Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Gina: Hello and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 11 - Help Yourself to This Delicious Danish Dish! I’m Gina.
Anna: Hej! And I’m Anna.
Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say and use the phrase “help yourself” in Danish.
Anna: This is a very useful phrase that's good to know for everyday situations.
Gina: It certainly is. So let’s get started!
Anna: The conversation takes place in an apartment and is between Emma, William, and Peter.
Gina: The speakers are friends, and they’re using standard Danish.
DIALOGUE
Let's listen to the conversation.
Emma: Værsgo!
William: Lækkert! Brændende kærlighed!
Peter: Hvad er brændende kærlighed?
Emma: Det er kartoffelmos med stegte løg og bacon.
Peter: Mmm, mums!
Let's hear the conversation one time slowly.
Emma: Værsgo!
William: Lækkert! Brændende kærlighed!
Peter: Hvad er brændende kærlighed?
Emma: Det er kartoffelmos med stegte løg og bacon.
Peter: Mmm, mums!
Now let's hear it with the English translation.
Emma: Værsgo!
Emma: Help yourself!
William: Lækkert! Brændende kærlighed!
William: Yummy! Brændende kærlighed!
Peter: Hvad er brændende kærlighed?
Peter: What is brændende kærlighed?
Emma: Det er kartoffelmos med stegte løg og bacon.
Emma: It's mashed potatoes with fried onion and bacon.
Peter: Mmm, mums!
Peter: Mmm, yum!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Gina: And now it’s time to talk about one of my favorite topics in Danish culture… Food!
Anna: Yes. The new Nordic food wave has taken the world by storm, and definitely put the capital Copenhagen on the world’s culinary map.
Gina: So what's this food revolution all about?
Anna: It’s about cooking gourmet dishes by using old techniques, like drying or smoking.
Gina: Doesn’t this make everything much slower and more complicated?
Anna: Well, the point is to use local ingredients and focus on creating a more authentic or natural taste, to do the produce justice.
Gina: But we don’t have to eat dirt, right?
Anna: Of course not! But hay, for example, is often used in the smoking techniques to add a richer flavor.
Gina: I think I'd like to try some gourmet Danish food! But before I get too hungry.
VOCAB
Gina: Now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is
Anna: værsgo
Gina: here you go, dinner is ready, help yourself, please, go ahead
Anna: (SLOW) værsgo, værsgo
Next:
Anna: lækker
Gina: delicious, yummy, gorgeous, dishy
Anna: (SLOW) lækker, lækker
Next:
Anna: brændende kærlighed
Gina: name of a Danish dish (lit. burning love)
Anna: (SLOW) brændende kærlighed, brændende kærlighed
Next:
Anna: hvad er
Gina: what is?
Anna: (SLOW) hvad er, hvad er
Next:
Anna: kartoffelmos
Gina: mashed potatoes
Anna: (SLOW) kartoffelmos, kartoffelmos
Next:
Anna: med
Gina: along, with, by, in
Anna: (SLOW) med, med
Next:
Anna: stegte løg og bacon
Gina: fried onion and bacon
Anna: (SLOW) stegte løg og bacon, stegte løg og bacon
Next:
Anna: mums
Gina: yum
Anna: (SLOW) mums, mums
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Gina: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Anna, what do we have first?
Anna: First we have the adjective lækker.
Gina: This means “delicious” or “yummy,” and as you’ve probably guessed, it's used when referring to how something tastes.
Anna: Yes. For example, Det er lækkert means “It's delicious.”
Gina: Remember to add a -t to the adjective when it refers to a neuter gender noun.
Anna: Good tip!
Gina: What else can you tell us about this adjective?
Anna: You can also use it to describe someone’s looks.
Gina: Oh yeah, that’s right! Can you give us an example?
Anna: Of course! For example, Han er lækker.
Gina: Which means...
Anna: “He's gorgeous.” Or “He's hot.”
Gina: Great. What’s next?
Anna: Med.
Gina: This word has several meanings, right?
Anna: Yes. When med is an adverb, it means “along” and is used the same way as in English.
Gina: When it’s a preposition, it can mean “with,” “by,” or “in.”
Anna: For example, Kom med os means “Come with us.” And De kørte med bus means “They went by bus.”
Gina: How about when it means “in”?
Anna: Med andre ord… “In other words.”
Gina: It can also be used to say “What about me?”
Anna: Hvad med mig?
Gina: What about you...?
Anna: Hey…!
Gina: (laughs), I’m kidding! What’s next?
Anna: Mums.
Gina: This is an interjection that means “yum,” or “yum yum”, if you will.
Anna: You can say it when you think something’s delicious.
Gina: Can you repeat it one more time?
Anna: Mums… As an alternative, you can say namnam. Especially when you are talking to smaller children.
Gina: Great! Okay, now onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say and use “Help yourself.”
Anna: “Help yourself” or literally “here you go”, in Danish is Værsgo. [pause] Værsgo.
Gina: It's usually the host or the one who cooked the dinner who says it when everyone has sat down at the table.
Anna: Yes. Værsgo indicates that everyone can go ahead and start putting food on their plates.
Gina: Some Danes also say it before everyone has been seated, to say “Dinner is ready.”
Anna: That’s right.
Gina: What else can you tell us about this interjection?
Anna: Værsgo is often used when offering something to someone.
Gina: Can you give us an example?
Anna: Sure. Værsgo, tag en sodavand.
Gina: Which means “Go ahead, have a soda” or something like that, right?
Anna: Exactly. You also say værsgo when handing or
passing something to someone.
Gina: Like the salt or a gift?
Anna: Yes. Let’s pretend we are having dinner and you’ve asked me to pass you the salt.
Gina: Then, when you pass me the salt, you say…
Anna: Værsgo.
Gina: So in this case, it means “Here you are.”
Anna: Spot on!
Gina: So it’s very easy to learn how to use. Alright, that’s it for this...
Anna: Wait! We’re not done yet!
Gina: Oh! Sorry… Værsgo.
Anna: Thanks. You can also use the word to say “please.”
Gina: Oh, yeah that’s right!
Anna: If you add the infinitive marker at and a verb in infinitive form after værsgo, you can say “Please (something)” or “Please (do something).”
Gina: The "something" is the verb, of course.
Anna: Right.
Gina: Can you give us some examples?
Anna: Sure, Værsgo at sidde ned.
Gina: Which means…
Anna: “Please sit down.”
Gina: And Værsgo at spise.
Anna: Which means “Please eat.”
Gina: So it’s værsgo, then at and a verb in infinitive form.
Anna: Did you know that værsgo is actually a contraction of værsågod?
Gina: Yes, but I haven’t heard it for ages.
Anna: No wonder, because only a few Danes still pronounce it that way. Everyone says værsgo.
Gina: Well, it’s same meaning, different pronunciation, right?
Anna: I suppose you could put it that way, yes.

Outro

Gina: Okay, listeners, that’s all for this lesson.
Anna: For real this time!
Gina: Make sure to check out the lesson notes for more examples.
Anna: Yes, they're very useful when practicing your Danish.
Gina: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time!
Anna: Hej hej!

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