Checking an apartment before a long trip | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Vi er væk i flere dage, så lad os tjekke lejligheden en gang til.

   We'll be away for several days, so let's double-check the apartment.

   Vi er væk

   we are away

   flere

   several

   dage

   days

   lad os

   let's

   tjekke

   check

   lejligheden

   the apartment

   en gang til

   once again

   More detail

   Vi er væk means “we are away” here. vi is the first-person plural pronoun “we,” and er is the present-tense form of være (“to be”). væk means “away” in this expression. Danish uses er with both singular and plural subjects, so the plural meaning comes from vi, not from a special plural form of er. flere means “several” here and is used with a plural noun such as dage. Compare singular en dag (“one day”) with plural flere dage (“several days”). dage means “days.” Its base form is dag (“day”), and dage is the plural form. In flere dage, the noun is plural because the sentence refers to several days. lad os is a reusable Danish pattern meaning “let’s.” lad is the imperative form of lade (“let” or “allow”), and os means “us.” Together, lad os introduces an action that the speaker proposes that the speaker and others do. The following verb is in the infinitive: lad os tjekke (“let’s check”). tjekke means “to check” here. It is the infinitive form, so it follows lad os. The word can be reused after other verbs or constructions that require an infinitive, for example: Vi skal tjekke døren. — “We need to check the door.” The idea of doing it again comes from the separate expression en gang til, not from tjekke alone. lejligheden means “the apartment.” The base noun is lejlighed (“apartment”), and -en marks the common-gender singular definite form: lejligheden means “the apartment.” This ending belongs to the noun, not to tjekke. en gang til means “once again” or “one more time.” It is a reusable expression for repeating an action. Here it modifies tjekke, so the proposal is to check the apartment again. The sentence first states Vi er væk i flere dage: “We’ll be away for several days” in the fixed translation. Danish uses the present form er here, while the time expression places the state in the relevant future period. så (“so”) then connects that situation to the proposal lad os tjekke lejligheden en gang til: “let’s check the apartment once again.” Together, the utterance means: “We’ll be away for several days, so let’s double-check the apartment.”

2. Jeg har taget stikkene ud af de små apparater og slukket for komfuret.

   I unplugged the small appliances and turned off the stove.

   Jeg

   I

   har taget … ud

   have unplugged

   stikkene

   the plugs

   små

   small

   apparater

   appliances

   slukket for

   turned off

   komfuret

   the stove

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here. It is the first-person singular subject pronoun. The corresponding plural form is vi (“we”), as in the supplied preceding sentence. har taget and ud work together with stikkene: tage ... ud means “take ... out,” and in this sentence it describes unplugging the plugs. taget is the past participle of tage (“take”); har taget is the present perfect, formed with har (“have”) plus the participle. Danish present perfect can describe a completed action and is naturally translated here with English “unplugged.” The particle ud is separate in this construction, so the reusable pattern is tage [something] ud. stikkene means “the plugs.” Its base noun is stik, and stikkene is the definite plural form: stik (indefinite singular/plural in relevant uses), stikket (“the plug”), stikkene (“the plugs”). In this sentence, the plugs are what is taken out; the translation identifies the resulting action as unplugging the appliances. små means “small” and describes apparater. It is the form used with a plural noun and also with the definite noun phrase introduced by de. Its base form is lille; a useful comparison is mindre (“smaller”). For example, to små rum means “two small rooms.” apparater means “appliances” here. The singular noun is apparat (“appliance/device”), and apparater is its indefinite plural. The definite plural would be apparaterne (“the appliances”). The phrase de små apparater therefore means “the small appliances.” slukket for means “turned off” in this construction. slukket is the past participle of slukke (“turn off/extinguish”), and slukke for is the reusable pattern used for switching an appliance or device off. For example, Hun slukker for lyset means “She turns off the light.” komfuret means “the stove.” Its base noun is komfur (“stove”), and komfuret is the definite singular form. The ending -et is part of this noun’s definite form; it is not an ending on slukket. Together, Jeg har taget stikkene ud af de små apparater says that I have unplugged the small appliances, literally by taking the plugs out of them. The conjunction og links this with slukket for komfuret, “turned off the stove.” The full utterance therefore means: “I unplugged the small appliances and turned off the stove.”

