Choosing a Movie Together | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Hvilken film skal vi se?

   Which movie should we watch?

   Hvilken

   which

   film

   movie; film

   skal vi

   should we

   se

   watch; see

   More detail

   Hvilken means “which” when selecting one item from a known or implied set. It is the common-gender singular form of the Danish interrogative determiner; with a neuter singular noun, use hvilket, and with plural nouns, use hvilke. Example: Hvilken bog læser du? — “Which book are you reading?” film is the noun “film” or “movie.” In Hvilken film, it is an indefinite singular noun, and hvilken agrees with its common gender and singular number. The same form film can also be used for the indefinite plural in Danish; the definite forms are filmen (“the film”) and filmene (“the films”). skal vi combines skal, a modal verb, with vi, “we.” Here skal asks what the speakers ought to or are going to do, so the combination is naturally translated as “should we.” Vi is the first-person plural subject, referring to the speaker together with at least one other person. The modal pattern is reusable: Skal vi spise? — “Shall we eat?” se means “see” or “watch.” It is the infinitive form used after the modal skal; Danish does not add an English-style infinitive marker here. In this sentence, the movie context makes “watch” the natural translation. Example: Vi skal se en film. — “We are going to watch a film.” Together, Hvilken film asks the choice of movie, while skal vi se asks what the speaker and the other person should or are going to watch. The complete meaning is “Which movie should we watch?”

2. Jeg vil gerne se noget let, måske en komedie.

   I want something light, maybe a comedy.

   Jeg vil gerne

   I would like to

   se

   see; watch

   noget

   something

   let

   light

   måske

   maybe

   komedie

   comedy

   More detail

   Jeg vil gerne is a reusable Danish way to express a wish: “I would like to.” Jeg means “I”; vil is the present-tense form of ville, and gerne helps express that the subject wants to do or have something. For example: Jeg vil gerne have kaffe. — “I would like coffee.” se means “see” or, in this film context, “watch.” It is the infinitive used after vil: Jeg vil gerne se ... — “I would like to watch ...”. noget means “something.” It is an indefinite pronoun referring to an unspecified thing. In noget let, it introduces the unspecified thing described by let. let means “light” here, in the sense of a light or easy-to-watch choice. The adjective has the same singular form let with both common-gender and neuter nouns; lette is used in plural and definite attributive forms. Here let has the form required with neuter noget. For example: noget varmt — “something warm.” måske means “maybe” or “perhaps.” Here it presents en komedie as a possible suggestion rather than the definite choice. For example: Måske i morgen. — “Maybe tomorrow.” komedie means “comedy.” With the indefinite article en, en komedie means “a comedy.” This is a common-gender noun; its definite singular form is komedien (“the comedy”), and its plural is komedier (“comedies”). Together, Jeg vil gerne se expresses the speaker’s wish to watch something, noget let specifies that it should be light, and måske en komedie offers a comedy as one possible suggestion. The complete meaning is: “I want something light, maybe a comedy.”

3. Denne film har gode anmeldelser og tydelige undertekster.

   This film has strong reviews and clear subtitles.

   Denne

   this

   film

   film

   har

   has

   gode

   good; strong

   anmeldelser

   reviews

   tydelige

   clear

   undertekster

   subtitles

   More detail

   Denne means “this” here and points to one nearby or contextually identified common-gender noun. It is the common-gender singular form; compare dette with a neuter singular noun and disse with plural nouns. Example: Denne bog er interessant. — “This book is interesting.” film is the noun “film.” Its plural is film as well, so the form must be understood from context; here denne shows that it is singular. Example: Jeg ser en film. — “I am watching a film.” har is the present-tense form of have, “to have.” It is used with all subjects in the present, rather than changing for person: jeg har, du har, and de har. In this sentence it expresses what the film has: reviews and subtitles. gode is a form of god, “good.” In this sentence the fixed translation renders the reviews as “strong,” a natural meaning in this context. The form gode agrees with plural anmeldelser; the adjective also has god in the basic form and godt with a neuter singular noun. Example: Filmen har gode skuespillere. — “The film has good actors.” anmeldelser means “reviews.” It is the plural of anmeldelse. The plural is required because the sentence refers to reviews in the plural. Example: Jeg læser anmeldelser. — “I read reviews.” tydelige means “clear.” It is the plural form of tydelig here, agreeing with plural undertekster. A useful contrast is tydelig tekst — “clear text” — versus tydelige tekster — “clear texts.” undertekster means “subtitles.” It is the plural of undertekst. The sentence therefore presents subtitles as another thing the film has; it does not specify their number beyond the plural form. Together, Denne film har gode anmeldelser og tydelige undertekster means “This film has strong reviews and clear subtitles.” Denne film identifies the film, har states what it has, and og joins the two coordinated noun phrases gode anmeldelser and tydelige undertekster. The adjectives are plural because each describes a plural noun.

