Choosing whether to wait in a slow line | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Undskyld, denne kø bevæger sig langsomt.

   Excuse me, this line has been moving slowly.

   Undskyld

   Excuse me

   denne

   this

   kø

   line

   bevæger sig

   is moving

   langsomt

   slowly

   More detail

   Undskyld is a polite expression meaning “excuse me” here. It can also mean “sorry” in other situations. Example: Undskyld, hvor er stationen? — “Excuse me, where is the station?” denne means “this” and appears before the singular common-gender noun kø. Danish uses dette with singular neuter nouns and disse with plural nouns, so the choice depends on the noun’s gender and number, not on distance alone. kø means a queue or line of people or vehicles. Its definite form is køen (“the queue”), and its indefinite plural is køer (“queues”). Example: Der er en lang kø. — “There is a long queue.” bevæger sig is the present-tense form of the reflexive construction bevæge sig, “to move” or “to be moving.” bevæger is the present form of bevæge, and sig refers back to the subject, kø. Danish present tense can describe an action in progress; it does not mark the English progressive form separately. Example: Bussen bevæger sig langsomt. — “The bus is moving slowly.” langsomt means “slowly.” It is the adverb related to the adjective langsom, “slow.” The -t form is used here adverbially; it is not an inflection of kø. Example: Hun taler langsomt. — “She speaks slowly.” Together, denne kø identifies the queue being referred to, bevæger sig says that it is moving, and langsomt describes the manner of movement. The complete utterance therefore means “Excuse me, this line has been moving slowly.”

2. Prøver du at beslutte, om det kan betale sig at blive?

   Are you trying to decide whether it is worth staying?

   Prøver

   try / be trying

   du

   you

   beslutte

   decide

   om det

   whether it

   kan betale sig

   be worth it

   blive

   stay

   More detail

   Prøver is the present-tense form of prøve, “to try.” Here it means “are trying,” because it is used with du as the subject. Danish present-tense forms do not change for person: jeg prøver, du prøver, and de prøver all use prøver. Example: Jeg prøver at forstå. — “I am trying to understand.” du is the second-person singular pronoun, “you.” In a yes/no question, Danish commonly places the finite verb before the subject: Prøver du ...? — “Are you trying ...?” beslutte is the infinitive “to decide,” from the base form beslutte. The pattern prøve at means “try to,” so prøver du at beslutte means “are you trying to decide.” The word at here marks the infinitive; it is not part of the lexical meaning of beslutte. Example: Hun prøver at lære dansk. — “She is trying to learn Danish.” om det introduces an indirect yes/no question: “whether it.” om is used when a clause expresses something to be determined, rather than asking directly with a standalone yes/no question. det is the neutral pronoun “it” here; the fixed translation supports the general situation being evaluated, without identifying a more specific noun as its referent. Example: Jeg ved ikke, om det er muligt. — “I do not know whether it is possible.” kan betale sig is a fixed Danish construction meaning “be worth it.” Its parts are kan, “can,” betale, “pay,” and the reflexive sig, but the combined meaning here is not a literal monetary payment by someone. The construction evaluates whether an action or choice is worthwhile. kan is the present form of the modal kunne; after a modal, the following verb appears as an infinitive, hence betale. Example: Det kan betale sig at vente. — “It is worth waiting.” blive is the infinitive “stay” or “remain.” In this sentence it names the action whose value is being evaluated: at blive means “to stay.” The infinitive marker at appears again in this phrase, after the construction kan betale sig. Example: Vi vælger at blive. — “We choose to stay.” Together, Prøver du forms the question “Are you trying,” at beslutte supplies what the person is trying to do, and om det kan betale sig at blive specifies the decision: whether staying is worthwhile. The complete utterance is therefore: “Are you trying to decide whether it is worth staying?”

3. Det gør jeg. Ved du, om der er forsinkelse ved serviceskranken?

   I am. Do you know if the service desk is running behind?

