Asking about the waiting time | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Undskyld, hvor lang er den forventede ventetid?

   Excuse me, what is the estimated waiting time?

   Undskyld

   Excuse me

   hvor lang

   how long

   den

   the

   forventede

   estimated

   ventetid

   waiting time

   More detail

   Undskyld is the polite form used here to get someone's attention before a question. It is related to the verb undskylde “to excuse/apologize”; undskyld is also used independently as “excuse me” or “sorry.” hvor lang asks about duration or length. lang is the adjective “long”; its forms include lang (common-gender singular), langt (neuter singular), and lange (plural or definite contexts). Here lang describes the duration of ventetid, a common-gender singular noun. Example: Hvor lang er pausen? — “How long is the break?” The question pattern hvor + adjective + er + noun phrase? asks for the degree or measurement associated with the noun phrase. In this sentence, er means “is” and links the question phrase to what is being measured. den is the definite article “the” for a common-gender singular noun. In den forventede ventetid, it marks the noun phrase as definite; it does not itself state a numerical quantity. forventede means “expected” here. Its base form is forvente “to expect,” and forventet is the related participial adjective “expected.” In a definite noun phrase such as den forventede ventetid, the adjective has the definite form forventede. The form agrees with the definite noun phrase rather than with the separate adjective lang. ventetid means “waiting time.” It is a compound noun built from vente “wait” and tid “time,” and it is common gender: en ventetid, ventetiden. In this sentence it is the thing whose duration is being asked about. Together, hvor lang er den forventede ventetid? literally asks how long the expected waiting time is. With the opening Undskyld, the complete utterance is: “Excuse me, what is the estimated waiting time?”

2. Cirka ti minutter, måske lidt længere.

   About ten minutes, maybe a little longer.

   Cirka

   about; approximately

   ti

   ten

   minutter

   minutes

   måske

   maybe

   lidt

   a little

   længere

   longer

   More detail

   Cirka means “approximately” and softens the precision of the estimate. It can be reused before a number: cirka fem minutter = “about five minutes.” ti is the number “ten.” In ti minutter, it specifies the amount of time. minutter means “minutes.” Its singular form is minut, while minutter is the plural form. A useful pattern is [number] minutter, for example: Tre minutter. = “Three minutes.” måske means “maybe” and marks the following information as uncertain: Måske i morgen. = “Maybe tomorrow.” lidt means “a little” or “slightly.” Here it modifies the comparison in lidt længere, meaning “a little longer,” rather than naming a separate amount of time. længere is the comparative form of lang (“long”): lang = “long,” længere = “longer.” In this utterance it describes a duration longer than the approximately ten minutes already mentioned. For example, Mødet var lidt længere. = “The meeting was a little longer.” Together, Cirka ti minutter gives an approximate duration: “About ten minutes.” Måske lidt længere adds a possibility that the duration will exceed that estimate slightly. The complete utterance is therefore: “About ten minutes, maybe a little longer.” The sentence is a concise answer about expected waiting time, with the duration understood from the context.

3. Jeg har en anden aftale bagefter.

   I have another appointment after this.

   Jeg har

   I have

   anden

   another; different

   aftale

   appointment; agreement

   bagefter

   afterward

   More detail

   Jeg har uses har, the present-tense form of have, with Jeg (“I”). Together here it states that the speaker has another appointment arranged. A useful pattern is Jeg har ... = “I have ...”; for example, Jeg har tid. means “I have time.” anden means “another” here: one more appointment, distinct from the one already relevant in the situation. It is the common-gender singular form of anden. The related forms are andet with a neuter singular noun and andre with plural nouns; for example, en anden dag means “another day,” while et andet sted means “another place.” The form agrees with the noun it describes, not with the speaker. aftale is a common-gender noun meaning “appointment” in this sentence. Its base form is aftale; the same word can also mean an “agreement” in a different context. With the indefinite article, en aftale means “an appointment,” without by itself specifying a numerical count beyond the indefinite reference. For example, Jeg har en aftale. means “I have an appointment.” bagefter is a temporal adverb meaning “afterward” or, in this sentence, “after this.” It places the appointment after the relevant event or time. It does not change form for the speaker or the noun. Together, Jeg har en anden aftale bagefter means “I have another appointment after this.” The structure is: “I have” + “another appointment” + a time adverb indicating that it comes afterward.

