Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
This lesson will teach you how to introduce yourself in Danish, and how to say where are you from. Danes are a very curious people. Depending on the region, they might be more or less sociable, but in general, they are nice and hospitable. A self introduction in Danish will be a pleasant surprise. Let’s begin the lesson.
GRAMMAR POINT
Let’s imagine that your name is John, and you are from Canada. You came to Denmark and met a person who asked you “What are you called?” that sounds like this in Danish:
Hvad hedder du?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Hvad hed-der du?
Once more:
Hvad hedder du?
The first word hvad means “what”.
(slow) Hvad.
Hvad.
The second word hedder, which literally means “states you”, can also be translated as “are called”
(slow) Hed-der.
Hedder.
The last word du is the personal pronoun “you”
(slow) Du.
Du.
Let’s hear the expression again:
Hvad hedder du?
(slow) Hvad hedder du?
Hvad hedder du?
The more formal version of this phrase is
Hvad er dit navn?
(Slow) Hvad er dit navn?
Hvad er dit navn?
Hvad is, as you know, “what”.
It’s followed by er which is the form of the verb to be that in this case means “is”
(slow) Er.
Er.
The next word is dit, which is “your”
(slow) Dit.
Dit
And lastly we have navn, “name”
navn (slow)
navn
・
The answer to the first question Hvad hedder du? in our case will be...
Jeg hedder John, which means “ I am called John.”
(slow) Jeg hed-der John.
Jeg hed-der John.
First, we have the personal pronoun jeg meaning “I”.
(slow) Jeg.
Jeg.
It’s followed by hedder meaning “am called”
And at the end comes your name.
Let’s hear that again:
Hvad hedder du?
Jeg hedder John.
The answer to the next, more formal question, Hvad er dit navn? becomes Mit navn er John. “My name is John.”
The first word mit means “my”
(slow) Mit.
Mit.
It’s followed by the words navn er which mean “name is”
(slow) Navn er.
Navn er.
And at the end, just add your name.
Let’s hear it one more time:
Hvad er dit navn?
You will answer:
(slow) Mit navn er John.
Mit navn er John.
The next question you will usually be asked is “Where are you from?”
Hvor er du fra?
(slow) Hvor er du fra?
The first word hvor is translated as “where” in this case.
(slow) Hvor.
Hvor.
The next word er is the form of the verb “to be”, “are”
(slow) Er.
Er.
The third word is du, “you”
And last we have fra which means “from”. So literally it becomes “Where are you from?”
Let’s break down the phrase
(slow) Hvor er du fra?
Hvor er du fra?
You may also be asked Hvor kommer du fra? This is the polite version and is equivalent to the English “Where do you come from?”
Let’s hear the question one more time.
(slow) Hvor kom-mer du fra?
Hvor kommer du fra?
The new word here is kommer which means “come”
Once again:
(slow) Kom-mer
Kommer
・
Your answer to the first question Hvor er du fra? will be “I’m from Canada.” In Danish that will sound like this: Jeg er fra Canada.
(slow) Jeg er fra Ca-na-da.
The first word jeg is the personal pronoun “I”.
(slow) Jeg.
Jeg .
This time, er, the form of the verb “to be” becomes “am” in English. So jeg er together means “I am”
And at the end we have the name of the country; in our case, Canada.
Let’s hear the whole phrase one more time.
Jeg er fra Canada.
The answer to the second question Hvor kommer du fra? becomes Jeg kommer fra Canada. “I come from Canada.”
Once more:
(slow) Jeg kom-mer fra Ca-na-da.
Jeg kommer fra Canada
As you might have noticed by now, you simply take the verb or noun used in the question to form the correct answer.

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