Learn how to make a restaurant reservation and use modal verbs
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| Beginner Season 1 Lesson 10 - Reserving a Table at a Danish Restaurant |
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 10 - Reserving a Table at a Danish Restaurant. Eric here. |
| Anna: Hej! I'm Anna. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to confirm and make a reservation in Danish. The conversation takes place at a restaurant counter. |
| Anna: It's between Alexander and Benedikte. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Alexander: Hej, jeg vil gerne tjekke min reservation til på torsdag. |
| Benedikte: Ja, må jeg bede om dit navn? |
| Alexander: Alexander Pedersen. Jeg ringede i forgårs. |
| Benedikte: Det var et bord til to personer i sofaloungen? |
| Alexander: Nej, jeg reserverede et vinduesbord til fire personer plus en barnestol til klokken syv. |
| Benedikte: Åh, det må du undskylde. Her er din reservation. |
| Alexander: Kan jeg ændre reservationen til klokken otte? |
| Benedikte: Ja, det kan jeg ordne med det samme. |
| Alexander: Mange tak for hjælpen. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Alexander: Hej, jeg vil gerne tjekke min reservation til på torsdag. |
| Benedikte: Ja, må jeg bede om dit navn? |
| Alexander: Alexander Pedersen. Jeg ringede i forgårs. |
| Benedikte: Det var et bord til to personer i sofaloungen? |
| Alexander: Nej, jeg reserverede et vinduesbord til fire personer plus en barnestol til klokken syv. |
| Benedikte: Åh, det må du undskylde. Her er din reservation. |
| Alexander: Kan jeg ændre reservationen til klokken otte? |
| Benedikte: Ja, det kan jeg ordne med det samme. |
| Alexander: Mange tak for hjælpen. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Alexander: Hej, jeg vil gerne tjekke min reservation til på torsdag. |
| Alexander: Hi, I would like to check my reservation for Thursday. |
| Benedikte: Ja, må jeg bede om dit navn? |
| Benedikte: Yes, may I have your name, please? |
| Alexander: Alexander Pedersen. Jeg ringede i forgårs. |
| Alexander: Alexander Pedersen. I called the day before yesterday. |
| Benedikte: Det var et bord til to personer i sofaloungen? |
| Benedikte: It was a table for two people in the sofa lounge? |
| Alexander: Nej, jeg reserverede et vinduesbord til fire personer plus en barnestol til klokken syv. |
| Alexander: No, I booked a window table for four people plus a high chair for 7 o'clock. |
| Benedikte: Åh, det må du undskylde. Her er din reservation. |
| Benedikte: Oh, please excuse me. Here is your reservation. |
| Alexander: Kan jeg ændre reservationen til klokken otte? |
| Alexander: Can I change the reservation to 8 o'clock? |
| Benedikte: Ja, det kan jeg ordne med det samme. |
| Benedikte: Yes, I can take care of that immediately. |
| Alexander: Mange tak for hjælpen. |
| Alexander: Thank you very much for the help. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Anna, I know that many Danes consider birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and work or school-related achievements as special occasions to be celebrated. |
| Anna: That’s true. These celebrations usually take place either at home or at a restaurant. If presents are involved, they are either brought along to the restaurant to be opened there, or taken home to be unwrapped afterward. |
| Eric: Because of this custom, many restaurants have small flags to place on customers' tables for special occasions. |
| Anna: Exactly. Some people even call in advance to make sure a flag is on their table when they arrive. |
| Eric: Okay. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Anna: at tjekke [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to check |
| Anna: at tjekke [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at tjekke [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: reservation [natural native speed] |
| Eric: reservation, booking |
| Anna: reservation [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: reservation [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: navn [natural native speed] |
| Eric: name |
| Anna: navn [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: navn [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at ringe [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to call |
| Anna: at ringe [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at ringe [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: i forgårs [natural native speed] |
| Eric: the day before yesterday |
| Anna: i forgårs [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: i forgårs [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: bord [natural native speed] |
| Eric: table |
| Anna: bord [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: bord [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at reservere [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to reserve, to book |
| Anna: at reservere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at reservere [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: vinduesbord [natural native speed] |
| Eric: window table |
| Anna: vinduesbord [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: vinduesbord [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: barnestol [natural native speed] |
| Eric: high chair |
