere” or, with a location, “wherever.” In this sentence it indicates that the stopping place may be any place within the stated area. Example: Du kan sidde hvor som helst. — “You can sit anywhere.” i nærheden af means “near” or “in the vicinity of.” It introduces the place used as the reference point. The preposition af is part of this fixed expression, so the pattern is i nærheden af + place. Example: Skolen ligger i nærheden af stationen. — “The school is near the station.” hoveddøren means “the front door.” It is the definite form of hoveddør (“front door”): hoveddør → hoveddøren. The ending marks one definite door, not merely a front door in general. Example: Hoveddøren er åben. — “The front door is open.” Together, Du kan stoppe says “you can stop,” hvor som helst expands that to “anywhere,” and i nærheden af hoveddøren limits the location to the area near the front door. The whole utterance therefore means: “You can stop anywhere near the front door,” matching the fixed translation “Anywhere near the front door is fine.”

9. Jeg kan holde ind lige forbi indgangen.

   I can pull over just beyond the entrance.

   Jeg kan

   I can

   holde ind

   pull over

   lige forbi

   just beyond

   indgangen

   the entrance

   More detail

   Jeg kan combines the first-person pronoun jeg (“I”) with kan, the present form of kunne (“can; be able to”). In this sentence, kan expresses ability or possibility. The same form is used with different subjects: jeg kan (“I can”), du kan (“you can”), and hun kan (“she can”). After kan, Danish normally uses the infinitive without at: Jeg kan holde ind means “I can pull over.” holde ind is a separable-looking verb phrase whose meaning here is “pull over” or “stop at the side of the road.” The verb is holde; ind specifies the direction or resulting position. In the present tense, the phrase is holder ind: Jeg holder ind means “I am pulling over.” After the modal kan, the infinitive holde ind remains unchanged. lige forbi means “just beyond” or “just past.” lige narrows the location, while forbi describes passing beyond a point. The phrase can be reused with other locations, for example lige forbi skolen — “just past the school.” indgangen means “the entrance.” Its base noun is indgang; the ending -en marks the definite singular form, “the entrance.” The noun is an en-noun: en indgang is “an entrance,” while indgangen is “the entrance.” The form indgangen does not itself state who owns or uses the entrance. Together, Jeg kan holde ind gives “I can pull over,” and lige forbi indgangen locates that action just beyond the entrance. The whole utterance therefore means: “I can pull over just beyond the entrance.”