Choosing an Online Language Course | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Jeg vil vælge et online sprogkursus.

   I want to choose an online language course.

   Jeg vil

   I want to

   vælge

   choose

   online

   online

   sprogkursus

   language course

   More detail

   Jeg vil means “I want to” here. Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” vil is the present-tense form of ville; with an infinitive, it expresses the speaker’s desire or intention: Jeg vil lære dansk means “I want to learn Danish.” The same form can also express “will” in other contexts, so the following verb and meaning matter. vælge means “to choose.” It is the infinitive form, used after vil: Jeg vil vælge means “I want to choose.” A useful contrast is vælger, the present-tense form used for an action stated as happening or as a regular choice: Jeg vælger et kursus means “I choose/am choosing a course.” online describes something available or conducted through the internet. It is used here as a modifier of sprogkursus: an online language course. sprogkursus is a compound noun meaning “language course.” It combines sprog (“language”) and kursus (“course”). Danish compounds are written as one word, so this is not written as two separate nouns. The indefinite article et before it marks an unspecified singular noun; it does not by itself add a separate numerical claim. Together, Jeg vil + vælge forms “I want to choose,” and et online sprogkursus identifies what the speaker wants to choose. The complete meaning is: “I want to choose an online language course.”

2. Sammenlign skemaet, anmeldelserne og undervisningsstilen.

   Compare the schedule, reviews, and teaching style.

   Sammenlign

   compare

   skemaet

   the schedule

   anmeldelserne

   the reviews

   undervisningsstilen

   the teaching style

   More detail

   Sammenlign is the imperative of sammenligne, “to compare.” It directly addresses the listener and asks for a comparison. Example: Sammenlign priserne. — “Compare the prices.” skemaet means “the schedule” here. Its base noun is skema; the ending -et marks definite singular: et skema = “a schedule,” skemaet = “the schedule.” The definite form is built into the noun rather than expressed by a separate word. anmeldelserne means “the reviews.” The base noun is anmeldelse; anmeldelser is its plural, and -ne makes that plural definite: anmeldelser = “reviews,” anmeldelserne = “the reviews.” This form therefore refers to reviews as a definite set, without specifying their number. undervisningsstilen means “the teaching style.” It is a compound noun: undervisning means “teaching,” and stil means “style.” The compound’s final noun is stil, and its definite singular form is stilen; in the compound, this gives undervisningsstilen. Danish compounds are written as one word, and the definiteness marking appears at the end of the whole compound. Together, the imperative Sammenlign introduces three objects of comparison: skemaet, anmeldelserne, and undervisningsstilen. Thus the full utterance means “Compare the schedule, reviews, and teaching style.”

3. Dette kursus er kortere, men har færre lektioner.

   This course is shorter but has fewer lessons.

   Dette

   this

   kursus

   course

   kortere

   shorter

   men

   but

   har

   has

   færre

   fewer

   lektioner

   lessons

   More detail

   Dette means “this” and is the neuter singular form of the Danish demonstrative. It agrees with the neuter noun kursus; the common-gender singular form is denne, and the plural form is disse. Example: Dette hus er stort. — “This house is big.” kursus means “course.” It is a neuter singular noun, shown by the form of the demonstrative before it. Its plural is kurser. Example: Kurset er kort. — “The course is short.” kortere means “shorter” here. It is the comparative form of kort (“short”): kort, kortere, kortest — “short,” “shorter,” “shortest.” The comparison concerns the course’s length or duration; the form itself does not specify what it is being compared with. Example: Denne vej er kortere. — “This road is shorter.” men connects two contrasting statements and means “but.” It does not itself express the comparison; it marks the contrast between being shorter and having fewer lessons. har is the present-tense form of have (“to have”). Danish uses har for present “have/has” across persons and numbers, so the English choice between “has” and “have” comes from the subject in translation, not from a different Danish present form. Example: Kurset har fem lektioner. — “The course has five lessons.” færre means “fewer” and is the comparative form used with countable plural nouns. It contrasts with flere (“more”); mindre (“less”) is used with uncountable amounts rather than counted items. Example: Vi har færre lektioner i dag. — “We have fewer lessons today.” lektioner means “lessons” and is the plural of lektion. The singular is lektion, while the plural ending changes the form to lektioner. Here it is the counted thing that færre describes. Together, Dette kursus identifies this particular course, and er kortere compares its length with another relevant course or option. men introduces the contrast, while har færre lektioner says that this course contains a smaller number of lessons. The complete meaning is: “This course is shorter but has fewer lessons.”