4. Kan vi se traileren, før vi vælger?

   Can we watch the trailer before we choose?

   Kan vi

   Can we…?

   se

   watch

   traileren

   the trailer

   før

   before

   vælger

   choose

   More detail

   Kan vi starts a yes/no question. kan is the present form of kunne (“can, be able to”), and vi means “we”. In a question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Kan vi ...? Compare the statement order Vi kan ... (“We can ...”). se is the infinitive of se (“see”). After kan, Danish uses the infinitive without an infinitive marker: Vi kan se filmen means “We can watch the film.” Here se is understood as watching the trailer because of the noun that follows. traileren means “the trailer”. The base noun is trailer; its definite singular form is traileren, formed with the ending -en. The ending marks one definite common-gender noun; it is not a separate word. The related indefinite form is en trailer (“a trailer”). før means “before” and connects two events in time. In Kan vi se traileren, før vi vælger?, the viewing is presented as happening earlier than the choosing. It can connect two clauses, as in før vi går (“before we leave”). vælger is the present form of vælge (“choose”). Danish present-tense verbs generally do not change for person or number, so vi vælger means “we choose”, while jeg vælger means “I choose”. Here, the present form describes the choosing in the time relationship established by før. Together, Kan vi se traileren asks whether the speakers can watch the trailer, and før vi vælger places their choosing after that viewing. The whole utterance therefore means: “Can we watch the trailer before we choose?”

5. Traileren bør hjælpe os med at beslutte os.

   The trailer should help us decide.

   Traileren

   the trailer

   bør

   should

   hjælpe

   help

   os

   us

   beslutte os

   decide

   More detail

   Traileren is the definite singular form of trailer: en trailer means “a trailer,” while traileren means “the trailer.” The ending -en marks common-gender definiteness here. In this sentence it is the subject, the thing expected to provide help. bør expresses what is advisable or expected: “should” or “ought to.” It is a modal verb and is followed by an infinitive without at, as in Du bør vente (“You should wait”). It does not by itself assert that the action will definitely happen. hjælpe is the infinitive “to help.” After the modal bør, it stays in this form rather than taking a personal ending. The pattern bør hjælpe means “should help.” os is the object form of the first-person plural pronoun, “us.” Compare vi (“we”) when the group is the subject with os when the group receives an action: Hun hjælper os means “She helps us.” beslutte os is the reflexive construction meaning “decide.” The verb beslutte means “to decide,” and the reflexive pronoun identifies the decision-makers as the same people represented by os: “we decide.” Other persons use the matching reflexive form, for example at beslutte sig (“to decide” for he, she, or they) and at beslutte mig (“to decide” for me). Here os specifically marks first-person plural. The construction hjælpe os med at means “help us to.” After med at, beslutte is an infinitive, and os belongs with the reflexive decision construction rather than meaning a separate group being helped. Together, the subject “the trailer,” the modal “should,” and the help construction express that the trailer is expected to help the speaker’s group reach a decision.

6. Historien ser sjov ud, men den er ikke for svær.

   The story looks fun but not too difficult.

