Learn how to talk about doing a habitual action using verbs in present tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gina: Hello and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner season 1, lesson 22, Talking About Your Habits in Danish. I’m Gina. |
| Anna: Hej! And I’m Anna. |
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about doing a habitual action using verbs in the present tense. |
| Anna: This would be something you do out of habit—for long periods, or for life. |
| Gina: So let’s get started! |
| Anna: The conversation takes place in William’s room and it’s between William and Peter. |
| Gina: The speakers are friends, and they’re speaking standard Danish. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| William: Drikker du sodavand? |
| Peter: Ja, jeg elsker sodavand! |
| William: Det gør jeg også. |
| Peter: Ser du amerikansk fodbold? |
| William: Nej, jeg ser Champions League. |
| Gina: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| William: Drikker du sodavand? |
| Peter: Ja, jeg elsker sodavand! |
| William: Det gør jeg også. |
| Peter: Ser du amerikansk fodbold? |
| William: Nej, jeg ser Champions League. |
| Gina: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| William: Drikker du sodavand? |
| Gina: Do you drink soda pop? |
| Peter: Ja, jeg elsker sodavand! |
| Gina: Yes, I love soda pop! |
| William: Det gør jeg også. |
| Gina: So do I. |
| Peter: Ser du amerikansk fodbold? |
| Gina: Do you watch American football? |
| William: Nej, jeg ser Champions League. |
| Gina: No, I watch Champions League. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gina: Okay, since Denmark is a soccer crazy nation, let’s talk a little about Danish sports bars. |
| Anna: Sure. Danish sports bars are quite similar to British or Irish pubs, so instead of sports bars, they're often just called pubs. |
| Gina: So this is where the Danes come together and watch soccer? |
| Anna: Many people do, because it’s much more fun to watch matches with other fans than on your own. |
| Gina: Agreed. Do they serve food there too? |
| Anna: Larger places serve meals, but usually you can only get snacks and beverages. |
| Gina: Sounds like a great place! |
| Anna: You won’t be bored! Besides happy hours, you might be able to attend karaoke nights, watch live music performances, or play pool or darts. |
| Gina: Are the staff British or Irish too? |
| Anna: Some staff members are. But Danes also work there. |
| Gina: Awesome, sounds like a fun place to go! Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Gina: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Anna: drikke [natural native speed] |
| Gina: drink |
| Anna: drikke [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: drikke [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Anna: du [natural native speed] |
| Gina: you |
| Anna: du [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: du [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Anna: sodavand [natural native speed] |
| Gina: fizzy drink, soda pop |
| Anna: sodavand [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: sodavand [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Anna: Ja. [natural native speed] |
| Gina: Yes. |
| Anna: Ja. [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: Ja. [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Anna: jeg [natural native speed] |
| Gina: I |
| Anna: jeg [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: jeg [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Anna: elske [natural native speed] |
| Gina: love |
| Anna: elske [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: elske [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Anna: gøre [natural native speed] |
| Gina: do, make |
| Anna: gøre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: gøre [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| Anna: også [natural native speed] |
| Gina: also, too, as well |
| Anna: også [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: også [natural native speed] |
| 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 have drikke. [pause] Drikke. |
| Gina: This is the verb “drink” and it’s used just like in English. |
| Anna: In present tense, it becomes drikker with the present tense -r at the end. In past tense, you change the vowel -i to -a so it becomes drak, and in past participle and past perfect you change the vowel to -u so it becomes drukket. |
| Gina: Can you repeat them for our listeners? |
| Anna: Sure. Drikker. |
