Checking a restaurant order | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Jeg vil gerne tjekke bestillingen, før maden kommer.

   I want to check the order before the food comes.

   Jeg vil gerne

   I want to

   tjekke

   check

   bestillingen

   the order

   før

   before

   maden

   the food

   kommer

   comes

   More detail

   Jeg vil gerne means “I would like to” or, as here, “I want to.” Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” vil is the present form of ville, “to want” or “will”; with an infinitive, it expresses the speaker’s intention here. gerne makes the wish sound willing or polite. Danish uses the infinitive without at after vil: Jeg vil tjekke means “I want to check.” Tjekke means “to check.” It is the infinitive form, and it follows vil without at. Example: Jeg vil læse. — “I want to read.” Bestillingen means “the order.” The base form is bestilling; the ending -en marks the definite singular form, “the order.” Danish definite forms can be formed as a suffix on the noun, rather than with a separate word before it. Example: en bestilling — “an order”; bestillingen — “the order.” Før means “before.” It introduces the time relation between checking and the event in the following clause. In this sentence, the structure is før + a clause: “before the food comes.” Maden means “the food.” Its base form is mad, “food,” and -en marks the definite singular form. Here it refers to the food as the relevant food in the situation, not to a stated numerical quantity. Example: Maden er klar. — “The food is ready.” Kommer means “comes.” It is the present form of komme, “to come.” Danish present tense can describe an event expected in the future when the context makes that timing clear; here, the food’s coming is the event that has not happened yet. Example: Hun kommer senere. — “She is coming later.” Together, Jeg vil gerne tjekke bestillingen means “I want to check the order.” The clause før maden kommer adds the time limit “before the food comes.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I want to check the order before the food comes.”

2. Det er nemmere at rette fejl, før de begynder at lave maden.

   It's easier to fix mistakes before they start cooking.

   Det er

   it is

   nemmere

   easier

   at rette

   to fix

   fejl

   mistakes

   før

   before

   de

   they

   begynder

   begin

   at lave

   to cook or make

   maden

   the food

   More detail

   Det er is a common Danish frame meaning “it is.” Here det is a formal subject: it does not identify a particular object, but lets the evaluation come before the activity described by at rette fejl. er is the present form of være (“be”); Danish present forms do not change for person or number. nemmere means “easier” here. It is the comparative form of nem (“easy”): nem → nemmere → nemmest (“easy” → “easier” → “easiest”). The comparison is with an understood alternative, such as fixing mistakes at another time or in another way. at rette is the infinitive “to fix” or “to correct.” rette is the infinitive/base form of the verb; at marks the infinitive in this construction. For example, Det er vigtigt at rette fejl. means “It is important to correct mistakes.” fejl means “mistakes” in this sentence. It is the indefinite plural form; the singular is also fejl (“a mistake”), while fejlen means “the mistake” and fejlene means “the mistakes.” The form is therefore understood as plural here from the sentence structure and meaning, not from a different spelling. før introduces a time relation and means “before.” It can introduce a complete clause, as here: før de begynder ... means “before they begin ...”. de is the plural personal pronoun “they” in the supplied translation. It is the subject of begynder; the fixed sentence does not otherwise specify a named identity for this pronoun. Danish de is distinct from singular den and det, which are used in different grammatical contexts. begynder means “begin” here. It is the present form of begynde (“begin/start”). Danish present tense does not change for person or number, so the same form can occur with different subjects: Jeg begynder means “I begin,” and de begynder means “they begin.” at lave is an infinitive construction. lave is the base form of lave, which has broad meanings such as “make” or “do”; with maden in this sentence, the intended meaning is “cook/prepare the food.” For example, Jeg vil lave mad. means “I want to cook.” maden means “the food.” It is the definite form of mad (“food”): mad can mean food in general, while maden refers to the relevant food as a definite item or substance. The definite ending is attached to the noun itself; maden is not an adjective form. Together, Det er nemmere at rette fejl says “It is easier to fix mistakes.” The time clause før de begynder at lave maden adds “before they start cooking the food,” producing the full meaning: “It’s easier to fix mistakes before they start cooking.” The reusable pattern is Det er [comparative adjective] at [infinitive] før [clause]: “It is [comparative] to [verb] before [clause].”

3. Jeg bad om suppe uden løg.

   I asked for soup without onions.

   Jeg

   I

   bad om

   asked for

   suppe

   soup

   uden

   without

   løg

   onions

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here: the first-person singular subject, the person making the request. It is the Danish subject pronoun; for example, Jeg kommer means “I am coming.” bad om is the past-tense form of bede om, “to ask for” or “to request.” The form bad shows that the asking happened in the past; om belongs to this construction and introduces what is requested. Compare present beder om (“ask(s) for”) with past bad om (“asked for”). Example: Jeg bad om vand. — “I asked for water.” suppe means “soup.” Its base form is suppe; an indefinite singular form can be en suppe, while suppe here is used without an article as the requested food substance. Example: Jeg spiser suppe. — “I am eating soup.” uden means “without” and introduces something that is absent or excluded. The reusable pattern is uden + noun, as in kaffe uden sukker — “coffee without sugar.” løg means “onions” in this sentence. Danish uses the same written form løg for singular and plural in this noun: context determines whether it means “an onion” or “onions.” Here the fixed translation establishes the plural meaning. Example: Jeg laver mad uden løg. — “I am cooking without onions.” Together, Jeg bad om identifies the speaker's past request, suppe identifies what was requested, and uden løg specifies the requested absence of onions. The whole utterance therefore means “I asked for soup without onions.” The reusable pattern is Jeg bad om [food or item] uden [ingredient or addition].

