Learn how to talk about age
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gina: Hello and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner season 1, lesson 17, It Doesn't Always Take Ages to Find Out How Old Someone Is in Denmark! I’m Gina. |
| Anna: Hej! And I’m Anna. |
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about age. |
| Anna: Knowing how to ask someone their age and telling them your age are equally important. |
| Gina: So let’s get started! The conversation takes place at William’s parents’ house, and it’s between Louise, Peter, and William. |
| Anna: The speakers know each other well or are related, and they’re speaking standard Danish. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Let's listen to the conversation. |
| Louise: Hej Peter. |
| Peter: Hej... |
| William: Louise, hvor gammel er det nu, du er? |
| Louise: Jeg er ti år gammel. |
| Peter: Jeg har også en søster. |
| Louise: Hvor gammel er hun? |
| Peter: Hun er ni. |
| Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Louise: Hej Peter. |
| Peter: Hej... |
| William: Louise, hvor gammel er det nu, du er? |
| Louise: Jeg er ti år gammel. |
| Peter: Jeg har også en søster. |
| Louise: Hvor gammel er hun? |
| Peter: Hun er ni. |
| Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Louise: Hej Peter. |
| Louise: Hi Peter. |
| Peter: Hej... |
| Peter: Hi... |
| William: Louise, hvor gammel er det nu, du er? |
| William: Louise, how old are you, again? |
| Louise: Jeg er ti år gammel. |
| Louise: I'm ten years old. |
| Peter: Jeg har også en søster. |
| Peter: I also have a sister. |
| Louise: Hvor gammel er hun? |
| Louise: How old is she? |
| Peter: Hun er ni. |
| Peter: She's nine. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gina: Okay, Anna, what can you tell us about Danish families? |
| Anna: Traditional nuclear families still make up the majority, but there are more single-parent and extended families now than ever before. |
| Gina: So many Danes have step-brothers and step-sisters? |
| Anna: Yes, or half-brothers and half-sisters, depending on whether or not one or both of their parents have children with their new partners. |
| Gina: I can imagine that there are some big families out there. |
| Anna: Yes, and that’s why some call their new siblings bonus-brothers and bonus-sisters instead of the usual terms. They’ve gained something extra. |
| Gina: How nice! |
| Anna: Isn’t it? |
| Gina: (laughs) Ok, what else can you tell us? |
| Anna: Some families consist of two parents of the same sex and one or more children. |
| Gina: Can same-sex couples get married in Denmark? |
| Anna: Yes, both at city hall and in a church. |
| Gina: I see. |
| VOCAB |
| Gina: Now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is |
| Anna: hvor gammel |
| Gina: how old |
| Anna: (SLOW) hvor gammel, hvor gammel |
| Next: |
| Anna: være |
| Gina: be |
| Anna: (SLOW) være, være |
| Next: |
| Anna: jeg er |
| Gina: I am |
| Anna: (SLOW) jeg er, jeg er |
| Next: |
| Anna: ti |
| Gina: ten |
| Anna: (SLOW) ti, ti |
| Next: |
| Anna: år |
| Gina: year |
| Anna: (SLOW) år, år |
| Next: |
| Anna: gammel |
| Gina: old |
| Anna: (SLOW) gammel, gammel |
| Next: |
| Anna: også |
| Gina: also, too, as well |
| Anna: (SLOW) også, også |
| Next: |
| Anna: søster |
| Gina: sister |
| Anna: (SLOW) søster, søster |
| Next: |
| Anna: hun |
| Gina: she, female |
| Anna: (SLOW) hun, hun |
| Next: |
| Anna: ni |
| Gina: nine |
| Anna: (SLOW) ni, ni |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gina: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s first? |
| Anna: First we’re going to talk about the verb være. |
| Gina: In English, this is the verb “be.” In present tense, it’s conjugated... |
| Anna: Er [pause] Er. |
| Gina: In English, this means “am,” “is,” or “are.” In past tense, the verb is conjugated... |
| Anna: Var [pause] Var. |
| Gina: In English, this means “was” or “were.” In present perfect, the verb is conjugated… |