3. Er altandøren og vinduerne i soveværelset forsvarligt låst?

   Are the balcony door and bedroom windows secure?

   Er

   is/are

   altandøren

   the balcony door

   vinduerne

   the windows

   soveværelset

   the bedroom

   forsvarligt

   securely

   låst

   locked

   More detail

   Er is the present-tense form of at være (“to be”). In this yes/no question it comes first, before the subject: Er ...? means “Is/are ...?” The form is the same for singular and plural subjects here. altandøren means “the balcony door.” It is the definite singular form of altandør (“balcony door”): altandør → altandøren. Danish commonly marks definiteness at the end of the noun rather than with a separate word like “the.” vinduerne means “the windows.” It is the definite plural of vindue (“window”): vindue → vinduer → vinduerne. The plural subject is joined to the first noun by og (“and”), so the question concerns both the balcony door and the windows. soveværelset means “the bedroom.” It is the definite form of the neuter noun soveværelse (“bedroom”): soveværelse → soveværelset. In vinduerne i soveværelset, i soveværelset specifies which windows are meant: the windows in the bedroom. forsvarligt means “securely” or “safely” here. It describes the manner or standard of being locked, rather than naming an additional object. The related adjective is forsvarlig (“safe” or “secure”); forsvarligt is the form used here as an adverb. låst means “locked.” It is the past participle of at låse (“to lock”), used here as a predicate describing the door and windows. Danish uses the same visible form låst with this coordinated subject; the form does not itself show whether the subject is singular or plural. Together, Er + the coordinated subject altandøren og vinduerne + forsvarligt låst forms a yes/no question: “Are the balcony door and the windows in the bedroom securely locked?”

4. Altandøren er låst, og jeg tjekker vinduerne i soveværelset nu.

   The balcony door is locked, and I will check the bedroom windows now.

   Altandøren

   the balcony door

   låst

   locked

   jeg

   I

   tjekker

   check; am checking

   vinduerne

   the windows

   soveværelset

   the bedroom

   nu

   now

   More detail

   Altandøren is the definite singular form meaning “the balcony door.” It is a compound built from altan (“balcony”) and dør (“door”); the definite ending is attached to the whole noun: altandør → altandøren. A useful parallel is dør → døren, “door” → “the door.” låst means “locked” here. It is the past participle of låse, “to lock,” and it functions here as a state description with er: er låst, “is locked.” The form låst is not the verb meaning “locks”; it describes the resulting state. jeg is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” Danish uses jeg for the speaker as subject; for example, Jeg tjekker døren. means “I check the door.” tjekker is the present form of tjekke, “to check.” With jeg, the form is jeg tjekker; Danish present-tense verbs generally do not add a special ending for this subject. Present tense can describe an action happening now, and in an appropriate context it can also refer to an immediate or planned action. Here nu makes the timing immediate, while the fixed translation presents the check as something the speaker will do now. vinduerne means “the windows.” It is the definite plural of vindue, “window”: vindue → vinduer → vinduerne (“window” → “windows” → “the windows”). The ending -ne marks definite plural in this form. soveværelset means “the bedroom.” It is the definite singular of soveværelse, “bedroom”: soveværelse → soveværelset. In i soveværelset, the preposition i means “in,” so the phrase means “in the bedroom.” nu means “now” and locates the checking action at the present time. It combines with jeg tjekker as jeg tjekker ... nu, “I am checking ... now” or, in the intended immediate-plan reading, “I will check ... now.” The sentence first states the condition Altandøren er låst, “The balcony door is locked.” After og, jeg tjekker vinduerne i soveværelset nu adds the speaker’s immediate check: “I will check the windows in the bedroom now.” Together, the fixed utterance means: “The balcony door is locked, and I will check the bedroom windows now.”

5. Skal vi skrue ned for termostaten, mens vi er væk?

   Should we lower the thermostat while we are gone?