| Anna: barnestol [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: barnestol [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Anna: at ændre [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to change |
| Anna: at ændre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at ændre [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Anna: i forgårs |
| Eric: which means “the day before yesterday.” |
| Anna: i can either be an adverb or a preposition, so it has several meanings. |
| Eric: It can mean “in,” “into,” “on,” “for,” “at,” or “to.” |
| Anna: Forgårs is a noun that means “before yesterday.” The noun forgårs does not make much sense without i. |
| Eric: So if you want to say “the day before yesterday,” you should always use the fixed phrase... |
| Anna: i forgårs. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Anna: Sure. De spiste sammen i forgårs. |
| Eric: “They ate together the day before yesterday.” Okay, what's the next word? |
| Anna: vinduesbord |
| Eric: “window table.” |
| Anna: Vinduesbord is mostly used to talk about a table by the window in a restaurant. Vindue |
| Eric: means “window,” and the noun |
| Anna: bord |
| Eric: means “table.” |
| Anna: So, the noun vinduesbord is a compound word. |
| Eric: The -s in the middle that combines the two nouns is a so-called joint-s. But listeners, please note that not all nouns can be combined with an -s. |
| Anna: Right. Some are combined with an -e and others don't need another letter to become a compound word. |
| Eric: Okay. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Anna: Vi reserverer altid vinduesbordet. |
| Eric: “We always book the window table.” Okay, what's the last word? |
| Anna: barnestol |
| Eric: which means “high chair.” The noun |
| Anna: barn |
| Eric: means “child,” and the noun |
| Anna: stol |
| Eric: means “chair.” So you can use this word to talk about a high chair for a baby or child at a restaurant. |
| Anna: You could also use the word højstol, which literally means “high chair.” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Anna: Okay. Pigen er for stor til en barnestol. |
| Eric: “The girl is too big for a high chair.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to confirm and make a reservation in Danish. |
| Anna: We will also review the present and past tenses. |
| Eric: Let’s begin with the present tense. As you know, in Danish it’s used to express that an action, event, or condition takes place regularly or is valid now or in the future. |
| Anna: To form the present tense, we normally add the ending -r to the infinitive form of a verb. |
| Eric: Unless it’s an irregular verb. For example, in the dialogue we heard... |
| Anna: Her er din reservation. |
| Eric: “Here is your reservation.” |
| Anna: In this case, the irregular verb at være meaning “to be” has been conjugated in the present tense and becomes er, which means “is” or “are.” |
| Eric: Okay, let’s see an example using a regular verb - |
| Anna: Jeg reserverer et bord. |
| Eric: “I am booking a table.” |
| Anna: The present tense ending -r has been added to the infinitive form of the regular verb reservere. So it becomes - reserverer |
| Eric: Now let’s briefly review the past tense. |
| Anna: In Danish, the past tense is normally formed by adding the ending -ede or -te to the base form of a verb. |
| Eric: For example… |
| Anna: Jeg ringede i forgårs. |
| Eric: “I called the day before yesterday.” |
| Anna: In this case, the regular verb at ringe meaning “to call” has been conjugated in the past tense and became ringede, meaning “called.” |
| Eric: Here’s another example. |
| Anna: Han bestilte en flaske vin. |
| Eric: “He ordered a bottle of wine.” |
| Anna: This time we’ve added the ending -te to the base form of the verb at bestille meaning “to order” to form the past tense - bestilte - “ordered.” |
| Eric: Let’s hear one last example - |
| Anna: De ændrede reservationen. |
| Eric: “They changed the reservation.” |
| Anna: at ændre - “to change” become ændrede - “changed.” |
| Eric: Anna, speaking of reservations, how do you make a reservation in Danish? |
| Anna: Ah yes, this is our second grammar point. Let’s take a look at some common phrases used for this purpose. |
| Eric: Ok, the first phrase is… |
| Anna: Jeg vil gerne reservere… |
| Eric: which means “I would like to book…” |
| Anna: Jeg means “I,” vil gerne means “would like to,” and reservere means “book” or “reserve.” Jeg vil gerne reservere… |
| Eric: To complete this phrase, you would have to say what it is that you’re trying to book. |
| Anna: Right. You can add any noun, for example - et bord, |
| Eric: “a table” |
| Anna: en plads |
| Eric: “a seat” |
| Anna: et værelse |
| Eric: “a room.” This same sentence structure can be used to say |
| Anna: Jeg vil gerne bestille… |
| Eric: “I would like to order…” |
| Anna: Here, we just changed the verb to bestille, meaning “order.” |
| Eric: Which can also be used to reserve something. |
| Eric: Another way of making a reservation is by asking... |
| Anna: Kan jeg reservere… |
| Eric: “Can I book…?”You can add any noun or phrase after it, as in... |
| Anna: Kan jeg reservere et bord til to? |
| Eric: “Can I book a table for two?” Listeners, in the Lesson Notes you’ll find more useful phrases to make, confirm, and cancel reservations, so be sure to check them out. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Anna: Vi ses! |
Comments
HideHi Listeners! Practice making a reservation in Danish in the comments!
