Finding a Quiet Study Seat | Learn Danish in English

About This Lesson

Use Finding a Quiet Study Seat to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Er dette bord ledigt?

air DEH-duh BOH-uh LEH-thud Is this table free?

Der sidder ingen her.

dah SEH-thah EHNG-un hair No one is sitting here.

Jeg har brug for et roligt sted at sidde.

yai hah BROO for eh ROH-lee STEH-th eh SEH-thuh I need a quiet place to sit.

Dette bord står væk fra døren.

DEH-duh BOH-uh stoh-uh vek frah DUR-en This table is away from the door.

Så er dette et godt sted at studere.

soh air DEH-duh eh GOH-th STEH-th eh sdoo-DEH-ah Then this is a good place to study.

Tal venligst lavt, mens du studerer.

tail VAYN-leest lowd, mens doo sdoo-DEH-ah Please keep your voice low while you study.

Ja, jeg skal nok tale lavt.

yah, yai skel NOHG TAY-luh lowd Sure, I'll keep my voice down.

Det hjælper andre med at studere.

deh YEL-bah AHN-drah meh eh sdoo-DEH-ah That helps other people study.

Word by Word

Er Er means “is” in the question Er dette bord ledigt? It is the verb placed at the beginning to ask a yes-or-no question. A useful reuse pattern is Er ...?, meaning “Is ...?”.

dette Dette means “this” and points to the specific table in dette bord. It is used before the noun to identify one nearby or already indicated thing. Keep it together with the noun phrase dette bord.

bord Bord means “table” in dette bord. It names the piece of furniture whose availability is being asked about. Here it is combined with dette to mean “this table”.

ledigt Ledigt means “free” or “available” when describing the table in Er dette bord ledigt? It asks whether the table can be used by the speaker. This word is useful when checking whether a place or resource is available.

Der Der introduces the sentence Der sidder ingen her. Here it helps present the information that nobody is sitting in this place. A useful pattern is Der ... followed by information about who or what is present.

sidder Sidder means “is sitting” in Der sidder ingen her. It describes someone’s seated position. Use sidder when talking about a person who is seated in a particular place.

ingen Ingen means “no one” in Der sidder ingen her. It says that zero people are sitting there. It functions as the person being described in the pattern Der sidder ingen her.

her Her means “here” and identifies the place where nobody is sitting in Der sidder ingen her. It refers to the current location or the place being discussed. Use her to point to the speaker’s present place.

Jeg Jeg means “I” and refers to the person speaking in Jeg har brug for et roligt sted at sidde. It marks the speaker as the person who needs a place. It commonly comes before the verb in a statement about the speaker.

har In Jeg har brug for et roligt sted at sidde, har contributes “have” to the expression har brug for, which means “need.” Keep har brug for together when stating that someone needs something. The reusable pattern is Jeg har brug for ... with the needed thing after it.

brug In har brug for, brug is part of the expression meaning “need.” Its meaning here comes from the whole expression, not from reading brug alone. Keep it between har and for in har brug for ... .

for In har brug for, for completes the expression meaning “need” and connects the need to the thing needed. In the dialogue, that thing is et roligt sted at sidde. Keep the full pattern har brug for ... .

et Et means “a” or “an” before the non-specific place in et roligt sted at sidde. It introduces one place that has not been identified more specifically. Keep it with the noun phrase et roligt sted.

roligt Roligt means “quiet” in et roligt sted at sidde and describes the place the speaker wants. The form belongs inside the phrase roligt sted. It is useful for describing a place where there is little noise.

sted Sted means “place” in et roligt sted at sidde. It names the location where the speaker wants to sit. Here it is followed by at sidde to explain the purpose of the place.

at At marks the infinitive in at sidde and at studere. In the dialogue, it introduces the action connected with the place or purpose. Keep it directly before the verb in these infinitive phrases.

sidde Sidde means “sit” in at sidde. It describes the activity the speaker wants the place for. The phrase et roligt sted at sidde means “a quiet place to sit.”

står Står means “stands” or “is located” in Dette bord står væk fra døren. Here it describes where the table is positioned. Use står to describe the location or position of an object.

væk Væk means “away” in væk fra døren. It shows that the table is at a distance from the door. Keep it with fra when naming what something is away from.

fra Fra means “from” in væk fra døren. It introduces the reference point, the door, from which the table is away. The reusable expression in this dialogue is væk fra ... .

døren Døren means “the door” in væk fra døren. It is the specific door used as the reference point for the table’s location. The citation form is dør; døren is the definite form used here.