   Skal vi

   Should we

   skrue ned for

   lower; turn down

   termostaten

   the thermostat

   mens

   while

   er

   are; be

   væk

   away; gone

   More detail

   Skal vi is a reusable way to make a suggestion or ask about a joint action: “Should we …?” skal is the present form of skulle, while vi means “we.” After skal, the following verb stays in the infinitive. Example: Skal vi gå nu? — “Should we go now?” skrue ned for means to reduce the setting or intensity of something, here “turn down/lower.” The observed verb skrue is the infinitive required after skal; ned contributes the downward change, and for belongs to this construction. A useful opposite is skrue op for, “turn up/increase.” Example: Vi skruer ned for varmen. — “We turn down the heat.” termostaten means “the thermostat.” It is the definite singular form of termostat: en termostat means “a thermostat,” while termostaten means “the thermostat.” The definite ending is part of the noun form in Danish; it is not a separate word before the noun. mens introduces an activity happening at the same time as the main action: “while.” It begins the subordinate clause mens vi er væk. Example: Hun læser, mens jeg laver mad. — “She reads while I cook.” er is the present form of være, “to be.” Danish uses er with different subjects rather than changing it for person or number: jeg er means “I am,” vi er means “we are,” and de er means “they are.” Here it links vi with væk. væk means “away” or “gone.” With er, er væk describes being away or absent. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the intended meaning as “are gone.” Example: De er væk i weekenden. — “They are away for the weekend.” Together, Skal vi skrue ned for termostaten asks whether the speakers should lower the thermostat setting. mens vi er væk adds that this should happen during the period when they are gone. The whole utterance therefore means: “Should we lower the thermostat while we are gone?”

6. Skru den længere ned, men ikke så langt ned, at lejligheden bliver for kold.

   Set it lower, but not so low that the apartment gets too cold.

   Skru

   lower; turn down

   den

   it

   længere

   further

   ned

   down

   ikke så langt ned

   not that far down

   lejligheden

   the apartment

   bliver

   gets; becomes

   for kold

   too cold

   More detail

   Skru is the imperative of skrue. In this sentence it means “turn down” or “lower,” as with a thermostat. The imperative gives a direct instruction. Example: Skru ned for varmen. — “Turn down the heat.” den is a singular common-gender pronoun meaning “it” here. The supplied context supports the thermostat as the thing being adjusted. Danish uses den for a common-gender singular referent; the pronoun’s grammatical form does not by itself identify the referent. længere means “further” in længere ned. It is a comparative form related to lang, used adverbially here to indicate a greater degree or distance of lowering. Example: Flyt den længere til venstre. — “Move it further to the left.” ned means “down.” Together, længere ned means “further down,” and it describes the direction or level of the adjustment. ikke så langt ned means “not so far down.” ikke negates the phrase, while så ... at introduces a limit followed by its consequence. The word langt is the adverbial form used with ned; længere in the earlier phrase is the comparative “further.” Example: Sæt den ikke så langt ned, at den stopper. — “Do not set it so far down that it stops.” lejligheden is the definite singular form of lejlighed, meaning “the apartment.” The ending -en marks the common-gender definite form. Example: Lejligheden er varm. — “The apartment is warm.” bliver is the present-tense form of blive, “become” or “get.” Here it describes a change of state: the apartment gets cold. Example: Vandet bliver varmt. — “The water gets warm.” for kold means “too cold.” kold is the adjective “cold,” and for marks an excessive degree. After bliver, the adjective describes the resulting state. Example: Maden bliver for kold. — “The food gets too cold.” The sentence first gives the instruction Skru den længere ned: lower it further. men contrasts that instruction with a limit: ikke så langt ned, at lejligheden bliver for kold — not so far that the apartment gets too cold. The complete meaning is therefore: “Set it lower, but not so low that the apartment gets too cold.”

7. Jeg har også bedt vores nabo om at hente eventuelle pakker.

   I also asked our neighbor to collect any packages.

