Checking a Close Deadline | Learn Danish in English

Danish lesson set in a contemporary Copenhagen everyday setting: In a workplace, two adults discuss a close deadline and divide the next steps for checking notes and writing an update..

EN → DA / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Checking a Close Deadline to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Er deadlinen tæt på?

air DEHD-line-en teht POH? Is the deadline coming up soon?
B

Deadlinen er tæt på.

DEHD-line-en air teht POH. The deadline is close.
B

Så lad os starte med hoveddelen.

soh lah OHSS STAR-də mehð HOH-eth-day-len. So let's start with the main part.
A

Vil du tage dig af det nu?

veel doo TAY-yuh die ah deh noo? Do you want to take that on now?
B

Jeg kan begynde, mens du tjekker filen.

yai kan beh-GURN-uh, mens doo CHEK-er FEE-len. I can start while you check the file.
A

Hvad skal jeg se efter først?

vath skel yai say EF-ter furst? What should I look for first?
B

Sørg for, at noterne passer til forespørgslen.

sur for, ad NOH-də-nə PASS-er tell for-SPURR-slen. Make sure the notes match the request.
A

Så skriver jeg en kort opdatering.

soh SKREE-vər yai en kohrt OP-dah-teh-ring. Then I'll write a short update.
B

Når den er klar, kan vi dele den.

nor den air klah, kan vee DEE-luh den. When it's ready, we can share it.

