Rescheduling a group trip when someone is sick | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. En veninde siger, at hun har feber og nok ikke kan rejse i morgen.

   A friend says she has a fever and probably cannot travel tomorrow.

   En veninde

   a female friend

   siger

   says

   at hun

   that she

   har

   has

   feber

   fever

   nok

   probably

   ikke

   not

   kan

   can

   rejse

   travel

   i morgen

   tomorrow

   More detail

   En veninde means “a female friend.” En is the indefinite article used here with the common-gender noun veninde; it introduces a friend without identifying which one. Veninde specifically means “female friend,” while veninder is its plural form and veninden its definite singular form. siger is the present-tense form of sige, “to say.” Danish present tense commonly uses the same form with different subjects: jeg siger (“I say”) and hun siger (“she says”). Here it presents the friend’s statement as current or relevant now. at hun introduces the content of what she says: at means “that,” and hun is the third-person singular feminine personal pronoun, “she.” In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies hun as referring to the female friend. In a reusable pattern, X siger, at ... means “X says that ...”. har is the present-tense form of have, “to have.” It is unchanged across persons in the present tense: jeg har (“I have”) and hun har (“she has”). Here it states her current condition. feber means “fever.” Danish commonly uses this noun directly after have for the condition: Hun har feber means “She has a fever.” nok means “probably” here. It expresses a qualified expectation, not certainty. The same form can have other meanings in other contexts, including “enough,” but that is not its meaning in this sentence. ikke is the ordinary Danish negation, “not.” Here it negates the possibility expressed by the following modal verb, so ikke kan rejse means “cannot travel” or “is not able to travel.” kan is the present-tense form of the modal verb kunne, “can/to be able to.” Danish uses the same present form with different subjects, such as jeg kan (“I can”) and hun kan (“she can”). A modal such as kan is followed by an infinitive without at: kan rejse means “can travel.” rejse is the infinitive “to travel.” In kan rejse, it names the action whose possibility is being assessed. For example, Vi kan rejse i morgen means “We can travel tomorrow.” i morgen is the time expression “tomorrow.” I means “on/in” in many time expressions, but the complete fixed expression i morgen is the normal way to say “tomorrow.” Together, En veninde siger gives “A female friend says.” The following clause, at hun har feber, gives the content of her statement: “that she has a fever.” Finally, og nok ikke kan rejse i morgen adds that she probably cannot travel tomorrow. The complete meaning is: “A friend says she has a fever and probably cannot travel tomorrow.”

2. Så bør vi tage hensyn til hende og tale om, hvorvidt vi skal flytte turen.

   Then we should be considerate and discuss whether to reschedule.

   Så

   then

   bør vi

   we should

   tage hensyn til

   take into consideration

   hende

   her

   tale om

   talk about

   hvorvidt

   whether

   vi skal

   we are to / we should

   flytte

   reschedule; move

   turen

   the trip

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links the proposal to what was just said. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but this sentence uses it to mark a resulting step. bør vi expresses “we should.” bør is the present-tense form of burde, a modal verb meaning that something is advisable or expected; vi is the first-person plural subject, “we.” For example: Vi bør vente. — “We should wait.” tage hensyn til is a reusable expression meaning to take someone or something into consideration, often by acting considerately toward them. The preposition til belongs to this expression. For example: Tag hensyn til vejret. — “Take the weather into consideration.” hende is the object form of the personal pronoun hun, “she.” In this context, the bounded context identifies the referent as the female friend who has a fever. Danish uses hun for a subject and hende when the person is an object, as in Jeg ser hende. — “I see her.” tale om means “talk about” or “discuss.” tale is the verb in its infinitive form, and om is the preposition used with the topic. For example: Vi taler om planen. — “We are talking about the plan.” hvorvidt introduces an embedded yes-or-no question and means “whether.” It is especially common in somewhat formal or careful wording. The clause after it gives the question being discussed rather than asking it independently. vi skal contains skal, the present-tense form of the modal verb skulle, with vi as its subject. In this embedded question, skal presents rescheduling as the action under consideration: “whether we should reschedule.” skal can also express obligation or a planned action in other contexts, so its exact force comes from the surrounding sentence. flytte is the infinitive of flytte, “move.” With turen, it means moving the trip to another time, so “reschedule” is the natural meaning here. For example: Vi må flytte mødet. — “We have to reschedule the meeting.” turen means “the trip.” Its base noun is tur; turen is the singular definite form, formed with the definite ending -en. The definite form presents the trip as an identifiable one in the situation. For example: Turen var lang. — “The trip was long.” Together, bør vi tage hensyn til hende means “we should take her situation into consideration,” and tale om, hvorvidt vi skal flytte turen means “discuss whether we should reschedule the trip.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Then we should be considerate and discuss whether to reschedule.”