   Jeg

   I

   har

   have

   også

   also

   bedt

   asked

   vores

   our

   nabo

   neighbor

   om at

   to (as part of a request)

   hente

   collect

   eventuelle

   any

   pakker

   packages

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here, the first-person singular subject. It identifies the speaker as the person who made the request. Example: Jeg kommer. — “I am coming.” har is the present-tense form of have (“to have”). Here it is the auxiliary in the perfect construction har bedt, showing that the asking has taken place before now and is relevant to the current situation. have is also used as an ordinary main verb meaning “possess,” but that is not its function here. også means “also” and adds this action to something else already being discussed. It normally appears near the part it adds; here it modifies the fact that the speaker asked the neighbor. bedt is the past participle of bede (“to ask” or “request”). With har, it forms har bedt — “has/have asked.” The verb bede can introduce the person being asked, as in Jeg beder ham om hjælp. — “I ask him for help.” In this sentence, the requested action is introduced by om at. vores means “our.” It is a possessive form referring to the speaker together with at least one other person. Danish vores does not change for the gender or number of the noun it accompanies: for example, vores nabo and vores pakker both use vores. nabo means “neighbor.” It is singular here, so the sentence refers to one neighbor. The plural is naboer: Vi har flere naboer. — “We have several neighbors.” om at is the construction used here before an infinitive to express what someone is asked to do: bede nogen om at ... means “ask someone to ...”. The person asked is vores nabo, and hente supplies the requested action. Example: Hun bad mig om at vente. — “She asked me to wait.” hente is the infinitive of hente, meaning “to collect,” “fetch,” or “pick up,” depending on context. Here it means collecting the packages. In om at hente, the infinitive follows at; the form does not change for the person carrying out the action. Example: Jeg går ud for at hente posten. — “I am going out to collect the mail.” eventuelle means “any” in the sense of packages that may exist or may arrive, without asserting that there definitely are packages. It is the plural form used with pakker. This is different from a form meaning that a known, definite set of packages is involved. pakker means “packages” or “parcels.” It is the plural of pakke; the plural ending -er is visible in the observed form. Example: Der ligger to pakker. — “There are two packages.” Together, Jeg har også bedt says “I have also asked,” vores nabo identifies the person asked as “our neighbor,” and om at hente eventuelle pakker specifies the requested action: “to collect any packages.” The whole utterance therefore means: “I also asked our neighbor to collect any packages.”

8. Det får lejligheden til at se beboet ud, mens vi er væk.

   That helps the place look occupied while we are away.

   Det

   that

   får … til at

   makes …

   lejligheden

   the apartment / place

   se … ud

   look / appear

   beboet

   occupied

   mens

   while

   vi

   we

   er væk

   are away

   More detail

   Det is the subject meaning “that” here. Danish det is a neuter singular pronoun; the fixed translation supports this general reference without identifying a more specific noun. Its form is not the same as den, which is used for many common-gender singular references. får ... til at is a reusable causative pattern: få + an object + til at + an infinitive means “cause or make the object do/be something.” får is the present-tense form of få. In this sentence, får does not mean “obtain”; it introduces the result that follows. Pattern: X får Y til at + verb = “X makes Y + verb.” Lejligheden means “the apartment.” It is the definite singular form of lejlighed (“apartment”): lejlighed → lejligheden. The ending -en marks definiteness for this noun; it is not a separate word. Se ... ud is the Danish verb pattern meaning “look” or “appear.” Se is the infinitive of se (“see”), but in this construction it means “look/appear”; ud is the particle that completes the pattern. Example: Huset ser stort ud. — “The house looks big.” Beboet means “occupied” or “lived in” here. It functions as the description of how the apartment looks, after se ... ud. It is related to bebo (“inhabit”), but the observed form beboet is the descriptive form used in this sentence, not the infinitive verb. Mens introduces a time clause and means “while.” It links an action or state with another situation happening during the same period. Example: Jeg læser, mens hun laver mad. — “I read while she cooks.” Vi means “we,” the first-person plural pronoun. It refers to the speaker together with at least one other person, but the fixed sentence does not specify who else is included. The contrasting singular form is jeg (“I”). Er væk means “are away.” Er is the present-tense form of være (“be”), and væk completes the expression meaning “away.” With vi, the form is er; Danish does not add a separate plural ending to this verb in the present tense. Example: Vi er væk i weekenden. — “We are away for the weekend.” Together, Det får lejligheden til at se beboet ud says that “that” causes the apartment to look occupied. Mens vi er væk adds the time condition “while we are away.” The complete meaning is: “That helps the place look occupied while we are away.”

9. Nu føler jeg mig mere afslappet ved at tage af sted.

   Now I feel more relaxed about leaving.