   Det gør jeg

   I am

   Ved du

   do you know

   om der er

   whether there is

   forsinkelse

   delay

   serviceskranken

   service desk

   More detail

   Det gør jeg is a compact Danish way to confirm an action or state already understood from the context. gør is the present-tense form of gøre (“to do/make”), and jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I”. Here the fixed translation gives the intended confirmation as “I am.” The pattern Det gør jeg is reusable when det refers to something just mentioned: Det gør jeg også. — “I do that too.” Ved du means “do you know”. ved is the present-tense form of vide (“to know”) for du (“you”, singular informal). Danish places the verb before the subject in this direct yes/no question: Ved du ...? A useful contrast is Jeg ved det. — “I know it.” om der er introduces an indirect yes/no question: “whether there is”. om means “whether/if” here. In der er, der is an existential subject-like element, while er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”); together they express existence. The clause pattern Ved du, om der er ...? is reusable: Ved du, om der er ledige pladser? — “Do you know whether there are available seats?” forsinkelse is the noun “delay” in this sentence. It is singular and indefinite, but Danish does not require an article in this existential expression: Der er forsinkelse. — “There is a delay.” The word is related to forsinke, “to delay”, but the observed form here is the noun, not a verb form. serviceskranken means “the service desk”. It is a compound noun, and the ending -en marks the definite singular form of skranke (“desk/counter”): en skranke — “a desk/counter”, skranken — “the desk/counter”. The first part, service, specifies the desk’s function. In ved serviceskranken, ved means “at/by”, so the phrase locates the delay at the service desk. Taken together, Det gør jeg. Ved du, om der er forsinkelse ved serviceskranken? means “I am. Do you know if the service desk is running behind?” The first sentence confirms the understood point, and the second asks whether a delay exists at the service desk.

4. Flere henvendelser kræver ekstra opmærksomhed, så køen bevæger sig langsomt.

   Several requests need extra attention, so the line is moving slowly.

   Flere

   several

   henvendelser

   requests

   kræver

   require

   ekstra

   extra

   opmærksomhed

   attention

   så

   so

   køen

   the line

   bevæger sig

   is moving

   langsomt

   slowly

   More detail

   Flere means “several” here. It is the plural form used with henvendelser; it can also mean “more” in other contexts, so the surrounding noun or comparison determines the reading. Example: flere bøger — “several books.” henvendelser means “requests” or “inquiries” here. Its singular base form is henvendelse; the ending -er marks the plural: en henvendelse → henvendelser. The chosen English meaning is supported by the fixed translation, while the Danish noun can cover several kinds of contact or inquiry depending on context. kræver means “require” in this sentence. It is the present-tense form of kræve. Danish present forms generally do not change for the subject’s number, so the same form can occur with a singular or plural subject. Example: Det kræver tid. — “That requires time.” ekstra means “extra” or “additional.” It is an invariant modifier here: it does not take a separate form for the plural noun opmærksomhed. opmærksomhed means “attention.” The phrase kræver ekstra opmærksomhed is a reusable pattern meaning “requires extra attention.” Example: Sagen kræver opmærksomhed. — “The matter requires attention.” så links the two clauses and means “so,” introducing the consequence or result of the first clause. It is not part of the meaning of the preceding verb; it connects Flere henvendelser kræver ekstra opmærksomhed with the following clause. køen means “the line” or “the queue.” Its base form is kø; -en marks the singular definite form, køen = “the queue.” This definite form presents a specific queue as identifiable in the situation, without itself stating how many people are in it. bevæger sig means “is moving” here. It is the present form of the reflexive verb expression bevæge sig, literally involving movement of the subject itself. The sig belongs to this verb expression and is not an independent object referring to another participant. Example: Bilen bevæger sig langsomt. — “The car is moving slowly.” langsomt means “slowly” here and modifies the movement. It is the adverb related to langsom (“slow”); it describes how the queue moves rather than changing the noun køen. Together, Flere henvendelser kræver ekstra opmærksomhed means “Several requests need extra attention.” The conjunction så introduces the result: køen bevæger sig langsomt, “the line is moving slowly.” Thus the complete utterance is: “Several requests need extra attention, so the line is moving slowly.”

5. Jeg kan ikke blive her meget længere.

   I cannot stay here much longer.