4. Hvis det er for sent, kan du komme tilbage efter frokost.

   If that is too late, you can come back after lunch.

   Hvis

   if

   det

   that

   for sent

   too late

   kan du

   you can

   komme tilbage

   come back

   efter

   after

   frokost

   lunch

   More detail

   Hvis introduces a condition: “if …”. It is reusable at the beginning of a conditional clause, for example: Hvis du har tid, kan vi tale. — “If you have time, we can talk.” det means “that” here, matching the fixed translation. It is a neuter singular pronoun/determiner form. Its grammatical form is clear, but the supplied sentence does not identify exactly what “that” refers to; do not automatically assign it to a nearby noun. In Hvis det er ..., it functions as the subject of er. for sent means “too late”. for means “too” in this pattern, while sent is the form used with the meaning “late”. The related time forms are senere — “later” — and senest — “at the latest”. Example: Det er for sent. — “It is too late.” kan du combines kan, the present-tense form of the modal verb kunne (“can, be able to”), with du, “you”. Kan expresses ability or possibility here. In the main clause, kan comes before the subject du, producing the question-like word order required after the initial conditional clause; the sentence itself is a statement, not a question. komme tilbage means “come back”. komme is the infinitive of “come”, and tilbage adds the meaning “back”. After the modal kan, the following verb stays in the infinitive: Du kan komme tilbage. — “You can come back.” efter means “after” and introduces what follows in time. It can be used with a noun, as in efter frokost (“after lunch”), or with another time expression, as in efter mødet (“after the meeting”). frokost is the noun “lunch”. Danish nouns often appear without an article when used in a general time expression such as efter frokost. Example: Vi mødes efter frokost. — “We will meet after lunch.” Together, Hvis det er for sent sets the condition “If that is too late”. The main clause kan du komme tilbage efter frokost says “you can come back after lunch”. The whole utterance is therefore: “If that is too late, you can come back after lunch.”

5. Ville jeg beholde min plads, hvis jeg kom tilbage senere?

   Would I keep my place if I came back later?

   Ville jeg

   would I

   beholde

   keep

   min

   my

   plads

   place

   hvis

   if

   kom tilbage

   came back

   senere

   later

   More detail

   Ville jeg combines ville with the subject jeg (“I”). Ville is the past form of vil and is used here as a conditional modal, “would.” In a yes/no question, the modal comes before the subject: Ville jeg ...? (“Would I ...?”). The following verb stays in the infinitive. beholde means “keep” or “retain.” It is the infinitive after the modal ville; the form does not show person or number here. Example: Jeg vil beholde den. — “I want to keep it.” min means “my” and agrees with the noun it modifies. It is the form used with a singular common-gender noun; compare mit with a singular neuter noun and mine with plural nouns. Here it belongs to plads, not to the speaker’s gender. plads means “place” or “spot.” In this utterance it refers to the speaker’s place, as established by min. It is a common-gender noun: en plads, pladsen (“a place,” “the place”). Example: Er der en ledig plads? — “Is there an available place?” hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” A reusable pattern is hvis ... for the condition under which something happens or would happen. kom tilbage means “came back” or “returned.” Kom is the past form of komme (“come”); Danish uses the same past form for all persons and numbers. Tilbage means “back” and completes the direction-of-return meaning. Example: Hun kom tilbage senere. — “She came back later.” senere means “later,” referring to a time after the relevant current or earlier time. It is also the comparative form related to sen (“late”): sen — “late,” senere — “later,” senest — “latest.” Together, Ville jeg beholde min plads asks whether the speaker would retain their place. hvis jeg kom tilbage senere gives the condition: if the speaker returned later. The whole utterance therefore means, “Would I keep my place if I came back later?” The main clause uses conditional ville, while the condition uses the past form kom in this hypothetical construction.

6. Så skal du tage en ny billet efter frokost.

   You would need to take a new ticket after lunch.

