Learn how to use the verb ville to express wants and want-to-do's
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gina: Hello and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 14 - Do You Want Ice Cream With That in Denmark? I’m Gina. |
| Anna: Hej! And I’m Anna. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the verb ville to express that you want something or want to do something. |
| Gina: Being able to get yourself heard is important when you’re in a foreign country. So let’s get started! |
| Anna: The conversation takes place in an apartment and is between Emma, William, and Peter. |
| Gina: The speakers are friends, and they’re speaking standard Danish. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Let's listen to the conversation. |
| Emma: Vil du hjælpe mig med tallerknerne? |
| William: Ja, da. Det vil jeg gerne. |
| Emma: Vil I have is nu? |
| William and Peter: Ja, tak! |
| Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Emma: Vil du hjælpe mig med tallerknerne? |
| William: Ja, da. Det vil jeg gerne. |
| Emma: Vil I have is nu? |
| William and Peter: Ja, tak! |
| Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Emma: Vil du hjælpe mig med tallerknerne? |
| Emma: Would you help me with the plates? |
| William: Ja, da. Det vil jeg gerne. |
| William: Yes, sure, I will. |
| Emma: Vil I have is nu? |
| Emma: Do you want ice cream now? |
| William and Peter: Ja, tak! |
| William and Peter: Yes, please! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gina: Anna, can you tell us a little about Danish dormitory dining culture? |
| Anna: In Denmark, it’s very common for students living in dormitories to cook and eat together, because it’s a good way to socialize and save money on food. |
| Gina: So, they cram everyone together in one person’s room or…? |
| Anna: No, the larger dormitories have common rooms and kitchens, so they'll cook and eat there. |
| Gina: And who’s going to clean up then? |
| Anna: It’s customary to always clean up after yourself, but people usually take turns to cook and clean, if they are part of a common dining arrangement with others. |
| Gina: Not all students cook together, I suppose. |
| Anna: Right. But it’s a great way to get to know your neighbours, and you might even make lots of international friends and try food from their culture. |
| Gina: That sounds great! |
| VOCAB |
| Gina: Now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is |
| Anna: ville |
| Gina: will, shall, want to, would |
| Anna: (SLOW) ville, ville |
| Next: |
| Anna: hjælpe |
| Gina: help, assist, aid |
| Anna: (SLOW) hjælpe, hjælpe |
| Next: |
| Anna: med |
| Gina: with, by, in, along |
| Anna: (SLOW) med, med |
| Next: |
| Anna: tallerken |
| Gina: plate |
| Anna: (SLOW) tallerken, tallerken |
| Next: |
| Anna: ja da |
| Gina: yes sure, yes of course |
| Anna: (SLOW) ja da, ja da |
| Next: |
| Anna: is |
| Gina: ice cream, ice |
| Anna: (SLOW) is, is |
| Next: |
| Anna: nu |
| Gina: now, present moment |
| Anna: (SLOW) nu, nu |
| Next: |
| Anna: vil du hjælpe mig |
| Gina: would you help me? |
| Anna: (SLOW) vil du hjælpe mig, vil du hjælpe mig |
| Next: |
| Anna: det vil jeg gerne |
| Gina: I will |
| Anna: (SLOW) det vil jeg gerne, det vil jeg gerne |
| Next: |
| Anna: vil I have |
| Gina: do you want? |
| Anna: (SLOW) vil I have, vil I have |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gina: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Anna, what do we have first? |
| Anna: The first word is hjælpe [pause] Hjælpe. |
| Gina: This is a verb and means “help,” “assist,” or “aid” in English. |
| Anna: Yes, but the vowel -æ in hjælpe changes to an -a in past tense. |
| Gina: So if I want to say “I helped” it’s… |
| Anna: Jeg hjalp [pause] Jeg hjalp. The first word jeg is the pronoun “I,” and the second word is hjælpe in past tense. |
| Gina: How do you say it in present tense? |
| Anna: To make the present tense form you simply add -r to the infinitive form as usual, so it becomes hjælper [pause] Hjælper. |
| Gina: Excellent! Remember, listeners, that the -h is silent when it’s followed by a -j. |
| Anna: Yes, you pronounce hjælpe as ‘jælpe, not hjælpe with an emphasis on -j. |
| Gina: Great. What’s next? |
| Anna: Next is the phrase Ja, da, which means something like “Yes, sure” or “Yes, of course.” |
| Gina: Instead of simply saying “yes,” you can express that it’s a given by adding da. |
| Anna: For example, if someone has asked if it's okay to do something, you can reply Ja, da to express “Yes, of course, it’s okay” or it's more than okay to do it. |
| Gina: Let’s hear it again. |
| Anna: Ja, da [pause] Ja, da. |
| Gina: Great. What do we have next? |
| Anna: Next we have the common gender noun is. |
| Gina: This can refer to both "ice cream" and just "ice." |
| Anna: Yes, and you make the definite form by adding -en to the end of the word, so it becomes isen [pause] Isen. |
| Gina: And how do you say “an ice cream”? |
| Anna: En is [pause] En is. |
| Gina: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the verb ville. |
| Anna: You can use ville to express what you want or what you want to do. |
| Gina: It has several meanings, but in this lesson, we'll use the meaning “want to.” |
| Anna: If you want a cup of coffee, for example, you say Jeg vil have en kop kaffe [pause] Jeg vil have en kop kaffe. |
| Gina: Which means “I want a cup of coffee” or “I want to have a cup of coffee.” |
| Anna: The first word jeg is the pronoun “I,” vil is ville in present tense form, but it's also categorized as a Danish modal verb. |
| Gina: Modal verbs are usually followed by a verb in infinitive form, which was also the case here. |
| Anna: That’s right. After vil we say have, which is the verb “have” in infinitive form. Together vil have means “want.” |
| Gina: And finally, en kop kaffe means “a cup of coffee.” |
| Anna: So that gives us Jeg vil have en kop kaffe. |
| Gina: This sounds a bit… Demanding, doesn’t it? |
| Anna: It does, and that’s why Danes add the adverb gerne after the modal verb vil. Gerne makes your tone sound softer and less like a kid demanding something. |
| Gina: So if we use the sentence from before, it becomes… |
| Anna: Jeg vil gerne have en kop kaffe [pause] Jeg vil gerne have en kop kaffe. |
| Gina: In English it still means “I want a cup of coffee,” but now it’s closer to “I would like a cup of coffee,” which sounds more polite. |
| Anna: Right. This also goes for sentences in which you express what you want to do. |
| Gina: Can you give us an example? |
| Anna: Jeg vil gerne spise kage [pause] Jeg vil gerne spise kage. |
| Gina: This means “I want to eat cake” or “I would like to eat cake.” |
| Anna: Jeg means “I,” vil gerne means “would like to,” spise is the verb “eat” in infinitive form, and kage means “cake.” |
| Gina: So what if you don’t want something, or don’t want to do something? |
| Anna: Then you can add the adverb ikke instead of gerne in the sentence. Ikke means “not.” |
| Gina: And what if you don’t want to eat cake, which is highly unlikely though... |
| Anna: (laughs) In that case, you say Jeg vil ikke spise kage [pause] Jeg vil ikke spise kage. |
Outro |
|---|
| Gina: Okay, listeners, that’s all for now. Be sure to check out the lesson notes for more examples and info on this lesson’s grammar. And you can always leave us a comment at DanishClass101.com. |
| Anna: Yes, we’re happy to help! |
| Gina: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Anna: Hej hej! |
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