Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Gina: Hello and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner season 1, lesson 24, Expanding Your Danish Vocabulary AND Having Your Mouth Full At The Same Time. I’m Gina.
Anna: Hej! And I’m Anna.
Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn to ask, ‘how do you say (something)’ in another language.
Anna: This is a good way to expand your Danish vocabulary.
Gina: Let’s get started!
Anna: The conversation takes place at a park, and it’s between Emma, William, and Peter, who are enjoying some snacks.
Gina: The speakers are friends, and they’re speaking standard Danish. Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Emma: Mmm.
William: Gem noget til os!
Peter: Hvordan siger man ‘crisps’ på dansk?
(gulp)
Emma: Det er nemt! Chips.
Peter: Hvad er ‘french fries’ så på dansk?
William: Pomfritter.
Gina: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Emma: Mmm.
William: Gem noget til os!
Peter: Hvordan siger man ‘crisps’ på dansk?
(gulp)
Emma: Det er nemt! Chips.
Peter: Hvad er ‘french fries’ så på dansk?
William: Pomfritter.
Gina: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Emma: Mmm.
Gina: Mmm.
William: Gem nogle til os!
Gina: Save some for us!
Peter: Hvordan siger man ‘crisps’ på dansk?
Gina: How do you say "crisps" in Danish?
Emma: Det er nemt! Chips.
Gina: That’s easy! Chips.
Peter: Hvad er ‘french fries’ så på dansk?
Gina: What is "French fries" in Danish then?
William: Pomfritter.
Gina: Pomfritter.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Gina: Okay, so snacks seem to be a running theme in this series! Can you tell us more about Danish snacks?
Anna: Well, a summer favorite is koldskål which literally means “cold bowl.”
Gina: What’s that?
Anna: It’s a cold dessert made of buttermilk, eggs, and sugar. Then you put whole macaroons on top or you crumble them up and sprinkle them on top.
Gina: Sounds perfect for warm summer evenings.
Anna: If you're more into salty snacks, you should try some of the crispy crackling that you can buy in bags pretty much anywhere.
Gina: Is it as good as the one from pork roast?
Anna: Not quite. Nothing beats homemade crackling.
Gina: Of course!
Anna: And if you dare, you should try salty liquorice.
Gina: Apparently it’s very nice once you get used to that burning sort of sensation on your tongue.
Anna: Danes love this type of liquorice!
Gina: It sounds like it takes some getting used to! Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Gina: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
The first word we shall see is:
Anna: gemme [natural native speed]
Gina: hide, save, keep
Anna: gemme [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: gemme [natural native speed]
Next:
Anna: noget [natural native speed]
Gina: some; something
Anna: noget [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: noget [natural native speed]
Next:
Anna: hvordan siger man [natural native speed]
Gina: how do you say?
Anna: hvordan siger man [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: hvordan siger man [natural native speed]
Next:
Anna: på dansk [natural native speed]
Gina: in Danish
Anna: på dansk [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: på dansk [natural native speed]
Next:
Anna: nem [natural native speed]
Gina: easy
Anna: nem [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: nem [natural native speed]
Next:
Anna: hvordan [natural native speed]
Gina: how
Anna: hvordan [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: hvordan [natural native speed]
Next:
Anna: sige [natural native speed]
Gina: say, tell
Anna: sige [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: sige [natural native speed]
Next:
Anna: man [natural native speed]
Gina: you, one, we, they
Anna: man [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: man [natural native speed]
Next:
Anna: hvad er [natural native speed]
Gina: what is?, what are?
Anna: hvad er [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: hvad er [natural native speed]
And Last:
Anna: pomfritter [natural native speed]
Gina: French fries, chips
Anna: pomfritter [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: pomfritter [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Gina: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s first?
Anna: First is gemme. [pause] Gemme.
Gina: This verb means “hide,” “save,” and “keep.”
Anna: You can use gemme when you’re hiding yourself or something else, and when you’re saving money or keeping money somewhere.
Gina: So basically it’s used just like in English. What’s next?
Anna: Noget. [pause] Noget. This is the neuter form of the pronoun nogen, which means “some” or “something”.
Gina: Like in English, it's used when you’re talking about an indefinite quantity of something.
Anna: For example, Der er noget i luften. [pause] Der er noget i luften.
Gina: This means “There is something in the air.”
Anna: Der means there,” er is the verb be and means “is,” noget means “something,” i is the preposition “in,” and luften means “the air.”
Gina: Can you give us another example?
Anna: Sure. Noget te er meget godt, andet er ikke. [pause] Noget te er meget godt, andet er ikke.
Gina: This means “Some tea is very good, others aren't.”
Anna: Breaking it down, Noget in this case means “some,” te means “tea,” er means “are,” meget means “very,” godt is the t-form of “good,” andet is the neuter-form of anden and means “other,” er means “are,” and ikke means “not.”
Gina: Great. What do we have next?
Anna: Next we have pomfritter. [pause] pomfritter.
Gina: This is the common gender noun that means “French fries” or “chips.”
Anna: It is of French origin, so you can also use the French version, pomme frite.
Gina: Both spellings are accepted and correct. Okay, now onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn to ask how to say something in another language.
Anna: In Danish, you say Hvordan siger man [something] på dansk?
Gina: This means “How do you say [something] in Danish?”
Anna: Breaking this down, Hvordan means “how,” siger is the verb “say” in present tense, man is the pronoun “you” or “one,” and på dansk is “in Danish."
Gina: The phrase is easy to use, and you simply place the word or sentence you want to know how to say between the pronoun man and på dansk.
Anna: That’s right.
Gina: Once again please.
Anna: Hvordan siger man [something] på dansk?
Gina: Let’s hear an example with the English phrase “a big bird.”
Anna: Hvordan siger man ‘a big bird’ på dansk? [pause] Hvordan siger man ‘a big bird’ på dansk?
Gina: This means “How do you say “a big bird” in Danish?”
Anna: “A big bird” is en stor fugl in Danish, just for the record.
Gina: Oh, great. Thanks.
Anna: Another way of asking how to say something in Danish is Hvad er [something] på dansk?
Gina: This means “What is [something] in Danish?”
Anna: Hvad means “what,” er is the verb “be” in present tense, and på dansk means “in Danish,” of course.
Gina: You simply place the word or sentence you want to ask about between the verb and på dansk. Let’s hear it again.
Anna: Hvad er [something] på dansk?
Gina: Can you give us an example too?
Anna: Hvad er ‘rainbow’ på dansk]? [pause] Hvad er ‘rainbow’ på dansk?
Gina: This means “What is ‘rainbow’ in Danish?”
Anna: And just for the record, “rainbow” is regnbue in Danish.
Gina: There’s a third way to ask, isn’t there?
Anna: Yes, you can say Hvad hedder [something] på dansk? [pause] Hvad hedder [something] på dansk?
Gina: This means “What is [something] called in Danish?”
Anna: Hvad means “what,” hedder is the verb “be called” in present tense, and på dansk means “in Danish.”
Gina: Let’s have an example.
Anna: Hvad hedder ‘a bedroom’ på dansk? [pause] Hvad hedder ‘a bedroom’ på dansk?
Gina: This means “What is “a bedroom” called in Danish?”
Anna: Yes, and it’s soveværelse by the way!
Gina: Good to know!
Anna: So basically, you always place the word or sentence you want to ask about before på dansk, or “in Danish.”
Gina: Yes, and as you’ve probably guessed, you simply change dansk to another language if necessary.
Anna: That’s right.

Outro

Gina: Okay, listeners, that’s all for now.
Anna: Check out the lesson notes for more information.
Gina: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Anna: Hej hej!

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