Confirming delay information and where to wait | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Meddelelsen siger, at der er en forsinkelse, men ikke hvorfor.

   The announcement says there is a delay, but it does not say why.

   Meddelelsen

   the announcement

   siger

   says

   der er

   there is

   forsinkelse

   delay

   men ikke hvorfor

   but not why

   More detail

   Meddelelsen means “the announcement” here. It is the definite singular form of meddelelse (“announcement”): en meddelelse is an announcement, while meddelelsen is the announcement. Danish commonly marks definiteness by a suffix on the noun rather than by a separate word. siger is the present-tense form of sige (“to say”). It agrees with the subject in meaning but does not change for singular versus plural in the present tense. Example: De siger det. — “They say it.” der er is the Danish existential pattern meaning “there is” or “there are.” er is the present form of være (“to be”), and der is the formal introductory element in this pattern, not a specific thing being referred to. In the sentence, the following noun phrase identifies what exists. Example: Der er et problem. — “There is a problem.” forsinkelse means “delay.” In the complete phrase der er en forsinkelse, the noun is indefinite singular: en forsinkelse (“a delay”). The indefinite article here introduces the kind of thing that exists; it does not by itself provide a numerical emphasis. The definite form is forsinkelsen (“the delay”). men ikke hvorfor means “but not why.” men is “but,” and hvorfor is the question word “why,” used here in an embedded question. The omitted material is understood from the preceding clause: the announcement says that there is a delay, but does not say why. This is not a new standalone question addressed directly to someone. Together, Meddelelsen siger gives “the announcement says,” followed by at der er en forsinkelse, “that there is a delay.” The conjunction at introduces the content of what is said. The final contrast, men ikke hvorfor, says that the announcement does not provide the reason. The whole utterance therefore means: “The announcement says there is a delay, but it does not say why.”

2. Jeg tror, de tjekker toget, før de lader folk gå om bord.

   I think they are checking the train before letting people board.

   Jeg

   I

   tror

   think; believe

   de

   they

   tjekker

   check; inspect

   toget

   the train

   før

   before

   lader

   let; allow

   folk

   people

   gå

   go

   om bord

   on board

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here. It is the first-person singular subject form. Danish uses jeg for the speaker as subject; the object form is mig, as in De ser mig (“They see me”). tror means “think/believe” in this sentence. Its base form is tro, and tror is present tense: jeg tror = “I think.” Danish present tense can describe an action or situation happening now without a separate progressive form. Example: Jeg tror, han kommer. — “I think he is coming.” de means “they.” It is a third-person plural pronoun used as the subject of the following clause. The form does not identify the people individually; the fixed translation supports the intended “they.” tjekker means “check/inspect.” Its base form is tjekke, and tjekker is present tense. Example: De tjekker billetterne. — “They are checking the tickets.” 'toget means “the train.” The noun is tog (“train”); toget is its singular definite form, literally the form used for “the train.” Danish commonly marks definiteness on the noun itself: et tog = “a train,” toget = “the train.” The -et ending here belongs to tog, not to tjekker`. før means “before.” It introduces the time relation between the checking and the later action. In this sentence, the clause after før is de lader folk gå om bord: the checking happens before they let people board. Example: Ring, før du går. — “Call before you leave.” lader means “let/allow” here. Its base form is lade, and lader is present tense. The useful pattern is lade nogen gøre noget, meaning “let someone do something”: De lader børnene lege. — “They let the children play.” The following verb gå stays in the infinitive after this pattern. folk means “people.” It is the noun referring to those being allowed to board. In this use it has a plural meaning, although its form does not take a separate plural ending here. Example: Folk venter udenfor. — “People are waiting outside.” gå means “go.” This is the infinitive/base form. After lader, Danish uses the infinitive without an English-style “to”: lader folk gå = “lets people go.” The same verb can describe movement in other contexts, for example Jeg vil gå. — “I want to go.” om bord is the fixed expression “on board,” used here with movement into the train or another vehicle: gå om bord = “board” or “go on board.” It is written as two words in this expression. Example: Vi går om bord nu. — “We are boarding now.” Together, Jeg tror introduces the speaker’s belief. de tjekker toget says that they are checking the train, and før de lader folk gå om bord places their allowing people to board afterward. The whole utterance therefore means: “I think they are checking the train before letting people board.”

3. Skal vi blive her, eller skal vi lede efter en anden perron?

   Should we stay here, or should we look for another platform?