   Historien

   the story

   ser … ud

   looks / seems

   sjov

   fun

   den

   it

   ikke

   not

   for

   too

   svær

   difficult

   More detail

   Historien means “the story” here. It is the definite singular form of historie (“story”): Danish commonly marks definiteness with a suffix, so historie becomes historien. The ending also shows that this is a common-gender singular noun; it is not an independent word meaning “the.” ser ... ud is a reusable Danish construction meaning “looks” or “appears.” The verb is se (“to see”); ser is its present-tense form, and ud completes the appearance-related construction. The two parts are separated in this sentence, but they work together: Det ser godt ud means “It looks good.” sjov means “fun” in this sentence. It is an adjective describing the story’s apparent character. In Danish, the form agrees with the noun in relevant contexts: compare common-gender singular en sjov film (“a fun film”) with neuter singular et sjovt spil (“a fun game”) and plural sjove film (“fun films”). den is a third-person singular pronoun referring here to the story. Its common-gender form agrees with historien; the pronoun’s grammatical form does not by itself mean “story,” but the fixed translation identifies its referent in this utterance. A useful contrast is det for a neuter-gender singular referent. ikke is the ordinary Danish negation “not.” It reverses the statement that follows in this clause: the story is described as not being too difficult. for means “too” here, as a degree adverb. The pattern for + adjective expresses an excessive degree: for dyr means “too expensive.” This is different from før, which means “before” or “earlier.” svær means “difficult” here. It is the base form of the adjective. Its comparison forms are sværere (“more difficult”) and sværest (“most difficult”); for example, Denne opgave er sværere means “This task is more difficult.” Together, den er ikke for svær means “it is not too difficult,” while Historien ser sjov ud means “the story looks fun.” The complete utterance therefore means: “The story looks fun but not too difficult.” men links the two descriptions with “but,” presenting a positive impression of the story alongside the judgment that its difficulty is not excessive.

7. Så vælger vi denne film.

   Then let's choose this film.

   Så

   then

   vælger

   choose

   vi

   we

   denne

   this

   film

   film

   More detail

   Så means “then” here. It links the choice to what has just been established and introduces the next step. In other sentences, it can also connect events in sequence: Så går vi. — “Then we go.” vælger is the present-tense form of vælge, “to choose.” Danish present tense can describe a decision or proposal in context; with vi and the surrounding meaning, it gives the intended “let’s choose,” rather than functioning as a separate imperative form. The useful chain is vælge → vælger (present tense): Vi vælger en film. — “We choose a film.” vi means “we,” the first-person plural subject. Here it identifies the participants who make the choice. Danish present-tense verbs do not change their form for the subject’s person or number, so a different subject does not by itself require a different present-tense form of vælge. denne means “this” and is the singular common-gender form of the demonstrative. Here it agrees with film, which is a common-gender noun (en film). The corresponding neuter singular form is dette, while the plural form is disse: denne film — “this film”; dette program — “this program”; disse film — “these films.” film means “film” or “movie.” As a common-gender singular noun, it can be introduced with en: en film. Its definite singular form is filmen, “the film.” Together, Så vælger vi denne film. has the order “Then choose we this film” in Danish word order, with vi as the subject and vælger as the present-tense verb. In the intended English meaning, the whole utterance is “Then let’s choose this film.”

8. Lad os få en snack, før den starter.

   Let's get a snack before it starts.

   Lad os

   let’s

   få

   get

   snack

   snack

   før

   before

   den

   it

   starter

   starts

   More detail

   Lad os is a reusable way to make a suggestion: literally “let us,” and naturally “let’s.” Lad is the imperative of lade (“let”); os is the object form meaning “us.” The following verb expresses the suggested action: Lad os gå means “Let’s go.” få means “get” here, in the sense of obtaining or having something. Its base form is få; it is also used after lad os, as in Lad os få kaffe (“Let’s get/have coffee”). The exact English choice can depend on the object and situation. snack is a noun meaning “snack.” In this sentence it combines with the indefinite article en: en snack (“a snack”). The article marks an indefinite noun, not a stated numerical count as such. før introduces a time clause and means “before.” A reusable pattern is før + clause, for example før vi går (“before we leave”). den is a third-person singular pronoun with common-gender form. Here, the preceding context identifies it as the film that was selected, so den means “it.” Danish pronouns must match relevant grammatical features of their referents; den is used for a common-gender singular referent, while det is used for a neuter singular referent. starter means “starts.” It is the present-tense form of starte; with a third-person singular subject, den starter means “it starts.” Danish present tense can refer to a scheduled or expected future event, so this form works in “before it starts.” Together, Lad os få en snack suggests getting or having a snack, and før den starter sets the time limit: “before it starts.” The complete utterance is therefore “Let’s get a snack before it starts.”