Setting healthier workload boundaries | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Jeg tror, jeg er ved at blive udbrændt af den her arbejdsbyrde.

   I think I am getting burned out from this workload.

   Jeg

   I

   tror

   think

   er ved at blive

   am in the process of becoming

   udbrændt

   burned out

   den her

   this

   arbejdsbyrde

   workload

   More detail

   Jeg is the first-person singular subject pronoun, meaning “I.” It refers to the speaker. A useful contrast is jeg “I” versus du “you” when addressing one person. tror is the present-tense form of tro, “to think” or “to believe.” Here it introduces the speaker’s assessment, rather than stating the assessment as certain. Example: Jeg tror, han kommer. — “I think he is coming.” er ved at blive is a reusable Danish pattern meaning that something is in the process of becoming or happening. er is the present form of være “to be”; blive is the infinitive “to become” or “to get.” The pattern være ved at is followed by an infinitive: Hun er ved at lære dansk. — “She is learning Danish.” udbrændt is an adjective meaning “burned out,” describing a state of severe mental or physical exhaustion. In this sentence it follows blive, so the construction describes entering that state: “become burned out.” The adjective is not the verb brænde “to burn”; it is the form used here for the resulting condition. den her is a colloquial demonstrative expression meaning “this.” den is used with a common-gender singular noun, and her adds the nearby/current sense. The demonstrative agrees with the noun it accompanies; for example, den her bog means “this book.” arbejdsbyrde is a noun meaning “workload,” literally a burden of work in this established word. Its definite form is arbejdsbyrden, meaning “the workload.” Here den her arbejdsbyrde means “this workload,” with den her identifying the particular workload being discussed. Together, Jeg tror introduces the speaker’s view. The following clause, jeg er ved at blive udbrændt, says that the speaker is in the process of becoming burned out, and af den her arbejdsbyrde connects that condition with this workload as its source or cause. The complete meaning is: “I think I am getting burned out from this workload.”

2. Har du holdt rigtige pauser, eller har du bare skiftet mellem opgaver?

   Have you been taking real breaks, or just switching between tasks?

   Har du

   have you

   holdt

   taken

   rigtige

   real

   pauser

   breaks

   eller

   or

   bare

   just

   skiftet

   switched

   mellem

   between

   opgaver

   tasks

   More detail

   Har du begins a yes/no question with har as the finite form of have and du as the subject. In this perfect-tense pattern, the auxiliary comes before the subject: Har du ...? means “Have you ...?” The same question pattern is repeated in the second alternative later in the sentence. holdt is the past participle of holde (“to hold”); here, together with har, it means “taken” in the expression holde pauser (“take breaks”). The perfect construction har holdt presents the break-taking as relevant up to the question’s reference point. Example: Jeg har holdt en pause. — “I have taken a break.” rigtige is the plural form of the adjective rigtig, meaning “real” or “genuine” here. It agrees with the plural noun pauser. The useful form chain is rigtig (common-gender singular), rigtigt (neuter singular), rigtige (plural or definite forms). In this sentence, the plural condition comes from pauser, not from the verb. pauser is the plural of the noun pause, “break.” The expression holde pauser is a reusable way to talk about taking breaks. En pause is one break; flere pauser means “several breaks.” eller links the two alternatives and means “or.” It introduces the alternative beginning with the repeated question pattern har du ...?. bare means “just” here. It limits the second alternative, presenting switching tasks as the only activity being considered in that alternative. Its meaning is separate from skiftet; it does not mean “switched.” skiftet is the past participle of skifte, “to switch” or “change.” With har, har skiftet means “have switched.” Example: Jeg har skiftet opgave. — “I have switched tasks.” mellem is the preposition “between.” The pattern mellem X og Y means “between X and Y”; here it introduces what the switching occurs between. opgaver is the plural of opgave, “task.” In mellem opgaver, the plural indicates multiple tasks as the things being switched between. Example: Hun skifter mellem to opgaver. — “She switches between two tasks.” Together, the first alternative asks whether the person has taken genuine breaks: har ... holdt rigtige pauser. Eller introduces the second alternative, which asks whether the person has merely switched between tasks: har ... bare skiftet mellem opgaver. The whole utterance therefore means: “Have you been taking real breaks, or just switching between tasks?”