3. Det kan blive svært at flytte turen, hvis vi venter meget længere.

   It may be hard to reschedule the trip if we wait much longer.

   Det

   it

   kan

   can; may

   blive

   become; get

   svært

   difficult; hard

   flytte

   move; reschedule

   turen

   the trip

   hvis

   if

   venter

   wait

   meget

   much

   længere

   longer

   More detail

   Det is a formal subject in this sentence: the content that something may become difficult is expressed afterward in at flytte turen. Here it is not a specific person or object. Danish commonly uses this pattern: Det er svært at forstå means “It is difficult to understand.” kan is the present-tense modal verb kunne. In this context, with blive, it expresses possibility: “may/can become.” A modal is followed by an infinitive without at, so kan blive is the reusable pattern “may/can become.” blive is the infinitive of bliver and means “become” or “get” here. It describes a change into a state, not simple existence: Det kan blive dyrt means “It may become expensive.” svært is the neuter singular form of the adjective svær (“difficult”). The -t form is selected because the adjective is predicative with det in this construction. Compare en svær opgave (“a difficult task”) with et svært problem (“a difficult problem”). flytte is the infinitive of flytter, “move.” With turen in this context, it means “reschedule the trip,” rather than physically move the trip itself. The infinitive phrase at flytte turen functions as the delayed content of what is difficult. Example: Vi vil flytte mødet — “We want to reschedule the meeting.” turen is the definite singular form of tur, “trip”: en tur → turen. The definite ending identifies the trip as a particular one already relevant in the situation. Danish uses the same kind of definite form in mødet (“the meeting”), though the ending depends on the noun. hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” The clause beginning with it gives the condition under which the main statement may hold. In hvis vi venter ..., vi is the subject of the conditional clause, and venter is its present-tense verb. venter is the present form of vente, “wait.” Danish present-tense verbs generally do not change for person or number, so the same form can occur with jeg, vi, or other subjects: Jeg venter means “I am waiting,” while vi venter means “we are waiting.” meget means “much” here and intensifies the following comparison. It is not a number; it strengthens the amount of additional time expressed by længere. længere is the comparative form of the duration adverb længe (“for a long time”): længe → længere, “for longer.” Together, venter meget længere means “wait much longer.” The comparative indicates more time than the relevant current or expected waiting period. The structure is Det kan blive svært + at flytte turen + hvis vi venter meget længere: “It may become difficult to reschedule the trip if we wait much longer.” The main clause presents a possible future difficulty, while the hvis clause states the condition that could bring it about.

4. Kan vi flytte bookingen i stedet for at aflyse den helt?

   Can we move the booking instead of canceling it completely?

