A Quiet Place to Work | Learn Danish in English

Danish lesson set in a contemporary Copenhagen everyday setting: In a library, one person asks for a quiet work area and learns where silent study and phone calls are allowed..

EN → DA / Level: A2

About This Lesson

Use A Quiet Place to Work to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Er der et roligt område, hvor jeg kan arbejde?

air dair et ROH-lit OHM-raw-thuh, vohr yai kan AR-bai-thuh? Is there a quiet area where I can work?
B

Der er borde til stille arbejde ovenpå til venstre.

dair air BOHR-thuh tel STEL-uh AR-bai-thuh OH-vun-POH tel VEN-struh. There are desks for quiet study upstairs on the left.
A

Må jeg tale kort i telefon der?

moh yai TAY-luh kohrd ee tay-leh-FOHN dair? Could I take a short call there?
B

De borde er kun til at studere i stilhed.

dee BOHR-thuh air KOHN tel at stoo-DAIR-uh ee STEEL-heth. Those desks are only for silent study.
A

Så tager jeg mine telefonopkald et andet sted.

soh TAY-er yai MEE-nuh tay-leh-FOHN-oh-kald et AN-uh stayth. I'll take phone calls somewhere else, then.
B

Forhallen er bedre til telefonopkald.

fohr-HAL-en air BEH-thruh tel tay-leh-FOHN-oh-kald. The lobby is better for calls.
A

Et bord ovenpå passer fint til mig.

et BOHR OH-vun-POH PASS-er fent tel mai. An upstairs desk will work for me.
B

Der er som regel roligt om eftermiddagen.

dair air som RAY-ul ROH-lit om EF-ter-METH-ehn. It is usually calm in the afternoon.

