Learn how to make a complaint
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| Beginner Season 1 Lesson 12 - Making a Complaint in Danish |
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 12 - Making a Complaint in Danish. Eric here. |
| Anna: Hej! I'm Anna. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to describe food in Danish as well as some useful restaurant phrases. The conversation takes place at a café. |
| Anna: It's between Nicholas and Stine. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Niklas: Undskyld, min bøf er for rød. |
| Stine: Nå, det beklager jeg meget. Nu skal jeg bestille en ny til dig. |
| Niklas: Tak. Sovsen er også en smule kold. |
| Stine: Åh, det er jeg ked af. |
| Niklas: Men kartoflerne er perfekte. |
| Stine: Det var godt. Hvad med vinen? |
| Niklas: Den smager også godt. |
| Stine: Godt. Du får et glas til på husets regning. |
| Niklas: Mange tak! |
| Stine: Det manglede bare. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Niklas: Undskyld, min bøf er for rød. |
| Stine: Nå, det beklager jeg meget. Nu skal jeg bestille en ny til dig. |
| Niklas: Tak. Sovsen er også en smule kold. |
| Stine: Åh, det er jeg ked af. |
| Niklas: Men kartoflerne er perfekte. |
| Stine: Det var godt. Hvad med vinen? |
| Niklas: Den smager også godt. |
| Stine: Godt. Du får et glas til på husets regning. |
| Niklas: Mange tak! |
| Stine: Det manglede bare. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Niklas: Undskyld, min bøf er for rød. |
| Nicholas: Excuse me, my steak is too red. |
| Stine: Nå, det beklager jeg meget. Nu skal jeg bestille en ny til dig. |
| Stine: Oh, I am very sorry about that. I will order a new one for you. |
| Niklas: Tak. Sovsen er også en smule kold. |
| Nicholas: Thank you. The sauce is also a little cold. |
| Stine: Åh, det er jeg ked af. |
| Stine: Oh, I'm sorry. |
| Niklas: Men kartoflerne er perfekte. |
| Nicholas: But the potatoes are perfect. |
| Stine: Det var godt. Hvad med vinen? |
| Stine: Good. What about the wine? |
| Niklas: Den smager også godt. |
| Nicholas: It tastes good, too. |
| Stine: Godt. Du får et glas til på husets regning. |
| Stine: Good. You will get another glass on the house. |
| Niklas: Mange tak! |
| Nicholas: Thank you very much! |
| Stine: Det manglede bare. |
| Stine: It’s only right. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Anna, do Danes complain often? |
| Anna: Actually many Danes always have something to complain about. However, it doesn't mean that they do it in public. For example, if they are not satisfied with the food or the service at a restaurant, most customers still won't complain directly to the staff. They would rather complain somewhere else like on social media sites and other digital platforms, or to their friends and family. |
| Eric: But if we want to complain on the spot at a restaurant, what should we do? |
| Anna: Please do it in a polite manner. That way the staff will be more likely to do their best to make up for whatever you are complaining about. If you're pleased with how your complaint was handled, it’s a good idea to make sure that the staff knows how much you appreciate their effort, even though they might had have been the source of your complaint in the first place. |
| Eric: I see. Okay. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Anna: bøf [natural native speed] |
| Eric: steak, beefsteak |
| Anna: bøf [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: bøf [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: for [natural native speed] |
| Eric: too |
| Anna: for [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: for [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: rød [natural native speed] |
| Eric: red |
| Anna: rød [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: rød [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at beklage [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to regret, to be sorry |
| Anna: at beklage [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at beklage [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: en smule [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a little, a bit |
| Anna: en smule [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: en smule [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: perfekt [natural native speed] |
| Eric: perfect |
| Anna: perfekt [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: perfekt [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at smage [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to taste |
| Anna: at smage [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at smage [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: på husets regning [natural native speed] |
| Eric: on the house |
| Anna: på husets regning [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: på husets regning [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at mangle [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to lack, to be short of, to be without, to be lacking, to be missing |
| Anna: at mangle [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at mangle [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Anna: bare [natural native speed] |
| Eric: just, simply, only, merely |
| Anna: bare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: bare [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: at beklage |
| Eric: which means “to regret,” or “to be sorry.” |
| Anna: Use this verb to express regret or that you are sorry to have done something unpleasant or wrong. |
| Eric: For example, for being troublesome or causing an inconvenience. |
| Anna: At beklage is also often used when you have to give someone a regrettable answer or message. |
| Eric: Another usage of the verb is to express disappointment or sadness due to the specific outcome of something. |