   Kan vi

   Can we

   flytte

   move; reschedule

   bookingen

   the booking

   i stedet for at

   instead of doing

   aflyse

   cancel

   den

   it

   helt

   completely

   More detail

   Kan vi is a reusable way to ask whether “we” can or may do something. kan is the present form of kunne (“can, be able to”), and vi is the first-person plural pronoun (“we”). In this question, the verb comes before the subject: Kan vi ...? Example: Kan vi vente? — “Can we wait?” flytte means “move” here in the sense of changing a booking to another time or arrangement. It is the infinitive of flytte; after kan, Danish uses the infinitive without an additional infinitive marker. The same verb can also mean physically moving something. Example: Vi kan flytte mødet. — “We can move the meeting.” bookingen means “the booking.” The noun booking has the definite form bookingen, with the suffix -en; this presents the booking as a specific identifiable one. The indefinite form is en booking (“a booking”), while bookinger and bookingerne are plural forms (“bookings” and “the bookings”). i stedet for at is a reusable pattern meaning “instead of doing.” It introduces an alternative, and at is followed here by the infinitive aflyse. Example: Vi tager toget i stedet for at køre. — “We take the train instead of driving.” aflyse means “cancel” and is an infinitive. Here it names the alternative action that the speakers want to avoid in favor of moving the booking. Example: De vil aflyse mødet. — “They want to cancel the meeting.” den means “it” here and refers to the booking. It is the singular object pronoun used with a common-gender referent; Danish uses det for a neuter singular referent. The form reflects the referent’s grammatical gender and number, while the fixed translation identifies the referent here. helt means “completely.” It is the adverb modifying aflyse, so aflyse den helt means “cancel it completely.” helt is also the neuter singular form of the adjective hel (“whole, complete”), and it is used adverbially here. Example: Døren er helt åben. — “The door is completely open.” Together, Kan vi flytte bookingen asks whether the speakers can move the specific booking. i stedet for at aflyse den helt presents completely canceling that booking as the alternative. The full utterance means: “Can we move the booking instead of canceling it completely?”

5. Lad mig ringe og spørge, hvilke muligheder der er.

   Let me call and ask what options are available.

   Lad mig

   let me

   ringe

   call

   spørge

   ask

   hvilke

   which

   muligheder

   options

   der er

   are available

   More detail

   Lad mig is the reusable Danish pattern “let me …”. Lad is the imperative of lade (“let, allow”), and mig is the object form of “I/me”. The following infinitive states the action the speaker proposes to do: Lad mig hjælpe means “Let me help.” ringe means “to call” and is an infinitive. After Lad mig, Danish uses the infinitive directly: Lad mig ringe means “Let me call.” The word ringe can also mean “to ring” in other contexts; here the fixed translation identifies the telephone-call meaning. spørge means “to ask” and is also an infinitive. It is coordinated with ringe, so ringe og spørge means “call and ask.” In Lad mig ringe og spørge, both actions belong to the same “let me …” pattern. Example: Lad mig se — “Let me see.” hvilke means “which” when the thing selected is plural. Useful contrasts are hvilken for a singular common-gender noun and hvilket for a singular neuter noun. Example: Hvilke bøger vil du læse? — “Which books do you want to read?” muligheder means “options” or “possibilities” here. It is the plural of mulighed (“option, possibility”): en mulighed, flere muligheder. The plural form is appropriate because hvilke selects among plural options. Example: Vi har flere muligheder. — “We have several options.” der er contributes “there are” in this clause, expressing that something exists or is available. er is the present-tense form of være (“be”); der functions as the introductory subject in this existential construction. In hvilke muligheder der er, Danish places this clause after the question word and noun, producing the meaning “what options there are” or, naturally here, “what options are available.” Together, Lad mig ringe og spørge means “Let me call and ask.” The embedded question hvilke muligheder der er specifies what the speaker will ask about: “what options are available.” The complete utterance therefore means “Let me call and ask what options are available.”

6. Spørg også, om hun ville have det okay med, at vi tager af sted uden hende.

   Also ask whether she would be comfortable with us going without her.