4. Det andet ser mere begyndervenligt ud.

   The other one looks more beginner-friendly.

   Det andet

   the other one

   ser … ud

   looks; seems

   mere begyndervenligt

   more beginner-friendly

   More detail

   Det andet means “the other one” here. Det is the neuter singular form of the demonstrative/pronoun corresponding to “that/it”; its exact referent is understood from the surrounding comparison, while the phrase itself does not name that referent. Andet is the neuter singular form of anden (“other”): anden with a common-gender singular noun, andet with a neuter singular noun or neuter pronoun, and andre in the plural. In this sentence, andet is used substantively, so no noun follows it. Ser ... ud is the Danish construction for “looks/seems” when describing how something appears. The lexical verb is se (“see”), and ser is its present-tense form; ud is the particle that completes this construction. The two parts are separated in the sentence, so they are best learned together as the pattern noget ser ... ud (“something looks ...”). For example: Det ser godt ud. — “It looks good.” Mere begyndervenligt says “more beginner-friendly.” Begyndervenligt is the neuter form of the descriptive adjective begyndervenlig, agreeing with the neuter pronoun det; the -t belongs to the adjective, not to mere. Mere marks the comparative meaning “more.” Danish can also form comparison with an adjective ending in -ere, but the supplied sentence uses the mere construction, which must be preserved here. For example: Denne vejledning er mere begyndervenlig. — “This guide is more beginner-friendly.” Together, Det andet identifies the compared alternative, ser ... ud presents an appearance or impression, and mere begyndervenligt compares its beginner-friendliness with that of another option. The complete meaning is therefore: “The other one looks more beginner-friendly.”

5. Jeg kan kun studere i weekenderne.

   I can only study on weekends.

   Jeg kan

   I can

   kun

   only

   studere

   study

   i

   on

   weekenderne

   the weekends

   More detail

   Jeg kan expresses “I can.” Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I”. kan is the present form of kunne (“can; be able to”) and is a modal verb. A modal is followed by another verb in the infinitive: Jeg kan studere = “I can study.” kun means “only” and limits what is being said. Here it limits the time available for studying: the speaker can study on weekends, and no other time is included in this statement. Example: Jeg kan kun komme fredag. — “I can only come on Friday.” studere means “to study”. It is an infinitive, and it follows the modal kan without at. In a sentence without a modal, Danish commonly uses at before an infinitive: Jeg prøver at studere. — “I try to study.” i is the preposition used here for a period or recurring time span, corresponding to “on” in “on the weekends”. Its exact translation depends on the time expression; it can also mean “in” in other contexts. weekenderne means “the weekends”. Its base noun is weekend; weekender is the plural, and weekenderne is the definite plural (“the weekends”). The ending -ne marks definiteness in this plural form. Example: Kurset ligger i weekenderne. — “The course takes place on the weekends.” Together, Jeg kan kun studere i weekenderne means “I can only study on weekends.” The modal kan expresses ability or availability, kun restricts that ability, and i weekenderne specifies the weekends as the relevant time.

6. Så vælg kurset med undervisning i weekenderne.

   Then choose the course with weekend classes.