   Nu

   now

   føler

   feel

   jeg

   I

   mig

   myself

   mere

   more

   afslappet

   relaxed

   ved at

   about doing

   tage af sted

   leave

   More detail

   Nu means “now” and places the feeling in the present. It is a time adverb. Example: Nu er jeg klar. — “Now I am ready.” føler is the present-tense form of føle, “to feel.” In jeg føler, it describes the speaker’s current feeling. Example: Jeg føler mig rolig. — “I feel calm.” jeg is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” It is the subject of føler, so it identifies the person who has the feeling. The object-like pronoun mig is needed separately in the reflexive pattern jeg føler mig .... mig is the first-person singular reflexive pronoun in this sentence, referring back to jeg. Together, jeg føler mig expresses “I feel” in the sense of experiencing a state. Do not replace it with an unrelated third-person form: for example, Hun føler sig rolig. means “She feels calm,” where sig refers back to hun. mere means “more” here. It marks a higher degree of the following state than before or than another comparison point. Its useful degree chain is meget “very/much,” mere “more,” mest “most.” In mere afslappet, mere modifies the adjective afslappet; the adjective itself is not the form carrying the comparison. afslappet means “relaxed” here. It describes the state in which the speaker feels. Danish can compare this adjective with mere afslappet “more relaxed” and mest afslappet “most relaxed”; the comparison is shown by the separate words mere and mest in these forms. Example: Efter pausen er jeg mere afslappet. — “After the break, I am more relaxed.” ved at introduces an activity connected with the feeling. In this sentence, ved at corresponds naturally to “about doing” in the fixed translation. The pattern ... føle sig [adjective] ved at + infinitive can describe feeling a certain way in connection with an action: Jeg føler mig tryg ved at spørge. — “I feel comfortable asking.” tage af sted is a fixed verb phrase meaning “leave” or “go away.” tage is the infinitive of tage, and af sted completes the phrase’s meaning; it is not simply the ordinary meaning of tage “take” plus an arbitrary location phrase. After at, Danish uses the infinitive: at tage af sted — “to leave.” Example: Vi skal tage af sted nu. — “We have to leave now.” Together, Nu føler jeg mig gives “Now I feel,” mere afslappet gives “more relaxed,” and ved at tage af sted connects that feeling with leaving. The complete utterance therefore means: “Now I feel more relaxed about leaving.”

10. Denne tjekliste tog lidt tid, men det var det værd.

    This checklist took a little time, but it was worth it.

    Denne

    this

    tjekliste

    checklist

    tog

    took

    lidt

    a little

    tid

    time

    men

    but

    det var det værd

    it was worth it

    More detail

    Denne means “this” and is the form used here with a singular common-gender noun: denne tjekliste. Danish contrasts it with dette before a singular neuter noun and disse with a plural noun. The form agrees with the noun’s grammatical gender and number, not with the speaker. tjekliste means “checklist.” It is a singular noun; the plural is tjeklister. Danish compound nouns are written as one word, as in this useful pattern: en tjekliste (“a checklist”). tog is the past-tense form of tage, “to take.” In this sentence, tog ... tid means “took ... time.” Danish past-tense verbs do not change according to the subject’s person or number: jeg tog, du tog, and de tog all use tog. lidt means “a little” here. With the mass-like noun tid, it indicates a small amount: lidt tid (“a little time”). In other contexts, Danish can use lidt with an adjective or adverb, but its meaning is determined by the expression around it. tid means “time.” In lidt tid, it is the noun being measured. A useful contrasting expression is meget tid, “a lot of time.” men introduces a contrast and means “but.” It connects the time required with the positive evaluation that follows. det var det værd is a reusable Danish construction meaning “it was worth it.” var is the past form of være, “to be,” and værd means “worth.” The two occurrences of det belong to the fixed expression: the first presents the thing or effort being evaluated, and the second represents what that effort was worth. For example, Det var pengene værd. means “It was worth the money.” Together, Denne tjekliste tog lidt tid says “This checklist took a little time.” men contrasts that fact with det var det værd, “it was worth it.” The complete utterance therefore means: “This checklist took a little time, but it was worth it.”