Hej Viviane
Det var så lidt :)
Med venlig hilsen
Metha
Team DanishClass101.com
Tusind tak!
Hi Viviane,
'Hvordan går det?' is correct 👍 and often used in Danish.
'Interessant arrangement, især i Dansk.' remember not to capitalise 'dansk and it's 'på dansk' so the correct sentence is 'Interessant arrangement, især på dansk.'
'Jeg er en Dansk studerende og en projekter specialist.' should be 'jeg er danskstuderende og en projektspecialist (if you are a project specialist).
'Vil eftermiddag arrangement være online?' here you need an 's' after 'eftemiddag' and 'et' after arrangement' and it would usually be one long word so 'Vil eftermiddagsarrangementet være online?' or even better 'er eftermiddagsarrangementet online?'
Kind regards,
Metha
Team DanishClass101.com
Hej Viviane :)
The first sentence 'Jeg er skrivning en e-mail, kan du tjekke min besked?' need to be changed a little because 'jeg er skrivning' is not correct. If you have already written the e-email it would be 'jeg har skrevet en email' or, if you are writing an e-mail it would be 'jeg er i gang med at skrive en e-mail'.
I think you meant you have written the email already so the correct sentence is 'Jeg har skrevet en e-mail, kan du tjekke min besked?
I will write a separate comment to address the rest as I have to keep the comment under 800 characters.
Kind regards,
Metha
Team DanishClass101.com
Hey
Jeg er skrivning en e-mail, kan du tjekke min besked?
"Hvordan går det?
Interessant arrangement, især i Dansk. Jeg er en Dansk studerende og en projekter specialist.
Vil eftermiddag arrangement være online?
Mange tak."
Hi Dom,
Thank you for pointing this out.
You are right, it does sound like she is saying 'Jeg kan ordre det med det samme' Which I agree can be a very useful sentence in Danish, especially in work situations.
I will pass this on to the team to look further in to.
Wish you a great day,
All the best,
Camilla
TeamDanishClass101.com
Hi, is the Danish transcript correct in the second last sentence of the dialogue?... It sounds in the audio like "jeg kan ordne det med det samme" (rather than "det kan jeg ordne med det samme") - could you confirm? It's a really useful phrase and I'd like to learn it. Kind regards, Dom
Hej Monique,
Thank you for your comment.
I understand your sentence, and it is almost correct, the correct sentence would be 'Jeg vil gerne reservere et bord til på lørdag til to personer'
Let me know if you have any questions.
All the best,
Camilla
TeamDanishClass101.com
Hej,
Jeg vil gerne reserver et bord på Lørdag til to personaer
Hej Lee Anne,
Perfect!! Det er virkeligt godt gjort.
Very well done Lee Anne. Keep up the good work.
Kindly
Anna Maria
Team DanishClass101.com
Kan jeg ændre min reservation fra to personer til fire personer?
Hi Luca.
Thanks for your response.
That's almost correct. "Bord" is neuter, so it's "et bord".
Have a great day.
Marc
Team DanishClass101.com
Jeg vil gerne bestille en bord
Hi milorad,
Thank you for commenting.
Hope you will continue to enjoy learning Danish with us.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Thank you!
Amalie
Team DanishClass101.com
excellent:smile::thumbsup: