Checking an email before sending | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kan du tjekke denne e-mail, før jeg sender den?

   Could you check this email before I send it?

   Kan du

   Could you …?

   tjekke

   check

   denne

   this

   e-mail

   email

   før

   before

   jeg

   I

   sender

   send

   den

   it

   More detail

   Kan du is a reusable way to ask whether someone can or is willing to do something: kan is the present form of kunne (“can/be able to”), and du means “you.” With a following infinitive, the pattern is Kan du + infinitive? Example: Kan du vente? — “Can you wait?” tjekke means “to check.” It is the infinitive form after the modal verb kan; Danish commonly uses the infinitive without an English-style “to” after a modal. The same form can be reused after other modal verbs, such as skal tjekke (“must/will check”). denne means “this” and is the common-gender singular form used with the noun it specifies here. e-mail is a noun meaning “email”; it is commonly treated as common gender, so denne e-mail means “this email.” The demonstrative and noun form one noun phrase: denne e-mail. før means “before.” Here it introduces a clause describing an earlier time: før jeg sender den — “before I send it.” Example: Læs den, før du svarer. — “Read it before you reply.” jeg means “I.” It is the subject of the clause after før. sender is the present form of sende, “to send.” Danish present tense can describe a future action when the time is clear from the context, so jeg sender means “I send” in form but “I send / I will send” here. Example: Jeg sender den i morgen. — “I will send it tomorrow.” den is a common-gender singular object pronoun meaning “it” here. The fixed translation identifies its referent as the email, so jeg sender den means “I send it,” with the email as the object. Danish also uses den for a common-gender singular noun in other grammatical roles; the form itself does not mark whether the object is animate or inanimate. Together, Kan du tjekke denne e-mail asks “Could you check this email?” The clause før jeg sender den adds the time condition “before I send it.” The complete utterance therefore means “Could you check this email before I send it?”

2. Jeg kan tjekke den. Hvad skal jeg tjekke først?

   I can check it. What should I check first?

   Jeg kan

   I can

   tjekke

   check

   den

   it

   Hvad

   what

   skal jeg

   should I

   først

   first

   More detail

   Jeg kan means “I can” here. Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I”, and kan is the present-tense form of kunne, used for ability or possibility. In this sentence it introduces an infinitive: Jeg kan tjekke = “I can check.” tjekke means “to check”. It is the infinitive, and after the modal verb kan Danish uses the infinitive without an extra infinitive marker. Example: Jeg kan hjælpe. — “I can help.” den is the object pronoun “it” in this sentence. Its form is used for a common-gender singular referent; in the supplied context, the intended referent is the email that is to be checked. The pronoun itself marks the grammatical class of the referent, not its identity by itself. Hvad means “what” and asks about an unspecified thing. It is the question word for asking which thing or action-related object is intended. Example: Hvad læser du? — “What are you reading?” skal jeg means “should I” here. Skal is the present-tense form of skulle; with jeg it asks what the speaker is expected or intended to do. In a Danish question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Skal jeg begynde? — “Should I start?” først means “first”, indicating the initial item or action in an order. It does not itself say how many items there are; it only places this checking action first in the sequence. Together, Jeg kan tjekke den says “I can check it.” The following question, Hvad skal jeg tjekke først?, uses the pattern Hvad + finite verb + subject + infinitive + adverb to ask which thing the speaker should check first. The complete utterance is therefore: “I can check it. What should I check first?”

3. Start venligst med emnelinjen.

   Please start with the subject line.

   Start

   start; begin

   venligst

   please

   med

   with

   emnelinjen

   the subject line

   More detail

   Start is the imperative of starte (“to start”). It gives a direct instruction: “start.” For example, Start her. means “Start here.” venligst is a polite way to say “please,” often used with an instruction. It softens the request but does not change the action being requested. med means “with.” With starte, the pattern starte med + noun means “start with + noun.” For example, Start med navnet. means “Start with the name.” emnelinjen means “the subject line” here. Its base form is emnelinje, “subject line”; emnelinjen is the definite singular form, marked by the ending -en. This noun is an en-gender noun: en emnelinje means “a subject line,” while emnelinjen means “the subject line.” Together, Start + venligst gives the polite instruction “Please start,” and med emnelinjen specifies the starting point: “with the subject line.” The complete utterance therefore means “Please start with the subject line.”

4. Emnelinjen er tydelig, men det ville hjælpe at skrive, hvad mødet handler om.

   The subject line is clear, but the meeting topic would help.

