About This Lesson
Use Planning lunch at a restaurant to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
Vil du spise frokost sammen?
vil doo SPEE-suh FROH-kost suh-MEN? Would you like to have lunch together?
B
Det lyder godt. Hvor skal vi gå hen?
deh LOO-uh goht. voh skel vee goh HEN? That sounds nice. Where should we go?
A
Måske den lille restaurant her i nærheden.
MOH-skeh dehn LIL-uh res-tow-RAHNG heh ee NAIR-heh-thn. Maybe the small restaurant near here.
B
Lad os gå derhen, hvis der ikke er travlt.
lah OSS goh dair-HEN, viss dair IK-uh air TRAWLT. Let's go there if it isn't busy.
A
Skal vi mødes ved hoveddøren?
skel vee MUR-thes veh HOH-uh-DUR-en? Should we meet by the front door?
B
Jeg venter et sted, hvor du kan se mig.
yai VEN-ter eht STEHD, voh doo kan SAY my. I'll wait where you can see me.
A
Så kommer jeg og finder dig.
soh KOM-uh yai aw FIN-uh dye. Then I'll come find you.
B
Bagefter kan vi bede om et bord.
BAY-ehf-ter kan vee BAY-thuh awm eht BOHR. After that, we can ask for a table.Word by Word
Vil
In "Vil du spise frokost sammen?", "Vil" helps ask politely whether someone wants to do something. It is used with "du" and an infinitive such as "spise"; the reusable pattern is Vil du + infinitive for an invitation or request.
du
In "Vil du spise frokost sammen?", "du" means "you" as the person being invited. It is used as the subject before the verb in a direct question.
spise
In "Vil du spise frokost sammen?", "spise" means "eat" or "have a meal". It follows "Vil du" in the infinitive form, and the same form can be used after other modal expressions.
frokost
In "spise frokost", "frokost" means lunch. It names the meal being eaten and is used directly after "spise" in this expression.
sammen
In "spise frokost sammen", "sammen" means together. It shows that the speakers will do the activity with each other, and it can be placed after an activity to express doing it together.
Det
In "Det lyder godt", "Det" refers to the suggestion just made and means "that" or "it". It functions as the subject of the response, as in the reusable expression "Det lyder godt" when reacting positively to an idea.
lyder
In "Det lyder godt", "lyder" means "sounds" and describes how the suggestion seems. Together with "godt", it forms a natural response to an idea or proposal.
godt
In "Det lyder godt", "godt" makes the response positive, meaning "good" or "nice". It follows "lyder" in this expression, which is commonly used to approve of a suggestion.
Hvor
In "Hvor skal vi gå hen?", "Hvor" asks about the place or destination. It is placed at the beginning of a question when asking where an action will happen or lead.
skal
In "Hvor skal vi gå hen?", "skal" frames the question as a proposed plan about what the speakers should do. It is used with a subject and an infinitive, here "vi" and "gå".
vi
In "Hvor skal vi gå hen?", "vi" means "we" and refers to the two speakers together. It is the subject of the planned action and comes after "skal" in this question.
gå
In "Hvor skal vi gå hen?", "gå" means "go". It follows "skal" in the infinitive form and describes the movement being planned.
hen
In "gå hen", "hen" adds the idea of movement toward a destination or in a direction. In "Hvor skal vi gå hen?", it helps ask where the movement should lead and is used with movement verbs such as "gå".
Måske
In "Måske den lille restaurant her i nærheden", "Måske" means "maybe" and presents the restaurant as a possible choice rather than a firm decision. It can be placed at the beginning of a suggestion.
den
In "den lille restaurant", "den" means "the" and points to a particular restaurant. It comes before the description and noun in this noun phrase.
lille
In "den lille restaurant", "lille" means "small" and describes the restaurant. It is placed before the noun and after "den" in this phrase.
restaurant
In "den lille restaurant", "restaurant" means restaurant. It is the main noun in the phrase and identifies the suggested place for lunch.
her
In "her i nærheden", "her" means "here" and anchors the location near the speakers. Together with "i nærheden", it is useful for indicating that a place is nearby.
i
In "i nærheden", "i" means "in" and forms part of the expression for being nearby. It is followed by "nærheden" in this location phrase.
nærheden
In "her i nærheden", "nærheden" means the nearby area or vicinity. Together with "i", it describes a place close to the current location and can be used when pointing out something nearby.
