Managing a delay while waiting in line | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Det virker stadig, som om der er lang tid, til det bliver min tur.

   My turn still seems a long way off.

   Det virker

   it seems

   stadig

   still

   som om

   as if

   der er

   there is; there are

   lang

   long

   tid

   time

   bliver

   becomes; gets

   min

   my

   tur

   turn

   More detail

   Det virker uses virke in the present tense: here it means “seem” or “appear.” Virker does not change for person or number in the present tense, so the form is the same with different subjects. The det here is the impersonal “it” used in the expression “it seems.” stadig means “still” and shows that the situation continues. It modifies the statement as a whole: the speaker still has the impression that the turn is not near. som om introduces an impression or comparison, meaning “as if” or “as though.” A reusable pattern is Det virker, som om ... (“It seems as if ...”). der er is the existential construction “there is/are.” Er is the present form of være (“be”), while der functions as the formal place-holder subject in this construction. Example: Der er tid. — “There is time.” lang means “long” here and describes tid. It is the base form of the adjective; compare længere (“longer”) and længst (“longest”). In this phrase, lang tid means a long amount of time or a long wait, not physical length. tid means “time.” In lang tid, it is the noun being measured. Danish also commonly uses meget tid for “a lot of time,” whereas lang tid focuses on duration. bliver is the present form of blive (“become,” “get,” or “remain,” depending on context). Here bliver min tur means “it becomes my turn” or, more naturally, “my turn comes.” The present form can describe a future point when it is placed in a time expression such as til ... (“until ...”). min means “my.” It is the possessive form used with a singular common-gender noun such as tur; it agrees with the possessed noun, not with the speaker. Compare mit with a singular neuter noun and mine with plural nouns. tur means “turn.” In min tur, it refers to the speaker’s turn in an activity or sequence. Example: Nu er det min tur. — “Now it is my turn.” The sentence is assembled as Det virker stadig (“It still seems”), som om der er lang tid (“as if there is a long time”), and til det bliver min tur (“until it becomes my turn”). Together, it means: “My turn still seems a long way off.”

2. Jeg skal være et andet sted snart.

   I need to be somewhere else soon.

   Jeg skal

   I need to

   være

   be

   andet

   other

   sted

   place

   snart

   soon

   More detail

   Jeg skal expresses the speaker’s need or obligation here: “I need to …”. Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I”, and skal is the present form of the modal verb skulle. With an infinitive, skal can express necessity, obligation, or a planned future action; the fixed translation supports the necessity reading here. The infinitive follows without at: Jeg skal være = “I need to be”. være means “to be”. It is the infinitive form of er (“am/is/are” in the present). After the modal skal, Danish uses the infinitive: skal være, not a present-tense form. andet means “another” or “different” in this phrase. It is the neuter singular form related to anden; the plural form is andre. The form andet agrees with the neuter noun sted, rather than with Jeg. sted means “place” or “location”. It is a neuter noun: et sted means “a place”. In et andet sted, the article and adjective show the neuter singular form, and the complete phrase means “somewhere else” or literally “another place”. snart means “soon”. It is an adverb, so it does not change for number or gender. For example, Hun kommer snart means “She is coming soon.” Together, Jeg skal være et andet sted means “I need to be somewhere else”, and snart adds the time “soon”. The complete utterance is therefore: “I need to be somewhere else soon.”

3. Lad mig forklare, hvordan køen bevæger sig, før du beslutter, om du vil blive.

   Let me explain how the queue is moving before you decide whether to stay.