   Emnelinjen

   the subject line

   tydelig

   clear

   ville hjælpe

   would help

   skrive

   write

   mødet

   the meeting

   handler om

   is about

   More detail

   Emnelinjen means “the subject line” here. It is the definite form of emnelinje (“subject line”): the ending -en marks a singular common-gender noun in the definite form. A useful pattern is emnelinje → emnelinjen (“a subject line” → “the subject line”). tydelig means “clear.” It is an adjective used after er (“is”) to describe Emnelinjen. The common-gender singular form is tydelig; compare the neuter form tydeligt and plural/definite form tydelige where Danish grammar requires them. Example: Filen er tydelig. — “The file is clear.” ville hjælpe means “would help.” Ville is the past form of vil used here to express a conditional or hypothetical result, while hjælpe remains in the infinitive after it. The reusable pattern is ville + infinitive: Det ville hjælpe. — “That would help.” This is different from present vil hjælpe, which normally means “will help” or “wants to help,” depending on context. skrive means “write.” It is the infinitive form; in this sentence it belongs to at skrive, “to write,” after the infinitive marker at. Example: Det er godt at skrive kort. — “It is good to write briefly.” mødet means “the meeting.” It is the definite singular form of møde (“meeting”); the ending -et marks a singular neuter noun in the definite form. Thus et møde is “a meeting,” while mødet is “the meeting.” handler om means “is about” in this sentence. Handler is the present-tense form of handle, and om introduces the subject or topic being discussed. The reusable pattern is X handler om Y — “X is about Y.” Here it appears in the embedded question hvad mødet handler om, literally asking “what the meeting is about.” Danish keeps the finite verb after the subject in this embedded clause: mødet handler, not the main-question order handler mødet .... Together, Emnelinjen er tydelig says “The subject line is clear.” After men (“but”), det ville hjælpe introduces a conditional suggestion or benefit: something would help. at skrive identifies the helpful action, and hvad mødet handler om specifies what should be written: what the meeting is about. The whole utterance therefore means: “The subject line is clear, but it would help to write what the meeting is about.”

5. Er den rigtige fil vedhæftet?

   Is the correct file attached?

   Er den

   Is the …?

   rigtige

   correct / right

   fil

   file

   vedhæftet

   attached

   More detail

   Er den combines the present-tense form er of være (“to be”) with den, the common-gender singular definite article used before an adjective. In a Danish yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject phrase: Den rigtige fil er vedhæftet becomes Er den rigtige fil vedhæftet? Here den belongs with the following noun phrase and identifies the file as a specific common-gender singular file. rigtige means “correct” here. Its base form is rigtig; after den, the adjective takes the definite form rigtige. The same word can also mean “right” in other contexts, but “correct” is the intended sense here. For example, Det rigtige svar means “the correct answer.” fil means “file.” Its indefinite form is en fil, and its definite form is filen. With an adjective, Danish uses den before the adjective and leaves the noun in its indefinite form: den rigtige fil means “the correct file.” vedhæftet means “attached” in this sentence. It is the past participle of vedhæfte (“to attach”) and is used here as a subject complement after er. In Den endelige version er vedhæftet, the same construction means “The final version is attached.” The form is vedhæftet for singular common- and neuter-gender nouns; plural or definite attributive use commonly has vedhæftede, as in vedhæftede filer (“attached files”). Together, Er + den rigtige fil + vedhæftet forms a yes/no question: “Is the correct file attached?” The question asks whether that specific file has the stated attached status.

6. Ja, den endelige version er vedhæftet.

   Yes, the final version is attached.

   Ja

   yes

   endelige

   final

   version

   version

   vedhæftet

   attached

   More detail

   Ja means “yes” and confirms the statement that follows. It is a standalone response word and does not change form for the person or thing being discussed. endelige means “final” here and is the definite-form adjective based on endelig. In den endelige version, the adjective has the -e form because the noun phrase is definite. The indefinite forms distinguish gender: en endelig version is “a final version,” while et endeligt dokument is “a final document.” Thus, endeligt is not simply the general form for every neuter singular use; here endelige is required by the definite phrase. version means “version.” It is a common-gender Danish noun, so the phrase uses den in the singular definite construction. The noun itself is singular here; definiteness is shown by den together with the adjective’s -e form. vedhæftet means “attached” here. It is related to the verb vedhæfte, “to attach,” and functions here as a participial adjective after er (“is”). The phrase er vedhæftet states the current status of the version: it is attached. Example: Filen er vedhæftet. — “The file is attached.” Together, den endelige version identifies the final version, and er vedhæftet says that this version is attached. With the confirmation Ja, the whole utterance means: “Yes, the final version is attached.”

7. Har jeg inkluderet alle, der skal have denne e-mail?

   Did I include everyone who needs this email?

