Letting someone with a baby go first | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Undskyld, det må være svært at stå i denne kø med en baby og en klapvogn.

   Excuse me, this line must be hard to manage with a baby and a stroller.

   Undskyld

   Excuse me

   det

   it/this

   må være

   must be

   svært

   hard; difficult

   at stå

   to stand

   i

   in

   denne

   this

   kø

   line; queue

   med

   with

   baby

   baby

   og

   and

   klapvogn

   stroller

   More detail

   Undskyld is the Danish polite expression “excuse me” here. It can also mean “sorry” in other situations; the surrounding sentence makes it an opening polite address. det is a neuter singular pronoun, but in det må være svært ... it functions as the subject for an impersonal evaluation of the situation. The fixed translation presents the situation as this line being difficult to manage; it does not require det to identify one particular noun as its grammatical antecedent. må være combines the modal verb må with the infinitive være. Here må expresses a strong inference—“must”—rather than permission. være is the base form “to be.” For example, Det må være sent. means “It must be late.” svært means “difficult” in this sentence. The base adjective is svær; svært is its neuter singular form. In the impersonal pattern det er/må være svært at ..., this form belongs to the evaluation with det, not to kø later in the sentence. A useful contrast is en svær opgave (“a difficult task”) but et svært problem (“a difficult problem”). at stå is the infinitive “to stand.” Danish commonly uses at before an infinitive when an action is presented as an activity or complement: Det er svært at stå. means “It is difficult to stand.” Here it introduces the activity whose difficulty is being evaluated. i means “in” and forms the location expression stå i ..., “stand in ...” or “be standing in ...”. denne means “this” and is the singular common-gender form of the demonstrative. The corresponding neuter singular form is dette, and the plural form is disse. It agrees with kø, which is a common-gender noun: denne kø means “this queue.” kø means “queue” or “line.” Its definite form is køen, “the queue.” The expression i denne kø therefore means “in this queue.” med means “with.” Here it introduces what accompanies the situation: a baby and a stroller. It can also express accompaniment in the example Hun kommer med sin ven. — “She is coming with her friend.” baby means “baby.” In the target sentence it appears in the indefinite singular phrase en baby, “a baby.” Its definite form is babyen, “the baby.” The other coordinated noun is likewise introduced by the indefinite article: en klapvogn. og means “and” and links the two nouns in the accompanying phrase. The pair is therefore understood together: “with a baby and a stroller.” klapvogn means “stroller” or “pushchair.” It is a compound noun; its definite form is klapvognen, “the stroller.” Together, det må være svært at stå i denne kø gives “this must be difficult, standing in this line,” and med en baby og en klapvogn specifies the accompanying circumstances. With the opening Undskyld, the whole utterance means: “Excuse me, this line must be hard to manage with a baby and a stroller.”

2. Det har været besværligt.

   It has been tricky.

   Det

   it

   har været

   has been

   besværligt

   tricky

   More detail

   Det means “it” here. It is a neuter singular pronoun referring to the situation as a whole; the supplied translation does not identify a more specific noun as its referent. In Danish, det can also be used for an unspecified situation or circumstance, so do not assume that it refers to the nearest noun in surrounding context. har været is the present perfect of være (“to be”): har + the past participle været. It presents the situation as having been a certain way up to the relevant present. Compare Det er besværligt (“It is tricky”) for a present description with Det har været besværligt (“It has been tricky”) for an experience or state extending up to now or considered from now. Besværligt means “tricky” or “difficult” in this sentence. It is the neuter singular form of the adjective besværlig; the form agrees with neuter det. The related plural or definite form is besværlige, as in besværlige opgaver (“difficult tasks”). Example: Det var besværligt at komme frem. — “It was difficult to get through.” Together, Det + har været + besværligt gives “It has been tricky.” The sentence describes the situation as difficult, without specifying a separate actor or action.

3. Jeg prøver at holde klapvognen stille og babyen rolig, mens vi venter.

   I am trying to keep the stroller still and the baby calm while we wait.