   Så

   then

   skal du

   you need to

   tage

   take

   ny

   new

   billet

   ticket

   efter

   after

   frokost

   lunch

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links this utterance to what has just been established: under that condition, the next consequence is introduced. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, so its exact English rendering depends on the relation between clauses. skal du combines the modal verb skal with the second-person singular pronoun du. Skal is the present-tense form of skulle; with an infinitive, it can express necessity or what someone is required to do. Here, the fixed translation presents that necessity as “would need to.” Danish verb forms do not change for the person after skal: jeg skal, du skal, and de skal all use skal, while the pronoun identifies the person. Du is the singular informal “you” form; the plural “you” form is I. tage is the infinitive “to take.” After a modal such as skal, Danish uses the infinitive without an infinitive marker equivalent to English “to”: skal tage means “need to take.” The infinitive is not the form that marks the subject here; du supplies the subject. ny is the adjective “new” in the form used with the common-gender singular indefinite noun billet. Danish adjective forms include ny with a common-gender singular noun, nyt with a neuter singular noun, and nye in the plural or with a definite noun. For example, en ny bog means “a new book,” while et nyt brev means “a new letter.” billet is a noun meaning “ticket.” Its indefinite singular form is used after en: en billet means “a ticket”; the definite singular is billetten, “the ticket,” and the plural is billetter, “tickets.” The phrase here specifies a new ticket, without asserting a particular numerical count beyond the singular form of the noun phrase. efter is a preposition meaning “after.” In this utterance it introduces a later time, not a destination or a person: efter frokost means “after lunch.” The same preposition can also express sequence in other contexts, such as “after the meeting.” frokost means “lunch.” It is used here without an article in the fixed time expression efter frokost, as is natural when referring to lunch as a meal or time period. The noun is not marked as plural in this expression. Together, Så skal du tage gives the consequence and necessity, en ny billet identifies what must be taken, and efter frokost places the action later than lunch. The whole utterance therefore means: “You would need to take a new ticket after lunch.”

7. Så venter jeg indtil videre, fordi jeg allerede er her.

   Then I'll wait for now since I'm already here.

   Så

   Then

   venter

   wait

   jeg

   I

   indtil videre

   for now

   fordi

   because; since

   allerede

   already

   er

   am; is; are

   her

   here

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links the utterance to what has just been said. Danish så can have other functions, but this sentence uses it as a sentence-initial connector. Example: Så går vi. — “Then we’ll go.” venter is the present-tense form of vente, “to wait.” The subject is jeg, “I,” and Danish present tense can describe an action happening now or a decision about what will happen next; the fixed translation makes the latter reading clear here. Example: Jeg venter på bussen. — “I’m waiting for the bus.” jeg is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” It identifies the speaker as the subject of venter; the form does not change for the speaker’s gender. indtil videre is a reusable fixed expression meaning “for now” or “until further notice.” It limits the waiting to the current situation without saying how long it will ultimately last. Example: Vi bliver her indtil videre. — “We’ll stay here for now.” fordi introduces a reason clause and means “because” or “since.” The clause after it explains the reason for the speaker’s decision to wait. Example: Jeg bliver, fordi jeg har tid. — “I’m staying because I have time.” allerede is the adverb “already.” It marks the situation as having become true before the relevant present point. Example: Hun er allerede hjemme. — “She is already at home.” er is the present-tense form of være, “to be.” In Danish, er is used with singular and plural subjects, including jeg, du, han, hun, and de; the subject identifies the person and number rather than a change in the verb form. Here it means “am” with jeg. her is the adverb “here,” referring to the place understood in the situation. Together, er her means “am here.” Example: Jeg er her. — “I am here.” Taken together, Så venter jeg indtil videre means “Then I’ll wait for now.” The following reason clause, fordi jeg allerede er her, means “since I’m already here”: jeg is again the subject, allerede adds “already,” and er her states the speaker’s location. The whole utterance is therefore: “Then I’ll wait for now since I’m already here.”

8. Hold øje med skærmen, tak.

   Please keep an eye on the screen.

   Hold øje med

   keep an eye on

   skærmen

   the screen

   tak

   please

   More detail

   Hold øje med is a fixed Danish expression meaning “keep an eye on” or “watch attentively.” Here Hold is the imperative of holde (“to keep/hold”); the expression is not understood by translating each word literally. You can reuse the pattern Hold øje med + [something]: Hold øje med døren. — “Keep an eye on the door.” skærmen means “the screen.” The noun is skærm (“screen”), and skærmen is its singular definite form: skærm → skærmen. Danish commonly marks definiteness by a suffix attached to the noun rather than by a separate word before it. In this sentence, the definite form presents the screen as identifiable in the situation. tak means “please” here because it softens the request when placed at the end. It can also mean “thank you” in other contexts, so its function depends on how it is used. Together, Hold øje med skærmen forms an imperative request: “Keep an eye on the screen.” Adding tak makes it “Please keep an eye on the screen.”