   Spørg

   ask

   også

   also

   om

   whether

   hun

   she

   ville have det okay med

   would be comfortable with

   vi

   we

   tager af sted

   go / leave

   uden hende

   without her

   More detail

   Spørg is the imperative of spørge, “to ask.” It gives a direct instruction to one or more people. The present-tense form is spørger; the imperative is shorter: Spørg! Example: Spørg læreren. — “Ask the teacher.” også means “also” and adds this request to another request. In the supplied context, it connects with the earlier request to call and ask about the available options. om introduces an indirect yes/no question, so spørg om ... means “ask whether ...”. This differs from hvad “what” and hvem “who,” which introduce questions asking for specific information. Example: Spørg om han kommer. — “Ask whether he is coming.” hun is the subject form of “she.” Its corresponding object form is hende, as in Jeg ser hende. — “I see her.” Here hun is the person whose comfort is being asked about. ville have det okay med is a reusable Danish pattern meaning “would be okay with” or “would be comfortable with.” ville is the form of ville used here for a hypothetical or reported “would”; have is the infinitive after it. The pronoun det is part of the expression have det ..., literally “have it ...,” rather than a separately identified object. The preposition med introduces the situation someone accepts or feels comfortable with. Example: Hun ville have det okay med at vente. — “She would be okay with waiting.” vi is the subject form “we.” Danish uses vi for the subject, while os is the corresponding object form: Hun ser os. — “She sees us.” Here vi is the group that would go. tager af sted is the fixed expression “go” or “leave.” tager is the present-tense form of tage “to take,” but in this expression the whole unit means “go/leave”; it should not be interpreted as literally taking something. The expression can refer to a planned or intended departure even though tager is present tense. Example: Vi tager af sted i morgen. — “We are leaving tomorrow.” uden hende means “without her.” uden is the preposition “without,” and hende is the object form corresponding to subject-form hun. Here hende refers to the woman already identified as hun; it is not the group going. Example: Vi går uden hende. — “We go without her.” Together, ville have det okay med + at vi tager af sted forms the situation whose acceptability is being checked: whether she would be comfortable with us leaving. Thus Spørg også, om hun ville have det okay med, at vi tager af sted uden hende. means “Also ask whether she would be comfortable with us going without her.”

7. Jeg vil helst udskyde turen, fordi den var planlagt som en grupperejse.

   I would rather postpone, because it was planned as a group trip.

   Jeg vil helst

   I would rather

   udskyde

   postpone

   turen

   the trip

   fordi

   because

   den

   it

   var planlagt

   was planned

   som

   as

   grupperejse

   group trip

   More detail

   Jeg vil helst expresses a preference: “I would rather” or “I would preferably”. vil is the present form of ville and functions here with the infinitive udskyde; after this modal-like use, the infinitive appears without at. helst expresses a stronger preference than gerne in this pattern: Jeg vil gerne ... means “I would like to ...”, while Jeg vil helst ... means “I would rather ...”. udskyde is the infinitive “to postpone”. Its infinitive is used after vil. Example: Vi vil udskyde mødet. — “We will postpone the meeting.” turen means “the trip”. tur is a common-gender noun meaning “trip”; turen is its definite singular form. The definite ending is part of the noun form, so Danish does not use a separate word corresponding to “the” here. Example: Turen var lang. — “The trip was long.” fordi introduces a reason and means “because”. In fordi den var planlagt ..., it begins the subordinate clause giving the reason for postponing the trip. Example: Jeg bliver hjemme, fordi jeg er træt. — “I am staying home because I am tired.” den is a third-person singular pronoun for a common-gender referent. Here it refers back to turen, matching the translation’s “it”. Its form is selected because the referent is singular and common-gender. var planlagt means “was planned”. var is the past form of være (“to be”), and planlagt is the past participle of planlægge (“to plan”). Together they form a past passive expression: the trip was planned in that way. Example: Mødet var planlagt til mandag. — “The meeting was planned for Monday.” som means “as” in this description of what the trip was planned as. It can introduce a role, classification, or type. Example: Hun arbejder som lærer. — “She works as a teacher.” grupperejse means “group trip”. It is a compound noun made from gruppe (“group”) and rejse (“trip” or “journey”). In the full expression, en grupperejse is an indefinite noun phrase after som, meaning “a group trip”. The quoted word is only grupperejse; the indefinite article belongs to the larger phrase. Together, Jeg vil helst udskyde turen means “I would rather postpone the trip”. fordi den var planlagt som en grupperejse gives the reason: “because it was planned as a group trip.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I would rather postpone the trip, because it was planned as a group trip.”

