Learn how to apologize
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gina: Hello and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner season 1, lesson 4 - It's Never Too Late to Apologize in Danish. I’m Gina. |
| Anna: Hej, I’m Anna. |
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apologize in Danish. |
| Anna: That’s right! Being able to say you're sorry in a new language is very important. |
| Gina: So let’s get to it! |
| Anna: The conversation takes place at a music venue and is between Emma and a stranger. |
| Gina: The speakers don’t know each other, but they're still speaking standard Danish. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Let's listen to the conversation. |
| Emma: Undskyld, må jeg komme forbi? |
| Stranger: Åh, undskyld. Står jeg i vejen? |
| Emma: Det gør ikke noget. Tak. |
| Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Emma: Undskyld, må jeg komme forbi? |
| Stranger: Åh, undskyld. Står jeg i vejen? |
| Emma: Det gør ikke noget. Tak. |
| Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Emma: Undskyld, må jeg komme forbi? |
| Emma: Excuse me, may I pass? |
| Stranger: Åh, undskyld. Står jeg i vejen? |
| Stranger: Oh, sorry. Am I in the way? |
| Emma: Det gør ikke noget. Tak. |
| Emma: That's alright. Thanks. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gina: Anna, tell us more about when to apologize in Denmark. |
| Anna: Danes usually apologize when accidentally bumping into people or stepping on someone’s toes and the like. |
| Gina: I think that’s a very universal rule. |
| Anna: Just like it is to apologize for being late or not showing up when expected. |
| Gina: I don’t think that’s necessary in all cultures. |
| Anna: You’re right about that, but it’s very normal for Danes to apologize for being late. |
| Gina: Any other situations we should know about? |
| Anna: Yes, for example, when you’re having dinner with people you want to make a good impression on and you accidentally burp, apologizing shows good manners. |
| Gina: It sounds… Kind of strict. |
| Anna: Well, people won’t make a big deal about it, if you don’t apologize. It depends on who you're with. |
| Gina: Phew, excellent! |
| VOCAB |
| Gina: Now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is |
| Anna: undskyld |
| Gina: sorry, pardon |
| Anna: (SLOW) undskyld, undskyld |
| Next: |
| Anna: må jeg komme forbi |
| Gina: may I pass? |
| Anna: (SLOW) må jeg komme forbi, må jeg komme forbi |
| Next: |
| Anna: åh |
| Gina: oh |
| Anna: (SLOW) åh, åh |
| Next: |
| Anna: i vejen |
| Gina: in the way |
| Anna: (SLOW) i vejen, i vejen |
| Next: |
| Anna: det gør ikke noget |
| Gina: that’s/it’s alright, it doesn’t matter |
| Anna: (SLOW) det gør ikke noget, det gør ikke noget |
| Next: |
| Anna: tak |
| Gina: thank you, thanks |
| Anna: (SLOW) tak, tak |
| Next: |
| Anna: stå |
| Gina: stand |
| Anna: (SLOW) stå, stå |
| Next: |
| Anna: jeg |
| Gina: I |
| Anna: (SLOW) jeg, jeg |
| Next: |
| Anna: ikke |
| Gina: not, no |
| Anna: (SLOW) ikke, ikke |
| Next: |
| Anna: noget |
| Gina: some, any, something, anything |
| Anna: (SLOW) noget, noget |
| 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: First we have the interjection åh. |
| Gina: As you can probably guess, this means “oh.” |
| Anna: And it's used in the same way in Danish as "oh” is in English. |
| Gina: So it’s to express an exclamation? |
| Anna: Exactly. Danes often use åh in connection with the interjection ja, which means “yes," or the interjection nej, which means “no.” |
| Gina: Which gives us the phrases… |
| Anna: Åh, ja and Åh, nej. |
| Gina: (laughs), let’s have the next phrase. |
| Anna: I vejen. |
| Gina: This phrase means “in the way.” |
| Anna: Yes, but it can be used not only in terms of something or someone being in the way. |
| Gina: Right! It can also mean “wrong,” right? |
| Anna: That’s right! When i vejen is part of the phrase Hvad er der i vejen? or Er der noget i vejen?, it means “wrong.” |
| Gina: So how would you ask “What’s wrong?” |
| Anna: Hvad er der i vejen? |
| Gina: And “Is something wrong?” |
| Anna: Er der noget i vejen? |
| Gina: Great! What’s the next phrase? |
| Anna: Det gør ikke noget. |
| Gina: This phrase usually means “That’s alright” or “It’s alright,” but it can also mean “It doesn’t matter.” |
| Anna: It is composed of the pronoun det, which means “it,” gør, the present tense of the verb “to do” or “to make,” the adverb ikke, which means “not” or “no,” and the pronoun noget, which means “some,” “any,” “something,” or “anything.” |
| Gina: So the phrase literally means “It doesn’t something” or “It doesn’t anything,” which is completely nonsense in English. |
| Anna: Yes, and that’s why we say “It doesn’t matter” instead. |
| Gina: I see. Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say “sorry.” |
| Anna: In Danish, “sorry” is undskyld. |
| Gina: The interjection is used in the same way as “sorry” is in English, so it's very straightforward to learn. |
| Anna: Undskyld is sometimes followed by the pronoun mig, which means “me.” This gives us the phrase Undskyld mig. |
| Gina: Which means “Excuse me” or “Pardon me.” |
| Anna: Danes often leave out mig and only say Undskyld, though. |
| Gina: Even if they mean to say “Excuse me”? |
| Anna: Yes. For example, when you want to pass someone, or if you want to get someone’s attention, you only need to say Undskyld. |
| Gina: So when should you use the version with mig? |
| Anna: Danes usually use that phrase when they want to apologize or excuse themselves, before making a statement that might not be received well by everyone who is present. |
| Gina: You mean during a discussion or something like that? |
| Anna: Yes, some say Undskyld mig before cutting into a conversation or discussion in order to get themselves heard and share their opinion. |
| Gina: You can also use it if you have to leave the table during a meal. |
| Anna: That’s right. |
| Gina: Can you tell us a bit about undskyld as a verb? |
| Anna: Sure. Now, we know that undskyld is an interjection, but as you'll learn, the verb undskylde, which means “to apologize,” “excuse,” or “forgive,” resembles the interjection quite a lot. |
| Gina: We basically just added an -e to the word. |
| Anna: But this doesn’t mean that you can turn any interjection into a verb by adding an -e in Danish. |
| Gina: That’s right, it only works for this one. Let’s have an example with the verb version. |
| Anna: By saying Det må du undskylde, you are kind of emphasizing how sorry you truly are. |
| Gina: The phrase literally means something like “That you must excuse,” but it's equivalent to “Sorry about that” or “Please excuse/forgive that.” |
| Anna: It's composed of the pronoun det, which means “it” or “that,” må the present tense of the verb “may” or “must,” the pronoun du, which means “you,” and the verb undskylde in infinitive form. |
| Gina: And if you want to specify your apology, you can say… |
| Anna: Jeg undskylder… followed by whatever you are sorry about. |
Outro |
|---|
| Gina: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Remember to check out the lesson notes and practice apologizing. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Anna: Vi ses! |
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