Word by Word

Er Er is the Danish form of være used for “is/are”; here it begins the question Er deadlinen tæt på? and asks about the deadline’s situation. In the statement Deadlinen er tæt på., the same verb appears after the subject.
deadlinen Deadlinen means “the deadline” here. The ending -en marks this as the specific deadline being discussed, and the word appears after Er in Er deadlinen tæt på?.
tæt Tæt means “close” or “near” in this dialogue. Together with på, the exact expression tæt på describes the deadline as near in time; tæt på can be reused for something approaching.
på På contributes “near” in the expression tæt på, which says that the deadline is close. Use the full pattern [subject] er tæt på for a nearby deadline or event.
Så Så means “so” at the start of Så lad os starte med hoveddelen, linking the deadline discussion to the next step. It can introduce a resulting or next action in a work conversation.
lad Lad is the form of lade used in lad os starte, meaning “let’s start.” It works with os plus an infinitive in the pattern lad os + action to suggest a shared action.
os Os means “us” in lad os starte, identifying the people included in the suggestion. The reusable pattern is lad os + infinitive for proposing that we do something together.
starte Starte means “start” in lad os starte med hoveddelen. After lad os, it names the shared action, and the pattern starte med + a task or part can say what to begin with.
med Med means “with” in starte med hoveddelen, marking what the group starts with. Use starte med + a task or part when saying where an activity begins.
hoveddelen Hoveddelen means “the main part,” the part they choose to begin with. It follows med in starte med hoveddelen and refers to one specific part of the work.
Vil Vil is the form of ville used here for “want” in Vil du tage dig af det nu? It is followed by du and an action phrase, making Vil du + action a useful way to ask whether someone wants to do something.
du Du means “you” and addresses one person in Vil du tage dig af det nu? It comes after Vil in this question and before the action phrase.
tage Tage means “take” in the expression tage dig af det, which here means “take care of it” or handle it. The form follows Vil, and Vil + infinitive is reusable when asking what someone wants to do.
dig Dig refers to the person being asked in tage dig af det; together with tage ... af, the expression means “take care of it.” The pattern tage dig af + task can be used when assigning responsibility.
af Af is part of tage dig af det, the expression used for taking responsibility for something. Here af connects the action to det, the thing to be handled; keep the full pattern tage dig af + object.
det Det means “it” or “that” in tage dig af det and refers to the task being taken on. It completes the pattern tage dig af det, with det standing for the thing someone should handle.
nu Nu means “now” and sets the timing in Vil du tage dig af det nu? It asks whether the task should be taken on immediately; use nu to mark current timing.
Jeg Jeg means “I” in Jeg kan begynde, identifying the speaker as the subject of the action. It is used here to introduce the speaker’s ability or offer to begin.
kan Kan means “can” in Jeg kan begynde, expressing that the speaker is able or ready to begin. It is followed by the infinitive begynde; kan + infinitive is a reusable way to state ability or possibility.
begynde Begynde means “begin” or “start” in Jeg kan begynde. It follows kan in the pattern kan + infinitive and names the action the speaker can start.
mens Mens means “while” and links Jeg kan begynde with the simultaneous action du tjekker filen. It introduces a clause about something happening at the same time; use mens + clause to coordinate two actions.
tjekker Tjekker is the form of tjekke used for “check” in du tjekker filen. It follows du and takes filen as its object; tjekker + object is a reusable pattern for checking something.
filen Filen means “the file,” the specific file being checked. It is the object after tjekker in tjekker filen; use tjekker + a file or document when referring to something to inspect.
Hvad Hvad means “what” in Hvad skal jeg se efter først? It asks for the item or feature to be identified and stands at the start of this question before skal.
skal Skal is the form of skulle used here to express what the speaker should do in Hvad skal jeg se efter først? It is followed by the subject and an infinitive, making skal + action useful for asking about an expected action.
se Se means “look” or “see” in se efter, which here means “look for.” The full pattern se efter + object is used when asking what to look for.
efter Efter completes se efter, the expression meaning “look for” in this question. It does not supply the whole meaning alone here; keep se efter together and place the sought item after it.
først Først means “first” and asks which thing should be checked before the others. In Hvad skal jeg se efter først?, it marks the order of the action; use først when setting the first step.
Sørg Sørg is the form of sørge used in Sørg for, at noterne passer til forespørgslen, meaning “make sure.” It introduces a responsibility to verify the following statement; use Sørg for + clause when giving a checking instruction.
for For is part of Sørg for, at ..., the construction used to mean “make sure that.” Keep Sørg for together, followed by at and the clause describing what must be true.
at At introduces the clause noterne passer til forespørgslen after Sørg for. Here it corresponds to “that”; the reusable pattern is Sørg for, at + clause.
noterne Noterne means “the notes” and names what must match the request. It is the subject of noterne passer til forespørgslen; use [thing] passer til + reference to say that something matches a requirement.
passer Passer means “match” or “fit” in noterne passer til forespørgslen, saying that the notes correspond to the request. The reusable pattern is [thing] passer til [reference] for checking whether something matches a requirement.
til Til links passer to the reference that the notes must match in passer til forespørgslen. Keep passer til + object together when describing what something matches.
forespørgslen Forespørgslen means “the request,” the specific request used as the reference for checking the notes. It follows til in passer til forespørgslen; use passer til + a request or requirement when checking alignment.
skriver Skriver is the form of skrive used for “write” in Så skriver jeg en kort opdatering, announcing the speaker’s next action. The pattern [subject] skriver + object can describe writing a message or document.
en En means “a” before opdatering in en kort opdatering, introducing one unspecified update. It comes before the adjective kort and noun opdatering; use en + adjective + noun for one indefinite item.
kort Kort means “short” and describes the update as brief in en kort opdatering. It comes between en and opdatering; use en + kort + noun to describe one brief item.
opdatering Opdatering means “update,” the brief message the speaker plans to write. It is the noun after en kort; use skrive en kort opdatering when describing writing a brief update.
Når Når means “when” and introduces the time condition in Når den er klar, kan vi dele den. It starts a clause about readiness; use Når + clause to say when an action can happen.
den Den refers to the update, first as the thing that becomes ready in Når den er klar and later as the thing to share in dele den. It is used for an already mentioned item instead of repeating the noun.
klar Klar means “ready” in den er klar, describing the update as ready to share. It follows er in the pattern [item] er klar; use that pattern to state that a task or item is ready.
vi Vi means “we” in kan vi dele den, referring to the people who can share the update. It follows kan and comes before dele; kan vi + infinitive expresses a shared possibility in this clause.
dele Dele means “share” in kan vi dele den. It follows kan as the action that is possible, and kan + infinitive + object is a reusable pattern for saying what people can share.

Grammar Points

lad os + infinitiv

Lad os starte nu.

lah OHSS STAR-də noo.

Let's start now.

Danish uses lad os followed by the infinitive to suggest an action together.

tage sig af + substantiv

Jeg tager mig af hoveddelen nu.

yai TAY-uh mai ah HOH-eth-dayl noo.

I will take care of the main part now.

The fixed expression tage sig af means “take care of”; sig changes with the subject.

Danish Vocabulary

begynde verb
beh-GURN-uh to begin; to start
deadline noun
DEHD-line deadline deadlinen
Gender
common
fil noun
feel file filen
Gender
common
hoveddel noun
HOH-eth-dayl main part hoveddelen
Gender
common
lad os phrase
lah OHSS let's
mens conj
mens while
nu adv
noo now
starte verb
STAR-də to start
så adv
soh so; then
tage sig af phrase
TAY-yuh die ah to take care of
tjekke verb
CHEK-uh to check tjekker
tæt på phrase
teht POH close; near

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Is the deadline coming up soon?

Show AnswerEr deadlinen tæt på?

The deadline is close.

Show AnswerDeadlinen er tæt på.

So let's start with the main part.

Show AnswerSå lad os starte med hoveddelen.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

main part

Show Answerhoveddelen

to start

Show Answerstarte

to begin; to start

Show Answerbegynde

deadline

Show Answerdeadlinen