8. Det giver mening, især hvis hun kun har brug for nogle få dage til at komme sig.

   That makes sense, especially if she only needs a few days to recover.

   giver mening

   makes sense

   især

   especially

   hvis

   if

   hun

   she

   kun

   only

   har brug for

   needs

   nogle

   some

   få

   few

   dage

   days

   komme sig

   recover

   More detail

   giver mening is a fixed, reusable expression meaning that something is understandable, logical, or reasonable. giver is the present form of give; here it is used in the expression rather than meaning that someone physically gives something. Example: “Det giver mening.” — “That makes sense.” især adds emphasis to one condition or case: “especially.” It can introduce what is particularly relevant without changing the basic statement. hvis introduces a condition: “if.” The clause after it describes a situation under which the main statement applies. Example: “Jeg kommer, hvis jeg kan.” — “I’ll come if I can.” hun is the third-person singular pronoun “she.” It identifies a female person, but the supplied sentence does not otherwise specify who that person is. Danish pronouns also include han (“he”) and de (“they” or formal “you”), but the form here is specifically singular feminine. kun means “only” and limits the part that follows it in this sentence: the need is limited to a short period. Its scope is understood together with har brug for nogle få dage. har brug for is the common Danish construction “need / have need for.” har is the present form of have, while brug for completes the construction; it is not the same as the ordinary verb bruge (“use”). Example: “Jeg har brug for hjælp.” — “I need help.” nogle means “some” and presents an unspecified amount or number. With the following plural noun, it indicates that there are days, without specifying exactly how many. få means “few,” emphasizing a small number. It is an adjective modifying plural dage; in this form, få is used with a plural countable noun. A useful contrast is mange dage — “many days.” dage means “days.” It is the plural of dag (“day”). The plural form is required because the sentence refers to more than one day, even though the exact number is not given. komme sig means “recover” or “get better.” komme is the infinitive of komme (“come”), and sig is the reflexive pronoun used because the person who recovers is also the person affected by the action. In til at komme sig, til at introduces the purpose or intended result: “to recover.” Example: “Hun prøver at komme sig.” — “She is trying to recover.” Together, Det giver mening means “That makes sense.” The conditional clause især hvis hun kun har brug for nogle få dage til at komme sig specifies the circumstance that makes it especially reasonable: she needs only a few days to recover. Thus the whole utterance means: “That makes sense, especially if she only needs a few days to recover.”

9. Jeg sender alle en besked med mulighederne og en klar opdatering.

   I will message everyone with the options and a clear update.