| Gina: Which means “drink” or “drinks.” |
| Anna: Drak. |
| Gina: Which means “drank.” |
| Anna: And drukket. |
| Gina: Which means “drunk.” |
| Anna: Drikker. [pause] Drak. [pause] Drukket. Remember to use the auxiliary verb have in present tense with the past participle, so it becomes har drukket. [pause] Har drukket. |
| Gina: This means “have drunk” or “has drunk.” |
| Anna: With the past perfect it becomes havde drukket. [pause] Havde drukket. |
| Gina: This means “had drunk.” What’s next? |
| Anna: Sodavand. [pause] Sodavand. |
| Gina: This is the common gender noun “fizzy drink” or “soda pop.” |
| Anna: It’s also an uncountable or mass noun, so in the plural it’s also sodavand. |
| Gina: What about the definite plural form, “the fizzy drinks” or “the soda pops”? |
| Anna: That’s sodavandene. [pause] Sodavandene. |
| Gina: What’s next? |
| Anna: Gøre. [pause] Gøre. |
| Gina: This is the irregular verb “do” or “make.” So what is it in present tense? |
| Anna: Gør. [pause] Gør. |
| Gina: And in past tense? |
| Anna: Gjorde. [pause] Gjorde. |
| Gina: And in past participle and past perfect? |
| Anna: Gjort. [pause] Gjort. |
| Gina: The verb most commonly means “do,” right? |
| Anna: Yes, but it means “make” in phrases such as gøre et godt indtryk, which means “make a good impression.” |
| Gina: One more time please. |
| Anna: Gøre et godt indtryk. [pause] Gøre et godt indtryk. Breaking it down, Gøre means “make,” et is the indefinite article “a,” godt is the adjective “good” in t-form, and indtryk is the neuter gender noun “impression.” |
| Gina: Great! Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about doing a habitual action using verbs in the present tense. |
| Anna: Danes usually express habitual action by using verbs in the present tense. |
| Gina: Can you give us an example? |
| Anna: Jeg spiser stærk mad. [pause] Jeg spiser stærk mad. |
| Gina: This means “I eat spicy food.” |
| Anna: Breaking this down, Jeg means “I,” spiser is the verb “eat” in present tense, stærk means “spicy,” and mad means “food.” |
| Gina: In what other way can you talk about habitual actions? |
| Anna: You can use the verb pleje, which means “use to.” In present tense, it’s plejer. [pause] Plejer. |
| Gina: And to make sense in English, we translate it to the adverb “usually.” |
| Anna: You follow plejer with the infinitive marker at, or “to” in English, and then a verb in infinitive. |
| Gina: Can you give us an example? |
| Anna: Han plejer at sove over sig. [pause] Han plejer at sove over sig. |
| Gina: This means “He usually oversleeps.” |
| Anna: Breaking this down, Han means “he,” plejer means “usually,” though it’s a verb in Danish, at means “to,” and sove over sig means “oversleep.” |
| Gina: In English, the infinitive becomes present tense to make sense. |
| Anna: So even though sove over sig is the infinitive “oversleep,” in this case it’s “oversleeps” in English. |
| Gina: This part can be a bit tricky. So how do you talk about past habitual action? |
| Anna: When talking about something that is no longer a habit, you use verbs in past tense. |
| Gina: Can you give us an example? |
| Anna: Hun drak kun vand til maden i et år. [pause] Hun drak kun vand til maden i et år. |
| Gina: This means “She only drank water with her meals for a year.” |
| Anna: Hun means “she,” drak means “drank,” kun means “only,” vand means “water,” til means “with,” maden means “meals or the food,” i means “for,” et means “a,” and år means “year.” |
| Gina: You can emphasize that you’re talking about a habitual action in the past by adding an expression of time. |
| Anna: In this case it’s i et år, which means “for a year.” |
| Gina: Can you also just use that verb pleje in past tense? |
| Anna: Yes, because pleje means “use to,” so in past tense it becomes “used to.” |
| Gina: NOT “usually,” like when in present tense. But you still follow it with the infinitive marker at and then a verb in infinitive. For example… |
| Anna: Du plejede at løbe så hurtigt. [pause] Du plejede at løbe så hurtigt. |
| Gina: This means “You used to run so fast.” |
| Anna: Breaking it down, Du means “you,” plejede means “used to,” at løbe means “to run,” så means “so,” and hurtigt means “fast.” |
Outro |
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| Gina: Okay, listeners, that’s all for now. |
| Anna: Check out the lesson notes for more examples and information! |
| Gina: Until next time, thanks for listening. Bye! |
| Anna: Vi ses! |
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