3. Jeg har for det meste bare skiftet mellem opgaver, og det føles ikke rigtig som hvile.

   Mostly switching tasks, which does not really feel like rest.

   Jeg har

   I have

   for det meste

   mostly

   bare

   just

   skiftet

   switched

   mellem

   between

   opgaver

   tasks

   det føles

   it feels

   ikke rigtig

   not really

   som hvile

   as rest

   More detail

   Jeg har begins a Danish present-perfect construction when it is followed by a past participle. Here har is the auxiliary “have,” and Jeg is the first-person singular subject, “I.” In another sentence, har can be the main verb meaning possession, but here it helps place the switching in the past while connecting it to the present situation. Example: Jeg har arbejdet. — “I have worked.” for det meste is a fixed adverbial meaning “mostly” or “for the most part.” It limits the description rather than saying that it was true without exception. Example: Jeg læser for det meste om aftenen. — “I mostly read in the evening.” bare means “just” here: it presents the activity as merely switching tasks, without adding a separate claim about another kind of break. Its exact effect depends on context; it is not the same as the unrelated adjective bar (“bare”). skiftet is the past participle of skifte, “to switch” or “to change.” Together with har, har skiftet means “have switched.” The participle is the form used after har in this construction; the subject is already shown by Jeg, while skiftet itself does not mark first-person singular. Example: Hun har skiftet opgave. — “She has switched tasks.” mellem means “between” and introduces the things or points involved in the alternation. The pattern skifte mellem X og Y means “switch between X and Y.” In the fixed sentence, the items are expressed by the plural noun opgaver rather than by an explicit pair. opgaver is the plural of opgave, “task” or “assignment.” The plural ending marks more than one task, which fits switching from one task to another. Example: Jeg har flere opgaver. — “I have several tasks.” det føles means “it feels.” føles is the present-tense form of the reflexive/use-related verb føle in this expression. The pronoun det supplies the grammatical subject of the feeling statement; the fixed input does not require assigning it to one particular noun. Example: Det føles godt. — “It feels good.” ikke rigtig means “not really.” ikke negates the statement, while rigtig softens the negation by making it “not genuinely” or “not quite,” rather than simply “does not.” Here it modifies the following comparison as a whole. som hvile means “as rest” or “like rest.” som marks a comparison or classification, and hvile is the noun “rest,” used here without an article for rest as an activity or state. The phrase does not say that the switching literally is rest; it says that it feels unlike or does not qualify as rest. Together, Jeg har ... skiftet mellem opgaver says “I have switched between tasks.” for det meste and bare qualify that activity as mostly just switching tasks. The second part, det føles ikke rigtig som hvile, says that this activity does not genuinely feel like rest. Thus the whole utterance means: “Mostly switching tasks, which does not really feel like rest.”

4. Det forklarer, hvorfor presset bliver ved med at stige.

   That would explain why the pressure keeps building.

   Det

   That

   forklarer

   explains

   hvorfor

   why

   presset

   the pressure

   bliver ved med at stige

   keeps rising

   More detail

   Det means “that” here: a pronoun referring to the situation or fact being discussed. It is the subject of the sentence. Danish det is the neuter singular form; its specific referent is supplied by context rather than by the word itself. forklarer is the present-tense form of forklare, “to explain.” The present form can describe what something explains now. Example: Det forklarer fejlen. — “That explains the error.” hvorfor means “why” and introduces the reason clause. A useful pattern is forklare, hvorfor ... — “explain why ...”. presset means “the pressure.” The base noun is pres; presset is its definite singular form, marked by the ending -et. The definite form presents the pressure as identifiable in the situation, rather than introducing an unspecified instance. bliver ved med at stige is the reusable construction “keeps rising” or “continues to rise.” bliver is the present form of blive, and stige is the infinitive “to rise.” The pattern blive ved med at + infinitive expresses continued activity: Hun bliver ved med at læse. — “She keeps reading.” Here, stige describes upward change in the pressure. Together, Det forklarer, hvorfor presset bliver ved med at stige. means “That explains why the pressure keeps building.” The first clause identifies the situation as an explanation; hvorfor introduces the reason, and the final construction says that the pressure continues to rise. The fixed translation uses “would explain” as its intended English rendering, while forklarer itself is Danish present tense.

