Learn how to ask for directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson we’ll introduce the directions that will help you find the place you are looking for. Previously, we introduced “Is there a (place) near here?” and “Where is …(something)?”. But while we can ask now, we haven’t addressed how to decipher the answer. This time we’re going to work on understanding what someone tells us. And we’ll go over basic directions. First, we have “go straight.” |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In Danish, “go straight” is |
| Gå lige ud. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Gå lige ud. |
| Once more: |
| Gå lige ud. |
| The first word, gå, is a form of the verb that means “to walk”. |
| (slow) Gå. |
| Gå. |
| And the second word, lige means “straight”. |
| (slow) Lige. |
| Lige. |
| Ud at the end means “out”, but here it is used as “ahead” |
| (slow) Ud. |
| Ud. |
| Together, they make up the phrase “Walk straight ahead.” |
| Gå lige ud. |
| If the person is driving you can change gå to kør which means “drive”. “Drive straight ahead.” becomes |
| Kør lige ud! |
| The general way of saying “Go straight” without referring to how you are getting there, we say: |
| Fortsæt lige ud! |
| Which means “Continue straight ahead.” or “Keep going straight ahead”. |
| Let’s hear this one more time. |
| (slow) Fortsæt lige ud! |
| Fortsæt lige ud! |
| ・ |
| Here’s how to tell someone to take a left. |
| Drej til venstre. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Drej til ven-stre. |
| Once more: |
| Drej til ven-stre. |
| The first two words, drej til, are translated as “turn to” “take a” or simply “turn” |
| (slow) Drej til. |
| Drej til. |
| And the last word venstre means “left” |
| (slow) Venstre. |
| Venstre. |
| Together, they make |
| Drej til venstre. |
| ・ |
| The opposite, “turn to the right” in Danish is |
| Drej til højre. |
| (slow) Drej til højre. |
| Drej til højre. |
| As you’ve probably figured out, højre means “right.” |
| (slow) Højre. |
| Højre. |
| ・ |
| In real life, of course, you’ll need to know where to turn left or right. |
| Here’s “Turn right at the traffic light”: |
| Drej til højre i lyskrydset. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Drej til højre i lyskrydset. |
| Again at natural speed: |
| Drej til højre i lyskrydset. |
| Lyskryds means “traffic light.” In our sentence we have i lyskrydset, which is translated as “at the traffic light” |
| (slow) I lyskrydset. |
| I lyskrydset. |
| All together, it’s |
| Drej til højre i lyskrydset. |
| ・ |
| Another way of explaining direction can be: “Take a right at the first intersection.” In Danish that is |
| Tag til højre i det første kryds. |
| (slow) Tag til højre i det første kryds. |
| Tag til højre i det første kryds. |
| This time “take a right” is translated as tag til højre. |
| (slow) Tag til højre. |
| Tag til højre. |
| I det is translated as “in the” or “at the” |
| første means “first”. |
| (slow) Første. |
| Første. |
| Last we have kryds which means “intersection” or “crossing”. |
| (slow) Kryds. |
| Kryds. |
| Altogether that is: |
| Tag til højre i det første kryds. |
| ・ |
| Here’s how to say “on the right side”: |
| På højre side. |
| (slow) På højre side. |
| På højre side. |
| The new word here is på which is translated as “on” |
| (slow) På. |
| På. |
| And “on the left side” is På venstre side. |
| (slow) På venstre side. |
| På venstre side. |
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