4. Og jeg bad om salat uden dressing.

   And I asked for salad with no dressing.

   Og

   and

   jeg

   I

   bad om

   asked for

   salat

   salad

   uden

   without

   dressing

   dressing

   More detail

   Og means “and” and links this utterance to something already mentioned. It does not change the meaning of the following clause. jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” Danish uses jeg for the speaker as the subject. Example: Jeg spiser. — “I am eating.” bad om is the past form of bede om, “to ask for.” The observed form bad is past tense; it is not the present form. In this construction, om introduces what was requested. Example: Jeg bad om vand. — “I asked for water.” The past form bad is used with different subjects as well: hun bad om vand — “she asked for water.” salat means “salad.” It is the thing requested after bad om. Danish can use a noun without an article when referring to an amount or serving of food in this kind of request; the sentence does not by itself state a specific numeric quantity. Example: Jeg bestilte salat. — “I ordered salad.” uden means “without” and introduces something excluded from the request. The reusable pattern is X uden Y, “X without Y.” Example: kaffe uden sukker — “coffee without sugar.” dressing means “dressing,” the sauce or topping for a salad. Here it follows uden, so it is the excluded accompaniment. Example: Jeg vil have salat uden dressing. — “I want salad without dressing.” Together, Og jeg bad om salat uden dressing means “And I asked for salad with no dressing.” The structure is og + subject jeg + past verb phrase bad om + requested item salat + exclusion uden dressing. The utterance therefore reports a past request for salad and specifies that the requested salad should have no dressing.

5. Desserten skal komme efter måltidet.

   The dessert should come after the meal.

   Desserten

   the dessert

   skal

   should

   komme

   come

   efter

   after

   måltidet

   the meal

   More detail

   Desserten means “the dessert” here. It is the definite singular form of dessert: dessert means “dessert,” while desserten identifies a particular dessert in the situation. Danish commonly forms definiteness by adding an ending to the noun, rather than using a separate word before it. skal is a modal verb meaning “should” here. It expresses the expected or intended arrangement that the dessert is to come after the meal. Its base form is skulle; skal is the present-tense form used with all subjects, so it does not change here for the singular noun Desserten. For example, Jeg skal komme senere means “I should come later” or “I am supposed to come later,” depending on context. komme means “come.” After the modal skal, it appears in the infinitive form, without an infinitive marker before it. The same verb can be used with other subjects: Vi skal komme senere means “We should come later.” efter means “after” and introduces the event or time that serves as the reference point. It is a preposition here, linking the coming of the dessert to måltidet. måltidet means “the meal.” It is the definite singular form of måltid, “meal”: måltid is indefinite singular, while måltidet refers to a particular meal. The ending -et is the definite singular ending for this noun. Together, Desserten skal komme says “the dessert should come,” and efter måltidet specifies when: “after the meal.” The complete utterance therefore means “The dessert should come after the meal.”

6. Jeg vil bede tjeneren om at bekræfte det hele.

   I'll ask the server to confirm everything.

   Jeg

   I

   vil

   will; want to

   bede

   ask

   tjeneren

   the server

   om at

   to, as in asking someone to do something

   bekræfte

   confirm

   det hele

   everything

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” and is the subject: the speaker presents themself as the person who will ask. vil is the present-tense form of ville. Here it expresses the speaker’s intention, matching “I’ll” in the translation. Danish uses vil before an infinitive: Jeg vil spørge means “I’ll ask” or “I want to ask,” depending on context. The following verb is bede. bede is the infinitive “to ask.” A useful Danish pattern is bede nogen om at gøre noget: “ask someone to do something.” The person being asked is placed after bede, and om at introduces the requested action. tjeneren means “the server.” It is the definite singular form of tjener, “server”; the ending -en marks common-gender definiteness in this noun. The form identifies a particular server in the situation, without stating anything about the server’s gender. om at introduces the action that the person is asked to perform. In the pattern bede nogen om at ..., om at is followed by an infinitive, as in Jeg bad hende om at vente — “I asked her to wait.” bekræfte is the infinitive “to confirm.” It is the action requested from the server. Example: Han vil bekræfte tiden — “He will confirm the time.” det hele means “everything” here. It is a fixed-style pronoun phrase that can be understood literally as “the whole thing” or “the whole of it,” but in this sentence the intended meaning is the complete set of relevant matters. Example: Vi har forstået det hele — “We have understood everything.” Together, Jeg vil gives the speaker’s intention, bede tjeneren om at bekræfte gives the pattern “ask the server to confirm,” and det hele specifies what is to be confirmed. The complete utterance therefore means: “I’ll ask the server to confirm everything.”