Renewing a library book | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Jeg vil gerne forny en bog, jeg har lånt.

   I'd like to renew a book I borrowed.

   Jeg vil gerne

   I would like to

   forny

   renew

   en bog

   a book

   lånt

   borrowed

   More detail

   Jeg vil gerne expresses the speaker’s polite wish: “I would like to …”. vil is the present form of ville, used here with the infinitive forny; gerne adds the willing or desired sense. This is a reusable pattern: Jeg vil gerne + infinitive (“I would like to + verb”). forny means “renew” here, specifically renew the borrowing period of the book. It is the infinitive form, which follows vil: vil forny. The same infinitive can be reused after other modal verbs, for example Du kan forny den — “You can renew it.” en bog means “a book”. bog is a common-gender singular noun, and en is its indefinite singular article. The article marks an indefinite noun, not a stated numerical count. A useful contrast is bogen, “the book”, with the definite ending in this noun form. lånt means “borrowed” in this sentence. Its base verb is låne, “to borrow”; lånt is the past participle. Together with har, in the preceding text jeg har lånt, it forms a perfect construction meaning “I have borrowed”. The subject jeg is the person who borrowed the book. For example, Jeg har lånt en bog means “I have borrowed a book.” Putting the parts together, Jeg vil gerne forny en bog, jeg har lånt. means “I’d like to renew a book I borrowed.” The main clause is Jeg vil gerne forny en bog (“I would like to renew a book”), and jeg har lånt identifies that book as one the speaker borrowed. The following sentence’s den refers back to this book.

2. Du kan forny den via din konto på nettet.

   You can renew it through your online account.

   Du kan

   you can

   forny

   renew

   den

   it

   via

   via; through

   din

   your

   konto

   account

   på

   on

   nettet

   the internet

   More detail

   Du kan means “you can.” Du is the second-person singular pronoun “you.” kan is the present form of kunne (“can; be able to”) and is used here as a modal auxiliary. Danish modal auxiliaries are followed by an infinitive: Du kan forny = “You can renew.” forny means “renew” here. It is the infinitive, which follows kan; the modal carries the finite present-tense marking, while forny does not change for the subject. The same verb appears in the preceding example forny en bog, “renew a book,” so it can be reused with different objects. den means “it” here. It is a singular common-gender object pronoun. Its specific real-world referent is not named in this sentence, but the translation establishes that it is the thing that can be renewed. Danish also has det for a singular neuter referent and dem for plural referents; the choice depends on the relevant noun’s grammatical form and number. via means “via; through” and introduces the channel or means used for the action. It is a preposition and does not itself indicate who owns the account. din means “your” before a singular common-gender noun. It is the possessive form agreeing with konto, not with the person who owns the account. Compare dit before a singular neuter noun and dine before a plural noun. konto means “account.” It is a common-gender noun; its indefinite form is en konto, while its definite form is kontoen (“the account”). In this sentence, din konto is definite in meaning because the possessive identifies the account, so Danish uses the possessive rather than a separate definite article. på means “on” in this expression. With nettet, the phrase på nettet is the ordinary Danish way to say “on the internet” or “online.” Its meaning here is not simply physical contact with a surface. nettet means “the internet” in this expression. It is the definite form of net in this use: net → nettet. The phrase på nettet is a useful fixed expression for describing an online channel. Together, Du kan forny den says “You can renew it,” and via din konto på nettet specifies the method: “through your online account.” The complete utterance therefore means, “You can renew it through your online account.”

3. Jeg kan ikke komme ind på min konto i dag.

   I can't get into my account today.

   Jeg kan ikke

   I can't

   komme ind

   get into

   min

   my

   konto

   account

   i dag

   today

   More detail

   Jeg kan ikke means “I cannot / I can’t” here. kan is the present-tense form of kunne, used for ability or possibility; ikke places the negation on the situation. Danish normally places ikke after a finite verb in this kind of main clause. Example: Jeg kan ikke komme. — “I can’t come.” komme ind means “get in” or “get into” a place or access-controlled thing. komme is the verb “come,” while ind adds the direction “in”; together they form a useful directional verb phrase. Example: Hun kan ikke komme ind. — “She can’t get in.” min means “my” before a singular common-gender noun. Its form agrees with the possessed noun, not with the possessor: min is used with a common-gender singular noun, mit with a neuter singular noun, and mine with a plural noun. Example: min konto — “my account.” konto means “account.” It is a noun and commonly appears with the common-gender article en, as in en konto; after the possessive, the noun appears without an article: min konto. i dag is the fixed time expression “today.” Example: Jeg arbejder i dag. — “I am working today.” Together, Jeg kan ikke expresses inability, komme ind specifies the blocked action, min konto identifies the account involved, and i dag places the situation today. The complete utterance therefore means that the speaker cannot access their account today.

