What are the 5 most used verbs in the Danish language? The verbs we say over and over and over again, and which are important for you to learn to master the Danish language?

The 5 most used verbs of the Danish language are:

ER – HAR – KAN – SKAL – VIL

ER
means “am”, “is”, “are”:

“Jeg er glad”: I am happy
“Jeg er træt”: I am tired

HAR
means “have”, “has”

“Jeg har to børn”: I have two children
“Jeg har også en skøn lejlighed”: I also have a lovely apartment

KAN
is used to express a capability or a possibility. I means “can”.

“Kan jeg hjælpe dig?”: Can I help you?
“Kan du cykle?”: Can you ride a bike?

VIL
you use to express a personal decision. It means “want”.

“Jeg vil lære dansk”: I want to learn Danish.
“Jeg vil bo i Danmark i mange mange år”: I want to live in Denmark for many many years.

Please notice that “vil” does not mean “will”. The words look alike and they sound alike, but they mean two very different things.

Will is translated to…..


SKAL
We use “skal” to express a future intention. It can be something that we are about to do or it can be something far out in the future. It is translated with words as “will”, “go-to”, “plans for”, “should”.

“Jeg skal have en kop kaffe “: I will have a cup of coffee
“Hvad skal du lave i sommerferien?”: What are your plans for the summer break?


Also “skal” can be used to place an order. Then it is translated with words like “have to” or “must”.

“Du skal i seng nu”: You have to go to bed now
“Du skal lytte efter”: You must listen up

Pronunciation

In this last bit, I would like to teach you a little bit of pronunciation. It is important to note that the Danes do not pronounce the last letter of the words “kan”, “skal” and “vil”.

They do not say “skaL” but “ska”, not “kaN” but “ka”, not “viL” but “ve”. And note that the vowel in “vil” changes from “i” to “e”.

An adjective is a word we use when we want to describe something, for example how we are feeling or a good movie or book. We use adjectives to describe things, people or ideas.

In English it is easy to use adjectives. They do not change og transform, or have certain rules to work after. Here a word is just a word.

In Danish, however, it is a bit different. In Danish the adjectives change according to what they are describing.

Is the adjective describing a common gendered noun (an en noun) like “en mand” (a man) or “en kvinde” (a woman), then nothing happens to the adjective. It stays the same:

“Det er en god dag idag”: It is a lovely day today
“Himmelen er blå idag”: The sky is blue today

Is the adjective describing a neuter gender noun (an et noun) like “et fjernsyn” (a television), “et barn” (a child) then you add a “t” to the end of it:

“Sommerhuset er rart“: The summerhouse is nice
“Græsset er grønt“: The grass is green


Is the adjective describing two or more of something for examble “nabours” or “flowers” or “children”, then you add a “e” to the end of it:

“Kartoflerne er danske“: The potatoes are Danish
“Øllene er kolde“: The beers are cold

I often meet students who have lived in Denmark for a long time, who have attended public language schools, who have a large vocabulary, and with fine nuances, who speak at lot of Danish – but their communication is still noget right.

They have trouble understanding the Danes.

Or they have trouble expressing themselves.

Most frequently the reason for this trouble is that there are some fundamental linguistic elements that they do not master. Maybe their classes have been to fastpaced? Maybe there are some things that they have not been educated on?

The main concern are these two areas:

Grammar. It can be basic pronouns, like “hende” (her) or “ham” (him), ground rules for adjectives (the words we use when we describe things), ground rules for plural nouns (the words we use when we’re speaking of multiple items or things) etc.

Sound. It might be that they have never been taught the sound aspects of the Danish language. Maybe they don’t possess the qualities or attributes that are needed to understand Danish and speak it.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) is a popular language tool in Denmark. Official and private language schools use it all over, when you apply for a job, you can inform the workplace on which linguistic level you are at. Etc.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language describes the process of learning a language in 6 steps. First you get to level A; then you get to level B; and then you get to level C.

The Common European Framework of Referene for Language (CEFR) is listed below.

Do you feel a bit lost in the Danish language? When you wish to speak Danish, does the brain stay thinking in English?

A good support for your Danish speaking process could be an audiobook. To find a good Danish book that captures your attention and motivates you, and which you can listen to daily.

I recommend Sara Omar’s book; “Dødevaskeren” from 2017 and after that you can continue with her book “Skyggedanseren” from 2019.

The books are very relevant, and Sara Omar has won several awards for both.

The books are written in a realistic language, because they tell a real story.

Where do I find the book? At saxo.com you can get the book and the audiobook; https://www.saxo.com/dk/doedevaskeren_sara-omar_lydbog-download_9788740046045

Enjoy 🙂

A lot of people pass the language test 1, 2 and 3 – and still do not speak the Danish language. They would like to take part in everyday conversations. To understand the Danes and to express themselves without any problems. But it doesn’t work. How can it be?

Often the reason is a lack of understanding for what is actually means to learn to speak Danish.

When we become adults we forget what learning a language is about. We want it to be about words in a book that we should be able to say. And we read and read and read, and try and try and try. But it does not work.

This seems to be quite relevant for the Danish language. Danish is characterized by a big difference in spoken and written form. The Danes simply say something else than they write.

Haven´t we all tried learning about word order and scratched our heads wondering; “Why on Earth is this useful to learn?” ?

The reason why you receive instruction in word order is that it teaches you how to put together sentences. And sentences are necessary for us to communicate with each other.

It is through sentences that we make contact and interact with people. And it is through sentences that we say things to other people that they are able to understand.

What characterises a sentence is that it starts with a subject, followed by a verb.

We don’t just say:

“Solen” = The Sun
   (S)

But we say:

“Solen skinner” = The Sun is shining
  (S)——(V)

 

We don’t just say:

“Det” = It
 (S)

But we say:

“Det regner” = It is raining
  (S)—(V)

The good thing about constructing sentences in Danish is that all you need to do is to start off with a subject, then add a verb, and the rest of the words will find their natural place.


“Solen skinner måske.” = The Sun is maybe shining.

“Solen skinner altid.” = The Sun is always shining.

“Solen skinner hver eneste dag.” = The Sun is shining every single day.


Even better it is that nearly all present tense verbs end with +er, regardless of who or what is performing the action.

You should give it a try. Get a verblist and start to write some sentences.