   Har jeg

   have I …?

   inkluderet

   included

   alle

   everyone

   der

   who

   skal have

   needs to receive

   denne

   this

   e-mail

   email

   More detail

   Har jeg places the verb before the subject to form a yes/no question: literally, “have I …?” In Danish, har is the present form of have (“to have”), and jeg means “I.” The same subject–verb order is useful in questions such as Har du tid? (“Do you have time?”). inkluderet is the past participle of inkludere (“to include”). Here it combines with present har to form the perfect: har inkluderet, “have included.” The participle does not change here to agree with the person; har carries the present-tense auxiliary function. Example: Jeg har inkluderet dokumentet. — “I have included the document.” alle means “everyone” here, referring to all the relevant people. It can also mean “all” with a plural group, so the surrounding context determines whether it is person-focused or group-focused. Example: Alle er klar. — “Everyone is ready.” der introduces the relative clause describing alle: “who.” In this use it is a relative pronoun linking the people to the information that follows. It does not itself identify a particular person; the fixed translation supports the reading “everyone who needs this email.” skal have combines the modal skal with the infinitive have. In this sentence, skal expresses a requirement or intended necessity, while have means “receive” in the context of people getting an email. After a modal verb, the following verb stays in the infinitive: skal have, not a past-tense form. Example: De skal have beskeden. — “They need to receive the message.” denne means “this” and is the singular form used with a common-gender noun. It points to the email as the item being referred to here; Danish uses dette with neuter singular nouns and disse with plural nouns. The demonstrative itself carries this grammatical distinction, not e-mail. e-mail is the noun “email.” In this utterance it is the object of have: the people need to receive this email. Example: Jeg sender en e-mail. — “I am sending an email.” Together, Har jeg inkluderet asks whether the speaker has included something, and alle, der skal have denne e-mail specifies the included group: everyone who needs to receive this email. The complete meaning is: “Did I include everyone who needs this email?”

8. Listen ser komplet ud.

   The list looks complete.

   Listen

   the list

   ser … ud

   looks / appears

   komplet

   complete

   More detail

   Listen is the definite singular form of liste, “list.” The ending -en marks a common-gender singular noun in its definite form: en liste = “a list,” listen = “the list.” Here it refers to the list being checked. The ending does not itself state a numerical count. ser ... ud is a Danish expression meaning “looks” or “appears.” The verb is se (“see/look”); ser is its present-tense form. In this construction, ud is a particle, and the adjective comes between the verb and particle: Det ser godt ud = “It looks good.” This is not the same as using se only for the act of seeing. komplet means “complete” here. It is the adjective describing the list’s apparent state. Danish uses komplet with a singular noun in forms such as en komplet liste and et komplet svar; the plural/definite attributive form is komplette, as in komplette lister. In the fixed sentence, komplet is a predicative adjective after ser ... ud. Together, Listen supplies the subject, ser ... ud says how it appears, and komplet describes that appearance. The whole utterance therefore means “The list looks complete.”

9. Så tror jeg, den er klar til at blive sendt.

   Then I think it is ready to send.

   Så

   then

   tror

   think

   jeg

   I

   den

   it

   klar

   ready

   til at

   to

   blive sendt

   be sent

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links this sentence to the preceding situation: “Then …”. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but “then” is the supported meaning here. tror is the present-tense form of tro, “to think” or “to believe”. The form tror is used with jeg here; the present tense expresses the speaker’s current assessment. Example: Jeg tror, det regner. — “I think it is raining.” jeg is the first-person singular pronoun, “I”. Together, jeg tror gives the reusable pattern “I think …”. Danish commonly places a comma before the following clause in this kind of sentence. den is a singular common-gender pronoun meaning “it” here. In the supplied context, it refers to the list mentioned previously, and the translation confirms this intended reading. The pronoun’s form reflects the referent’s grammatical gender and number; it is not a general marker of every possible “it”. klar is an adjective meaning “ready” in this sentence. Its form is the base form after er because the subject is singular common gender: den er klar — “it is ready”. A related use is “clear”, but that is not the intended meaning here. Example: Planen er klar. — “The plan is ready.” til at introduces an infinitive purpose or next action: “to …”. In this sentence it connects klar with what the item is ready for. The at is the Danish infinitive marker, comparable to “to” before an English verb. blive sendt is a passive construction meaning “be sent”. blive is the infinitive form of blive, “to become” or “to be” in this passive pattern; sendt is the past participle of sende, “to send”. The construction presents the item as receiving the action rather than naming the sender. Example: Brevet skal blive sendt i dag. — “The letter is to be sent today.” Taken together, den er klar til at blive sendt means “it is ready to be sent”: den is the item, er klar describes its state, and til at blive sendt specifies the action it is ready for. With Så tror jeg at the beginning, the complete utterance means: “Then I think it is ready to send.”