Choosing a Place to Sit | Learn Danish in English

About This Lesson

Use Choosing a Place to Sit to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Hvor skal vi sidde?

vohr skal vee SID-uh? Where should we sit?

Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted.

BOHR-deth ee YUR-nuhd stohr ed ROH-lee STED. The corner table is in a quiet spot.

Der er også godt lys ved dette bord.

dair air OH-soh goht LEWS vay DEH-duh BOHR. This table has nice light too.

Dette bord ville være bedre at læse ved.

DEH-duh BOHR VIL-uh VAIR-uh BAY-druh uh LAY-suh vay. This table would be better for reading.

Er disse stole behagelige?

air DEE-suh STOH-luh beh-HAH-guh-lee-uh? Are these chairs comfortable?

De føles helt fine for mig.

dee FUR-luh helt FEE-nuh fohr MY. They feel fine to me.

Lad os sidde ved dette bord.

lath ohs SID-uh vay DEH-duh BOHR. Let's sit at this table.

Jeg lægger vores tasker under det.

yai LEH-guh VOH-us TAS-kuh OON-uh deh. I'll put our bags under it.

Word by Word

Hvor Hvor means “where” here and asks for the place where the speakers should sit. It commonly comes at the beginning of a question about location, as in Hvor skal vi sidde?

skal Skal expresses “should” in Hvor skal vi sidde? and presents sitting as something to decide or arrange. It is used with the infinitive sidde in this question.

vi Vi means “we” and refers to the two people deciding together. It is the subject in Hvor skal vi sidde? and commonly appears before the main verb in this question pattern.

sidde Sidde means “sit” in Hvor skal vi sidde? and Lad os sidde ved dette bord. It is used in the infinitive after skal and in the invitation Lad os sidde.

Bordet Bordet means “the table” and identifies the specific table being discussed. It is the definite form of bord and is the subject in Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted.

i I means “in” in i hjørnet, locating the table in relation to the corner. It commonly comes before a place expression, as in Bordet i hjørnet.

hjørnet Hjørnet means “the corner” in i hjørnet. It is the definite form referring to a particular corner, and the phrase i hjørnet identifies which table is meant.

står Står means “stands” or “is located” in Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted. With an object such as a table, it describes where the object is positioned.

et Et means “a” in et roligt sted and introduces one unspecified place. Here it is used before the neuter noun sted in the phrase et roligt sted.

roligt Roligt means “quiet” and describes the place as calm rather than busy in et roligt sted. It appears directly before sted and gives a quality of the proposed sitting location.

sted Sted means “place” or “spot” in et roligt sted. It is used after an adjective to describe a location, and here it identifies where the table is situated.

Der Der introduces the existence statement Der er også godt lys ved dette bord, meaning that there is also good light by this table. It is used at the beginning of this type of statement to present something as present or available.

er Er is the verb form used in Der er også godt lys ved dette bord to say that the light exists or is present there. Together with Der, it forms an existence statement about the light by the table.

også Også means “also” or “too” and adds good light as another positive feature of the table. It can be placed before the information being added, as in Der er også godt lys.

godt Godt means “good” or “nice” here and describes the light in godt lys. It comes before lys and presents the lighting as suitable for the speakers’ purpose.

lys Lys means “light” in godt lys and refers to the lighting available by the table. It can be used after a describing word such as godt when discussing the quality of lighting.

ved Ved means “at” or “by” in ved dette bord and locates the light next to the table. It is also used in læse ved to indicate the table at which someone reads.

dette Dette means “this” and points to the particular table the speakers are considering. It comes directly before bord in dette bord to identify the nearby or selected table.

bord Bord means “table” in dette bord and names the piece of furniture being chosen. It follows the demonstrative dette in the phrase dette bord.

ville Ville means “would” in Dette bord ville være bedre at læse ved and presents an evaluation or suggestion about the table. It is used with være to express that the table would be more suitable for reading.

være Være means “be” in ville være bedre and links the table with the evaluation better. It follows ville in the expression Dette bord ville være bedre.