4. Vi kan hjælpe dig ved skranken.

   We can help you at the desk.

   Vi kan

   we can

   hjælpe

   help

   dig

   you

   ved

   at; by

   skranken

   the desk

   More detail

   Vi kan means “we can.” Vi is the first-person plural pronoun “we”; unlike singular jeg (“I”), it refers to more than one speaker or to the speaker together with others. Kan is the present-tense form of kunne (“can, be able to”) and expresses present ability or possibility. After kan, the next verb is normally in the infinitive: Vi kan hjælpe = “We can help.” Hjælpe means “help.” It is the infinitive form of hjælpe; after a modal such as kan, Danish uses this form without an infinitive marker. For example, Jeg kan hjælpe means “I can help.” Dig means “you” as an object. It is the object form corresponding to the subject form du (“you”): Du hjælper mig means “You help me,” while Jeg hjælper dig means “I help you.” Here, dig is the person receiving the help. Ved means “at” or “by” when it introduces a place or position. In this sentence it introduces the location where the help can be provided. The preposition itself does not mean “desk”; that meaning comes from skranken. Skranken means “the desk” or “the counter.” It is the definite form of the noun skranke, “desk/counter.” Danish commonly marks definiteness by a suffix: en skranke is “a desk/counter,” while skranken is “the desk/counter.” The fixed translation identifies this as the desk where the assistance is available. Together, Vi kan hjælpe dig means “We can help you,” and ved skranken adds the location “at the desk.” The complete utterance therefore means “We can help you at the desk.”

5. Har jeg brug for mit lånerkort?

   Do I need my library card?

   Har jeg

   do I …? (question pattern)

   brug for

   need

   mit

   my

   lånerkort

   library card

   More detail

   Har jeg begins a yes/no question. Har is the present-tense form of have, and Danish places this verb before the subject jeg in this question pattern. The reusable pattern is Har + subject + ...?, for example: Har du brug for hjælp? — “Do you need help?” brug for is the fixed construction used with have to express needing something: have brug for = “need.” The following item names what is needed. In the utterance, brug for itself does not include the possessive or the card; those meanings come from the neighboring words. mit is the possessive form meaning “my” before a singular neuter noun. Danish possessives contrast as min with a singular common-gender noun, mit with a singular neuter noun, and mine with a plural noun. The form mit agrees with the noun it modifies, not with the speaker’s gender. lånerkort is a compound noun meaning “library card” in this context. Its singular neuter form is et lånerkort; with the possessive, Danish uses mit lånerkort (“my library card”). The compound is the item being needed. Together, Har jeg brug for mit lånerkort? asks whether the speaker needs their library card: “Do I need my library card?”

6. Tag dit kort med, så vi kan finde dine oplysninger.

   Bring your card so we can find your record.