   Skal vi

   should we

   blive

   stay

   her

   here

   lede efter

   look for

   anden

   another

   perron

   platform

   More detail

   Skal vi combines skal with vi. Here skal is used in a question suggesting a shared action, so the intended meaning is “should”; in other contexts, skal can express obligation or a planned/future action. Vi means “we” and refers to the speaker together with at least one other person. Danish questions commonly place the finite verb before the subject: Skal vi ...? Example: Skal vi gå? — “Should we go?” blive is the infinitive of blive, “to stay” or “to become.” After the modal skal, the following verb is in the infinitive, so skal ... blive means “should ... stay” here. Example: Vi bliver her. — “We are staying here.” her is the place adverb “here,” referring to the relevant location at the time of speaking. It does not change for number or gender. her contrasts with der, “there.” eller means “or” and links the two alternatives in the question. The second alternative repeats the same question pattern: skal vi .... lede efter is the reusable verb construction “to look for” or “to search for.” lede by itself can have other meanings, including “to lead,” so efter is important for this search meaning. Example: Jeg leder efter mine nøgler. — “I am looking for my keys.” en anden means “another” before a singular common-gender noun. anden is the form of “other/another” used with an en-word; compare et andet with an et-word and andre in the plural. Example: Vi tager en anden bus. — “We take another bus.” perron means “platform,” specifically a station platform in this context. It is a common-gender noun: en perron; its definite form is perronen, “the platform,” and its plural is perroner, “platforms.” Together, Skal vi blive her asks whether the group should remain at the current place. eller skal vi lede efter en anden perron presents the alternative of searching for a different platform. The whole utterance therefore means: “Should we stay here, or should we look for another platform?”

4. Bliv i nærheden indtil videre. Hvis det ændrer sig, siger personalet, hvor vi skal gå hen.

   Stay close for now. If it changes, staff will say where to go.

   Bliv

   stay

   i nærheden

   nearby

   indtil videre

   for now

   Hvis

   if

   det

   it

   ændrer sig

   changes

   siger

   says

   personalet

   the staff

   hvor vi skal gå hen

   where to go

   More detail

   Bliv is the imperative of blive, “to stay” or “to remain.” It gives a direct instruction; the form does not identify the addressee’s gender or distinguish singular from plural addressees. Example: Bliv her. — “Stay here.” i nærheden is a location expression meaning “nearby” or “in the vicinity.” nærheden is the definite form of nærhed (“proximity”). The phrase does not specify what the person or people should be near; that must come from context. indtil videre is a fixed time expression meaning “for now” or “until further notice.” It limits the instruction to the present situation rather than setting a definite end time. Example: Vent indtil videre. — “Wait for now.” Hvis introduces a condition: “if.” It starts the conditional clause Hvis det ændrer sig (“If it changes”). After this initial subordinate clause, Danish uses inversion in the following main clause: siger personalet, with the finite verb before the subject. That word order belongs to the main clause, not to the conditional subordinate clause. det is a neuter singular pronoun meaning “it” here. The fixed translation supports this general reference, but does not identify exactly what may change, so no specific referent can be assigned from the supplied sentence. ændrer sig means “changes” here. The base verb is ændre (“to change”); ændrer is its present-tense form, and sig is the reflexive pronoun used with this change construction. Together they describe something undergoing a change rather than someone changing a separate object. Example: Planen ændrer sig. — “The plan changes.” siger is the present-tense form of sige, “to say” or “to tell.” Here it describes what the staff will communicate if the condition occurs; Danish can use the present tense in this conditional result. Example: Hun siger, hvor vi skal gå. — “She says where we should go.” personalet means “the staff.” It is the definite form of personale (“staff”). This noun is grammatically singular in this form, even though it refers to a group, so the verb is siger, not a plural form. The definite form presents the staff as an identifiable group in the situation. hvor vi skal gå hen is a clause meaning “where to go,” literally involving “where we are to go.” hvor asks about a place, vi means “we,” skal is the present form of skulle and can mark what is required, expected, or planned, and gå hen expresses going to a destination. Here, vi is the group included in the destination instruction. Example: Jeg ved, hvor vi skal gå hen. — “I know where we should go.” Together, Bliv i nærheden indtil videre gives the instruction “Stay nearby for now.” The conditional clause Hvis det ændrer sig adds “If it changes,” and siger personalet, hvor vi skal gå hen says that the staff will say where the group should go. The complete meaning is therefore: “Stay close for now. If it changes, staff will say where to go.”

5. Jeg har bagage med, så jeg har ikke lyst til at blive ved med at gå rundt.

   I have luggage, so I do not want to keep moving around.