| Anna: Har været [pause] Har været. |
| Gina: In English, this means “have been” or “has been.” And in past perfect, the verb is conjugated… |
| Anna: Havde været [pause] Havde været. |
| Gina: In English, this means “had been.” The verb is conjugated the same in any person and any number, so it’s not as hard to learn as the conjugation of the English “be” is for some. Ok, what’s next? |
| Anna: Også [pause] Også. |
| Gina: This is an adverb and means “also,” “too,” and “as well.” |
| Anna: Yes, and it’s used the same way in Danish as in English. |
| Gina: Can you give us an example anyway? |
| Anna: Sure. Også mig [pause] Også mig. This means “also me,” me, too,” or “me as well.” |
| Gina: Great. What’s our last word? |
| Anna: Søster [pause] Søster. |
| Gina: This is the common gender noun “sister.” |
| Anna: If you add the prefix store-, the word becomes storesøster. |
| Gina: This means “big sister.” Let’s hear it one more time. |
| Anna: Storesøster. If you add the prefix lille-, the word becomes lillesøster. |
| Gina: This means “little sister,” of course. |
| Anna: Lillesøster. |
| Gina: Can you do the same with “brother”? |
| Anna: Yes. “Brother” in Danish is bror [pause] Bror. |
| Gina: Got it! Okay, now let’s move on to the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about age. So, Anna, how do you ask someone how old they are, in Danish? |
| Anna: Hvor gammel er du? [pause] Hvor gammel er du? |
| Gina: This literally means “How old are you?” |
| Anna: Hvor is the adverb “how,” gammel is the adjective “old,” er is the verb “be” in present tense, and du is the pronoun “you.” |
| Gina: So, how do you answer this question? |
| Anna: If you’re 18, you can say Jeg er atten år gammel. [pause] Jeg er atten år gammel. |
| Gina: This literally means “I am eighteen years old.” |
| Anna: Breaking this down, Jeg means “I,” er is the verb “be” in present tense, atten is the number “eighteen,” år means “years,” and gammel means “old.” |
| Gina: Are there other options? |
| Anna: You can leave out år gammel, and just say Jeg er atten. [pause] Jeg er atten. |
| Gina: How about “18”? |
| Anna: You mean just the number? |
| Gina: I do! |
| Anna: Sure. If you want to make your answer short, you can just say Atten. [pause] Atten. |
| Gina: What if you want to ask someone about a third person’s age? |
| Anna: Then you can replace the pronoun du with a different pronoun. |
| Gina: So how do you ask “How old is he?” |
| Anna: Hvor gammel er han? [pause] Hvor gammel er han? The last word han is the pronoun “he.” |
| Gina: What if you want to ask about more than one person’s age? For example, “How old are they?” |
| Anna: Then, you say Hvor gamle er de? [pause] Hvor gamle er de? |
| Gina: Incidentally, with this question, if you don’t change the noun, the phrase becomes the formal version of “How old are you?” Ok, so the last word is the pronoun “they,” but what happened to the adjective? |
| Anna: When the adjective gammel is used to describe pronouns or nouns in the plural, it changes to its e-form. |
| Gina: To create the e-form you add an -e to the adjective, right? |
| Anna: That’s right. Gammel, however, is an exception. It becomes gamle. |
| Gina: That’s right. If you use a noun instead of a pronoun, remember to change the form of the adjective according to the gender of the noun, and change the noun to its definite form. Can you give us an example? |
| Anna: Hvor gammelt er barnet? [pause] Hvor gammelt er barnet? |
| Gina: This means “How old is the child?” |
| Anna: The adjective is in its t-form, gammelt; and barnet means “the child.” |
| Gina: Which form of the adjective do you use with common gender nouns? |
| Anna: You use the basic form. |
Outro |
|---|
| Gina: Well listeners, that’s all for this lesson. |
| Anna: Check out the lesson notes for more examples and info! |
| Gina: Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Anna: Vi ses! |
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