Checking travel documents | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kan du hjælpe mig med at tjekke rejsedokumenterne, før vi tager af sted?

   Could you help me check the travel documents before we leave?

   Kan du

   Could you…?

   hjælpe

   help

   mig

   me

   med

   with

   at

   to

   tjekke

   check

   rejsedokumenterne

   the travel documents

   før

   before

   vi

   we

   tager af sted

   leave / set off

   More detail

   Kan du combines the present-tense modal kan (“can”) with the second-person singular pronoun du (“you”). In this question, the combination is a polite request equivalent to “Could you…?”; it does not assert that the person will help. A useful pattern is Kan du + infinitive?, as in Kan du vente? — “Could you wait?” hjælpe is the infinitive of hjælpe, “to help.” After the modal kan, Danish uses the infinitive without at: Kan du hjælpe ... (“Could you help ...”). The person being helped is expressed by the object pronoun mig, the first-person singular form meaning “me.” Compare jeg (“I”) as a subject with mig (“me”) as an object. med means “with.” Here it begins the activity that the help concerns. Together, hjælpe mig med at ... is a reusable pattern meaning “help me to ...” or “help me with ...ing”: Hun hjælper mig med at finde nøglerne — “She helps me find the keys.” at marks the infinitive tjekke, “to check.” The form tjekke is the infinitive; after med in this pattern, it names the activity being helped with. The phrase med at tjekke therefore means “with checking” or “to check,” while at itself does not mean “check.” rejsedokumenterne means “the travel documents.” It is a compound noun: rejse (“travel”) plus dokument, and the ending -erne marks the definite plural form, “the documents.” The indefinite plural is dokumenter (“documents”), while dokumenterne is the definite plural. The noun phrase is the object of tjekke. før means “before” and introduces the time clause that places the checking earlier than the departure. In før vi tager af sted, it connects the checking with the departure time. vi is the first-person plural subject, “we.” It is distinct from mig: vi refers to the speaker together with one or more others, whereas mig refers only to the speaker as object. tager af sted is a fixed expression meaning “leave” or “set off.” Its verb is tager, the present-tense form of tage (“take”); the full expression, rather than tager alone, gives the departure meaning. Vi tager af sted means “we leave” or “we are setting off.” For example, Vi tager af sted klokken otte means “We leave at eight.” Putting the parts together, Kan du hjælpe mig med at tjekke rejsedokumenterne asks someone politely to help the speaker check the travel documents. før vi tager af sted adds the time relationship “before we leave.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Could you help me check the travel documents before we leave?”

2. Lad os begynde med dit pas og dit boardingkort.

   Let's start with your passport and boarding pass.

   Lad os

   let’s

   begynde

   begin; start

   med

   with

   dit

   your

   pas

   passport

   og

   and

   boardingkort

   boarding pass

   More detail

   Lad os is a reusable Danish way to suggest a joint action: lad os + infinitive means “let’s …”. Here os refers to the speaker together with the addressee; it is not the object of begynde. Example: Lad os gå. — “Let’s go.” begynde is the infinitive “to begin” or “to start”. After lad os, Danish uses the infinitive: Lad os begynde — “Let’s begin.” The form is not marked here for past or present tense. med means “with” and introduces what the activity starts with. In this sentence, begynde med is the reusable pattern “start with”. Example: Vi begynder med kaffen. — “We’ll start with the coffee.” dit appears before both pas and boardingkort. It means “your” when the possessed noun is singular and neuter. Danish possessive forms include din with a singular common-gender noun, dit with a singular neuter noun, and dine with plural nouns. The form agrees with the possessed noun, not with the person who owns it. Here, Danish uses et pas and et boardingkort, so dit is appropriate in both places. pas means “passport” here. It is a noun; its basic form is pas, and the same spelling can also be used in the plural, with the surrounding determiner or context showing the number. Example: Jeg har mit pas. — “I have my passport.” og is the conjunction “and”. It joins the two items that follow med: the passport and the boarding pass. boardingkort means “boarding pass”. It is written as one Danish compound noun. The possessive dit before it identifies it as the addressee’s boarding pass. Together, Lad os begynde med dit pas og dit boardingkort means “Let’s start with your passport and boarding pass.” The sentence proposes a shared action, specifies that the action is beginning, and names the two documents as the starting point.

3. Mit pas er i inderlommen.

   My passport is in the inside pocket.