   Jeg

   I

   har

   have

   bagage

   luggage

   med

   along

   så

   so

   ikke

   not

   lyst til at

   want to

   blive ved med at

   keep on

   gå rundt

   move around

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here, the first-person singular subject. The related object form is mig (“me”): Hun ser mig means “She sees me.” har is the present form of have (“to have”) for jeg: Jeg har tid means “I have time.” In this sentence it expresses possession or having something with the speaker. bagage means “luggage” or “baggage.” It is a mass-like noun, so the sentence does not state a number of bags. A useful example is Jeg har meget bagage — “I have a lot of luggage.” med means “along/with” in bagage med. The combination have ... med means to have something with you: Jeg har en paraply med — “I have an umbrella with me.” så introduces the consequence of what came before and means “so” here. It links the situation Jeg har bagage med to the speaker’s result or decision. ikke negates the following desire expression. Danish normally places this negation after the finite verb in a main clause: Jeg har ikke tid means “I do not have time.” lyst til at expresses wanting or feeling inclined to do something. Lyst is a noun meaning “desire” or “inclination,” and the construction have lyst til at + infinitive literally uses “have desire to,” though its natural meaning is “want to” or “feel like.” For example, Jeg har lyst til at hvile means “I feel like resting.” Here ikke makes it “do not want to.” blive ved med at is a reusable construction meaning “keep on” or “continue to” do something. The form blive is the infinitive after at; ved med is part of the fixed continuation pattern, not a separate meaning of “with” in this construction. Hun bliver ved med at spørge means “She keeps asking.” gå rundt means “move around” or “walk around” in this context. Gå is the infinitive of gå (“to go/walk”), while rundt adds the idea of moving around rather than simply going to one destination. For example, Vi går rundt i byen means “We walk around the city.” Together, Jeg har bagage med says that the speaker has luggage with them. så jeg har ikke lyst til at blive ved med at gå rundt gives the consequence: because of that luggage, the speaker does not want to continue moving around. The whole utterance therefore means: “I have luggage, so I do not want to keep moving around.”

6. Jeg vil spørge, om de kan hjælpe os, hvis vi får brug for at skifte perron.

   I will ask whether they can help if we need to switch platforms.

   Jeg vil

   I will

   spørge

   ask

   om

   whether

   de

   they

   kan

   can

   hjælpe

   help

   os

   us

   hvis

   if

   vi

   we

   får brug for

   need

   at skifte

   to switch

   perron

   platform

   More detail

   Jeg vil introduces the speaker’s intention or a future action: vil is the present form of ville, used here with an infinitive. It does not mean that the asking is already happening. Compare Jeg vil spørge (“I will ask / I want to ask”) with Jeg spørger (“I ask / I am asking”). spørge means “ask.” It is the infinitive after vil; the infinitive marker at is not used after this modal. Example: Jeg vil spørge læreren. — “I will ask the teacher.” om introduces an indirect yes/no question, so spørge, om ... means “ask whether ...” rather than “ask about” in this sentence. Example: Hun spørger, om toget kommer. — “She asks whether the train is coming.” de is the third-person plural pronoun “they.” Its grammatical form signals a plural referent, but the fixed sentence does not identify exactly which people they are. It is distinct from dem, the corresponding object form: De hjælper os means “They help us,” while Vi hjælper dem means “We help them.” kan is the present form of kunne, “can/be able to.” With an infinitive, it expresses ability or possibility: de kan hjælpe means “they can help.” Danish modal verbs such as kan are followed directly by the infinitive, without at. hjælpe means “help.” Here it is the infinitive governed by kan. The object of the help appears afterward as os, so the clause says that they can help us. Example: Kan du hjælpe mig? — “Can you help me?” os is the object pronoun “us,” the first-person plural counterpart of subject vi (“we”). In this sentence, os is the people who may receive the help; it is not the subject of hjælpe. hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” The clause after it gives the situation in which the possible help would be relevant: hvis vi får brug for at skifte perron — “if we need to switch platforms.” Example: Jeg ringer, hvis jeg får brug for hjælp. — “I will call if I need help.” vi means “we,” the first-person plural subject of the conditional clause. It is the group that may need to switch platforms. Its object form is os, as in De kan hjælpe os (“They can help us”). får brug for is the Danish construction for “need” or “come to need.” The observed form får is the present form of få; in this expression, brug for completes its meaning. The subject is vi, so the construction is “we need,” not a standalone meaning of får such as “get” in other contexts. Example: Vi får brug for en billet. — “We will need a ticket.” at skifte means “to switch/change,” with at marking the infinitive. The construction får brug for at skifte means “need to switch.” The infinitive is used because it follows brug for in this pattern. Example: Jeg har brug for at hvile. — “I need to rest.” perron means “platform,” here referring to a station platform. It is the object of skifte: the sentence concerns switching platforms. The indefinite singular form is en perron; the plural is perroner (“platforms”). Together, Jeg vil spørge says that the speaker intends to ask. om de kan hjælpe os makes that request an indirect yes/no question: whether they are able to help us. hvis vi får brug for at skifte perron supplies the condition: if we need to switch platforms. The complete meaning is: “I will ask whether they can help us if we need to switch platforms.”

