Learn how to use the verbs kunne and måtte to ask about ability or for permission
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gina: Hello and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 12, This Danish Dish is Called What?! I’m Gina. |
| Anna: Hej! And I’m Anna. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the verbs kunne and måtte to ask about ability, or for permission. |
| Gina: This is important to know when you’re starting a new language. So let’s get started! |
| Anna: Ok! The conversation takes place in an apartment and is between Emma, Peter, and William. |
| Gina: The speakers are friends, and they’re using standard Danish. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Let's listen to the conversation. |
| Emma: Kan du lide maden? |
| Peter: Ja, det kan jeg. |
| William: Kan du fortælle Emma, hvad vi spiste i går? |
| Peter: Beklager, jeg kan ikke huske navnet på retten. Må jeg få navnet igen? |
| William: Forloren hare. |
| Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Emma: Kan du lide maden? |
| Peter: Ja, det kan jeg. |
| William: Kan du fortælle Emma, hvad vi spiste i går? |
| Peter: Beklager, jeg kan ikke huske navnet på retten. Må jeg få navnet igen? |
| William: Forloren hare. |
| Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Emma: Kan du lide maden? |
| Emma: Do you like the food? |
| Peter: Ja, det kan jeg. |
| Peter: Yes, I do. |
| William: Kan du fortælle Emma, hvad vi spiste i går? |
| William: Can you tell Emma what we ate yesterday? |
| Peter: Beklager, jeg kan ikke huske navnet på retten. Må jeg få navnet igen? |
| Peter: Sorry, I can't remember the name of the dish. May I have the name again? |
| William: Forloren hare. |
| William: Forloren hare (name of a Danish dish). |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gina: In this lesson, we’ll continue with our exploration of Danish food culture... |
| Anna: A lot of traditional Danish dishes have weird names. |
| Gina: I remember the one from the previous lesson, which literally means “burning love.” |
| Anna: Right, it was brændende kærlighed - Mashed potatoes with fried onion and bacon. Another dish with a weird name is forloren hare. |
| Gina: I hope it’s not actually a "false hare"... |
| Anna: No, it’s a meat loaf. There’s also benløse fugle, which literally means “boneless birds.” |
| Gina: So it’s made with chicken? |
| Anna: Not at all! It’s shreds of fat or bacon wrapped in beef. |
| Gina: What about the name of that casserole? |
| Anna: You mean skipperlabskovs? That can’t be translated! But it’s a casserole with potatoes, bacon, bay leaves, and peppercorns. |
| Gina: Sounds delicious and simple to make. |
| Anna: It is. And Danes usually eat it with a piece of rye bread. |
| Gina: Great. |
| VOCAB |
| Gina: Now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is |
| Anna: kunne |
| Gina: be able to, can, may, know how to, know |
| Anna: (SLOW) kunne, kunne |
| Next: |
| Anna: fortælle |
| Gina: tell |
| Anna: (SLOW) fortælle, fortælle |
| Next: |
| Anna: spise |
| Gina: eat |
| Anna: (SLOW) spise, spise |
| Next: |
| Anna: i går |
| Gina: yesterday |
| Anna: (SLOW) i går, i går |
| Next: |
| Anna: beklage |
| Gina: regret, be sorry |
| Anna: (SLOW) beklage, beklage |
| Next: |
| Anna: huske |
| Gina: remember, recollect, recall |
| Anna: (SLOW) huske, huske |
| Next: |
| Anna: navnet på retten |
| Gina: the name of the dish |
| Anna: (SLOW) navnet på retten, navnet på retten |
| Next: |
| Anna: måtte |
| Gina: may, can, must, have to, be bound to |
| Anna: (SLOW) måtte, måtte |
| Next: |
| Anna: igen |
| Gina: again, back |
| Anna: (SLOW) igen, igen |
| Next: |
| Anna: ikke |
| Gina: not, no |
| Anna: (SLOW) ikke, ikke |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gina: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Anna, what do we have first? |
| Anna: First we have i går. |
| Gina: This is equivalent to the English noun “yesterday,” which is used the same way in Danish as it is in English. |
| Anna: So it's very straightforward and easy to use. I går [pause] i går. |
| Gina: What do we have next? |
| Anna: Next we have the verb beklage. |
| Gina: This means “regret” or “be sorry.” |
| Anna: Beklage. |
| Gina: What can you tell us about this verb? |
| Anna: It's mainly used in its present tense form and without a personal pronoun. |
| Gina: But you're still expressing that you are sorry about something, right? |
| Anna: Yes, even though there's no personal pronoun. |
| Gina: You'll most likely hear this from people working in stores, if they are out of something you want to buy. Then they say… |
| Anna: Beklager. |
| Gina: “Sorry.” |
| Anna: You might also hear Jeg beklager meget, which is an example with the personal pronoun “I.” |
| Gina: This means “I’m very sorry.” |
| Anna: Jeg beklager meget. |
| Gina: What do we have next? |
| Anna: Next we have navnet på retten. |
| Gina: This means “the name of the dish.” |
| Anna: The phrase is composed of the neuter gender noun navnet with the definite suffix -et, the adverb or preposition på, which in this case means “of,” and the common gender noun retten with the definite suffix -en. |
| Gina: Which gives us… |
| Anna: Navnet på retten. |
| Gina: The latter noun retten can be replaced with any other noun like in English. |
| Anna: That’s right! |
| Gina: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Anna: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the verbs kunne and måtte to ask about ability and for permission. In Danish, you can use the verb kunne to ask about ability. |
| Gina: The word means “be able to” or “can” and is used together with another verb in infinitive form or dictionary form, which refers to the ability you're asking about. |
| Anna: Yes. For example, when asking someone if they can play poker, you say Kan du spille poker? [pause] Kan du spille poker? |
| Gina: This means “Can you play poker?” as in “Are you able to play poker?” or “ Do you know how to play poker?” |
| Anna: Kan is the present tense form of the verb kunne, du is the second-person personal pronoun “you,” spille is the infinitive form of the verb “play,” and poker means… Well, “poker.” |
| Gina: So the verb is basically used the same way as in English. |
| Anna: Just remember the sentence structure...kan followed by a personal pronoun, a verb in infinitive form referring to the ability you are asking about, and a noun if necessary. |
| Gina: Great. So how do you ask for permission to do something? |
| Anna: Well, the verb måtte has several meanings, but in this case it means “may” or “can.” |
| Gina: If I want to ask for permission to borrow your pen, what should I say? |
| Anna: Then you should say Må jeg låne din kuglepen? [pause] Må jeg låne din kuglepen? |
| Gina: This means “May I borrow your pen?” or “Can I borrow your pen?” |
| Anna: Yes. The sentence structure is the same as with the verb kunne. |
| Gina: I see. So you have… |
| Anna: The verb må in present tense, a personal pronoun, a verb in infinitive form, and a noun if it’s applicable. |
| Gina: Great. What else can you tell us about this grammar point? |
| Anna: By adding the adverb ikke, which means “not,” after the personal pronoun, you can indicate that you either assume, or don’t assume that someone is able to do something. |
| Gina: So how do you know which one? |
| Anna: It depends on your tone. |
| Gina: Ah, I see. |
| Anna: Ikke can also indicate that you would rather do one thing over another. |
Outro |
|---|
| Gina: Okay, listeners, that’s all for this lesson. |
| Anna: Make sure to check out the lesson notes for more examples and information on the verbs kunne and måtte. |
| Gina: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Anna: Vi ses! |
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