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Lesson Transcript

Beginner Season 1 Lesson 10 - Reserving a Table at a Danish Restaurant
INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 10 - Reserving a Table at a Danish Restaurant. Eric here.
Anna: Hej! I'm Anna.
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to confirm and make a reservation in Danish. The conversation takes place at a restaurant counter.
Anna: It's between Alexander and Benedikte.
Eric: The speakers are strangers. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Alexander: Hej, jeg vil gerne tjekke min reservation til på torsdag.
Benedikte: Ja, må jeg bede om dit navn?
Alexander: Alexander Pedersen. Jeg ringede i forgårs.
Benedikte: Det var et bord til to personer i sofaloungen?
Alexander: Nej, jeg reserverede et vinduesbord til fire personer plus en barnestol til klokken syv.
Benedikte: Åh, det må du undskylde. Her er din reservation.
Alexander: Kan jeg ændre reservationen til klokken otte?
Benedikte: Ja, det kan jeg ordne med det samme.
Alexander: Mange tak for hjælpen.
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Alexander: Hej, jeg vil gerne tjekke min reservation til på torsdag.
Benedikte: Ja, må jeg bede om dit navn?
Alexander: Alexander Pedersen. Jeg ringede i forgårs.
Benedikte: Det var et bord til to personer i sofaloungen?
Alexander: Nej, jeg reserverede et vinduesbord til fire personer plus en barnestol til klokken syv.
Benedikte: Åh, det må du undskylde. Her er din reservation.
Alexander: Kan jeg ændre reservationen til klokken otte?
Benedikte: Ja, det kan jeg ordne med det samme.
Alexander: Mange tak for hjælpen.
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Alexander: Hej, jeg vil gerne tjekke min reservation til på torsdag.
Alexander: Hi, I would like to check my reservation for Thursday.
Benedikte: Ja, må jeg bede om dit navn?
Benedikte: Yes, may I have your name, please?
Alexander: Alexander Pedersen. Jeg ringede i forgårs.
Alexander: Alexander Pedersen. I called the day before yesterday.
Benedikte: Det var et bord til to personer i sofaloungen?
Benedikte: It was a table for two people in the sofa lounge?
Alexander: Nej, jeg reserverede et vinduesbord til fire personer plus en barnestol til klokken syv.
Alexander: No, I booked a window table for four people plus a high chair for 7 o'clock.
Benedikte: Åh, det må du undskylde. Her er din reservation.
Benedikte: Oh, please excuse me. Here is your reservation.
Alexander: Kan jeg ændre reservationen til klokken otte?
Alexander: Can I change the reservation to 8 o'clock?
Benedikte: Ja, det kan jeg ordne med det samme.
Benedikte: Yes, I can take care of that immediately.
Alexander: Mange tak for hjælpen.
Alexander: Thank you very much for the help.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: Anna, I know that many Danes consider birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and work or school-related achievements as special occasions to be celebrated.
Anna: That’s true. These celebrations usually take place either at home or at a restaurant. If presents are involved, they are either brought along to the restaurant to be opened there, or taken home to be unwrapped afterward.
Eric: Because of this custom, many restaurants have small flags to place on customers' tables for special occasions.
Anna: Exactly. Some people even call in advance to make sure a flag is on their table when they arrive.
Eric: Okay.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Anna: at tjekke [natural native speed]
Eric: to check
Anna: at tjekke [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: at tjekke [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Anna: reservation [natural native speed]
Eric: reservation, booking
Anna: reservation [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: reservation [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Anna: navn [natural native speed]
Eric: name
Anna: navn [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: navn [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Anna: at ringe [natural native speed]
Eric: to call
Anna: at ringe [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: at ringe [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Anna: i forgårs [natural native speed]
Eric: the day before yesterday
Anna: i forgårs [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: i forgårs [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Anna: bord [natural native speed]
Eric: table
Anna: bord [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: bord [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Anna: at reservere [natural native speed]
Eric: to reserve, to book
Anna: at reservere [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: at reservere [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Anna: vinduesbord [natural native speed]
Eric: window table
Anna: vinduesbord [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: vinduesbord [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Anna: barnestol [natural native speed]
Eric: high chair