Word by Word

Er Er means “is/are” here and begins the question about whether a quiet area exists. Reuse Er der ...? when asking whether a place or resource is available, such as when speaking to library staff.
der In Er der et roligt område, der helps present something as existing or being available. Reuse Der er ... to say that something exists or is located somewhere.
et Et means “a/an” before område in this dialogue. It is used before a neuter singular noun, so reuse et before a neuter noun when introducing one place or object.
roligt Roligt means “quiet” or “calm” when describing område. This form is used with the neuter noun område; reuse et roligt ... when describing a quiet neuter place or thing.
område Område means “area” in the question about a place to work. Reuse it after a place description such as et roligt område when asking about a specific area.
hvor Hvor means “where” in the part that specifies where the speaker can work. Reuse hvor after a place expression to add the location of an action.
jeg Jeg means “I” and identifies the speaker as the person who can work. Reuse jeg before an action when talking about something you can or will do.
kan Kan means “can” in kan arbejde, expressing the speaker’s ability or possibility to work there. Reuse jeg kan + an action when saying what you can do.
arbejde Arbejde means “work” here and follows kan. Reuse kan arbejde when saying that someone can work in a particular place.
borde Borde means “desks” or “tables” in the library. It is the plural form of bord; reuse borde til ... when referring to several desks or tables intended for an activity.
til Til means “for” in borde til stille arbejde and til telefonopkald, marking the intended use. Reuse noun + til + activity or purpose when saying what something is for.
stille Stille means “quiet” in stille arbejde, describing work done without noise. Reuse stille before an activity or noun when describing a quiet form of it.
ovenpå Ovenpå means “upstairs” and gives the location of the desks. Reuse ovenpå when directing someone to a higher floor or area, as in ovenpå til venstre.
venstre Venstre means “left” in til venstre, giving a direction. Reuse til venstre when telling someone where to go or where something is located.
Må Må means “may I” or “can I” in this permission question. Reuse Må jeg ...? when politely asking whether you are allowed to do something.
tale Tale means “talk” or “speak” in tale kort i telefon and follows Må. Reuse Må jeg tale ...? when asking permission to speak in a particular situation.
kort Kort means “briefly” in tale kort, indicating that the conversation will be short. Reuse tale kort when saying that you want to speak for only a short time.
i I means “in” as part of i telefon, the expression used for talking on the phone. Reuse i telefon with tale when describing a phone conversation.
telefon Telefon means “phone” in i telefon. Together, i telefon describes speaking by phone; reuse tale i telefon for talking on the phone.
De De means “those” and points back to the desks already mentioned. This capitalized form starts the sentence; reuse De before a plural noun when referring to specific items that have already been identified.
kun Kun means “only” and limits the desks to silent study. Reuse kun til ... to state that something is reserved exclusively for a particular purpose.
at At introduces the activity studere in til at studere i stilhed. Reuse til at + an action when explaining that something is intended for doing that action.
studere Studere means “study” in at studere i stilhed. It follows at here and names the activity the desks are intended for; reuse til at studere when describing a place for studying.
stilhed Stilhed means “silence” in i stilhed, describing studying without noise. Reuse i stilhed when saying that an activity is done silently or in silence.
Så Så means “then” or “so” at the start of the speaker’s decision. Reuse Så ... to connect new information with a resulting choice or action.
tager Tager means “take” in tager mine telefonopkald, referring to handling phone calls. The citation form is tage, while tager is the form used here; reuse tager ... when describing what someone takes or handles.
mine Mine means “my” before the plural noun telefonopkald. Reuse mine before plural nouns for things belonging to or associated with the speaker.
telefonopkald Telefonopkald means “phone calls” in mine telefonopkald. Reuse it after an expression such as tager mine when talking about handling the speaker’s calls.
andet Andet means “another” or “different” in et andet sted, referring to a different place from the desks. This form is used with the neuter noun sted; reuse et andet before a different neuter place or thing.
sted Sted means “place” in et andet sted. Reuse it after a location description when referring to a place where someone can go or do something.
Forhallen Forhallen means “the lobby” and is the place recommended for calls. The citation form is forhal, while Forhallen is the definite form used here; reuse it as the subject when describing what the lobby is suitable for.
bedre Bedre means “better” in bedre til telefonopkald, comparing the lobby’s suitability for calls with the desks. Reuse er bedre til ... when saying that one place or option is more suitable for an activity.
bord Bord means “desk” or “table” in et bord ovenpå. Reuse et bord when referring to one desk or table in a practical location.
passer Passer means “suits” or “works” in passer fint til mig, saying that the upstairs desk is suitable for the speaker. The citation form is passe, while passer is the form used here; reuse something passer til mig when saying that it suits you.
fint Fint means “fine” or “well” in passer fint til mig and strengthens the positive assessment. Reuse passer fint til ... when saying that something suits a person well.
mig Mig means “me” after til in til mig, identifying the person for whom the desk is suitable. Reuse til mig when saying that something is intended for or suits the speaker.
som Som contributes to the expression som regel, which means “usually” or “as a rule.” Reuse som regel to describe something that normally happens.
regel Regel means “rule” within som regel, but the whole expression means “usually.” Reuse som regel when describing a normal or typical situation, such as the usual calm in the afternoon.
om Om means “in” or “during” in om eftermiddagen, marking a time of day. Reuse om before a time expression such as om eftermiddagen when saying when something happens.
eftermiddagen Eftermiddagen means “the afternoon” in om eftermiddagen. The citation form is eftermiddag, while eftermiddagen is the definite form used here; reuse om eftermiddagen to specify that something happens during the afternoon.

Grammar Points

Adjektiv i intetkøn: rolig → roligt

Et roligt område.

et ROH-lit OHM-raw-thuh

A quiet area.

With an et-word, the adjective takes -t: rolig becomes roligt.

Adverbial brug af fint

Det passer fint.

deh PASS-er fent

That works fine.

fint is an adverb here and describes how something works.

Danish Vocabulary

arbejde verb
AR-bai-thuh work

kan arbejde

bord noun
BOHR desk; table borde
i stilhed phrase
ee STEEL-heth in silence
kort adv
KOHRD briefly
kun adv
KOHN only
område noun
OHM-raw-thuh area
Gender
neuter
ovenpå adv
OH-vun-POH upstairs
rolig adj
ROH-lee quiet; calm roligt
Gender
neuter
stille adj
STEL-uh quiet; silent
tale verb
TAY-luh speak; talk

tale kort i telefon

telefonopkald noun
tay-leh-FOHN-oh-kald phone call
til venstre phrase
tel VEN-struh on the left

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

The lobby is better for calls.

Show AnswerForhallen er bedre til telefonopkald.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

desk; table

Show Answerborde

quiet; calm

Show Answerroligt

upstairs

Show Answerovenpå

briefly

Show Answerkort