Learning a new word | Learn Danish in English

About This Lesson

Use Learning a new word to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Hvad betyder det her ord?

vah beh-TEE-uh deh hair ohd? What does this word mean?

Det betyder et lille rum.

deh beh-TEE-uh eh LIH-luh rohm. It means a small room.

Kan du udtale det langsomt?

kan doo OO-tay-luh deh LANG-sohm? Can you pronounce it slowly?

Jeg deler det op i dele.

yai DAY-luh deh ohb ee DAY-luh. I'll break it into parts.

Kan du give mig et eksempel?

kan doo GEE-vuh my eh ehg-SEM-buhl? Can you give me an example?

Det her rum er rent og lyst.

deh hair rohm ah rehnd oh luhst. This room is clean and bright.

Jeg vil øve mig i at bruge det.

yai vil UR-vuh my ee ahd BROO-uh deh. I want to practice using it.

Prøv det i en kort sætning.

pruhv deh ee en kohrt SET-ning. Try it in a short sentence.

Word by Word

Hvad “Hvad” means “what” here and asks for the meaning of the word in “Hvad betyder det her ord?”. It is useful in questions about information or meaning, such as this question about a word.

betyder “Betyder” means “means” in “Hvad betyder det her ord?” and “Det betyder et lille rum.”. It is the present form used with the subject “det”; a common reuse pattern is asking what a word or expression means.

det “Det” refers to the word or thing being discussed in “Det betyder et lille rum.”, “Kan du udtale det langsomt?”, “Jeg vil øve mig i at bruge det.”, and “Prøv det i en kort sætning.”. In “det her” it contributes to the meaning “this”, as in “det her ord” and “Det her rum”; as an object, it refers back to the word or expression.

her “Her” means “here”, but in “det her ord” and “Det her rum” the phrase means “this word” and “this room”. The reusable pattern det her + noun points to a specific nearby or currently discussed thing.

ord “Ord” means “word” in “det her ord”. It is used when asking about or explaining the meaning of a particular word, as in “Hvad betyder det her ord?”.

et “Et” is the indefinite article meaning “a” or “an” before the neuter noun “rum” in “et lille rum”. The pattern et + noun introduces one unspecified neuter thing.

lille “Lille” means “small” in “et lille rum” and describes the room. Here it comes before “rum” and agrees with the neuter noun phrase introduced by “et”.

rum “Rum” means “room” in “et lille rum” and “Det her rum”. It can be used after an article and an adjective to identify a room, or with “det her” to point to a particular room.

Kan “Kan” means “can” in “Kan du udtale det langsomt?” and asks whether someone is able or willing to do something. It is followed by the subject “du” and an infinitive, such as “udtale”.

du “Du” means “you” and is the person being asked in “Kan du udtale det langsomt?” and “Kan du give mig et eksempel?”. It is used as the subject when addressing one person directly.

udtale “Udtale” means “pronounce” in “Kan du udtale det langsomt?”. It follows “kan” in its infinitive form; the phrase is useful when asking someone to say a word aloud.

langsomt “Langsomt” means “slowly” in “udtale det langsomt” and describes how the pronunciation should be done. It is used as an adverb after the action it modifies.

Jeg “Jeg” means “I” and is the subject in “Jeg deler det op i dele.” and “Jeg vil øve mig i at bruge det.”. It identifies the speaker as the person performing or wanting to perform the action.

deler “Deler” means “divide” or “break into parts” in “Jeg deler det op i dele.”. It is the present form of dele, and with “det op i dele” it describes separating the word into parts.

op “Op” is the particle that helps “deler det op” mean “break or divide it apart” in “Jeg deler det op i dele.”. The construction deler noget op is useful when explaining that something is separated into smaller parts.

i “I” means “into” in “i dele” and “in” in “i en kort sætning”. It introduces the parts something is divided into or the context where something is used.

dele “Dele” means “parts” in “Jeg deler det op i dele.”. With “i” it identifies the separate sections into which the word is divided.

give “Give” means “give” in “Kan du give mig et eksempel?”. It follows “kan” in the infinitive form, and the construction give nogen noget places the recipient after the verb and the thing given after that.

mig “Mig” means “me” in “give mig et eksempel” and identifies the person who should receive the example. It is used after “give” for the recipient of something.

eksempel “Eksempel” means “example” in “et eksempel”. It refers to a sentence or situation that shows how a word can be used, and it commonly appears after a request to give someone an example.

er “Er” means “is” in “Det her rum er rent og lyst.” and links the room to the descriptions that follow. It is the present form of være and is used before adjectives describing a subject.

rent “Rent” means “clean” in “rummet er rent” within “Det her rum er rent og lyst.”. It is the form used after “er” to describe the neuter noun “rum”.

og “Og” means “and” in “rent og lyst.”. It joins the two descriptions “rent” and “lyst” so they both apply to the room.

lyst “Lyst” means “bright” in “Det her rum er rent og lyst.”. It follows “er” and gives a second description of the neuter noun “rum”, alongside “rent”.

vil “Vil” expresses “want to” in “Jeg vil øve mig i at bruge det.”. It is followed by the infinitive “øve” and is useful for stating what the speaker wants to do.

øve “Øve” means “practice” in “øve mig i at bruge det”. The construction øve sig i at + verb describes practising an ability or activity.

at “At” marks the infinitive in “at bruge det” and corresponds to “to” before the verb “bruge”. It introduces the action that is being practised in “øve mig i at bruge det”.

bruge “Bruge” means “use” in “at bruge det”. It follows the infinitive marker “at”, and the object “det” identifies the word or expression the learner wants to practise using.

Prøv “Prøv” means “try” in “Prøv det i en kort sætning.”. It is a direct instruction to use the word in practice, and it is the form used when telling one person to try something.

en “En” is the indefinite article meaning “a” or “an” before “sætning” in “en kort sætning”. The pattern en + noun introduces one unspecified common-gender thing.

kort “Kort” means “short” in “en kort sætning” and describes the sentence. It comes before the noun it modifies and helps specify the kind of sentence to use.

sætning “Sætning” means “sentence” in “en kort sætning”. It identifies the form in which the learner should practise using the word.

Grammar Points

Adjektiv i intetkøn: rent, lyst

rent rum; lyst rum

rehnt rohm; luhst rohm

clean room; bright room

With the neuter noun “rum”, adjectives take the -t ending: ren becomes rent, and lys becomes lyst.

Imperativ: verbets korte form

Prøv langsomt.

pruhv LANG-sohm

Try slowly.

The imperative gives a direct instruction. For prøve, the imperative form is prøv.

Danish Vocabulary

betyde verb

beh-TEE-uh mean betyder

del noun

dayl part dele

dele op phrase

DAY-luh ohb break into parts deler det op

eksempel noun

ehg-SEM-buhl example

give verb

GEE-vuh give

langsomt adv

LANG-sohm slowly

lille adj

LIH-luh small

lys adj

luhs bright lyst

ord noun

ohd word

ren adj

rehn clean rent

rum noun

rohm room

udtale verb

OO-tay-luh pronounce

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

What does this word mean?

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Hvad betyder det her ord?

It means a small room.

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Det betyder et lille rum.

Can you pronounce it slowly?

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Kan du udtale det langsomt?

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

pronounce

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udtale

mean

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betyder

small

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lille

slowly

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langsomt