Living Nearby and Getting to Class | Learn Danish in English

Danish lesson set in a contemporary Copenhagen everyday setting: In a language classroom, two adults talk about living nearby and getting to class by bike or bus in different weather..

EN → DA / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Living Nearby and Getting to Class to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Hvor bor du?

VOH BOH DOO? Where do you live?
B

Jeg bor i nærheden.

YAI BOH ee NAIR-hay-thən. I live nearby.
A

Hvordan kommer du herhen?

voh-DAN KOM-uh doo hair-HEN? How do you get here?
B

Jeg cykler på solrige dage.

YAI SYOO-gler poh SOH-lee-uh DAIR-uh. I ride my bike on sunny days.
A

Hvad med regnvejrsdage?

VA MEH RAHNG-vairs-DAIR-uh? What about rainy days?
B

Jeg tager bussen, når det regner.

YAI TAIR-uh BOOS-n, NAWR deh RAHNG-uh. I take the bus when it rains.

Word by Word

Hvor “Hvor” means “where” in “Hvor bor du?” and asks for a place. It commonly begins a question about someone’s location.
bor “bor” means “live” in “Hvor bor du?” and “Jeg bor i nærheden.” It is used when talking about where someone lives, often followed by a place expression such as “i nærheden”.
du “du” refers to the one person being spoken to in “Hvor bor du?” and “Hvordan kommer du herhen?”. Use “du” when asking or speaking about one person directly.
Jeg “Jeg” means “I” and identifies the speaker in “Jeg bor i nærheden.” It is used to begin statements about your own situation or actions, such as “Jeg cykler”.
i “i” means “in” as part of the phrase “i nærheden”, which means “nearby”. In this dialogue, it introduces the place expression that describes where the speaker lives.
nærheden “nærheden” refers to the nearby area in the phrase “i nærheden”. Use the complete phrase “i nærheden” when saying that something is nearby.
Hvordan “Hvordan” means “how” in “Hvordan kommer du herhen?” and asks about the way someone gets somewhere. It commonly begins a question about how an action is done.
kommer “kommer” means “come” or “get” in “Hvordan kommer du herhen?”. Here it describes reaching the place being talked about, and it is used with the destination expression “herhen”.
herhen “herhen” means “to here” or “to this place” in “Hvordan kommer du herhen?”. It shows movement toward the place where the conversation is taking place.
cykler “cykler” means “ride a bike” or “cycle” in “Jeg cykler på solrige dage.” It describes travelling by bicycle and can be used with a time or weather phrase such as “på solrige dage”.
på “på” means “on” in “på solrige dage” and connects the action with the days when it happens. The pattern “på” followed by a day expression is useful for describing when something happens.
solrige “solrige” means “sunny” and describes “dage” in “solrige dage”. It is placed before the noun it describes, here identifying the days as sunny.
dage “dage” means “days” in “på solrige dage”. Here it refers to the days on which the speaker cycles, and it appears after the description “solrige”.
Hvad “Hvad” means “what” in “Hvad med regnvejrsdage?”. Together with “med”, it begins a question that brings up another topic.
med “med” means “about” in the expression “Hvad med regnvejrsdage?”. The pattern “Hvad med” is used to ask about an additional person, thing, or situation.
regnvejrsdage “regnvejrsdage” means “rainy days” and is the topic being added in “Hvad med regnvejrsdage?”. It refers to days with rain and can follow “Hvad med” when asking about that situation.
tager “tager” means “take” in the complete phrase “Jeg tager bussen.” Here it expresses using the bus for transport, and it is used directly with the transport expression “bussen”.
bussen “bussen” means “the bus” in “Jeg tager bussen”. It names the transport being used and follows “tager” in this phrase.
når “når” means “when” in “når det regner”. It introduces the situation or time that explains when the speaker takes the bus.
det “det” is the subject in the weather expression “det regner”. Here it does not refer to a specific object; it is used as part of the statement about rain.
regner “regner” means “rains” in “det regner”. It describes the rainy weather, and the expression “når det regner” means “when it rains”.

Grammar Points

Hvor + verb + subject?

Hvor bor du?

VOH BOH DOO?

Where do you live?

In Danish questions beginning with a question word, the verb comes before the subject.

Når + subject + verb

Når det regner, tager jeg bussen.

NAWR deh RAHNG-uh, TAIR-uh YAI BOOS-n.

When it rains, I take the bus.

After når, Danish places the subject before the verb; the main clause then uses verb–subject order.

Danish Vocabulary

bo verb
BOH to live bor

Hvor bor du?

cykle verb
SYOO-kluh to ride a bike; to cycle cykler

Jeg cykler på solrige dage.

dag noun
DAIR day dage

Jeg cykler på solrige dage.

du pron
DOO you

Hvor bor du?

herhen adv
hair-HEN here; to here

Hvordan kommer du herhen?

hvor adv
VOH where Hvor

Hvor bor du?

hvordan adv
voh-DAN how

Hvordan kommer du herhen?

i nærheden phrase
ee NAIR-hay-thən nearby

Jeg bor i nærheden.

jeg pron
YAI I

Jeg bor i nærheden.

komme verb
KOM-uh to get; to come kommer

Hvordan kommer du herhen?

på prep
POH on

Jeg cykler på solrige dage.

solrig adj
SOH-lee sunny solrige

Jeg cykler på solrige dage.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Where do you live?

Show AnswerHvor bor du?

I live nearby.

Show AnswerJeg bor i nærheden.

How do you get here?

Show AnswerHvordan kommer du herhen?

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

how

Show Answerhvordan

to ride a bike; to cycle

Show Answercykler

to get; to come

Show Answerkommer

here; to here

Show Answerherhen