A Light Snack at Home | Learn Danish in English

About This Lesson

Use A Light Snack at Home to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Jeg vil gerne have en snack.

yai vil KAIR-nuh HEH-vuh en SNEK. I want a snack.

Jeg er ikke særlig sulten.

yai air EG-uh SAIR-lee SOOL-den. I am not very hungry.

Så vælg noget let, for eksempel yoghurt.

SOH VEL NOH-uh LEHT, fuh eg-SEM-bəl YOH-goht. Then choose something light, like yogurt.

Har vi også nødder?

hah vee UHS-oh NUH-thuh? Do we have nuts too?

Der er nogle i skabet.

dair air NOH-luh ee SKEH-buh. There are some in the cupboard.

Yoghurt med nødder lyder godt.

YOH-goht mehth NUH-thuh LYOO-uh GOHTH. Yogurt with nuts sounds good.

Tag en lille skål.

TEH en LEL-uh SKOHL. Take a small bowl.

Det er ikke for meget.

deh air EG-uh fuh MAYTH. It is not too much.

Jeg laver en nu.

yai LEH-vuh en NOO. I will make one now.

Gem nogle nødder til mig, tak.

GEM NOH-luh NUH-thuh tehl MYE, TEHG. Leave some nuts for me, please.

Word by Word

Jeg Jeg means “I” here and identifies the person speaking. It is used at the beginning of Jeg vil gerne have en snack and Jeg er ikke særlig sulten when talking about yourself.

vil In vil gerne have, vil expresses the speaker’s wish to have something. This form is useful when stating what you want, as in Jeg vil gerne have en snack.

gerne In vil gerne have, gerne helps express the wish politely and willingly. The full expression is used when asking for or saying that you would like something, as in Jeg vil gerne have en snack.

have In vil gerne have en snack, have expresses having or getting the requested item. It follows vil gerne when the speaker says what they would like to have.

en In en snack, en marks one unspecified snack. It comes directly before the noun snack when referring to one item of this kind.

snack Snack means “snack” and names the food the speaker wants. In this dialogue it is used after en to refer to a light item eaten between meals, in Jeg vil gerne have en snack.

er In Jeg er ikke særlig sulten, er links the speaker Jeg with the state of being not very hungry. It is used in this conversation to describe the speaker’s current condition.

ikke Ikke makes the statement negative in Jeg er ikke særlig sulten. It is placed before the phrase it negates, and here it says that the speaker is not very hungry.

særlig In ikke særlig sulten, særlig means “particularly” or “very” and limits the degree of hunger. Together with ikke, it gives the meaning “not very hungry,” useful when describing a mild state.

sulten Sulten describes the state of being hungry in Jeg er ikke særlig sulten. It follows er when the speaker explains how hungry they are in this situation.

Så Så means “then” at the beginning of Så vælg noget let, for eksempel yoghurt. It connects the speaker’s lack of hunger with the next suggestion, and can introduce a resulting action or suggestion.

vælg Vælg tells the other person to choose something in Så vælg noget let, for eksempel yoghurt. It is useful when giving a direct suggestion about what someone should select.

noget Noget means “something” in vælg noget let and refers to an unspecified food item. It can be followed by a description, as in the dialogue’s noget let.

let In noget let, let describes the suggested food as light rather than heavy. It follows noget to characterize the unspecified snack, and is useful when recommending a small or mild food choice.

for eksempel For eksempel means “for example” as a whole and introduces yoghurt as one illustration of noget let. In the expression, for contributes the linking element and eksempel names the example; the full phrase appears in for eksempel yoghurt. It is useful before a concrete item that illustrates a general idea.

yoghurt Yoghurt means “yogurt” and names the food suggested as a light snack. The dialogue uses yoghurt in for eksempel yoghurt and Yoghurt at the beginning of Yoghurt med nødder lyder godt; the capital letter in Yoghurt reflects its position at the start of the sentence.

Har Har means “have” in the question Har vi også nødder? It begins a question about whether the household has another food item available.

vi Vi means “we” in Har vi også nødder? and identifies the people included in the question. It is the subject after Har in this question about what is available at home.

også Også means “also” or “too” in Har vi også nødder? It adds nuts to the food already being considered, and is useful when asking about an additional item.

nødder Nødder means “nuts” and names the food being asked about and later combined with yoghurt. It appears in Har vi også nødder?, med nødder, and nogle nødder, showing how the item can be asked about, combined, or reserved.

Der In Der er nogle i skabet, Der introduces the existence or presence of something. This form is useful for saying that an item is available in a particular place.

nogle Nogle means “some” in Der er nogle i skabet and refers back to the nuts understood from the question. It also appears before the noun in nogle nødder, and is useful for referring to an unspecified amount.

i I means “in” in i skabet and places the nuts inside the cupboard. It is used before the place that contains or holds something.

skabet Skabet means “the cupboard” in i skabet and identifies the place where the nuts are kept. It is used after i when giving their location in the home.

med Med means “with” in Yoghurt med nødder and connects the yoghurt with the nuts added to it. It is useful before an accompanying ingredient or item.

lyder In Yoghurt med nødder lyder godt, lyder expresses how the combination seems or sounds to the speaker. It is useful when giving an impression of a proposed food, plan, or idea.

godt In lyder godt, godt gives a positive evaluation of the yoghurt with nuts. Together with lyder, it says that the suggestion sounds good, a useful response to an idea.

Tag Tag tells the listener to take something in Tag en lille skål. It is useful when giving a direct instruction about an object needed for an activity.

lille Lille describes the bowl as small in en lille skål. It comes before skål and helps specify which kind or size of object to take.

skål Skål means “bowl” and names the container requested in Tag en lille skål. It is the object taken when preparing the snack at home.

Det In Det er ikke for meget, Det refers to the amount or portion being discussed. It introduces the statement that this amount is not excessive.

for In ikke for meget, for marks an excessive degree and contributes the meaning “too.” This use differs from for in for eksempel, and here it is part of the quantity expression describing whether the amount is excessive.

meget Meget refers to a large amount in ikke for meget. With for, it forms for meget, meaning that the amount would be too large; this is useful when judging a portion or quantity.

laver In Jeg laver en nu, laver expresses making or preparing the item just chosen. It is useful when saying that you are preparing something immediately.

nu Nu means “now” in Jeg laver en nu and places the preparation at the present moment. It is useful for emphasizing that an action is happening immediately.

Gem Gem asks the listener to save or leave some nuts aside in Gem nogle nødder til mig, tak. It is useful when requesting that part of something be reserved for a person.

til In Gem nogle nødder til mig, til marks the intended recipient of the reserved nuts. The pattern til mig identifies who the item is being kept for.

mig Mig means “me” in til mig and identifies the person who should receive the reserved nuts. It follows til when the speaker names the intended recipient.

tak At the end of Gem nogle nødder til mig, tak, tak makes the request polite and means “please” in this context. It is useful at the end of a request to soften the instruction.

Grammar Points

Vælg noget let.

Vælg noget let.

VEL NOH-uh LEHT.

Choose something light.

The imperative uses the verb stem without a subject: vælg means “choose!”

noget + adjective

noget let

NOH-uh LEHT

something light

After the pronoun noget, an adjective takes the neuter form; let is the neuter form of let.

Danish Vocabulary

for eksempel phrase

fuh eg-SEM-bəl for example

for eksempel yoghurt

gerne adv

KAIR-nuh gladly; would like to

Jeg vil gerne have en snack.

have verb

HEH-vuh have

Jeg vil gerne have en snack.

let adj

LEHT light

noget let

noget pron

NOH-uh something

Gender: neuter

vælg noget let

nødder noun

NUH-thuh nuts

Har vi også nødder?

snack noun

SNEK snack

Gender: common

en snack

sulten adj

SOOL-den hungry

Jeg er ikke særlig sulten.

særlig adv

SAIR-lee particularly; very

ikke særlig sulten

så adv

SOH then

Så vælg noget let

vælg verb

VEL choose

Så vælg noget let

yoghurt noun

YOH-goht yogurt

Gender: common

Yoghurt med nødder

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I want a snack.

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Jeg vil gerne have en snack.

I am not very hungry.

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Jeg er ikke særlig sulten.

Do we have nuts too?

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Har vi også nødder?

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

have

Show Answer

have

hungry

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sulten

particularly; very

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særlig

snack

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snack