   Jeg prøver

   I am trying

   at holde

   to keep

   klapvognen

   the stroller

   stille

   still

   babyen

   the baby

   rolig

   calm

   mens

   while

   venter

   wait

   More detail

   Jeg prøver means “I am trying” here. prøver is the present-tense form of prøve (“try”); with jeg, it expresses an attempt that is happening now. Danish uses prøve at followed by an infinitive: Jeg prøver at lære dansk means “I am trying to learn Danish.” at holde means “to keep” in this sentence. at marks the infinitive, and holde is the infinitive of the verb whose present form is holder. The pattern prøve at + infinitive is reusable: Hun prøver at sove means “She is trying to sleep.” klapvognen means “the stroller.” It is the definite singular form of klapvogn; the ending -en marks the common-gender definite form. The indefinite form is en klapvogn (“a stroller”), while klapvognen refers to a specific stroller in this utterance. stille means “still” here. It describes the state in which the stroller is to be kept. In holde + object + description, the description gives the resulting or maintained state: holde døren åben means “keep the door open.” babyen means “the baby.” It is the definite singular form of baby; the ending -en marks a specific common-gender noun: en baby (“a baby”), babyen (“the baby”). rolig means “calm” here and describes the baby’s state. It is the basic adjective form, used after the object in the same holde + object + description pattern. For example, De holder hunden rolig means “They keep the dog calm.” mens means “while” and introduces a clause describing an action occurring at the same time as the main action. It is followed here by vi venter, “we wait.” A reusable example is Jeg læser, mens hun arbejder — “I read while she works.” venter means “wait” here. It is the present-tense form of vente; Danish present-tense verbs generally do not change according to the subject, so jeg venter is “I wait,” vi venter is “we wait,” and de venter is “they wait.” In the full clause, vi is the subject and venter is the present action. Together, Jeg prøver at holde klapvognen stille og babyen rolig says “I am trying to keep the stroller still and the baby calm.” The two coordinated object-and-state combinations are klapvognen stille and babyen rolig. mens vi venter adds that this attempt takes place while the speaker and others wait. Thus the whole utterance means: “I am trying to keep the stroller still and the baby calm while we wait.”

4. Vil du gå foran mig?

   Would you like to go before me?

   Vil du

   Would you like to

   gå

   go

   foran mig

   before me

   More detail

   Vil du is a common Danish way to ask whether someone wants or is willing to do something. Here vil is the present-tense form of ville (“to want” or “would/will” in relevant uses), and du means “you.” With an infinitive after it, the pattern is Vil du + infinitive ...?, often corresponding to “Would you like to ...?” or “Will you ...?” depending on context. The wording here is a polite offer or request, not a statement that the person will definitely go. gå is the infinitive “to go” and remains in the infinitive after vil du. A useful contrast is går, the present-tense form used in a finite statement: Jeg går means “I am going” or “I go,” whereas Du vil gå has vil carrying the finite verb function and gå naming the action that is wanted or proposed. foran mig places the movement relative to the speaker: foran means “in front of” or “ahead of,” and mig is the object form of “I/me.” The fixed translation expresses this spatial relation as “before me”; in this sentence, it means going ahead of the speaker, not temporal priority. The pronoun pair is jeg (“I”) as a subject and mig (“me”) in an object or prepositional position. Together, Vil du + gå asks about willingness to perform the action, and foran mig specifies the speaker-relative position. Thus the whole utterance means: “Would you like to go before me?”

5. Det er meget hensynsfuldt af dig. Er du sikker?

   That is very considerate. Are you sure?

   Det er

   that is / it is

   meget

   very

   hensynsfuldt

   considerate

   af dig

   of you

   Er du

   are you

   sikker

   sure

   More detail

   Det er means “that is” here. Det is a neuter singular pronoun used as the subject of this clause; the translation identifies what is being judged as considerate, without naming a separate noun. Er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). In a statement, Danish commonly has subject + verb: Det er .... meget means “very” and strengthens the adjective that follows. It is unchanged here; it does not itself carry the adjective’s inflection. hensynsfuldt means “considerate” in this sentence. The base adjective is hensynsfuld; its neuter form is hensynsfuldt. The -t is used because this adjective describes the neuter subject det in the Det er ... construction. For example: Det er hensynsfuldt. — “That is considerate.” af dig means “of you” in the construction Det er [adjective] af dig, which evaluates an action or choice as having a particular quality on the part of the person addressed. Dig is the object form of the second-person pronoun corresponding to subject-form du: du = “you” as subject, dig = “you” in object or prepositional position. The phrase does not itself specify which action is being evaluated; the fixed translation supports the general meaning “That is very considerate.” Er du means “are you” in a question. Er is the present form of være, and du is the second-person singular subject pronoun. Danish places the verb before the subject in this yes/no question: Er du ...?, rather than statement order Du er ... (“You are ...”). sikker means “sure” here, as in being certain. Its base form is also sikker; with du in this sentence it remains sikker. In the supplied next sentence, Jeg er sikker means “I am sure,” showing the same adjective with a different subject. The neuter form is sikkert, as in Det er sikkert when the adjective describes a neuter subject or construction; this is distinct from the observed sikker. Together, Det er meget hensynsfuldt af dig says “That is very considerate,” using det er plus a neuter predicative adjective and af dig to identify the person whose action is being praised. Er du sikker? then asks “Are you sure?” with question word order. The two utterances are separate sentences: an evaluation followed by a yes/no question.