   Lad mig

   let me

   forklare

   explain

   hvordan

   how

   køen

   the queue

   bevæger sig

   is moving

   før

   before

   beslutter

   decide

   om

   whether

   vil

   will

   blive

   stay

   More detail

   Lad mig is a compact request meaning “let me …”. Lad is the imperative of lade (“let” or “allow”), and mig is the object form of the first-person pronoun (“me”). The construction Lad mig is followed by an infinitive: Example: Lad mig hjælpe. — “Let me help.” forklare is the infinitive of forklare, “explain”. After Lad mig, it names the action the speaker asks to perform. Example: Jeg vil forklare det. — “I want to explain it.” hvordan means “how” and introduces an embedded question about manner or process. Here it introduces what the speaker will explain. Example: Jeg ved, hvordan det virker. — “I know how it works.” køen means “the queue”. It is the definite singular form of kø; the ending -en marks this noun as definite singular. The fixed translation identifies the intended referent as a queue. Example: Køen er lang. — “The queue is long.” bevæger sig means “is moving”. bevæger is the present-tense form of bevæge, and sig is the reflexive pronoun used in the construction bevæge sig for movement of the subject itself. In this sentence, køen is the subject, so the queue is moving. Example: Bilen bevæger sig langsomt. — “The car is moving slowly.” før means “before” and introduces the event that must occur earlier in time. The clause after it is du beslutter ...: “you decide ...”. Example: Ring, før du går. — “Call before you leave.” beslutter is the present-tense form of beslutte, “decide”. du is its second-person singular subject, but Danish present-tense verbs generally do not change form according to the subject’s person or number. Example: Du beslutter senere. — “You decide later.” om introduces an embedded yes-or-no question and means “whether” here. It connects beslutter with the choice being decided: whether the listener will stay. Example: Jeg ved ikke, om han kommer. — “I don’t know whether he is coming.” vil is the present-tense modal form of ville. Before an infinitive, it can express willingness, intention, or a future-oriented choice. In om du vil blive, the intended meaning is whether you want or intend to stay, matching “whether to stay”; it is not necessarily a firm prediction that you will stay. Example: Hun vil blive. — “She wants to stay.” blive is the infinitive of blive, “stay” or “remain” in this context. With vil, it names the action associated with the choice. Example: Vil du blive? — “Do you want to stay?” Together, Lad mig forklare means “Let me explain”. The embedded clause hvordan køen bevæger sig specifies what will be explained: how the queue is moving. før du beslutter places the explanation before the listener decides, and om du vil blive identifies the decision as whether to stay. The complete meaning is: “Let me explain how the queue is moving before you decide whether to stay.”

4. Bevæger den sig i et jævnt tempo?

   Is it moving at a steady pace?

   Bevæger

   moves; is moving

   den

   it

   sig

   itself

   jævnt

   steady; even

   tempo

   pace; tempo

   More detail

   Bevæger is the present-tense form of bevæge, “to move.” Danish present-tense verbs do not change for person, so the same form can occur with different subjects: Jeg bevæger mig means “I move,” while den bevæger sig means “it moves.” In this sentence, bevæger is part of the reflexive expression bevæger sig, meaning that the subject is moving. den is a third-person singular pronoun translated here as “it.” The preceding context identifies the moving entity as the queue, and the translation confirms this non-human “it” reading. The pronoun itself does not name the entity; it refers back to an already identifiable one. sig is the reflexive form used with a third-person subject. Together, den ... sig indicates that the subject performs the movement itself. Compare Den bevæger sig (“It moves”) with Jeg bevæger mig (“I move”): the reflexive form changes with the subject. jævnt is the form of the adjective jævn, “even” or “steady,” used with the neuter noun tempo. Danish adjectives can agree with a neuter indefinite noun: en jævn bevægelse (“an even movement”), but et jævnt tempo (“a steady pace”). Here it describes the pace, not the movement as a separate object. tempo means “pace” or “tempo.” It is a neuter noun, shown by the indefinite article et: et tempo. Its definite form is tempoet, as in the next sentence: Tempoet er ujævnt (“The pace is uneven”). The phrase i et jævnt tempo means “at a steady pace”: i introduces the manner or rate, et jævnt agrees with tempo, and tempo names the rate of movement. Danish questions commonly place the finite verb before the subject, giving Bevæger den sig ...? rather than the statement order Den bevæger sig .... Taken together, Bevæger den sig i et jævnt tempo? asks whether the identified entity is moving at a steady pace: “Is it moving at a steady pace?”

5. Tempoet er ujævnt i dag. Nogle henvendelser tager længere tid end forventet.

   The pace is uneven today. Some requests are taking longer than expected.