   Jeg

   I

   sender

   send; message

   alle

   everyone; all

   besked

   message

   med

   with

   mulighederne

   the options

   klar

   clear

   opdatering

   update

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here, the first-person singular subject. Danish uses jeg for the speaker regardless of the speaker’s gender. Example: Jeg læser. — “I am reading.” sender is the present-tense form of sende, “to send.” In this sentence, the present form is understood as a planned future action: “will message.” The same form can also describe a current or habitual action, depending on context. Example: Jeg sender en e-mail. — “I am sending an email” or “I send an email.” alle means “everyone” here and functions as the recipient of the message. It is a form used for an entire group, not a singular person. Example: Jeg inviterer alle. — “I invite everyone.” besked means “message.” It is a common-gender noun: en besked; the definite singular is beskeden, and the plural is beskeder. In en besked, en marks an indefinite noun phrase; it does not by itself add special emphasis to the number one. med means “with.” It links the message to what it contains or includes: the message is with the options and the update. Example: Hun kommer med en plan. — “She comes with a plan.” mulighederne means “the options.” Its base noun is mulighed, “option” or “possibility”; muligheder is the plural, and the ending -ne marks the definite plural: mulighederne, “the options.” The definite form presents the options as identifiable in the context. klar means “clear” in this sentence. It describes opdatering, which is a common-gender singular indefinite noun, so the adjective has the form klar. With a neuter singular noun, the form is commonly klart; with plural or definite noun phrases, it is commonly klare. Example: en klar besked — “a clear message.” opdatering means “update.” It is a common-gender noun: en opdatering; its definite singular is opdateringen, and its plural is opdateringer. Here it is indefinite because the phrase uses en klar opdatering, “a clear update.” The sentence has the reusable pattern Jeg sender [recipient] [thing] med [included information]: Jeg sender alle en besked means “I will message everyone,” and med mulighederne og en klar opdatering specifies that the message includes the options and a clear update. Together, the utterance means: “I will message everyone with the options and a clear update.”

10. Folk vil bedre kunne håndtere ændringen, hvis de kender grunden og tidspunktet.

    People will handle the change better if they know the reason and timing.

    Folk

    people

    vil

    will

    bedre

    better

    kunne

    be able to

    håndtere

    handle

    ændringen

    the change

    hvis

    if

    kender

    know

    grunden

    the reason

    tidspunktet

    the timing

    More detail

    Folk means “people” here. It is a noun referring generally to people; it is not an indefinite form of another noun, and this form does not by itself specify a particular number of individuals. Example: Folk arbejder her. — “People work here.” vil is the present form of ville. In this sentence, with an infinitive after it, it expresses a future result: “will.” ville can also express wanting in other contexts, so the following construction helps identify the meaning here. bedre is the comparative form of the adverb godt (“well”): godt → bedre (“well” → “better”). It describes how successfully the handling will happen. Example: Hun arbejder bedre nu. — “She works better now.” kunne is the infinitive of kan and means “be able to” here. After the modal vil, Danish uses the infinitive: vil kunne means “will be able to.” kan is the present form, while kunne is the infinitive form used in this combination. håndtere is an infinitive meaning “handle” or “manage.” It follows kunne, so kunne håndtere means “be able to handle.” Example: Vi kan håndtere opgaven. — “We can handle the task.” ændringen is the definite singular form of the noun ændring (“change”): en ændring → ændringen (“a change” → “the change”). The ending -en marks definiteness for this common-gender noun. Here it means “the change” in the fixed utterance. hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” It starts the subordinate clause that gives the condition for the result in the main clause. Example: Jeg kommer, hvis jeg har tid. — “I will come if I have time.” kender is the present form of kende, meaning “know” in the sense of being familiar with or knowing a person, place, or thing. The form is present even though the main clause refers to a future result; the condition is presented with present-tense kender. Example: De kender byen. — “They know the city.” grunden is the definite singular form of grund (“reason” here): en grund → grunden (“a reason” → “the reason”). The same noun can have other meanings in other contexts, but here the fixed translation selects “reason.” tidspunktet is the definite singular form of tidspunkt (“time” or “point in time”): et tidspunkt → tidspunktet (“a time” → “the time”). Unlike grund, this noun is neuter, so its indefinite article is et; its definite singular form nevertheless ends in -et. Together, vil kunne håndtere means “will be able to handle,” and bedre modifies that handling: “handle better.” The main clause is Folk vil bedre kunne håndtere ændringen — “People will be able to handle the change better.” The conditional clause hvis de kender grunden og tidspunktet adds the condition “if they know the reason and the timing.” Thus the complete utterance means: “People will handle the change better if they know the reason and timing.”