5. Jeg får dårlig samvittighed over at stoppe, når deadline nærmer sig.

   I feel guilty stopping when the deadline is close.

   får

   feel; get

   dårlig samvittighed

   a guilty conscience

   over at

   about doing

   stoppe

   stop

   når

   when

   deadline

   deadline

   nærmer sig

   draws near

   More detail

   får is the present-tense form of få. In this sentence, together with dårlig samvittighed, it means “feel” or “get” a guilty feeling; it is not the ordinary meaning “receive” here. Jeg får ... is a reusable way to say that I develop or experience a feeling. dårlig samvittighed is a fixed expression meaning guilt or a guilty conscience. The adjective dårlig describes the noun samvittighed; it is not the form that carries the verb’s tense. The expression can be used with other forms of få, for example: Hun får dårlig samvittighed. — “She feels guilty.” over at introduces the activity that causes the feeling: “about doing ...”. In this use, at is followed by the infinitive. It is a useful pattern for connecting a feeling or reaction with an action. stoppe is the infinitive “to stop.” Here it refers to stopping, without the sentence specifying an object that is being stopped. The infinitive is used after at: at stoppe — “to stop.” når introduces a time clause meaning “when.” It links the main feeling to the time condition in the following clause. For example: Jeg ringer, når jeg er hjemme. — “I’ll call when I am home.” deadline is the noun “deadline.” In this sentence it is the subject of the following clause, and the fixed translation identifies it as the relevant deadline. Danish commonly uses this English loanword; the surrounding grammar shows its role rather than changing the word’s form here. nærmer sig is the present-tense form of the reflexive verb construction nærme sig, “draw near” or “approach.” The subject is deadline, so the deadline itself is approaching. The sig belongs to the construction and refers back to that subject; it is not a separate object with an independently specified referent. Compare Tiden nærmer sig. — “Time is drawing near.” Together, Jeg får dårlig samvittighed means “I feel guilty,” and over at stoppe identifies stopping as the source of that feeling. The time clause når deadline nærmer sig means “when the deadline is close” or, more literally, “when the deadline draws near.” Thus the complete utterance means: “I feel guilty stopping when the deadline is close.”

6. En grænse er ikke dovenskab, hvis den hjælper dig med at komme dig.

   A boundary is not laziness if it helps you recover.

   grænse

   boundary

   er ikke

   is not

   dovenskab

   laziness

   hvis

   if

   hjælper

   helps

   komme dig

   recover

   More detail

   grænse means “boundary” here: a limit that can be set around what you do or accept. Its base form is grænse; the indefinite phrase en grænse uses the common-gender article en. The article marks an indefinite noun, but does not by itself assert a numeric count. er ikke is the present-tense form of være (“be”) combined with the negator ikke (“not”). Together, they make a negative statement: “is not.” Danish present-tense er does not change for person or number in the way some languages’ verb forms do. Example: Det er ikke svært. — “It is not difficult.” dovenskab is the abstract noun “laziness.” It is used here as a general quality or description, rather than as a countable individual object. The sentence therefore contrasts the idea of a boundary with the judgment that it is laziness. hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” It connects the main statement to the condition that follows. Example: Hvis du hviler, får du mere energi. — “If you rest, you get more energy.” hjælper comes from the verb hjælpe, “help,” and is its present-tense form. In Danish, the present form does not change according to the subject’s person or number: jeg hjælper, du hjælper, and den hjælper all use hjælper. Here, den refers to the boundary, and hjælper dig means “helps you.” komme dig is the relevant recovery expression. The verb komme is the infinitive “come,” but in this expression komme sig means “recover” or “get better”; with the second-person object, it appears as komme dig. The dig is understood as the person who recovers, while dig after hjælper is also the person receiving the help. Example: Hun skal komme sig efter sygdommen. — “She needs to recover from the illness.” The whole utterance is assembled as En grænse er ikke dovenskab (“A boundary is not laziness”) plus the conditional clause hvis den hjælper dig med at komme dig (“if it helps you recover”). The resulting meaning is that setting a boundary should not be characterized as laziness when that boundary helps the addressed person recover.

7. Måske burde jeg fortælle min leder, hvad der er realistisk, før deadline.

   Maybe I should tell my manager what is realistic before the deadline.