   Tempoet

   the pace

   ujævnt

   uneven

   i dag

   today

   Nogle

   some

   henvendelser

   requests

   tager

   takes

   længere

   longer

   tid

   time

   end forventet

   than expected

   More detail

   Tempoet means “the pace” here. It is the definite form of tempo (“pace”): the ending -et marks a definite singular noun in this form. Danish definite forms depend on the noun’s grammatical gender and number, so learn tempo → tempoet as “a pace” → “the pace.” ujævnt describes the pace as uneven or irregular. It is the neuter singular form of ujævn because tempo is a neuter noun (et tempo). With a common-gender noun, the corresponding form is normally ujævn; with a plural noun, ujævne is used. The related opposite is jævn (“even, steady”), as in the previous question’s et jævnt tempo (“a steady pace”). i dag is the fixed expression “today.” It places the statement in the current day and does not change for noun gender or number. Nogle means “some” before a plural noun. It introduces an unspecified part of a group; it does not state an exact number. Its singular counterpart is commonly en or et, chosen according to the noun’s gender, while nogle is used with plural nouns. henvendelser means “requests” here. It is the plural of henvendelse (“request” or “inquiry”). The plural ending is -er: en henvendelse → henvendelser. For example, Jeg har to henvendelser means “I have two requests.” tager is the present-tense form of tage (“to take”). In this sentence, henvendelser tager ... tid is the Danish pattern for saying that requests take a certain amount of time. Present-tense tager has the same form with different subjects: det tager (“it takes”) and de tager (“they take”). længere means “longer” here. It is the comparative form of lang (“long”): lang → længere (“long” → “longer”). The comparison is completed by end (“than”): Det tager længere tid end forventet means “It takes longer than expected.” tid means “time.” In tage tid, it is part of the reusable expression meaning “take time”: Det tager tid means “It takes time.” The noun remains singular in this expression even when the duration is not specified. end forventet means “than expected.” end introduces the standard of comparison, and forventet is the participial form related to forvente (“to expect”), used here with the meaning “expected.” The phrase leaves the expected duration implicit rather than naming it. Together, Tempoet er ujævnt i dag says “The pace is uneven today.” Then Nogle henvendelser tager længere tid end forventet says that some requests are taking more time than was expected. The two sentences therefore describe an uneven current pace and identify longer-than-expected durations for some requests.

6. Hvis jeg går væk et øjeblik, kan jeg så komme tilbage til den samme plads?

   If I step away for a moment, can I come back to the same place?

   Hvis

   if

   jeg

   I

   går væk

   step away

   øjeblik

   moment

   kan jeg så

   can I then?

   komme tilbage

   come back

   samme

   same

   plads

   place

   More detail

   Hvis introduces a condition: Hvis jeg går væk et øjeblik means “if I step away for a moment.” Danish hvis is reusable in conditional patterns such as Hvis du har tid, ... (“If you have time, ...”). jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” It identifies the speaker as the subject of går. går væk is the present form of gå plus væk. Here it means “go/step away,” not simply “walk.” gå has the present form går; væk adds movement away from the current location. Example: Hun går væk fra døren. — “She walks away from the door.” et øjeblik means “a moment.” øjeblik is a neuter noun, shown by et; the phrase describes a short period rather than asserting a particular measured count. Example: Vent et øjeblik. — “Wait a moment.” kan jeg så forms the question’s modal pattern. kan is the present form of kunne and expresses ability or possibility here: “can.” jeg is placed after the modal because Danish main-clause questions commonly use verb–subject order. så means “then” in this question and connects the return to the condition: “then/can I ...?” komme tilbage is the infinitive phrase “come back.” After the modal kan, the following verb is in the infinitive: kan ... komme, not a present-tense form. komme means “come,” while tilbage adds the meaning of returning. Example: Jeg kommer tilbage senere. — “I’ll come back later.” samme means “same.” It identifies something as identical to the place mentioned or understood in the situation. In this form, samme does not change for the noun’s gender or number. A useful contrast is en anden plads — “a different place.” plads means “place” or “spot”; in this context it can refer to the speaker’s place in the line or queue. It is a common-gender noun, as shown by den samme plads. Example: Er denne plads ledig? — “Is this place free?” Together, Hvis jeg går væk et øjeblik sets the condition, and kan jeg så komme tilbage til den samme plads? asks whether returning to that same place will still be possible. The full meaning is: “If I step away for a moment, can I come back to the same place?”

7. Du kan kun beholde din plads, hvis du bliver tæt på køen.

   You can only keep your place if you stay close to the line.