   Jeg kan

   I can

   ikke

   not

   blive

   stay

   her

   here

   meget

   much

   længere

   longer

   More detail

   Jeg kan combines the first-person singular pronoun jeg (“I”) with kan, the present form of kunne (“can; be able to”). In this sentence, kan expresses ability or possibility. A reusable pattern is Jeg kan + infinitive: Jeg kan komme. — “I can come.” ikke is the ordinary negation word “not.” Here it negates the possibility expressed by kan, so Jeg kan ikke ... means “I cannot ...” or “I am not able to ...”. blive is the infinitive of blive. In this sentence it means “stay” or “remain” in a place. The same verb can have other meanings in other contexts, including “become,” so its meaning here comes from its combination with her and the fixed translation. After a modal such as kan, Danish uses the infinitive: Du kan blive. — “You can stay.” her is the place adverb “here.” It points to the relevant location from the speaker’s perspective; the sentence does not identify a more specific place in the wording itself. meget means “much” here. With a comparative, it strengthens the comparison: meget længere means “much longer,” not merely “longer.” For example, Det tager meget længere tid. — “It takes much longer.” længere is the comparative form related to længe (“for a long time”), and here it means “longer” in duration. The comparison is with the amount of time the speaker can continue staying now; no explicit reference period is stated. længe means “for a long time,” while længere means “for longer.” Together, Jeg kan ikke gives “I cannot,” blive her gives “stay here,” and meget længere gives “much longer.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I cannot stay here much longer.”

6. Du kan blive ved med at vente eller aflevere din henvendelse ved skranken.

   You can keep waiting, or leave your request at the desk.

   Du kan

   you can

   blive ved med at

   keep on

   vente

   wait

   eller

   or

   aflevere

   hand in; leave

   din

   your

   henvendelse

   request

   ved

   at; by

   skranken

   the desk; counter

   More detail

   Du kan combines du (“you,” addressing one person) with kan, the present form of kunne (“can/be able to”). Here kan presents the two actions as available options, matching “You can”; in other contexts it can express ability or permission. Example: Du kan vente her. — “You can wait here.” blive ved med at is a reusable continuation pattern: blive ved med at + an infinitive means “keep on doing something.” The at belongs to this pattern and introduces the following infinitive. Example: Hun bliver ved med at spørge. — “She keeps asking.” vente means “wait.” It is the infinitive after at, so blive ved med at vente means “keep waiting.” The form vente itself does not show the subject’s person or number. eller means “or” and links alternatives. Here it separates continuing to wait from handing in the request; it does not state that both actions happen. aflevere means “hand in” or “leave something at a designated place.” It is an infinitive coordinated with the first option. Example: Jeg vil aflevere formularen i morgen. — “I want to hand in the form tomorrow.” din means “your” when the possessed noun is singular and common gender. It agrees with the possessed item, not with the owner’s gender. Compare din henvendelse with dit brev (“your letter,” neuter noun) and dine papirer (“your papers,” plural). henvendelse means “request” here. It is a common-gender noun: the indefinite form is en henvendelse, and the definite form is henvendelsen, as in the following context. Depending on context, the noun can also refer to an inquiry or contact, but “request” is the intended sense here. ved is a preposition meaning “at” or “by” for a location. In ved skranken, it identifies the place where the request is handed in. Example: Vi mødes ved døren. — “We will meet at the door.” skranken means “the desk” or “the counter.” It is the definite form of skranke; the ending -en marks this noun as definite. Together, ved skranken means “at the desk/counter.” The sentence has two coordinated options: Du kan blive ved med at vente (“You can keep waiting”) or aflevere din henvendelse ved skranken (“hand in your request at the desk”). Combined, it means: “You can keep waiting, or leave your request at the desk.”

7. Det ville hjælpe at aflevere henvendelsen, hvis nogen kan gennemgå den senere.

   Leaving the request would help if someone can review it later.

