Learn how to ask and answer what something is
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gina: Hello and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner season 1, lesson 7, Give in to Your Curiosity and Ask “What's This?” in Danish. I’m Gina. |
| Anna: Hej! And I’m Anna. |
| Gina: In this lesson you’ll learn how to ask and answer what something is. |
| Anna: Asking and answering what something is helps you to expand your vocabulary, practice listening, and speak Danish. |
| Gina: Let’s get started! |
| Anna: The conversation takes place at someone’s home and is between a parent and a child. |
| Gina: The speakers are a mother and son, and they are speaking standard Danish. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Let's listen to the conversation. |
| Mother: Sikke en fin tegning! Hvad er det? |
| Son: Det er en zoologisk have. |
| Mother: Hvad forestiller det der? |
| Son: Det er en elefant. |
| Mother: Okay. Hvad med den der? |
| Son: Det er jo en abe, mor! |
| Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mother: Sikke en fin tegning! Hvad er det? |
| Son: Det er en zoologisk have. |
| Mother: Hvad forestiller det der? |
| Son: Det er en elefant. |
| Mother: Okay. Hvad med den der? |
| Son: Det er jo en abe, mor! |
| Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Mother: Sikke en fin tegning! Hvad er det? |
| Mother: What a nice drawing! What is it? |
| Son: Det er en zoologisk have. |
| Son: It's a zoo. |
| Mother: Hvad forestiller det der? |
| Mother: What is this meant to be? |
| Son: Det er en elefant. |
| Son: It's an elephant. |
| Mother: Okay. Hvad med den der? |
| Mother: Okay. How about that one? |
| Son: Det er jo en abe, mor! |
| Son: (Don’t you see) that is a monkey, mom! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gina: Okay, so what can you tell us about asking questions in Denmark, Anna? |
| Anna: Hmm… First, you need to know that Danes may come off as a bit reserved and not really approachable. |
| Gina: I can imagine that’s because it’s so cold most of the time. I mean, especially when outside, I would want to get from A to B as quickly as possible, too. |
| Anna: (laughs) Perhaps, but nevertheless you should not hesitate to ask random people on the street about what something is. They will be more than happy to answer as best they can. |
| Gina: But what if you don’t understand the answer you get in Danish? |
| Anna: Well, most Danes speak sufficient English, so don’t worry too much about that. |
| Gina: Great! |
| VOCAB |
| Gina: Now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is |
| Anna: sikke |
| Gina: what, some |
| Anna: (SLOW) sikke, sikke |
| Next: |
| Anna: tegning |
| Gina: drawing |
| Anna: (SLOW) tegning, tegning |
| Next: |
| Anna: hvad er det |
| Gina: what is it?, what is this?, what is that? |
| Anna: (SLOW) hvad er det, hvad er det |
| Next: |
| Anna: det er |
| Gina: it is, this is, that is |
| Anna: (SLOW) det er, det er |
| Next: |
| Anna: zoologisk have |
| Gina: zoo |
| Anna: (SLOW) zoologisk have, zoologisk have |
| Next: |
| Anna: hvad forestiller det |
| Gina: what is it meant to be?, what is this meant to be?, what is that meant to be? |
| Anna: (SLOW) hvad forestiller det, hvad forestiller det |
| Next: |
| Anna: elefant |
| Gina: elephant |
| Anna: (SLOW) elefant, elefant |
| Next: |
| Anna: hvad med |
| Gina: what about, how about |
| Anna: (SLOW) hvad med, hvad med |
| Next: |
| Anna: abe |
| Gina: monkey, ape |
| Anna: (SLOW) abe, abe |
| Next: |
| Anna: jo |
| Gina: already, after all, the, yes |
| Anna: (SLOW) jo, jo |
| 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 Hvad forestiller det? |
| Gina: It means “What is it, this, or that meant to be?” and is a way of asking more technically what something is, for example, in relation to arts and crafts. |
| Anna: Next is Hvad med. |
| Gina: This means “What about” or “How about.” This is either followed by an indefinite article and a noun, a noun with a definite suffix, a personal pronoun in the oblique case, a possessive pronoun and at least one noun, by an action, or something else. This may seem overwhelming, but it's used the same way in Danish as "what about" is in English. |
| Anna: Yes, that’s right. |
| Gina: What’s next? |
| Anna: Next is jo. |
| Gina: As an interjection or noun it means “yes.” |
| Anna: It’s a more casual version of ja, but it can also be used to express doubt and uncertainty. |
| Gina: For example, if someone wants you to confirm something, you can use jo because it sounds less certain, right? |
| Anna: Correct! But on the other hand, if you say it like this jo, then it can also mean “ofcourse” or “obviously.” |
| Gina: Can you give us some examples? |
| Anna: Jo can be used as an adverb or conjunction in Du har jo set filmen før, which means “You have already watched the movie.” |
| Gina: And… |
| Anna: Men det er jo min bedste ven, which means “But this is my best friend, after all.” |
| Gina: It can also mean “the” in the expression “the sooner the better.” |
| Anna: Exactly! And finally, jo can also be used to express that you find something very obvious. For example, Han har jo ingen penge, meaning something like “(Don’t you see) he doesn’t have any money.” |
| Gina: So, it’s when something is obvious to you but not to the person you’re talking to? |
| Anna: Obviously, (laughs). |
| Gina: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gina: In this lesson you will learn how to ask and answer what something is. Anna, can you tell us how to ask about what something is in Danish? |
| Anna: Hvad er (...)? |
| Gina: In English, this means “What is (...)?,” so it’s a very straightforward sentence structure that is easy to use. |
| Anna: That’s right. First, you have the pronoun hvad, and secondly the verb er, which is the present tense form of “to be,” or være in Danish. |
| Gina: If we add the pronoun det to the sentence, you are literally asking “What is it?,” “What is this?,” or “What is that?” |
| Anna: Yes, Hvad er det? can be used when referring to the object, item, or phenomenon you are asking about as det, or “it.” |
| Gina: So how do we answer this question? |
| Anna: We do that by saying Det er (...)? which means “It is (...),” “This is (...),” or “That is (...).” |
| Gina: Once again, the pronoun det refers to whatever you were asking about. |
| Anna: And now, you're ready to add the noun or description that matches the object in question. |
| Gina: Let’s hear it one more time. |
| Anna: Det er (...). |
| Gina: Great. What else can you tell us about these useful phrases? |
| Anna: Well, like in English, you can specify your question by adding a subject at the end of the phrase Hvad er (...)? |
| Gina: Can you give us an example? |
| Anna: (laughs) sure! Hvad er fuldkornsbrød? |
| Gina: Which means… |
| Anna: “What is wholemeal bread?” |
| Gina: That’s really… Random. |
| Anna: Okay, here’s another one then. Hvad er navnet på det dyr? |
| Gina: Which means “What's the name of that animal?” Right? |
| Anna: You are absolutely spot on! |
Outro |
|---|
| Gina: So I guess that’s all for this lesson, huh, Anna… |
| Anna: Yes, but make sure to check out the lesson notes for more examples and Danish language tips! |
| Gina: We promise it’s worth your while! Until next time, listeners! |
| Anna: Hej hej! |
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