   Måske

   maybe

   burde jeg

   I should

   fortælle

   tell

   leder

   manager

   realistisk

   realistic

   hvad der er realistisk

   what is realistic

   deadline

   deadline

   før deadline

   before the deadline

   More detail

   Måske means “maybe” here and marks the statement as uncertain rather than asserting it as a fact. It normally comes at the beginning when the speaker wants to frame the whole proposition as a possibility. burde jeg combines burde, the modal verb “should/ought to,” with jeg, “I.” Burde is the form used with all subjects; it does not change for person or number. In this sentence, the modal comes before the subject because Danish main clauses follow the verb-second pattern: Måske burde jeg ... The following verb is the infinitive fortælle, without at. Compare the reusable pattern Jeg burde ringe — “I should call.” fortælle means “tell” or “inform.” It is an infinitive after the modal burde. A useful pattern is fortælle nogen noget (“tell someone something”) or fortælle nogen, hvad ... (“tell someone what ...”). Here, min leder identifies the person being told, while the following clause gives the content. leder means “manager” in this context. Its base form is leder; the common definite form is lederen (“the manager”), and the plural is ledere (“managers”). The possessive min means “my” and agrees with the singular common-gender noun leder; min leder therefore means “my manager.” hvad der er realistisk is an embedded question meaning “what is realistic.” hvad asks about the thing or situation that meets the description, while der er realistisk supplies the description “is realistic.” In this construction, der is part of the Danish clause pattern; it is not translated as a separate “there.” The same reusable pattern appears in Jeg ved, hvad der er muligt — “I know what is possible.” realistisk means “realistic,” describing what can reasonably be expected or achieved. It is an adjective and does not change for the gender or number of the thing described in this form. Its opposite is commonly urealistisk, “unrealistic.” før deadline means “before the deadline.” før is the preposition “before,” and deadline is a loanword meaning a time limit for completing something. In this sentence, the uninflected noun after før identifies the relevant deadline; Danish does not need an article in this prepositional expression. A reusable example is Send det før deadline — “Send it before the deadline.” Putting the parts together: Måske softens the assertion; burde jeg fortælle says that the speaker ought to tell someone; min leder specifies that person; hvad der er realistisk gives the information to be communicated; and før deadline sets the time limit. The whole utterance means: “Maybe I should tell my manager what is realistic before the deadline.”

8. Vær tydelig om, hvad du kan nå inden da, og hvad der kræver mere tid.

   Be clear about what you can finish by then, and what needs more time.

   Vær

   be

   tydelig

   clear

   hvad

   what

   kan nå

   can finish

   inden da

   by then

   kræver

   requires

   mere

   more

   tid

   time

   More detail

   Vær is the imperative of være, “to be.” It gives a direct instruction to the understood listener: “Be …” Other useful forms include er (“am/is/are”) and var (“was/were”). Example: Vær rolig. — “Be calm.” tydelig means “clear” here, meaning that information should be expressed clearly. In Vær tydelig, it is a predicative adjective referring to the understood listener. Danish adjective forms include tydelig, tydeligt, and tydelige; the form here is the common-gender singular form, not a form that identifies the listener’s sex. Example: Hun er tydelig. — “She is clear.” hvad introduces the content that should be made clear: “what.” It introduces an embedded question or content clause, rather than standing as a separate question. Example: Jeg ved, hvad du mener. — “I know what you mean.” kan nå combines kan, the present form of kunne (“can/be able to”), with nå, “reach” or “manage to complete.” Here nå concerns completing something before a time limit, so kan nå means “can finish” or “can manage to get done.” The modal kan precedes the lexical verb. Example: Jeg kan nå det i dag. — “I can finish it today.” inden da means “by then.” inden marks the latest time by which something happens, while da points back to an already established time. In the supplied context, that time is the earlier-mentioned deadline. Compare inden fredag (“by Friday”) with inden da (“by then”). The second hvad begins a parallel content clause after og: “what …” This lets the utterance identify both what can be finished and what needs more time. kræver is the present form of kræve, “to require.” In hvad der kræver mere tid, der is the subject-like relative element in the construction, and kræver is the present-tense form. Example: Det kræver mere tid. — “It requires more time.” mere means “more.” It is the comparative form related to meget (“much/a lot”) and describes the amount of tid here. Example: Vi har brug for mere plads. — “We need more space.” tid means “time.” Here it refers to an amount of available time, not to a particular clock time. Example: Jeg har ikke tid. — “I do not have time.” Together, Vær tydelig om means “Be clear about.” hvad du kan nå inden da gives the first content: what the listener can finish by then. After og, hvad der kræver mere tid gives the second content: what needs more time. The whole utterance means: “Be clear about what you can finish by then, and what needs more time.”