   Det ville

   It would

   hjælpe

   help

   aflevere

   hand in; submit

   henvendelsen

   the request

   hvis

   if

   nogen

   someone

   kan

   can

   gennemgå

   review; go through

   den

   it

   senere

   later

   More detail

   Det ville introduces an “it would …” construction. Here Det is a formal or anticipatory subject: the useful action is expressed by the following at-infinitive, not by a separately identified thing called “it.” ville is the past-tense form of the modal verb ville; with an infinitive, it commonly expresses a hypothetical or conditional result, translated here as “would.” Example: Det ville være godt at vente. — “It would be good to wait.” hjælpe means “help.” It is the infinitive after ville; the pattern is ville + infinitive, as in Det ville hjælpe. — “It would help.” The form hjælpe itself does not show a subject ending here. aflevere means “hand in” or “submit.” Here it describes delivering the request to the relevant desk or recipient. It is an infinitive introduced by at, giving the action that would help. Example: Jeg vil aflevere formularen. — “I will hand in the form.” henvendelsen means “the request” or “the inquiry.” Its base form is henvendelse; the ending -n marks the definite singular form, “the henvendelse.” The definite form presents the request as an identifiable one in the situation. Example: Jeg sender henvendelsen i dag. — “I am sending the request today.” hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” The clause after it states the condition under which handing in the request would help; it does not itself express the result. nogen means “someone” here. It is an indefinite pronoun for an unspecified person who might perform the review. Example: Hvis nogen ringer, så svarer jeg. — “If someone calls, I will answer.” kan expresses ability or possibility and means “can” here. It is followed by the infinitive gennemgå, forming the reusable pattern kan + infinitive. gennemgå means “review” or “go through.” In this sentence it names the action that someone may perform on the request. The infinitive does not take a person ending after kan. Example: Hun kan gennemgå dokumentet. — “She can review the document.” den means “it” here and refers back to henvendelsen. It is the definite singular pronoun used for this non-person referent. Example: Jeg læser rapporten og sender den. — “I read the report and send it.” senere means “later.” It places the review after the current or previously understood point. Example: Vi kan tale senere. — “We can talk later.” Together, Det ville hjælpe at aflevere henvendelsen says that handing in the request would be helpful. hvis nogen kan gennemgå den senere adds the condition that someone can review it later. The complete meaning is: handing in the request would help if someone can review it later.

8. Personalet ved skranken kan kontakte dig, når de har nyt.

   The desk can contact you when they have an update.

   Personalet

   the staff

   skranken

   the desk

   kan

   can

   kontakte

   contact

   dig

   you

   når

   when

   de

   they

   har

   have

   nyt

   an update

   More detail

   Personalet means “the staff” here. It is the definite form of personale (“staff”), formed with the ending -t; the noun is grammatically neuter and commonly refers to a group collectively. Danish can use a plural pronoun for such a group: here de refers to the staff identified by the translation. skranken means “the desk” or, more precisely in this setting, “the counter.” It is the definite form of skranke. The ending -en marks the common-gender definite singular form. Together, Personalet ved skranken identifies the staff at the desk/counter. kan is the present form of the modal verb kunne, “can” or “be able to.” A modal is followed by an infinitive without at: kan kontakte = “can contact.” The modal expresses ability or possibility here; it does not itself mean that the contact definitely happens. kontakte means “to contact.” This is the infinitive after kan. The same infinitive can be reused after other modal verbs, for example skal kontakte (“must/will contact”) or vil kontakte (“will/wants to contact”), with the modal changing the meaning. dig means “you” as the object of the action. Danish uses du for “you” as the subject and dig for “you” as an object: Du kan kontakte dig would mean that you can contact yourself, not the intended pattern. The lowercase pronoun de means “they”; capitalized De is the formal “you.” når introduces a time clause meaning “when.” It connects the possible contact with the time condition in the second clause. A reusable pattern is når + clause, as in Jeg ringer, når jeg er hjemme. — “I will call when I am home.” de means “they” here and is the subject of the subordinate clause. It is a third-person plural pronoun. Its specific referent is supported by the translation: it refers to the staff, not to the person being contacted. The pronoun itself does not encode the staff noun’s neuter form; its plural form is chosen because the group is treated as multiple people. har means “have” here and is the present form of have. It agrees with the plural subject de in meaning, but Danish present har does not change between singular and plural subjects. For example, Hun har tid. means “She has time,” while De har tid. means “You have time” when De is the formal second-person pronoun. Lowercase de means “they”; at the beginning of a sentence it is capitalized only because of sentence-initial capitalization, not because it is a different pronoun. nyt means “an update” in this sentence, matching the fixed translation. It is the Danish word ny (“new”) used in a substantivized neuter form for new information or news; it is not the noun opdatering itself. The form nyt is also the neuter form of the adjective ny when it modifies a neuter noun, as in et nyt svar (“a new answer”), but here it functions on its own as “something new/an update.” The sentence assembles as Personalet ved skranken (“the staff at the desk”) + kan kontakte dig (“can contact you”) + når de har nyt (“when they have an update”). The complete meaning is: “The desk can contact you when they have an update,” with the translation’s intended reading that the staff at the desk are the ones who can contact you.