   Mit

   my

   pas

   passport

   er i

   is in

   inderlommen

   inside pocket

   More detail

   Mit means “my” here and is the possessive form used with a singular neuter noun. Danish possessives agree with the possessed noun: min is used with singular common-gender nouns, mit with singular neuter nouns, and mine with plural nouns. Example: min taske = “my bag,” mit pas = “my passport,” mine tasker = “my bags.” pas is the noun “passport.” In Danish, its indefinite form is et pas, while the definite form is passet (“the passport”). The noun itself is unchanged in the indefinite phrase mit pas; the possessive identifies whose passport it is. er i combines er, the present form of være (“to be”), with i (“in”). Together they describe a present location: “is in.” The reusable pattern is [thing] er i [place], for example: Nøglen er i skuffen. — “The key is in the drawer.” inderlommen means “the inside pocket.” It is the definite form of inderlomme: inderlomme = “inside pocket,” inderlommen = “the inside pocket.” The ending -en marks definite singular for this common-gender noun. The compound combines inder- (“inner/inside”) with lomme (“pocket”); the whole compound, rather than just lomme, is the noun named here. Together, Mit pas identifies the passport as the thing being located, er i states its present location, and inderlommen names that location. The complete meaning is “My passport is in the inside pocket.”

4. Bekræftede du også hotelreservationen?

   Did you confirm the hotel reservation too?

   Bekræftede

   confirmed

   du

   you

   også

   also; too

   hotelreservationen

   the hotel reservation

   More detail

   Bekræftede is the past-tense form of bekræfte, “to confirm.” It describes a completed confirmation here. A useful pattern is bekræfte → bekræftede; for example, Hun bekræftede aftalen. means “She confirmed the agreement.” du means “you” and is the subject of the question. In this sentence, it refers to the person being addressed. Danish questions like this commonly place the finite verb before the subject: Bekræftede du ...? This word order marks a yes/no question; it does not change the meaning of du. også means “too” or “also.” Here it adds the hotel reservation to something the speaker assumes may have been confirmed as well. Its position after the subject is natural in this question. For example, Kommer du også? means “Are you coming too?” hotelreservationen means “the hotel reservation.” It is a compound noun: hotel specifies the type of reservation. The ending -en marks the definite form of reservation in this compound, so en hotelreservation means “a hotel reservation,” while hotelreservationen means “the hotel reservation.” The observed word is singular definite; the ending belongs to the noun, not to hotel. Together, Bekræftede du asks whether the addressed person completed the action of confirming. hotelreservationen identifies what was confirmed, and også adds the meaning “too.” The whole utterance therefore means: “Did you confirm the hotel reservation too?”

5. Bekræftelsesmailen er gemt på min telefon.

   The confirmation email is saved on my phone.

   Bekræftelsesmailen

   confirmation email

   er gemt

   is saved

   på

   on

   min

   my

   telefon

   phone

   More detail

   Bekræftelsesmailen means “the confirmation email” here. It is a compound noun: bekræftelse means “confirmation” and mail means “email”; the form bekræftelses- links the first part to the noun. The ending -en marks definite singular for this noun, so it refers to the confirmation email as an identified item. The previous sentence uses the related verb bekræftede (“confirmed”), but that is a separate form and should not be treated as the base of bekræftelsesmailen. er gemt means “is saved.” er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). gemt is the past participle of gemme (“to save, store”); together, er gemt presents the email as being in a saved state. Example: Filen er gemt. — “The file is saved.” på means “on” in this location expression. Danish uses på in på min telefon for something stored or available on a phone. The preposition is not the possessive or the word for the device; it links the saved item to its storage location. min means “my” before a singular common-gender noun. Danish possessives agree with the noun: min with common-gender singular, mit with neuter singular, and mine with plural nouns. Here min agrees with telefon, so min telefon means “my phone.” telefon means “phone.” In this sentence it is the noun naming the storage device. The full noun phrase min telefon is “my phone”; the possessive identifies whose phone it is, while telefon supplies the meaning “phone.” Together, Bekræftelsesmailen er gemt says “The confirmation email is saved,” and på min telefon specifies where it is saved. The complete utterance is therefore “The confirmation email is saved on my phone.”

6. Har du en udskrevet kopi, hvis din telefon løber tør for strøm?

   Do you have a printed copy in case your phone dies?