   Du kan

   you can

   kun

   only

   beholde

   keep

   din

   your

   plads

   place; spot

   hvis

   if

   du

   you

   bliver

   stay

   tæt

   close

   på

   near; by

   køen

   the line

   More detail

   Du kan means “you can.” Danish kan is the present form of kunne, a modal verb. It is followed by an infinitive without at, as in Du kan vente (“You can wait”). Here Du is the subject, and kan expresses possibility or permission rather than an action by itself. kun means “only” and limits the condition for keeping the place: staying close to the line is presented as the necessary condition. Its position before beholde gives the sentence the meaning “can only keep,” not simply “can keep.” beholde is the infinitive “to keep” or “to retain.” After a modal such as kan, Danish uses this infinitive form: kan beholde. Example: Jeg kan beholde billetten — “I can keep the ticket.” din means “your” before one singular common-gender noun. It agrees with the possessed noun, not with the person who possesses it. Danish contrasts din with dit before a singular neuter noun and dine before a plural noun. Here din agrees with plads. plads means “place” or “spot.” In this utterance it refers to a person’s position in the line, so “place” is the natural meaning. It is a common-gender noun: en plads, with the definite form pladsen (“the place”). Example: Der er en ledig plads — “There is an available place.” hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” It begins the subordinate clause that states what must be true for the main clause to apply. Example: Hvis du venter, kommer jeg tilbage — “If you wait, I will come back.” du is the subject pronoun “you.” It appears again because Danish normally states the subject of the subordinate clause explicitly; here it is the person who must stay close. bliver is the present form of blive, “to stay,” “remain,” or, in other contexts, “become.” In this sentence it means “stay/remain,” not “become.” The form is present tense and agrees with the subject du; Danish present bliver does not change for person or number. Example: Bliv her — “Stay here.” tæt means “close” in the expression tæt på, “close to.” Here it describes proximity, not emotional closeness. The adjective tæt can also be used in other ways, for example en tæt dør (“a tight door”), but tæt på is the relevant pattern here. på means “to” or “near” in tæt på. Together, tæt på forms the prepositional phrase “close to”; på should not be understood as carrying the whole meaning alone. Example: Hun står tæt på døren — “She is standing close to the door.” køen means “the line” or “the queue.” It is the definite singular form of en kø (“a line/queue”): kø + definite ending -en gives køen. The definite form presents the line as an identifiable one in the situation. The sentence combines these parts as Du kan kun beholde din plads (“You can only keep your place”) and hvis du bliver tæt på køen (“if you stay close to the line”). Together: “You can only keep your place if you stay close to the line.” The modal kan applies to beholde, while the hvis-clause gives the condition for that possibility.

8. Så skal jeg beslutte, om det her kan vente.

   Then I need to decide whether this can wait.

   Så

   then

   skal jeg

   I need to

   beslutte

   decide

   om

   whether

   det her

   this

   kan

   can

   vente

   wait

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links this decision to what has just been established. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but this utterance uses it as a sequence marker. skal jeg combines skal with jeg. Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I”. Skal is the present form of skulle; with a first-person subject, it can express an obligation or need, as in the fixed translation “I need to”. The exact meaning comes from the construction and context: skal can also express a plan or something that is going to happen. Example: Jeg skal arbejde i morgen. — “I have to work tomorrow.” beslutte is the infinitive “to decide”. After a modal such as skal, Danish normally uses the infinitive without an extra infinitive marker: jeg skal beslutte — “I need to decide”. The form beslutte itself does not show the subject; jeg supplies the first-person subject. om introduces an embedded yes-or-no question, meaning “whether” here. It is different from hvis, which means “if” when introducing a condition. Example: Jeg ved ikke, om han kommer. — “I do not know whether he is coming.” det her means “this”. Det is the neuter singular form used here, and her adds the sense of proximity. The fixed input does not identify exactly what det her refers to, so the supported teaching point is its grammatical form and deictic meaning, not a particular object. kan is the present form of kunne, “can” or “be able to”. In this sentence it expresses possibility: what det her refers to can be postponed or left until later. The modal kan is followed by an infinitive, here vente. vente means “to wait”. It is the infinitive after kan; the form does not change to agree with the subject. Example: Vi kan vente. — “We can wait.” Together, Så skal jeg beslutte means “Then I need to decide”, and om det her kan vente means “whether this can wait” or, in this context, “whether this can be postponed”. The complete utterance is therefore: “Then I need to decide whether this can wait.”

9. Hvis det er vigtigt at få denne service i dag, er det sikrere at blive tæt på køen.

   If this service is important today, staying close is the safer choice.

   vigtigt

   important

   at få

   to get

   denne

   this

   service

   service

   i dag

   today

   sikrere

   safer

   at blive

   to stay

   tæt på

   close to

   køen

   the queue

   More detail

   vigtigt means “important” here. It is the neuter singular form of vigtig, agreeing with the dummy subject det in det er vigtigt. The basic comparison is vigtig → vigtigere (“more important”) → vigtigst (“most important”). at få is the infinitive of få, meaning “to get” in this context: getting the service today. The infinitive marker at introduces the verb form. Få has other uses, including “to receive” or “to be allowed to,” so its exact meaning comes from the surrounding words. denne means “this” and points to one specific nearby or contextually identified item. It is the common-gender singular form; the corresponding neuter form is dette. In denne service, denne agrees with service. service is the noun “service” here. It is a common-gender singular noun, as shown by denne service. The same noun can refer to a service or assistance offered to someone, depending on context. i dag means “today,” a time expression. It identifies the day on which the service is to be obtained; it does not itself indicate a number of days. sikrere means “safer.” It is the comparative form of sikker (“safe”): sikker → sikrere → sikrest. The comparative presents one option as safer than another, even when the other option is only understood rather than named. Example: Denne vej er sikrere. — “This route is safer.” at blive is the infinitive of blive, meaning “to stay” in this sentence. Blive can also mean “to become,” but tæt på køen gives the staying-in-a-place reading here. Example: Jeg vil blive her. — “I want to stay here.” tæt på means “close to” and expresses physical or spatial proximity. It is a fixed prepositional pattern: tæt på + a place, person, or thing. Example: Hun står tæt på døren. — “She is standing close to the door.” køen means “the queue.” It is the definite singular form of kø; the indefinite singular is en kø. The ending -en marks definiteness for this noun. Example: Køen er lang. — “The queue is long.” Together, Hvis det er vigtigt ... introduces a condition: “If it is important ...”. The infinitive clause at få denne service i dag says what is important, namely getting this service today. The main clause er det sikrere at blive tæt på køen says that, under that condition, staying close to the queue is the safer option. The whole utterance therefore means: “If this service is important today, staying close is the safer choice.”

