One important way of defining adverbs is to define them as a residual category. And this might lead us to believe that they cannot be all that important, since they are simply what is left over….

However, these “leftovers” express different circumstances in a sentence. They can indicate place, time, the speaker’s attitude towards what is being said, the manner in which something is said, and so on.

The residual category of adverbs quit often contains the crucial word in establishing the meaning of a sentence:

• “Jeg arbejder hjemme“ – I work at home
• “Jeg arbejder meget“ – I work a lot
• “Jeg arbejder for meget” – I work too much

Our adverbs modify entire sentences, verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, and we will now take a look at a specific group of adverbs; attitude adverbs.

At a primary sentence level they stand in the middle of a sentence (e.g. in the main sentence right after the first verb) and their meaning is to create attitude, the speaker’s attitude which can be positive or negative or she might call the truth of what is being said into question (maybe, probably, apparently). We will now take a look at three selected examples: lige, altså, sgu.

LIGE

“Peter, gider du lige at hjælpe mig med det her?”

= “Peter, could you just help me with this?”

What is going on here? The speaker is being polite. She shows consideration for the other person’s time by indicating that she will not take up much of it. She is downplaying the request.

ALTSÅ

Now she emphasises how things are:

• “Det har jeg altså ikke sagt”
  = “I didn´t say that, actually“
  
• “Det må du altså undskylde, det var ikke min hensigt.”
  = “I really must apologise for that; it wasn’t my intention.”
  

SGU

This is a little swear word that we use to emphasise an attitude or feeling, and to express surprise or disbelief.

Er dette et ord du har hørt før, og har du undret dig over, hvorfor det er, at danskerne siger det så meget?

Man kunne bilde sig selv ind, at dette står som et udtryk for uhøfligt dansk, eller man kunne bilde sig selv ind, at dette tages i brug, når modparten ikke taler ordentligt dansk.

Men faktisk er dette ikke tilfældet. Dette er defineret ved at være en reparation, og reparationer er hvad vi bruger for at få en samtale til at køre.

Samtaleanalysen blev etableret af sociologen Harvey Sacks sammen med kollegerne Emanuel Schegloff og Gail Jefferson. De var nysgerrige på at finde ud af, hvordan det kunne lade sig gøre, at vi mennesker kunne tale sammen. Hvorfor taler vi f.eks. ikke hele tiden i munden på hinanden, eller hvorfor opstår der ikke lange pauser efter hver endt taletur? De nåede frem til en slags grammatik for samtalen.

Talesprog er spontant. Vi afbryder os selv, kan ikke finde ud af, hvad det er, vi vil sige, eller kan ikke finde ordene. Reparationer er et helt naturligt element.

Der findes to forskellige former for reparationer. Dem man bruger som den talende og så dem man bruger som den lyttende.

Som den talende

Den talende kan selv opdage et problem og rette det:

“Vi ses klokken fem – eller seks.”

“Jeg tager toget på torsdag – nej, fredag.”

“Vi skal bruge en… øh… momentnøgle.”

“Han bor i den der by i Jylland… hvad var det nu den hed… Skanderborg.”

Her kan udtryk som “øh“, “hvad hedder det“, “hvad var det nu det hed” også være med til at taleren kan holde på sin taletur.

Som den lyttende

Den lyttende kan også signalere, at noget ikke blev forstået:

“Hvad?”

“Hvem?”

“Hvor?”

“Hvilken skuffe?”

“Hvad for en skuffe?”

“Du mødte hvem?”

“Mener du på tirsdag?”

Der er forskel på, hvor meget information man giver den talende om problemet. “Hvad?” er meget åbent og kan betyde, at man ikke har forstået noget af det, der blev sagt. “Hvad for en skuffe?” derimod, at man har forstået det meste, men mangler én bestemt information.

På den måde kan den lyttende hjælpe med at præcisere samtalen uden nødvendigvis at afbryde den.

SÅ du skal som ny sprogbruger ikke være bange for at sige: “Hvad?” eller “Undskyld?”, for når du gør det, så taler du dansk.

Og så sagde vi at du var kongen og at jeg var dronningen og at vi boede langt ude i en skov på et slot.
( And then we said that you were the king, and that I was the queen, and that we lived far away in a forest in a castle.)

And just like that, the stage was set for a role play, and in a moment the child can jump into it and unfold themselves.

But why does this take place in the past tense: sagde, var, boede – and is it still actually in the past?