Anna: barnestol [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: barnestol [natural native speed]
Eric: And last..
Anna: at ændre [natural native speed]
Eric: to change
Anna: at ændre [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Anna: at ændre [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is..
Anna: i forgårs
Eric: which means “the day before yesterday.”
Anna: i can either be an adverb or a preposition, so it has several meanings.
Eric: It can mean “in,” “into,” “on,” “for,” “at,” or “to.”
Anna: Forgårs is a noun that means “before yesterday.” The noun forgårs does not make much sense without i.
Eric: So if you want to say “the day before yesterday,” you should always use the fixed phrase...
Anna: i forgårs.
Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Anna: Sure. De spiste sammen i forgårs.
Eric: “They ate together the day before yesterday.” Okay, what's the next word?
Anna: vinduesbord
Eric: “window table.”
Anna: Vinduesbord is mostly used to talk about a table by the window in a restaurant. Vindue
Eric: means “window,” and the noun
Anna: bord
Eric: means “table.”
Anna: So, the noun vinduesbord is a compound word.
Eric: The -s in the middle that combines the two nouns is a so-called joint-s. But listeners, please note that not all nouns can be combined with an -s.
Anna: Right. Some are combined with an -e and others don't need another letter to become a compound word.
Eric: Okay. Can you give us an example using this word?
Anna: Vi reserverer altid vinduesbordet.
Eric: “We always book the window table.” Okay, what's the last word?
Anna: barnestol
Eric: which means “high chair.” The noun
Anna: barn
Eric: means “child,” and the noun
Anna: stol
Eric: means “chair.” So you can use this word to talk about a high chair for a baby or child at a restaurant.
Anna: You could also use the word højstol, which literally means “high chair.”
Eric: Can you give us an example using this word?
Anna: Okay. Pigen er for stor til en barnestol.
Eric: “The girl is too big for a high chair.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to confirm and make a reservation in Danish.
Anna: We will also review the present and past tenses.
Eric: Let’s begin with the present tense. As you know, in Danish it’s used to express that an action, event, or condition takes place regularly or is valid now or in the future.
Anna: To form the present tense, we normally add the ending -r to the infinitive form of a verb.
Eric: Unless it’s an irregular verb. For example, in the dialogue we heard...
Anna: Her er din reservation.
Eric: “Here is your reservation.”
Anna: In this case, the irregular verb at være meaning “to be” has been conjugated in the present tense and becomes er, which means “is” or “are.”
Eric: Okay, let’s see an example using a regular verb -
Anna: Jeg reserverer et bord.
Eric: “I am booking a table.”
Anna: The present tense ending -r has been added to the infinitive form of the regular verb reservere. So it becomes - reserverer
Eric: Now let’s briefly review the past tense.
Anna: In Danish, the past tense is normally formed by adding the ending -ede or -te to the base form of a verb.
Eric: For example…
Anna: Jeg ringede i forgårs.
Eric: “I called the day before yesterday.”
Anna: In this case, the regular verb at ringe meaning “to call” has been conjugated in the past tense and became ringede, meaning “called.”
Eric: Here’s another example.
Anna: Han bestilte en flaske vin.
Eric: “He ordered a bottle of wine.”
Anna: This time we’ve added the ending -te to the base form of the verb at bestille meaning “to order” to form the past tense - bestilte - “ordered.”
Eric: Let’s hear one last example -
Anna: De ændrede reservationen.
Eric: “They changed the reservation.”
Anna: at ændre - “to change” become ændrede - “changed.”
Eric: Anna, speaking of reservations, how do you make a reservation in Danish?
Anna: Ah yes, this is our second grammar point. Let’s take a look at some common phrases used for this purpose.
Eric: Ok, the first phrase is…
Anna: Jeg vil gerne reservere…
Eric: which means “I would like to book…”
Anna: Jeg means “I,” vil gerne means “would like to,” and reservere means “book” or “reserve.” Jeg vil gerne reservere…
Eric: To complete this phrase, you would have to say what it is that you’re trying to book.
Anna: Right. You can add any noun, for example - et bord,
Eric: “a table”
Anna: en plads
Eric: “a seat”
Anna: et værelse
Eric: “a room.” This same sentence structure can be used to say
Anna: Jeg vil gerne bestille…
Eric: “I would like to order…”
Anna: Here, we just changed the verb to bestille, meaning “order.”
Eric: Which can also be used to reserve something.
Eric: Another way of making a reservation is by asking...
Anna: Kan jeg reservere…
Eric: “Can I book…?”You can add any noun or phrase after it, as in...
Anna: Kan jeg reservere et bord til to?
Eric: “Can I book a table for two?” Listeners, in the Lesson Notes you’ll find more useful phrases to make, confirm, and cancel reservations, so be sure to check them out.

Outro

Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Anna: Vi ses!

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