9. Det giver mig et klart valg.

   That gives me a clear choice.

   Det

   that

   giver

   gives

   mig

   me

   klart

   clear

   valg

   choice

   More detail

   Det means “that” here and functions as the subject. Danish det is the neuter singular form; its exact referent is not specified by this sentence alone, so it is best learned as a pronoun whose meaning is supplied by context. giver is the present-tense form of give, “to give.” The present form is used for what “that” gives in the stated situation. A useful pattern is X giver Y Z — “X gives Y Z.” mig means “me” and is the object receiving something. It is the first-person singular object form; compare subject jeg (“I”) with object mig (“me”). Example: Hun hjælper mig. — “She helps me.” klart means “clear” here. It is the neuter singular form of the adjective klar, agreeing with the neuter noun valg. The main forms are klar with a common-gender singular noun, klart with a neuter singular noun, and klare with plural or definite noun phrases. Example: et klart svar — “a clear answer.” valg means “choice.” It is a neuter noun, shown here in the indefinite singular form after et; its definite singular form is valget. Example: Jeg har et valg. — “I have a choice.” Together, Det giver mig means “That gives me,” and et klart valg means “a clear choice.” The full utterance therefore means “That gives me a clear choice.”

10. Så er det måske bedre at aflevere den, hvis din næste forpligtelse ikke kan vente.

    Then leaving it may be better if your next commitment cannot wait.

    Så

    then

    måske

    perhaps

    bedre

    better

    at aflevere

    to hand in

    den

    it

    hvis

    if

    din

    your

    næste

    next

    forpligtelse

    commitment

    ikke kan vente

    cannot wait

    More detail

    Så means “then” here and links the sentence to the preceding choice or reasoning. It is a discourse adverb, not part of the action aflevere. måske means “perhaps” or “maybe”. It makes the recommendation tentative: the sentence presents an option as possibly better, not as certain. bedre is the comparative form of god: god → bedre → bedst (“good” → “better” → “best”). It compares the option of handing the item in with another relevant option. The comparison is expressed without naming the other option. at aflevere is an infinitive phrase meaning “to hand in” here. at marks the infinitive, while aflevere is the verb itself. The same verb can refer to submitting, returning, or handing something over, depending on its object and situation. den is the singular common-gender form used for “it” here. Its specific referent is not identified in the supplied sentence, but the translation confirms that it refers to an item understood from the situation. Danish contrasts den with det for singular neuter nouns and dem for plural nouns. hvis introduces a condition and means “if”. A reusable pattern is hvis + clause: Hvis du har tid, kan vi begynde. — “If you have time, we can begin.” This example is new and illustrates the pattern only. din means “your” when one person is addressed and the possessed noun is singular common gender. The form agrees with forpligtelse, not with the owner: compare dit with a singular neuter noun and dine with a plural noun. The inflection is on the possessive form din. næste means “next” in næste forpligtelse, referring to the commitment that comes next in the relevant sequence. Danish commonly uses næste before a noun in this kind of time or order expression. forpligtelse is a common-gender singular noun meaning “commitment” or “obligation”. Its plural is forpligtelser, and its definite singular form is forpligtelsen. Here it is the noun possessed by din and modified by næste. ikke kan vente means “cannot wait”. ikke supplies the negation; kan is the present form of the modal verb kunne (“can/be able to”); and vente is the infinitive “wait”. The pattern kan + infinitive expresses ability or possibility, while ikke kan negates it. In this sentence, the commitment is presented as unable to wait, so the condition makes handing the item in the better option. Together, det er bedre at ... is a Danish pattern meaning “it is better to ...”; det functions as a formal or anticipatory subject, while at aflevere den names the action being evaluated. With måske, the result is “it may be better to hand it in”. The conditional clause hvis din næste forpligtelse ikke kan vente adds the condition: “if your next commitment cannot wait.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Then leaving it may be better if your next commitment cannot wait.”