   Har du

   do you have

   udskrevet

   printed

   kopi

   copy

   hvis

   if; in case

   telefon

   phone

   løber tør for strøm

   runs out of power

   More detail

   Har du combines the present-tense verb har (“have”) with du (“you”). In a yes/no question, the verb comes before the subject: Har du ...? = “Do you have ...?” Har is the present form of have; it is not changed for the person in this construction. Example: Har du tid? — “Do you have time?” udskrevet is the past participle of udskrive, “to print”. Here it is used adjectivally before kopi and means “printed”. The form is udskrevet in singular indefinite use with both common- and neuter-gender nouns; plural or definite adjectival use commonly has udskrevne. Example: et udskrevet dokument — “a printed document.” kopi means “copy”. It is a common-gender noun: en kopi; its plural is kopier. The en in en kopi marks an indefinite noun and does not by itself state a numerical count. Example: Jeg har en kopi. — “I have a copy.” hvis introduces a condition. In this utterance, “in case” is the natural meaning: it presents a possible situation that motivates having the printed copy. In other contexts, the same conjunction can correspond to “if”. Example: Tag en paraply, hvis det regner. — “Take an umbrella in case it rains.” telefon means “phone”. It is a common-gender noun: en telefon; the plural is telefoner. In the utterance, din means “your” and agrees with this singular common-gender noun. Danish possessives distinguish forms such as din with a common-gender singular noun, dit with a neuter-gender singular noun, and dine with plural nouns. Example: Hvor er din telefon? — “Where is your phone?” løber tør for strøm is a reusable expression meaning “runs out of power”. The verb løber is the present form of løbe, “to run”; Danish present-tense verbs do not change for the subject, so it is also used with other subjects. tør for belongs to the fixed expression here, while strøm means “power” or “electricity”. The translation “your phone dies” conveys the practical result in this context, but the Danish wording specifically describes its power running out. Example: Batteriet løber tør for strøm. — “The battery runs out of power.” Together, Har du en udskrevet kopi asks whether the listener has a printed copy. hvis din telefon løber tør for strøm adds the condition that the copy would be useful if the listener’s phone runs out of power. The whole utterance therefore means: “Do you have a printed copy in case your phone dies?”

7. Jeg printede en og lagde den i mappen.

   I printed one and put it in the folder.

   Jeg

   I

   printede

   printed

   en

   one

   lagde

   put / placed

   den

   it

   mappen

   the folder

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” and is the first-person singular subject form. It identifies the person who performs both actions in the sentence. printede is the past-tense form of printe, “to print”: printe → printede. The ending -ede marks past tense here. Example: Jeg printede dokumentet. — “I printed the document.” en means “one” here, with the noun left unspoken. The previous context supports the meaning “one [printed copy].” In this use, en is a standalone pronoun referring to one item, not merely the indefinite article before an expressed noun. Danish en can also be the indefinite article before a common-gender noun, but that is not its role here. lagde is the past-tense form of lægge, “to put” or “to place”: lægge → lagde. It describes placing something at a location. Example: Jeg lagde bogen på bordet. — “I put the book on the table.” den is a singular common-gender object pronoun meaning “it” in this use. The fixed translation identifies it as the printed item, understood from en; it is the thing that was placed. Danish pronoun choice depends on the grammatical form of the referent, so den is used for a common-gender singular referent, while det is used for a neuter singular referent. mappen is the definite singular form of mappe, “folder”: mappe → mappen. The ending -en marks the definite form for this common-gender noun. Example: Dokumentet ligger i mappen. — “The document is in the folder.” The sentence combines Jeg printede en (“I printed one”) with og lagde den i mappen (“and put it in the folder”). og joins the two past actions, and i mappen gives the destination or location. Together, the utterance means: “I printed one and put it in the folder.”

8. Så har vi alt, hvad vi har brug for.

   Then we have everything we need.

   Så

   Then

   har vi

   we have

   alt

   everything

   hvad

   what

   har … brug for

   need

   More detail

   Så means “then” here, linking this statement to what has just been established. Danish så can have other uses in other contexts, but this sentence uses the time/sequencing meaning. har vi means “we have.” har is the present-tense form of have; it is used with several subjects, including vi (“we”). The order is så har vi, with the introductory Så followed by the verb before the subject. Without that initial element, the ordinary order is vi har (“we have”). alt means “everything” here. It is the neuter singular form associated with al (“all”); the plural form is alle. In alt, hvad ..., it introduces the complete set described by the following clause. hvad means “what” in the expression alt, hvad ..., where it introduces the clause describing that complete set. The sequence hvad vi har brug for is literally “what we have need for,” and functions as “what we need” or “that which we need.” har ... brug for is the Danish fixed expression for “need.” har is again the present form of have, while brug for completes the expression; the intervening words belong to the clause structure. A reusable example is Jeg har brug for hjælp. — “I need help.” Together, Så har vi gives “Then we have,” and alt, hvad vi har brug for gives “everything that we need.” The complete utterance therefore means “Then we have everything we need.”