| Anna: But listeners, please note that you can't use at beklage to express sympathy when someone has passed away or something tragic has happened to someone. |
| Eric: What could we say in those cases? |
| Anna: det er jeg ked af, |
| Eric: which was introduced in another lesson and roughly means “I’m sorry about that.” |
| Anna: Or you can use the verb at kondolere |
| Eric: “to express one's sympathy.” Can you give us an example using the first keyword? |
| Anna: Sure. For example, you can say.. Beklager, du er ikke på listen. |
| Eric: “Sorry, you are not on the list.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Anna: på husets regning |
| Eric: which means “on the house.” |
| Anna: På |
| Eric: can either be an adverb or a preposition and most often it means “on,” “at,” or “in.” |
| Anna: Husets is the noun hus in definite form in the genitive case, |
| Eric: meaning “the house's.” |
| Anna: Regning |
| Eric: is a noun and usually means “check.” |
| Anna: You will hear this phrase most often in a restaurant. |
| Eric: Just like in the dialogue, it is said by restaurant staff when they give something to a customer for free. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Anna: Sure. For example, Kaffen er på husets regning. |
| Eric: “The coffee is on the house.” Okay, what's the last word? |
| Anna: bare |
| Eric: which means “just, or "only.” |
| Anna: Bare can either be an adverb or a conjunction. |
| Eric: You can use it to indicate that something or someone is no more than what it, he, or she is. It is also used as a trivializing reaction to a previous event. |
| Anna: Bare can also be used for making a command, a wish, a threat, or some other statement more urgent. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Eric: Han er bare en god ven. |
| Anna: “He is just a good friend.” |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use adjectives and adverbs to describe food in Danish, plus some useful restaurant phrases. |
| Anna: Let’s talk first about adjectives in Danish. |
| Eric: Just like in English, adjectives are used to describe nouns. |
| Anna: But in Danish, adjectives are usually conjugated according to number and definiteness, and can also be conjugated in comparison forms or degree. |
| Eric: Here is a sentence pattern for using adjectives to describe food... |
| Anna: noun, er, adjective |
| Eric: “noun, is or are, adjective.” For example, |
| Anna: Salaten er frisk. |
| Eric: “The salad is fresh.” |
| Anna: In this example, we’ve used the common gender noun salat in definite form meaning “the salad,” and the adjective frisk meaning “fresh.” |
| Eric: Now let’s use the same adjective, “fresh,” |
| Anna: frisk |
| Eric: to describe a neuter gender noun. |
| Anna: Alright, note that in these cases a -t is added to the adjective at the end. |
| Eric: For example, |
| Anna: Æblet er friskt. |
| Eric: “The apple is fresh.” |
| Anna: Here, frisk becomes friskt. |
| Eric: What if we conjugate the adjectives that are describing a plural noun? |
| Anna: Then an -e would be added at the end of the adjective. |
| Eric: For example, |
| Anna: Brødene er friske. |
| Eric: “The breads are fresh.” |
| Anna: Note how frisk is now friske. |
| Eric: Listeners, in the Lesson Notes we have information on how to form the comparative and superlative forms of Danish adjectives as well. |
| Anna: So make sure to read those notes! |
| Eric: Now, let’s talk about adverbs. |
| Anna: Adverbs are used to describe a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. |
| Eric: They typically express time, place, way, negation, or the opinion of the speaker. |
| Anna: Let’s focus on using the adverbs “a little” and “very” to describe food. |
| Eric: First listen to the sentence pattern for using an adverb to describe an adjective in Danish. |
| Anna: Use a noun, the verb “to be,” an adverb, and an adjective. |
| Eric: Using the adverb “a little,” |
| Anna: smule |
| Eric: We have |
| Anna: noun, er smule, adjective, |
| Eric: which means “noun is a little adjective.” Now here’s a sentence - |
| Anna: Vandet er en smule varmt. |
| Eric: “The water is a little warm.” Now let’s use the adverb “very.” |
| Anna: So a noun, er meget, adjective. |
| Eric: “noun is very adjective.” Now here’s a sample sentence. |
| Anna: Suppen er meget varm. |
| Eric: “The soup is very hot.” Another very useful adverb is “too,” |
| Anna: in Danish - for, |
| Eric: It is used in the same way as the previous adverbs “a little” and “very.” So, we would say.. |
| Anna: noun er for adjective, |
| Eric: "noun is too adjective." As you can see, the way this Danish sentence is structured is identical to how it is structured in English. |
| Anna: In order to express that something is, for example, “too dry” or “too salty,” |
| Eric: you simply add the word “too” |
| Anna: ...which is for in Danish... |
| Eric: in front of an adjective. For example… |
| Anna: Brødet er for hårdt. |
| Eric: “The bread is too hard.” |
| Anna: A -t is added to the adjective hård because brød, meaning “bread,” is a neuter gender noun. |
| Eric: Here’s another example... |
| Anna: Maden er for kold. |
| Eric: “The food is too cold.” |
| Anna: Here mad, meaning “food,” is a common gender noun, so the adjective “cold” remains the same. |
| Eric: Now before we wrap up, let’s hear some useful phrases for a restaurant. |
| Anna: Sure, and don’t forget that you can find the whole list and some explanations in the Lesson Notes. |
| Eric: The first one is - |
| Anna: Jeg vil gerne bestille… |
| Eric: “I would like to order…” And after your order has come, you can say |
| Anna: Det smager godt. |
| Eric: “It tastes good.” What if you want some more? |
| Anna: Må jeg få en til? |
| Eric: “May I have one more?” |
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! |
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