Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Have you ever been in a city you didn’t know at all, desperately searching for something you couldn’t find? I certainly have! I wandered around without knowing where to find tickets, a phone, or even a restroom! But don’t worry—with our Survival Phrases, you’ll always be able to get the information or help in Denmark.
In this lesson, we’ll introduce you to some phrases that will help you track down whatever you need.
GRAMMAR POINT
First and foremost, remember that to get someone’s attention or when asking for something, you should start with Undskyld mig! or Undskyld! As you might remember they mean “Excuse me!” or “Sorry!” You can add these in front of all the sentences we will cover in this lesson.
Let’s start with “Where can I (blank)?”
In Danish that is Hvor kan jeg(blank)?
The first word, hvor means “where” and this is the most important word in this lesson.
(slow)Hvor.
Hvor.
This is followed by “can I”
(slow) Kan jeg.
Kan jeg.
After jeg you just add the verb you want and the thing you are looking for.
For example:
Hvor kan jeg købe busbilletter?
The infinitive of the verb “to buy” is
(slow) Købe.
Købe.
Followed by the thing I want, in this case “bus tickets”.
(slow) Bus-bi-lle-tter.
Busbilletter.
All together that is “Where can I buy bus tickets?”
(slow) Hvor kan jeg købe busbilletter?
Hvor kan jeg købe busbilletter?
Now let’s look at another useful verb when you are searching for something. “Find” in Danish is not that different from English, it is finde.
So “Where can I find the Operahouse?” becomes:
Hvor kan jeg finde Operahuset?
This time we added the infinitive of the verb “find”
(slow) Finde.
Finde.
And a place, in this case, “the opera house” at the end.
Let’s hear that one more time.
(slow) Hvor kan jeg finde Operahuset?
Hvor kan jeg finde Operahuset?
Another way you might want to use the verb “find” is like this “Where do I find (blank)?” In Danish that is Hvor finder jeg (blank)?
This phrase is considered to be more polite as well.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Hvor finder jeg (blank)?
One more time:
Hvor finder jeg (blank)?
In this version, we use the present tense of the verb “find”. Which in English is the same as the infinitive, but in Danish we add an r to the end.
(slow) Finder.
Finder.
Together with the pronoun “I” which is jeg, it creates the meaning of “do I find”
And then at the end add the item or place you are looking for.
All together that’s
(slow) Hvor finder jeg (blank)?
Once more:
Hvor finder jeg (blank)?
Here, you can also change the verb for any present tense verb. For example:
Hvor køber jeg (blank)? === “Where do I buy (blank)?
Hvor ser jeg (blank)? === “Where do I see (blank)?
Hvor betaler jeg? === “Where do I pay?
This phrase is very convenient when you are in a store and looking for something they should have, or when you’re searching for the bathroom. Let’s say you are in a supermarket and you can not find the water. In that case, ask:
Hvor finder jeg vandet? “Where do I find the water?”
(slow) Hvor finder jeg vandet?
Hvor finder jeg vandet?
In the case of a bathroom, you say:
Hvor finder jeg toilettet?
Another phrase that will be helpful for you is:
Hvor er? translated as “Where is?” Use this phrase in the same way as the others. But here, you already have the verb er which means “is”, so you just need to add the thing you are looking for. Imagine you’re looking for the subway station. “Where is the subway station?” would be Hvor er metrostationen?
Let’s break it down:
(slow)Hvor er metrostationen?
Again at natural speed:
Hvor er metrostationen?
The first word is hvor meaning “where”.
The next word, er means “is”
Next we have metrostationen which means “the subway station”.
(slow) Metrostationen.
Metrostationen.
The whole phrase would be:
“Excuse me, where is the subway station?”
Undskyld mig, hvor er metrostationen?
To ask something else, just replace metrostationen with the item you are looking for, and people will understand you perfectly. For example, let’s ask
“Where is the movie theater?”
Hvor er biografen?
(slow) Hvor er biografen?
Hvor er biografen?
The word biografen means “the movie theater”, or “the cinema”.
(slow) Biografen.
Biografen.
Lastly, remember to add the phrase for “excuse me”, undskyld mig, before the question to make it more polite:
“Excuse me, where is the cinema?”
Undskyld mig, hvor er biografen?

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