6. Jeg er sikker.

   I am sure.

   Jeg er

   I am

   sikker

   sure

   More detail

   Jeg er means “I am.” Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun, used for the speaker. er is the present-tense form of at være (“to be”); this form is used with jeg and also with several other subjects, so it is not a special first-person ending. Example: Jeg er træt. — “I am tired.” sikker means “sure” here, expressing the speaker’s certainty. It is an adjective. In Danish, the adjective can change with the noun it describes: sikker is used with a common-gender singular noun, while sikkert is used with a neuter singular noun; after jeg er in this sentence, sikker describes the speaker rather than a stated noun. Example: Hun er sikker. — “She is sure.” Together, Jeg er sikker. forms a present-tense statement: “I am sure.” The utterance presents the speaker as certain, without specifying in this sentence what they are certain about.

7. Jeg har ikke travlt.

   I am not in a hurry.

   Jeg

   I

   har

   have

   ikke

   not

   travlt

   busy

   More detail

   Jeg is the Danish first-person singular pronoun, “I.” It identifies the speaker as the subject. A useful contrast is du, “you” (singular); Danish verb forms do not change for these persons in the present tense. har is the present-tense form of have, “to have.” In this utterance it belongs to the reusable expression have travlt, which means “be busy” or “be in a hurry”; it is not expressing ordinary possession. For example, Jeg har en bil means “I have a car.” ikke is the ordinary Danish negation, “not.” Here it negates har travlt, producing the meaning “am not in a hurry.” In this main-clause pattern, it follows the finite verb: Jeg har ikke .... travlt is the form of the adjective travl used in the expression have travlt. Useful forms include travl in forms such as en travl dag (“a busy day”), travlt in the neuter form and in this fixed expression, and travle in plural or definite forms such as travle dage (“busy days”). The expression have travlt is the especially useful way to say that someone is busy or in a hurry. Together, Jeg har travlt means “I am busy” or “I am in a hurry.” Adding ikke gives Jeg har ikke travlt: “I am not in a hurry.”

8. Det ser svært ud at håndtere.

   This looks hard to manage.

   Det

   this

   ser

   looks

   svært

   hard

   håndtere

   manage

   More detail

   Det means “this” here and refers to the situation being assessed, as reflected in the fixed translation. As a standalone pronoun, it is the neuter singular form; its form does not by itself identify a particular noun or situation. ser is the present-tense form of se, “to see.” In the construction se ... ud, however, it means “look” or “appear,” rather than simply “see.” The present form describes how something appears now. For example: Det ser godt ud. — “It looks good.” svært means “hard” here. It is the neuter singular form of the adjective svær: svær (common singular), svært (neuter singular), svære (plural or definite contexts). The neuter form agrees with det in this construction. This is an adjective, not the form of the nearby verb. håndtere means “manage” here. It is the infinitive/base form of the verb; the infinitive marker at appears immediately before it: at håndtere — “to manage.” For example: Det er svært at håndtere. — “It is hard to manage.” Together, ser ... ud means “looks,” svært describes the situation as difficult, and at håndtere specifies what is difficult. The complete utterance therefore means: “This looks hard to manage.”

9. Det ville gøre en stor forskel.

   That would make a real difference.

   Det ville

   that would

   gøre

   make

   stor

   big; significant

   forskel

   difference

   More detail

   Det ville means “that would” here. Det is the Danish pronoun form used for “that”; the fixed texts do not identify a more specific referent. The form is neuter singular. Ville is the past-tense form of vil (“will/want”) and, with an infinitive, expresses a conditional or hypothetical result: det vil ... = “that will ...”, while det ville ... = “that would ...”. gøre is the infinitive “to make/do.” After the modal ville, Danish uses the infinitive without at: ville gøre = “would make.” Example: Det ville hjælpe. — “That would help.” stor means “big” or, in this expression, “significant/real.” It is the common-gender singular indefinite form agreeing with forskel, which is a common-gender noun: en stor forskel. Its comparison forms are større (“bigger/greater”) and størst (“biggest/greatest”). forskel means “difference.” Its indefinite form is en forskel, while the definite form is forskellen (“the difference”). The established pattern gøre en forskel means “make a difference”; the adjective can describe that difference as substantial, as in gøre en stor forskel. Together, Det ville gøre en stor forskel says “That would make a real difference.” The conditional ville gøre presents the making of the difference as a possible result, and en stor forskel describes that result as substantial.