7. Det ville hjælpe, hvis ændringen kom i sidste øjeblik.

   That would help if the change comes at the last minute.

   Det

   That

   ville

   would

   hjælpe

   help

   hvis

   if

   ændringen

   the change

   kom

   comes

   sidste

   last

   øjeblik

   moment

   More detail

   Det means “that” here. It is a Danish neuter singular pronoun functioning as the subject; the supplied translation supports the demonstrative meaning, but it does not identify a more specific noun referent. A useful contrast is den for a common-gender singular pronoun and det for a neuter singular one. Example: Det er vigtigt. — “That is important.” ville is the past-tense form of vil (“will/want”) and, before an infinitive, commonly expresses “would” in a conditional or hypothetical construction. Here it combines with hjælpe; it is not the lexical verb meaning “help.” Example: Det ville være godt. — “That would be good.” hjælpe is the infinitive “to help.” After a modal such as ville, Danish uses the infinitive without an English-style infinitive marker: ville hjælpe = “would help.” Example: Jeg vil hjælpe. — “I will help.” hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” It links the possible condition to the result expressed in the other clause. Example: Jeg kommer, hvis jeg kan. — “I will come if I can.” ændringen means “the change.” Its base noun is ændring; the ending -en marks the definite singular form, so ændring is “a change” and ændringen is “the change.” Example: Ændringen hjælper. — “The change helps.” kom is a past-tense form of komme, “to come.” In this conditional clause, the form presents the change’s arrival as the condition; the fixed translation renders the resulting meaning as “comes,” rather than forcing an English past-tense translation. Example: Hun kom sent. — “She came late.” sidste means “last” here and modifies øjeblik. In this time expression, it identifies the final point in the relevant period. Example: sidste uge — “last week.” øjeblik is the noun “moment.” The phrase i sidste øjeblik is a reusable time expression meaning “at the last minute.” Example: Han ringede i sidste øjeblik. — “He called at the last minute.” Together, Det ville hjælpe says “That would help.” The conditional clause hvis ændringen kom i sidste øjeblik adds the condition “if the change comes at the last minute.” The complete utterance therefore means: “That would help if the change comes at the last minute.”

8. Når de har opdateret tavlen, kan vi gå videre uden at gætte.

   Once they update the board, we can move without guessing.

   Når

   once; when

   de

   they

   har

   have

   opdateret

   updated

   tavlen

   the board

   kan vi

   we can

   gå videre

   move on

   uden at

   without

   gætte

   guess

   More detail

   Når introduces a time condition: “when” or, in this context, “once.” It presents the board update as the condition that comes first in time. Example: Når jeg kommer hjem, laver jeg mad. — “When I get home, I cook.” de means “they.” It is a third-person plural subject pronoun. Its specific referent is not identified in the fixed sentence, so it is best learned as the form used for a plural “they” subject. Compare vi, “we,” which appears later as the subject of the main clause. har is the present-tense form of have (“to have”) for jeg, du, han/hun/den/det, and vi/de. Here it is an auxiliary, not the main meaning “possess.” Together with the participle opdateret, it forms the present perfect: har opdateret, “have updated.” opdateret is the past participle of opdatere, “to update.” After har, it describes a completed update viewed as relevant to the following situation. Example: De har opdateret planen. — “They have updated the plan.” tavlen means “the board.” It is the definite singular form of tavle, “board”: en tavle = “a board,” tavlen = “the board.” The definite ending is part of the noun form, rather than a separate word. Example: Jeg skriver på tavlen. — “I write on the board.” kan vi means “we can.” kan is the present-tense modal form of kunne, “can; be able to,” and vi is the first-person plural pronoun “we.” Because the time clause comes first, the main clause begins with the verb before its subject: kan vi. The modal is followed by an infinitive, here gå. gå videre means “move on” or “continue.” gå is the infinitive of gå, “to go,” while videre adds the idea of proceeding onward. The combination is a reusable way to describe continuing to the next step, not merely physical movement. Example: Vi kan gå videre. — “We can move on.” uden at introduces an action that is absent: “without” plus an infinitive. In this pattern, uden at is followed by the infinitive form of the verb. Example: Hun gik uden at sige noget. — “She left without saying anything.” gætte is the infinitive of gætte, “to guess.” Here it names the action that does not occur while the speakers move on. Example: Jeg vil ikke gætte. — “I do not want to guess.” Together, Når de har opdateret tavlen means “Once they update the board,” with the perfect construction presenting the update as completed. kan vi gå videre means “we can move on,” and uden at gætte adds “without guessing.” The whole utterance therefore means: “Once they update the board, we can move without guessing.”