bedre Bedre means “better” and compares this table with another possible place for reading. In Dette bord ville være bedre at læse ved, it evaluates the table’s suitability for that activity.

at At introduces the infinitive læse in bedre at læse ved. The expression at læse ved describes reading at or by the table, so at connects the activity to the evaluation.

læse Læse means “read” in at læse ved and names the activity for which the table would be better. It is used after at in the infinitive expression bedre at læse ved.

disse Disse means “these” and points to the particular chairs nearby in Er disse stole behagelige? It comes before the plural noun stole to identify more than one chair.

stole Stole means “chairs” and refers to the seats whose comfort is being checked. It is the plural form used after disse in disse stole.

behagelige Behagelige means “comfortable” and describes the chairs in Er disse stole behagelige? It follows er as the description being asked about and agrees with the plural chairs in this sentence.

De De means “they” and refers back to the chairs in the reply De føles helt fine for mig. It is used as the subject when giving an assessment of those chairs.

føles Føles means “feel” in De føles helt fine for mig and describes the impression the chairs give to the speaker. It is used with a subject such as De and a description such as helt fine.

helt Helt means “quite” or “completely” in helt fine and strengthens the positive assessment. It comes before fine to show that the chairs feel fully okay to the speaker.

fine Fine means “fine” or “okay” in De føles helt fine for mig. Together with føles, it gives a practical assessment of the chairs’ comfort.

for For means “for” or “to” in for mig and marks whose personal assessment is being expressed. The phrase helt fine for mig means that the chairs feel fine from the speaker’s point of view.

mig Mig means “me” in for mig and identifies the person giving the assessment. It follows for in this phrase to show whose experience or opinion is meant.

Lad os Lad os means “let’s” in Lad os sidde ved dette bord and introduces a suggestion for joint action. Lad contributes the idea of letting or inviting, while os means “us”; together they form an invitation followed by the activity sidde.

Jeg Jeg means “I” and identifies the person who will put the bags away. It is the subject at the beginning of Jeg lægger vores tasker under det.

lægger Lægger means “put” or “place” in Jeg lægger vores tasker under det and describes placing the bags somewhere. It is used with an object, vores tasker, and a location, under det.

vores Vores means “our” and shows that the bags belong to both speakers in vores tasker. It comes directly before the noun tasker to mark shared possession.

tasker Tasker means “bags” and refers to the items being placed under the table. It is the plural noun in Jeg lægger vores tasker under det.

under Under means “under” and identifies the bags’ destination in under det. It is used before the reference to the object beneath which something is placed.

det Det means “it” in under det and refers back to the table, not to the bags. It allows the speaker to avoid repeating the table while preserving the location under the table.

Grammar Points

et-noun + adjective på -t

Dette sted er roligt.

DEH-duh STED air ROH-lee.

This place is quiet.

After an et-noun, the adjective usually takes -t: rolig becomes roligt.

lad os + infinitiv

Lad os læse.

lath ohs LAY-suh.

Let's read.

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

Danish Vocabulary

bord noun

BOHR table bordet

Gender: neuter

Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted.

der adv

dair there

Der er også godt lys ved dette bord.

god adj

gohd good; nice godt

Gender: neuter

Der er også godt lys ved dette bord.

hjørne noun

YUR-nuh corner hjørnet

Gender: neuter

Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted.

hvor adv

vohr where

Hvor skal vi sidde?

i prep

ee in

Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted.

lys noun

LEWS light

Gender: neuter

Der er også godt lys ved dette bord.

også adv

OH-soh also; too

Der er også godt lys ved dette bord.

rolig adj

ROH-lee quiet roligt

Gender: neuter

Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted.

sidde verb

SID-uh sit

Hvor skal vi sidde?

sted noun

STED place

Gender: neuter

Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted.

stå verb

stohr stand står

Bordet i hjørnet står et roligt sted.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Where should we sit?

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Hvor skal vi sidde?

Are these chairs comfortable?

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Er disse stole behagelige?

They feel fine to me.

Show Answer

De føles helt fine for mig.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

quiet

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roligt

table

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bordet

where

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hvor

place

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sted