Is this about something that happened long ago, maybe hundreds or even thousands of years ago, which we are now bringing back to life? No, this is not about time, but about mood. Mood means the manner or mode of expressing something.

In Danish we have three primary moods for our verbs:

• Indicative – Here we commit ourselves to the truth value of what we say.
• Imperative – Here we try to get people to do something.
• Irrealis – Here we imagine something, we set up hypotheses, or we wish for things.

In the child’s role play, irrealis is at play. The child immerses itself in another world through imagination. The child plays “as if” and through this explores what it encounters in actual reality: roles, situations, values, power relations, and so on. Through role play, the child develops its creative sense and processes reality.

Subjunctive

In earlier times, the Danish language had a form called the subjunctive. This was used when we imagined something, formulated hypotheses, wished for something, and also when we were being polite. We no longer have this form directly in Danish, even though many other languages make particular use of it. So what do we do instead? Well, we make use of what we already have – in Danish, that means we borrow from the past tense, and we also frequently use modal verbs.

A very large part of what makes up a conversation involves being able to listen. To listen to what people are actually saying to you. If you don´t listen, you can´t answer, you can´t respond. The art of listening is an integral part of all communication.

It’s not, however, only in the normal kind of two-way communication that one needs to be a good listener. Being able to listen is also an important element in learning to speak a language.

This is especially so for the Danish language, since what characterises Danish is the difference between its written and spoken form. Danes write differently compared to how they speak and the language is full of vocal nuances. The way to learn the language involves communication and listening.

If you’re struggling with the language, and no doubt also in its pronunciation, then you are making things difficult for yourself by:

You just need to start listening to the language, to how it sounds. How do you pronounce a vowel if you can’t hear it?

How do you master a melody of speech if you can’t hear it?

It´s like when you´re listening to a song you really like. It´s not because of the text, is it?

Or like when you dance – what get´s you moving is the rhythm and melody.

It´s more fun to learn Danish than you think. It´s also a lot faster to learn than you think.

There are two words for this one in Danish. We will take a closer look at this in the following blogpost.

KENDER

You say “kender” when you have met the object or the person in question in the real world and through that have obtained knowledge of he/she or it.

It may be that you have got to know someone.

“Kender du Per?” = Do you know Per?

“Ja, han er sød” = Yes, he is nice

It could also be an author that you have got to know through his or her books.

“Kender du H.C. Andersen?” = Do you know Hans Christian Andersen?

“Ja, selvfølgelig gør jeg det” = Yes, of course I do

VED

“Ved” is related to the brain. It is a knowledge you acquire, for instance, by studying and learning and thus become wiser. It may also be that you are just informed about it; “Ved du godt at vi får solskinsvejr i morgen?” = Did you know that it will be sunny tomorrow?

To know is tied to factual knowledge that can be proven.

“Du skal ikke tro, du skal vide” = You must not believe, you must know

It sounds the same and looks the same and they have a strong formation of meaning in common.

So is it not understandable that people mix them up?

The English verb “to go” is used to express the act of moving from place to place. It is not about how we do it. It is the essence of movement:

“I will be going to America this Christmas”

“I will go home now”

The Danish verb “at gå”, on the other hand, is what we express when we talk about walking:

“Vil du med ud at gå en tur?” = Would you like to come for a walk?

“Jeg går altid på arbejde” = I always walk to work

“Jeg går til USA til sommer” = I walk to America this summer;-)

Your find them in abundance in the Danish language: Compound words. The reason is that the Danish language is flexible towards new formations which means that there is a lot more compound words than the dictionary can hold.

If you would like your Danish writing to be clear and concise and also to avoid misunderstandings, you need to know about these compound words.

But it is tricky as they are written in two or more words in English, but in one word in Danish (hence, the very long words you occasionally come across in Danish).

In the following, I will give you some advice on how to spot compound words.

1. Emphasis
Where is the emphasis on the word?
Is the emphasis on the first part it is one word:

“en fuldmåne” = A full moon
“en rødkælk” = A robin

This is different from putting emphasis on both words:

“en fuld måne” = a drunk moon
“en rød kælk” = a red sled

2. The define form
How is the definite form created? Can you make it a definite form ending? Then it is one word:

“Fuldmånen” = The full moon
“Rødkælken” = The robin

However, If the definite article is created in the front of the word, then it is two words:

“Den fulde måne” = The drunken moon
“Den røde kælk” = The red sled

We have two verbs for that in Danish: “at spille” or “at lege”.

