at the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute
Did you know?
Most Danish women keep their maiden names when they marry.
Hej! Danish is spoken by some six million people, more than five million of whom live in Denmark. It is the second language of Greenland, and of the Faroe Islands, located between Britain and Iceland. Greenland and the Faroes are politically autonomous, but remain part of the Danish Kingdom, anrd are represented in the Danish parliament.
Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian are closely related, and belong to the Northern Germanic linguistic group.
Mind you, as Nationally Syndicated Talk Host Barry Farber points out, that's something for you to know and enjoy—not something to mention to Scandinavians.
They're horrified when outsiders say, 'Gee, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian are all alike.' They prefer to dwell on the differences. There was a popular movement in Norwegian early in the twentieth century to change the language for no apparent reason other than to make it less like Danish.
Swedish and Danish have common origins, although, as Denmark and Norway were unified for 400 years prior to 1814, Norwegian and Danish developed similarities.
With the rising popularity of TV programmes such as 'The Bridge,' there has been a surge of interest in learning Danish.
Common
Yes.
No.
Please.
Thank you.
That's enough.
You're welcome.
I can't speak Danish (well).
Do you speak English?
Excuse me. (begging pardon)
Excuse me. (to get attention)
I'm sorry.
I don't understand.
Look out!
Help!
Can I use your phone?
I need a doctor.
Hello (informal)
Hello
Good morning. (before 10 am)
Good morning. (after 10 am, but before noon)
Good evening.
Goodnight.
Goodnight (sleep well).
What is your name?
How are you?
Fine, thank you.
My name is ___ .
Where is the toilet?
Nice to meet you.
Goodbye (informal).
Goodbye.
Ja.
Nej.
Vær så venlig.
Tak.
Det er nok.
Selv tak.
Jeg taler ikke [godt] dansk.
Taler du engelsk?
Undskyld.
Undskyld mig.
Det må du undskylde.
Jeg forstår ikke.
Pas på!
Hjælp!
Må jeg låne din telefon?
Jeg har brug for en læge.
Hej
Hallo
Godmorgen.
Godformiddag.
Godaften.
Godnat.
Sov godt.
Hvad hedder du?
Hvordan går det?
Godt, tak.
Jeg hedder ___ .
Hvor er toilettet?
Det var rart at møde dig.
Hej hej.
Farvel.
![Learn [LANGUAGE] in Los Angeles](images/640x360/languages/danish/holding-hands-riding-bikes.jpg "Learn Danish in Los Angeles")
When you learn Danish, you also get proficiency in two other languages: Norwegian and Swedish.
Norwegian is an almost identical to Danish, with just a few distinctions that are irrelevant to everyday use. In fact, bokmål, one of the two official dialects spoken in Norway, is sometimes referred to as Dano-Norwegian. The two languages also share the same alphabet, which comprises all the letters of the English alphabet, with the additional vowels: æ, ø and å.
Swedish uses some unique words and phrases but is, to a large extent, understood by Danish speakers.
In any list of non-English-speaking countries with the highest percentage of people fluent in English, the three Scandinavian countries—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—are close behind Holland. You may never need their language no matter where you go or who you deal with in Scandinavia, but Scandinavians are among the most appreciative people on earth if you're prepared to make the effort.
Besides, the Scandinavian languages are relatively easy for Americans to learn. They're Germanic languages, related to English, but vastly easier to learn than German. The verbs don't change for person and number, and only slightly for tense. The word order follows English obligingly most of the way.
By learning Danish, you will also be able to read the native labels of some of the best beers and spirits in the world; speak the language of the oldest monarchy in Europe, and read Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Little Mermaid' 1837 original in its original language (Den lille havfrue).
You could soon be well on your way to learning Danish. Good luck! Held od lykke!
The most typical greeting, Hej! (Hi!), is used when meeting someone and when departing. On your departure, you may also use Hej-hej! (Bye) and Vi ses! (See you) or Hav det godt! (Take care!)
When you meet with friends, you may ask Hvordan går det? (How are you?) to which they may reply, Fint, hvad med dig? (Fine, how about you?)
It is customary for people to introduce themselves rather than have others introduce them. The titles Hr. (Mr.), Fru (Mrs.), Frk. (Miss) or the abbreviation Fr. (Ms.) are rarely used in spoken Danish, but may be used in letters.
In Danish, there are two words for you: De (formal) and du (informal). The use of the formal De has declined in the past several decades.
Like Dutch, the Scandinavian languages have two genders—common and neuter—and the definite article follows the nouun and becomes one word. For example, 'a pen' in Norwegian is en Penn, 'the pen' is pennen.)
Variations of Tak (Thanks) include Manage tak (Many thanks), Tusind tak (A thousand thanks), and Tak skal du have! (literally, Thanks shall you have). A dinner guest would say Tak for i dag! (Thanks for today) or Tak for i aften! (Thanks for tonight).