10. Det vil kun give mig lidt ekstra ventetid.

    It will only add a short wait for me.

    Det vil

    it will

    kun

    only

    give

    add

    mig

    me

    lidt

    a little

    ekstra

    extra

    ventetid

    waiting time

    More detail

    Det vil: det is the Danish pronoun used here as the subject “it.” Its specific referent is not identified by this sentence, but the fixed translation confirms the intended subject meaning. vil is the form of ville used with det; here it expresses a future result, “will.” Danish ville can also mean “want to” in other contexts, so the surrounding predicate determines the reading. After vil, the next verb stays in the infinitive: vil give = “will give/add.” kun: This adverb narrows the result to “only.” In this sentence, it limits what the situation will cause: the stated result is an added waiting period, and no stronger result is asserted. give: This is the infinitive of give, “to give.” With vil, it remains in the infinitive rather than taking a past or present ending. Danish give has the past form gav and the participle givet, but neither belongs in this future construction. Here give is used in the broader sense “add/cause someone to have,” not necessarily physically hand over an object. Example: Det giver mig tid. — “It gives me time.” mig: This is the object form of the first-person pronoun: jeg = “I” as subject, mig = “me” as object. In give mig, it marks the person receiving or experiencing the result. The English translation expresses this as “for me,” while the Danish construction uses the object pronoun directly. lidt: This means “a little” or “a small amount.” It is used here with the mass-like duration noun ventetid, so the sentence describes a short amount of waiting time rather than a counted number of waits. Compare lidt tid (“a little time”) with lille (“small/little” as an adjective describing a countable noun): en lille pause = “a short/small pause.” ekstra: This means “extra” or “additional.” Here it describes ventetid, specifying that the waiting time is added to an existing or expected wait. Ekstra commonly stays unchanged before nouns: ekstra tid = “extra time.” ventetid: This compound noun means “waiting time”: vente means “wait,” and tid means “time,” but ventetid functions as one noun in the sentence. Danish nouns can show definiteness: ventetid is indefinite here, while ventetiden means “the waiting time.” Together, Det vil give mig lidt ekstra ventetid means “It will give me a little extra waiting time.” Kun limits that result, producing the complete meaning: “It will only add a short wait for me.”

11. At gå foran dig ville hjælpe os, før babyen bliver mere urolig.

    Going ahead of you would help us before the baby gets more restless.

    gå foran

    go ahead of

    dig

    you

    ville

    would

    hjælpe

    help

    os

    us

    før

    before

    babyen

    the baby

    bliver

    gets; becomes

    mere urolig

    more restless

    More detail

    gå foran means “go ahead of” or “go in front of.” Here gå is the infinitive, and foran gives the directional relation. The same infinitive can follow at: at gå = “to go.” Example: Hun går foran mig. — “She walks ahead of me.” dig is the object form of the second-person singular pronoun, “you.” The subject form is du: Du hjælper mig. — “You help me.” Here it is the person whom the speaker would go ahead of. ville expresses “would” in this sentence and is followed by the infinitive hjælpe: ville hjælpe = “would help.” It is also the past form related to vil in other uses, but here the fixed meaning is hypothetical or conditional. hjælpe means “help.” It is the infinitive after ville, and this form does not change for the subject in this construction. Example: Det ville hjælpe. — “That would help.” os is the object form of the first-person plural pronoun, “us.” The subject form is vi: Vi hjælper dem. — “We help them.” Here os is the group that would receive the benefit of the help. før introduces the time clause “before.” Example: Ring, før du går. — “Call before you leave.” babyen means “the baby.” The ending -en marks the definite form of the common-gender noun: en baby = “a baby,” babyen = “the baby.” This form presents the noun as definite, but the ending itself does not specify the baby’s identity or state a numeric count. bliver is the present-tense form of blive, “become” or “get” in a change-of-state expression. Here bliver mere urolig means “gets more restless.” Danish uses the present form in this før-clause even when the change is viewed as subsequent to the proposed action. Example: Vejret bliver koldere. — “The weather gets colder.” mere urolig means “more restless.” urolig is the adjective “restless,” while mere forms its comparative: urolig = “restless,” mere urolig = “more restless,” mest urolig = “most restless.” The comparison describes a greater degree than an earlier or reference state; it does not specify the exact degree. The initial infinitive clause At gå foran dig names the proposed action. ville hjælpe os says that this action would help the speaker’s group. før babyen bliver mere urolig places that help before the baby gets more restless. Together, the utterance means: “Going ahead of you would help us before the baby gets more restless.”

12. Jeg ville håbe, at nogen ville tilbyde mig den samme hjælp.

    I would hope someone would offer the same help to me.