Lad
In "Lad os gå derhen", "Lad" contributes to the suggestion "let's go there". The reusable pattern is "Lad os" followed by an infinitive when proposing a shared action.
os
In "Lad os gå derhen", "os" means "us" and refers to the people included in the suggestion. It follows "Lad" in the construction "Lad os" for proposing an action together.
derhen
In "Lad os gå derhen", "derhen" means "there" in the direction of the place already mentioned. It is a directional word used with movement such as "gå".
hvis
In "hvis der ikke er travlt", "hvis" means "if" and introduces the condition for going to the restaurant. It begins a conditional clause that explains when the proposed action applies.
der
In "der ikke er travlt", "der" introduces the situation being described rather than pointing to a physical place. It is used in the pattern "der er" to state that a situation or condition exists.
ikke
In "der ikke er travlt", "ikke" means "not" and negates the statement about being busy. It is placed before "er" in this clause.
er
In "der ikke er travlt", "er" links the situation introduced by "der" with the condition "travlt". It is used in the expression "der er" when describing an existing state or condition.
travlt
In "der ikke er travlt", "travlt" means busy, referring here to the restaurant's level of activity. It follows "er" to describe the condition that determines whether they will go.
mødes
In "Skal vi mødes ved hoveddøren?", "mødes" means meet each other or meet up. It is used after "Skal vi" when suggesting a meeting and is followed here by the meeting place.
ved
In "ved hoveddøren", "ved" means by or at and identifies the location of the meeting. It is placed before a place or landmark when specifying where something happens.
hoveddøren
In "ved hoveddøren", "hoveddøren" means the front door. It names the landmark where the speakers propose meeting and follows the location word "ved".
Jeg
In "Jeg venter et sted", "Jeg" means "I" and identifies the speaker who will wait. It is used as the subject before the verb.
venter
In "Jeg venter et sted", "venter" means wait and describes the speaker's planned action. It can be followed by a place, as in "et sted", to say where someone will wait.
et
In "et sted", "et" introduces one unspecified place, meaning "a" or "an". It comes directly before "sted" in this noun phrase.
sted
In "et sted, hvor du kan se mig", "sted" means place. It identifies the location where the speaker will wait and is followed by a clause explaining what can happen there.
kan
In "du kan se mig", "kan" means can and expresses the possibility of seeing the speaker. It is followed by the infinitive "se", forming the reusable pattern subject + kan + infinitive.
se
In "du kan se mig", "se" means see. It follows "kan" in the infinitive form and takes "mig" as the person who can be seen.
mig
In "du kan se mig", "mig" means "me" and refers to the speaker as the person being seen. It follows the verb phrase as its object.
Så
In "Så kommer jeg og finder dig", "Så" means "then" and connects this next action to the previous arrangement. It is useful at the beginning of a sentence when stating what will happen next.
kommer
In "Så kommer jeg", "kommer" means come and describes the speaker's movement toward the other person. With "jeg" and the following action, it states the next step in the plan.
og
In "kommer jeg og finder dig", "og" means "and" and joins the actions of coming and finding. It connects two related actions performed by the same person.
finder
In "finder dig", "finder" means find and describes locating the other person. It is followed by the person being located, here "dig".
dig
In "finder dig", "dig" means "you" as the person being found. It follows "finder" because it receives the action.
Bagefter
In "Bagefter kan vi bede om et bord", "Bagefter" means "afterwards" and places the request after the earlier actions. It can be used at the beginning of a sentence to organize the next step in a plan.
bede
In "bede om et bord", "bede" means ask for. It is used with "om" before the thing being requested, giving the reusable pattern "bede om" + requested thing.
om
In "bede om et bord", "om" is the preposition used with "bede" to introduce what is being requested. It connects the request to "et bord".
bord
In "et bord", "bord" means table. It is the thing the speakers plan to request at the restaurant and follows the article "et".
Grammar Points
den + adjektiv + substantiv
den lille restaurant
dehn LIL-uh res-tow-RAHNGthe small restaurant
With a definite common-gender noun modified by an adjective, use den before the adjective.
lyde + godt
lyder godt
LOO-uh gohtsounds good
In this fixed expression, godt describes how something sounds and functions adverbially.
Danish Vocabulary
den
det
dehn
the
- Gender
- common
den lille restaurant
frokost
noun
FROH-kost
lunch
- Gender
- common
spise frokost
godt
adj
goht
good; nice
Det lyder godt.
gå
verb
goh
go
skal vi gå hen
hen
adv
HEN
there; toward there
gå hen
hvor
adv
voh
where
Hvor skal vi gå hen?
lille
adj
LIL-uh
small
den lille restaurant
lyder
verb
LOO-uh
sounds
Det lyder godt.
måske
adv
MOH-skeh
maybe
Måske den lille restaurant her i nærheden.
restaurant
noun
res-tow-RAHNG
restaurant
- Gender
- common
den lille restaurant
sammen
adv
suh-MEN
together
Vil du spise frokost sammen?
spise
verb
SPEE-suh
eat
Vil du spise frokost sammen?
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
Would you like to have lunch together?
Show Answer
Vil du spise frokost sammen?Should we meet by the front door?
Show Answer
Skal vi mødes ved hoveddøren?Then I'll come find you.
Show Answer
Så kommer jeg og finder dig.Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
eat
Show Answer
spisesounds
Show Answer
lydermaybe
Show Answer
måskegood; nice