10. Jeg kan skrive til den anden person og forklare forsinkelsen.

    I can message the other person and explain the delay.

    Jeg kan

    I can

    skrive

    write; message

    til

    to

    anden

    other

    person

    person

    forklare

    explain

    forsinkelsen

    the delay

    More detail

    Jeg kan means “I can.” kan is the present-tense form of kunne (“can, be able to”) for jeg and other present-tense subjects; it does not take a personal ending here. A modal such as kan is followed by an infinitive without an English-style “to”: Jeg kan skrive = “I can write.” skrive is the infinitive of skrive (“write”). Here, skrive til someone means writing to that person, which can naturally be rendered as messaging them. The preposition til means “to” and identifies the recipient: skrive til nogen = “write to someone.” anden means “other” in den anden person, “the other person.” Its form is the common-gender singular form; compare andet with a neuter singular noun and andre in the plural. The word den together with anden person makes the noun phrase definite, while person is the noun “person.” The adjective describes which person is meant; it does not itself express a number of people. forklare is the infinitive of forklare (“explain”). It is coordinated with skrive by og (“and”), and the modal kan applies to both actions: kan skrive ... og forklare ... = “can write ... and explain ...”. Example: Jeg kan forklare det. — “I can explain it.” forsinkelsen means “the delay.” It is the definite singular form of the noun forsinkelse (“delay”): forsinkelse = “a delay” or “delay” in an indefinite noun phrase, while the ending -en marks common-gender singular definiteness here. The noun is the object of forklare. Putting the parts together, Jeg kan skrive til den anden person og forklare forsinkelsen means “I can message the other person and explain the delay.” The speaker presents both writing to that person and explaining the delay as actions they are able to do.

11. Det burde hjælpe dem med at forstå, hvorfor du er forsinket.

    That should help them understand why you are running late.

    Det burde

    that should

    hjælpe

    help

    dem

    them

    med at

    with/to

    forstå

    understand

    hvorfor

    why

    du

    you

    forsinket

    late

    More detail

    Det burde: det is the neuter singular pronoun used here for “that,” referring to the situation or proposition meant by the sentence; the exact referent is not otherwise specified. Burde expresses what is expected or advisable and is the form used for “should/ought to.” It does not change for person or number. After a modal verb such as burde, the next verb is normally in the infinitive: burde hjælpe = “should help.” Hjælpe: this is the infinitive of hjælpe, “to help.” The useful pattern is burde + infinitive, as in Det burde virke — “That should work.” Dem: this is the object form corresponding to subject-form de (“they”). It marks the people receiving the help: hjælpe dem = “help them.” Compare De hjælper — “They help,” where de is the subject. Med at: this introduces an activity or result associated with the help. In the pattern hjælpe nogen med at + infinitive, it means “help someone to do something.” For example, Hun hjælper mig med at læse means “She helps me read.” Forstå: this is the infinitive “understand.” Here it follows at in med at forstå; the people are being helped with the activity of understanding something. Hvorfor: this question word means “why” and introduces an embedded question explaining the reason. It does not ask a separate direct question here: Jeg ved, hvorfor han går means “I know why he is leaving.” Du: this is the subject pronoun “you” for one person. The form is the same whether it is the subject of a statement or an embedded clause. Compare plural I in contexts where Danish addresses more than one person. Forsinket: this adjective means “late” in the sense of delayed. With er, it forms the predicate du er forsinket — “you are running late.” The adjective describes du; it is not an inflection of du. A related contrast is tidlig — “early.” Together, Det burde hjælpe dem med at forstå means “That should help them understand.” The clause hvorfor du er forsinket specifies what they are to understand: “why you are running late.” The complete utterance therefore means “That should help them understand why you are running late.”