   Så

   then

   vælg

   choose

   kurset

   the course

   med

   with

   undervisning

   classes

   i

   in

   weekenderne

   the weekends

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links the choice to what has just been established. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but this sentence uses it to mark the next step. vælg is the imperative of vælge, “to choose”: vælge → vælg. The imperative addresses the listener directly and gives the instruction “choose.” For example, Vælg en bog. means “Choose a book.” kurset means “the course” here. It is the definite singular form of et kursus (“a course”): et kursus → kurset. The ending -et marks definiteness for this noun; it is not part of the separate word vælg. med means “with” and connects the course to what it includes or is characterized by. For example, en bog med billeder means “a book with pictures.” undervisning means “teaching” or “classes” here. It is a mass-like noun, so this form does not itself mark a particular number of classes. In this sentence, it identifies the course as one that has teaching/classes at the stated time. i means “in” in the Danish time expression i weekenderne, which is naturally translated as “on weekends.” The preposition is part of the time phrase rather than a translation that must always be rendered as “in” in English. weekenderne means “the weekends.” It is the definite plural form of weekend: en weekend → weekender → weekenderne. The plural refers to weekends generally as the relevant recurring time period; the definiteness marks the set of weekends intended in context. Together, kurset med undervisning i weekenderne is “the course with weekend classes.” The sentence as a whole is an instruction: Så (“then”) + vælg (“choose”) + that noun phrase, giving “Then choose the course with weekend classes.”

7. Anmeldelserne siger, at læreren forklarer klart.

   The reviews say the teacher explains clearly.

   Anmeldelserne

   the reviews

   siger

   say

   læreren

   the teacher

   forklarer

   explains

   klart

   clearly

   More detail

   Anmeldelserne is the definite plural of anmeldelse (“review”): anmeldelse = a review, anmeldelser = reviews, and anmeldelserne = the reviews. The ending -ne marks definite plural here. Example: Anmeldelserne er positive. — “The reviews are positive.” siger is the present-tense form of sige (“to say”). It means “say” here because the subject is plural, Anmeldelserne; Danish present tense does not add a separate plural ending to this verb. Example: De siger sandheden. — “They tell the truth.” læreren is the definite singular of lærer (“teacher”): en lærer = a teacher, læreren = the teacher. The ending -en marks definite singular for this noun. Example: Læreren kommer. — “The teacher is coming.” forklarer is the present-tense form of forklare (“to explain”). It means “explains” here. The form is used with the singular subject læreren, but Danish present-tense verbs generally do not change for person or number. Example: Læreren forklarer reglen. — “The teacher explains the rule.” klart is an adverb meaning “clearly” in this sentence; it describes how the teacher explains. It is related to the adjective klar (“clear”): klar, klarere, klarest = “clear, clearer, clearest.” In this use, klart is not describing a noun. Example: Hun taler klart. — “She speaks clearly.” Together, Anmeldelserne siger means “The reviews say.” The word at introduces the content of what they say, and læreren forklarer klart means “the teacher explains clearly.” The complete utterance therefore means: “The reviews say the teacher explains clearly.”

8. Det er vigtigere end et kortere kursus.

   That matters more than a shorter course.

   Det er

   that is

   vigtigere

   more important

   end

   than

   et

   a/an

   kortere

   shorter

   kursus

   course

   More detail

   Det er combines det, the subject pronoun, with er, the present-tense form of være (“to be”). Here det refers to an understood situation or matter; the supplied sentence does not identify exactly what that referent is. Er is used with singular subjects and also with plural subjects in the present tense: jeg er (“I am”), de er (“they are”). vigtigere means “more important” here. It is the comparative form of the adjective vigtig (“important”): vigtig → vigtigere → vigtigst (“most important”). Danish comparative adjectives generally do not change for gender or number. Example: Denne grund er vigtigere. — “This reason is more important.” end introduces the thing used for comparison and corresponds to “than” in this pattern: X er vigtigere end Y — “X is more important than Y.” It is not part of the adjective itself; it connects the two sides of the comparison. et is the indefinite article used with a neuter singular noun. It marks the noun phrase as indefinite, but it does not by itself assert a numerical count. Danish also has en for common-gender singular nouns, so the article must match the noun’s grammatical gender. kortere means “shorter” here. It is the comparative form of kort (“short”): kort → kortere → kortest (“shortest”). In this sentence it describes kursus; the comparative ending is carried by the adjective kortere, not by the noun. kursus means “course.” It is a neuter noun, which is why the phrase uses et: et kursus (“a course”). Its definite singular form is kurset (“the course”), and its plural is kurser (“courses”). Together, Det er vigtigere end et kortere kursus means “That matters more than a shorter course.” The comparison has an understood first side represented by det; that side is described as vigtigere (“more important”) than et kortere kursus (“a shorter course”).