Så Så means “then” in Så er dette et godt sted at studere. It connects the previous information with the speaker’s conclusion. It can be placed at the beginning of a response that draws a consequence.

godt Godt means “good” in et godt sted at studere and describes the place positively. Together, godt sted means “good place.” Here it evaluates the location as suitable for studying.

studere Studere means “study” in at studere. It is the activity for which the place is suitable. The phrase et godt sted at studere means “a good place to study.”

Tal Tal means “speak” or “talk” in Tal venligst lavt. Here it gives a polite instruction about how the person should speak. It is used at the beginning of this request before venligst and lavt.

venligst Venligst means “please” in Tal venligst lavt. It makes the instruction more polite. Place it in a request when asking someone to do something.

lavt Lavt means “quietly” or “softly” in Tal venligst lavt. It explains how the person should talk in the library. It is used after the speaking verb in the expression tale lavt or Tal ... lavt.

mens Mens means “while” in mens du studerer. It links two activities that happen at the same time: speaking quietly and studying. A useful pattern is mens du ... for an action happening while the listener does something.

du Du means “you” and refers to the person being asked to speak quietly in mens du studerer. It is the person who is studying. It appears before the verb in this clause.

studerer Studerer means “study” in mens du studerer. It is the form used for the action the listener is doing while speaking quietly. The citation form is studere; studerer is the present form used with du.

Ja Ja means “yes” or “sure” in Ja, jeg skal nok tale lavt. Here it confirms agreement with the request. It is useful at the beginning of a reply that accepts an instruction.

skal In jeg skal nok tale lavt, skal contributes “will” or “shall” and sets up what the speaker promises to do. Together with nok, it makes the reply reassuring rather than merely stating an action. The reusable pattern is Jeg skal nok ... .

nok In jeg skal nok tale lavt, nok gives the promise a reassuring meaning, like “I will, certainly” or “I’ll make sure to.” Its meaning here depends on the expression skal nok. Keep it after skal in this reassuring pattern.

tale Tale means “speak” or “talk” in jeg skal nok tale lavt. It follows the modal skal and names the action the speaker promises to carry out. The expression tale lavt means “speak quietly.”

Det Det means “that” or “it” in Det hjælper andre med at studere. Here it refers to the quiet speaking described just before. It serves as the subject of the statement about the helpful result.

hjælper Hjælper means “helps” in Det hjælper andre med at studere. It says that the quiet behavior benefits other people’s studying. The citation form is hjælpe; hjælper is the present form used here.

andre Andre means “other people” in Det hjælper andre med at studere. It identifies the people who benefit from the quiet voice. It follows hjælper as the people receiving the help.

med In hjælper andre med at studere, med links the help to the activity being supported. The full construction means “helps other people to study.” Keep med before at plus the activity, as in med at studere.

Grammar Points

Tal + venligst + lavt

Tal venligst lavt.

tail VAYN-leest lowd

Please speak quietly.

The imperative uses the verb stem Tal. Venligst makes the request polite, while lavt describes how someone speaks.

Danish Vocabulary

bord noun

BOH-uh table

Gender: neuter

Er dette bord ledigt?

dør noun

deur door døren

Gender: common

Dette bord står væk fra døren.

fra prep

frah from

Dette bord står væk fra døren.

have brug for phrase

hah BROO for to need

Jeg har brug for et roligt sted at sidde.

ingen pron

EHNG-un no one; nobody

Der sidder ingen her.

ledig adj

LEH-thee free; available ledigt

Gender: neuter

Er dette bord ledigt?

rolig adj

ROH-lee quiet; calm roligt

Gender: neuter

Jeg har brug for et roligt sted at sidde.

sidde verb

SEH-thuh to sit sidder

Der sidder ingen her.

sted noun

STEH-th place

Gender: neuter

Jeg har brug for et roligt sted at sidde.

stå verb

stoh-uh to stand står

Dette bord står væk fra døren.

så adv

soh then

Så er dette et godt sted at studere.

væk adv

vek away

Dette bord står væk fra døren.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Is this table free?

Show Answer

Er dette bord ledigt?

No one is sitting here.

Show Answer

Der sidder ingen her.

This table is away from the door.

Show Answer

Dette bord står væk fra døren.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to sit

Show Answer

sidder

free; available

Show Answer

ledigt

table

Show Answer

bord

no one; nobody

Show Answer

ingen