    Jeg

    I

    ville

    would

    håbe

    hope

    nogen

    someone

    tilbyde

    offer

    mig

    me

    samme

    same

    hjælp

    help

    More detail

    Jeg means “I” here, the first-person singular subject. Its object form is mig, as in Hun ser mig — “She sees me.” ville is the past form of vil and, with an infinitive, can express “would” in this sentence. The form vil can express “will” or “want to” in other contexts, so the surrounding construction matters. Jeg ville rejse means “I would travel” or, in a different context, “I wanted to travel.” håbe is the infinitive “to hope.” After the modal ville, Danish uses the infinitive: ville håbe, “would hope.” The subject and the modal are already marked by Jeg ville; håbe does not take an added ending here. Jeg håber, at hun kommer means “I hope that she is coming.” nogen means “someone” in this sentence: an unspecified person who could perform the action. It is not a form of noget, which means “something.” For example, Nogen ringer means “Someone is calling.” tilbyde is the infinitive “to offer.” It follows the second occurrence of ville in the subordinate clause: ville tilbyde, “would offer.” tilbyde is also used for offering something to someone, as in Han vil tilbyde hende kaffe — “He will offer her coffee.” mig is the object form “me.” In tilbyde mig, it identifies the person receiving the offer. Compare the subject form jeg with the object form mig: Jeg hjælper hende means “I help her,” while Hun hjælper mig means “She helps me.” samme means “same” and indicates identity or equivalence with something already understood in the context. In den samme hjælp, it modifies hjælp; den and the noun phrase together mark the specific “same help,” rather than introducing a different kind of help. samme is generally unchanged for the relevant gender and number distinctions: den samme and de samme both use samme. hjælp is the noun “help.” It can also be used in the common expression få hjælp, “get help.” In this sentence, hjælp is the thing being offered, and den belongs to the noun phrase den samme hjælp. Together, Jeg ville håbe gives “I would hope.” The subordinate clause at nogen ville tilbyde mig den samme hjælp says that someone would offer me the same help. The complete utterance therefore means: “I would hope someone would offer the same help to me.” The two occurrences of ville have parallel modal force: ville håbe and ville tilbyde; each is followed by an infinitive.

13. Det sætter jeg pris på. Det gør ventetiden meget mindre stressende.

    I appreciate it. This makes the wait much less stressful.

    Det sætter jeg pris på.

    I appreciate it.

    Det

    this / it

    gør

    makes / does

    ventetiden

    the waiting time

    meget

    very / much

    mindre

    less

    stressende

    stressful

    More detail

    Det sætter jeg pris på. is a fixed Danish construction meaning “I appreciate it.” The literal parts are not meant to be translated word for word: sætte pris på is the reusable expression “to appreciate,” and jeg is its subject. In this sentence, Det is the appreciated thing, while på belongs to the construction. The object is placed at the beginning, producing the order Det sætter jeg pris på rather than the more neutral Jeg sætter pris på det. sætter is the present-tense form of sætte here. Example: Jeg sætter pris på din hjælp. — “I appreciate your help.” Det in the second sentence means “this” as specified by the translation. It is a neuter singular demonstrative/pronoun form; its concrete meaning here is the situation or helpful circumstance being referred to, not a newly named noun. gør is the present-tense form of gøre, “to do” or “to make.” In gør ... mindre stressende, it expresses the result “makes ... less stressful.” Example: Det gør arbejdet lettere. — “It makes the work easier.” ventetiden means “the waiting time” or “the wait.” It is the definite form of ventetid: ventetid = “waiting time,” ventetiden = “the waiting time.” The ending -en marks definiteness for this noun; it does not mean that the sentence gives a numeric count. meget means “much” here. It intensifies the comparative mindre, giving “much less,” rather than simply “less.” Example: Denne løsning er meget bedre. — “This solution is much better.” mindre means “less” here and is the comparative form associated with lille (“small/little”). Depending on what is being compared, it can also mean “smaller.” In mindre stressende, it compares the level of stress: “less stressful.” stressende is an adjective meaning “stressful.” It describes the effect that the waiting time has, and mindre stressende means “less stressful.” The comparison is expressed by adding mindre before the adjective, not by changing stressende itself. Example: En kort pause er mindre stressende. — “A short break is less stressful.” Together, Det gør ventetiden meget mindre stressende means “This makes the wait much less stressful”: Det identifies what produces the effect, gør introduces the change, ventetiden is what changes, and meget mindre stressende describes its resulting level of stress. The two sentences together express appreciation and then state that the relevant circumstance makes the waiting considerably less stressful.