AT SPILLE
Is when you interact in a game with clear and concise rules, then you “spiller”. Example:

“Han elsker at spille volleyball” = He loves to play volleyball
“Jeg elsker at spille Matador” = I love to play Monopoly

You also use the word for playing an instrument.
“Jeg elsker at spille guitarre” = l love to play the guitarre

AT LEGE
“Lege” is used when children play. It is a word for childrens play – a form of companionship which is fundamental for childrens´ life. Children “leger” with each other. They enter into a parallel univers, space and time. They use their imagination and learn about themselves and the world in process.

“Skal vi ikke lege?” = Do you want to play?

That is a word that Danes tell themselves or say to other people – and maybe they ought to say it more often?

When we say “pyt” we erase what just happened. It is a form of forgiveness. It is fast and immedate and we start over from the moment it is said.

We can tel ourselves “pyt”, and thus be more gentle to ourselves. We can use it when talking to other people as a piece of advice, or it can be used to resolve a conflict and we will forget what the conflict was all about in a second.

This is how easy life can be – just say “pyt”.

”Kan du række mig kaffe?” = Can you hand me coffee?

“Hvordan er kage?” = How is cake?

”Hvordan gik samtale?” = How went job interview?


There is a distance in this situation, do you sense this? The reason is, that the declension of the noun is its indefinite form.

Nouns are people, animals, objects, situations or concepts and we use the definite form when we would like to convey a mutual understanding with whom we have a conversation. The person who speaks would like to convey that his discussion partner knows about the object he is speaking of. Through the definite form, a mutual understanding is created.

If you do not master the definite form of the noun, the opposite will happen; Distance. That is a distance that creates ‘noise’, because the purpose of learning a language is to enter into new communities and groups.


Nouns in their definite form are tricky for my students. A simple reason for this could be how they are used in the definite form; In front of the noun or in the end? In many other languages, the definite form is used in front of the word as an article. In Danish, However, it is used ‘behind’ the word as an ending.


In Spanish, you say:
«La entrevista» = the interview

In French, you say:
«Le entrevue»

In German you say:
«das interview»

In English:
«the interview»

But in Danish we do the opposite. We say: «jobsamtalen». We create the definite form as an ending of the word.

It is a good question, right? In English one says “if”, and in Danish one either says “om” or “hvis”.

These are smaller words, and one might think that they are not so important; that it does not matter whether you say one or the other.


But the wrong use of these words can create whole new expressions with a whole new meaning.

They are the type of words we call “conjunctions”. Conjunctions are a small group of words, which we use to create connections between sentences. We use them when we have become better at Danish and wish to express ourselves deeper and more advanced.

We have about 15 different conjunctions, and now you will get to know two of them:

OM

You use this one when you are asking a question.

“Ved du, om Peter og Anne kommer med til festen?” =
Do you know if Peter and Anne will join the party?

“Ved du, om vi har fri på mandag?” =
Do you know if we have a day off on Monday?

“Jeg ved ikke, om jeg elsker ham” =
I do not know if I love him.


HVIS

You use this when expressing the conditions of an action.

“Du består din prøve, hvis du øver dig” =
You will pass your test if you practice.

“Jeg er glad, hvis du er glad” =
I am happy if you are happy.

“Gider ikke” – This is a new expression for my students. When we sit and go through the verb list, they stop at the verb “gider” and then they ask;  “What does that mean?”.

 I explain that this verb is typically used with the adverb “ikke”;  “gider ikke” and that it is a whole new expression for them.


The closest translation of this term is; “Don’t want to”, “don’t feel like”, “can’t be bottered”, “isn’t keen on”, but these are not comprehensive translations.

The Danes say it when they feel a clear demotivation towards a given task. Something expected of them, something that would be the right thing to do. A clear lack of physical or mental energy is revealed here.

It is an expression that Danes use a lot in their daily lives, and now we have to take a closer look at when.

When do the Danes say “gider ikke”?

It is in close relationships that it is used; among children, in families, friendships, with couples, etc.

You may hear children say;

“Jeg gider ikke i skole” = I don’t want to go to school

“Jeg gider ikke lave lektier” = I don’t want to do my homework

Or with couples;

 “Jeg gider ikke tage opvasken i aften, skat!” = I don’t want to do the dishes tonight babe!’

“Jeg gider bare ikke på arbejde i morgen” = I just don’t want to go to work tomorrow

A bit about Danish culture.

The use of this term says something about the Danish culture.  The Danes can be direct and trusting and they can allow expressions like these.

It is different from e.g. an English and American culture marked by far more courtesy.