   Tag … med

   bring along

   dit

   your

   kort

   card

   så vi kan

   so we can

   finde

   find

   dine

   your

   oplysninger

   information; record

   More detail

   Tag ... med is a reusable Danish way to say “bring/take ... along.” The verb is tage “to take,” whose imperative is tag; med adds the meaning “along.” Because the construction is split in this sentence, the object comes between the verb and med. Example: Tag paraplyen med. — “Bring the umbrella along.” dit means “your” before a neuter singular noun. Here it agrees with kort, which is neuter: et kort, “a card.” The possessive form is therefore dit, not din; compare din bog — “your book,” where bog is common gender. Possessive forms also include dine before plural nouns. kort means “card” here. Its base form is kort; the plural is also kort, so number is shown by the surrounding words rather than by a changed noun form in this example. Thus dit kort means “your card.” så vi kan introduces the purpose or intended result: “so that we can.” vi is the first-person plural pronoun “we,” and kan is the present form of kunne, “can/be able to.” After a modal such as kan, Danish uses the infinitive without at: Vi kan finde ... — “We can find ...” finde means “find.” It is the infinitive of finde, and it follows kan here. Example: Vi kan finde bogen. — “We can find the book.” dine means “your” before a plural noun. It agrees with the plural noun oplysninger, so dine oplysninger means “your information” or, in this context, “your record.” Compare singular dit kort with plural dine oplysninger. oplysninger is a plural noun meaning “information” or “details”; the fixed translation selects the context-appropriate sense “your record.” Its singular form is oplysning, “piece of information/detail.” Example: Jeg har flere oplysninger. — “I have more information.” Together, Tag dit kort med means “Bring your card along,” and så vi kan finde dine oplysninger gives the purpose: “so we can find your record.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Bring your card so we can find your record.”

7. Kan jeg så forny bogen i dag?

   Can I renew the book today after that?

   Kan jeg

   Can I

   så

   after that

   forny

   renew

   bogen

   the book

   i dag

   today

   More detail

   Kan jeg combines the modal verb kan (“can/be able to”) with the pronoun jeg (“I”). In a yes/no question, Danish places the finite verb before the subject: Kan jeg ...? means “Can I ...?” The same pattern is reusable with another action: Kan jeg komme ind? — “Can I come in?” så means “then” or “after that” here. It links this question to an earlier step or event; it is not the English conjunction “so” in the sense of “therefore” in this sentence. A reusable pattern is så + action, as in Så går vi. — “Then we’ll go.” forny means “renew.” It is the infinitive used after the modal kan; Danish modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without an infinitive marker equivalent to English “to.” The observed form is forny, while the present-tense form is fornyer: Jeg fornyer bogen. — “I am renewing the book.” bogen means “the book.” It is the definite singular form of the noun bog (“book”): bog → bogen. Danish commonly marks definiteness by an ending attached to the noun rather than by a separate word before it. For comparison, the indefinite form is en bog — “a book.” i dag means “today.” This is a time expression made from i (“in/on”) and dag (“day”); together they express the current day. For example, Jeg kommer i dag. — “I’m coming today.” Together, Kan jeg asks for permission or ability, så places the action after the relevant earlier step, forny bogen states the action and its definite object, and i dag gives the time. The whole utterance therefore means: “Can I renew the book today after that?”

8. Det kan du, medmindre en anden har reserveret den.

   You can, unless someone else has requested it.

   Det kan du

   You can

   medmindre

   unless

   en anden

   someone else

   har reserveret

   has reserved

   den

   it

   More detail

   Det kan du means “You can do that” in this exchange. du is the second-person singular pronoun, “you.” kan is the present-tense form of kunne, “can/be able to”; it expresses present ability or permission, depending on context. Det is a neuter singular pronoun meaning “it” or “that.” Here it points to the action under discussion—renewing the book—not to a newly named object. Danish can place a pronoun such as det first and the subject du after the modal: Det kan du. medmindre introduces an exception and means “unless.” It connects the permission or possibility in the first part with the condition that follows. Example: Jeg kommer, medmindre det regner. — “I’ll come unless it rains.” en anden means “someone else” here. anden is the form of anden used with the indefinite common-gender singular article en; it describes a different person from the one being addressed or otherwise understood in the situation. The phrase does not itself state how many other people there are. har reserveret means “has reserved” in this sentence. har is the present form of have, used here as an auxiliary, and reserveret is the past participle of reservere, “reserve.” This har + past participle construction presents a completed action as relevant now. Danish past participles such as reserveret do not change here to agree with the person who made the reservation. The fixed translation uses “requested,” but “reserved” is the direct meaning of the Danish verb in this context. den means “it” and is a singular common-gender object pronoun in Danish. With the supplied preceding question about renewing bogen (“the book”), it refers to the book. The pronoun’s grammatical form is common-gender singular; its specific referent comes from the context, not from the form alone. Together, Det kan du grants the action being discussed: “You can [renew the book].” medmindre en anden har reserveret den adds the exception: “unless someone else has requested/reserved it.” Thus the complete utterance means: “You can, unless someone else has requested it.”