9. Jeg spiser frokost væk fra mit skrivebord i dag.

   I will take lunch away from my desk today.

   Jeg spiser

   I eat

   frokost

   lunch

   væk fra

   away from

   mit skrivebord

   my desk

   i dag

   today

   More detail

   Jeg spiser means “I eat” here and, with the time expression i dag, describes the speaker’s planned action for today: “I will eat.” spiser is the present form of spise (“to eat”); Danish present tense can refer to a scheduled or intended near-future action when the context makes that clear. The subject Jeg means “I.” frokost means “lunch.” It is the meal being eaten, and Danish commonly uses this noun without an article when referring to the meal generally. Example: Jeg spiser frokost klokken to. — “I eat lunch at two o’clock.” væk fra is a reusable two-word expression meaning “away from” or “at a distance from.” It combines væk (“away”) with fra (“from”); together they indicate separation from a place. Example: Hun går væk fra døren. — “She walks away from the door.” mit skrivebord means “my desk.” skrivebord is the noun “desk,” and mit is the first-person possessive form used with this noun in the singular. Danish nouns use different possessive forms according to the noun’s grammatical gender: mit occurs with an et-word such as et skrivebord, while min is used with an en-word. The possessive agrees with skrivebord, not with the person who owns it. Example: Jeg arbejder ved mit skrivebord. — “I work at my desk.” i dag means “today.” This fixed time expression places the action on the current day. Example: Jeg arbejder hjemme i dag. — “I am working from home today.” Together, Jeg spiser frokost says “I eat lunch,” væk fra mit skrivebord says that this happens away from the speaker’s desk, and i dag specifies today. The complete utterance therefore means: “I will take lunch away from my desk today.”

10. Det er et lille, men nyttigt skridt mod at få energien tilbage.

    That is a small but useful step toward getting your energy back.

    Det er

    That is

    lille

    small

    men

    but

    nyttigt

    useful

    skridt

    step

    mod

    toward

    få

    get

    energien

    the energy

    tilbage

    back

    More detail

    Det er means “that is” here. Det is a neuter singular pronoun functioning as the thing being identified, and er is the present-tense form of være (“be”). The translation supports the demonstrative reading “that,” rather than an impersonal “it” construction. lille means “small” here and describes skridt. Danish adjectives take the neuter singular form after et: et lille skridt. Compare en lille ... with a common-gender noun and små for plural contexts. men connects two contrasting descriptions: “but.” The pattern A, men B is reusable for “A, but B.” nyttigt means “useful” and also describes skridt. Its -t marks neuter singular in this use; the base form is nyttig, and nyttige is used in plural or definite adjective phrases. Thus both lille and nyttigt agree with the noun et skridt. skridt means “step.” The noun is neuter: et skridt; its plural is also skridt. In this sentence it is used figuratively for an action or stage of progress, not necessarily a physical footstep. mod means “toward” in this construction. The reusable pattern mod at + infinitive expresses movement or progress toward doing something, as in mod at lære mere (“toward learning more”). få means “get” here. It is the infinitive form of få; the infinitive marker at appears immediately before it in at få. Danish få can have several meanings in other contexts, but here it describes obtaining or regaining something. energien means “the energy.” The base noun is energi; energien is its definite singular form, with -en corresponding to “the.” The definite form presents the energy as identifiable in the intended meaning, without stating how much energy there is. tilbage means “back” and indicates a return to an earlier state or possession. In få energien tilbage, it combines with få to mean “get the energy back.” Together, et lille, men nyttigt skridt is “a small but useful step”: et introduces the noun phrase, and both adjectives agree with neuter skridt. mod at få energien tilbage adds the goal, “toward getting the energy back.” The complete utterance therefore means “That is a small but useful step toward getting your energy back.”