Learn some useful verbs and the comparative degrees of adjectives to express opinions
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Beginner Season 1 Lesson 17 - Modesty is the Best Policy in Denmark! |
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 17 - Modesty is the Best Policy in Denmark! Eric here. |
| Anna: Hej! I'm Anna. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express your opinion and use comparative adjectives. The conversation takes place at a party. |
| Anna: It's between Stine and Nanna. |
| Eric: The speakers are classmates. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Stine: Hvad syntes du om Line Sofies nye stil i dag? |
| Nanna: Hmm... Først syntes jeg, hun så bedre ud før. |
| Stine: Virkelig? |
| Nanna: Ja, men nu synes jeg, hun er pænere med det nye look. |
| Stine: Jeg synes også, hun virkede gladere og mere smilende. |
| Nanna: Jeg tror, det var godt, det var hende, der vandt den makeover. |
| Stine: Nå, jeg mener nu også, at du ville have haft godt af at vinde. |
| Nanna: Hvor er du morsom! |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Stine: Hvad syntes du om Line Sofies nye stil i dag? |
| Nanna: Hmm... Først syntes jeg, hun så bedre ud før. |
| Stine: Virkelig? |
| Nanna: Ja, men nu synes jeg, hun er pænere med det nye look. |
| Stine: Jeg synes også, hun virkede gladere og mere smilende. |
| Nanna: Jeg tror, det var godt, det var hende, der vandt den makeover. |
| Stine: Nå, jeg mener nu også, at du ville have haft godt af at vinde. |
| Nanna: Hvor er du morsom! |
| Eric: Now listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Stine: Hvad syntes du om Line Sofies nye stil i dag? |
| Stine: What did you think about Line Sofie's new style today? |
| Nanna: Hmm... Først syntes jeg, hun så bedre ud før. |
| Nanna: Hmm... at first I thought she looked better before. |
| Stine: Virkelig? |
| Stine: Really? |
| Nanna: Ja, men nu synes jeg, hun er pænere med det nye look. |
| Nanna: Yes, but now I think she is prettier with the new look. |
| Stine: Jeg synes også, hun virkede gladere og mere smilende. |
| Stine: I also think she seemed happier and was smiling more. |
| Nanna: Jeg tror, det var godt, det var hende, der vandt den makeover. |
| Nanna: I think it was a good thing that she was the one who won that makeover. |
| Stine: Nå, jeg mener nu også, at du ville have haft godt af at vinde. |
| Stine: Oh, I also think that winning would have done you good. |
| Nanna: Hvor er du morsom! |
| Nanna: You’re so funny! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Anna: Eric, have you ever heard about Janteloven, or “The Law of Jante”? |
| Eric: No, what is it? |
| Anna: In short, the idea is that you shouldn’t think that you are better than anyone else. This idea is that the collective should take priority over individual success and achievement. This may also be one of the reasons why Danes are generally bad at receiving compliments. |
| Eric: Is that true even nowadays? |
| Anna: Well...lately it’s gradually becoming more and more acceptable or appropriate to place an emphasis on individual success, but only when you have truly earned it and deserve it. |
| Eric: I see. Okay. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Anna: at synes [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to think, to feel, to find |
| Anna: at synes [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at synes [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: ny [natural native speed] |
| Eric: new |
| Anna: ny [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: ny [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: god [natural native speed] |
| Eric: good |
| Anna: god [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: god [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: før [natural native speed] |
| Eric: before |
| Anna: før [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: før [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at virke [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to work, to begin to take affect, to act, to seem, to appear |
| Anna: at virke [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at virke [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: smilende [natural native speed] |
| Eric: smiling |
| Anna: smilende [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: smilende [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at tro [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to believe, to think |
| Anna: at tro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at tro [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at mene [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to mean, to think, to feel |
| Anna: at mene [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at mene [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: godt [natural native speed] |
| Eric: well |
| Anna: godt [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: godt [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Anna: hvor [natural native speed] |
| Eric: where, how |
| Anna: hvor [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: hvor [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 word is.. |
| Anna: før |
| Eric: which means “before.” As a preposition it can be used just like its English translation, to rank or to put things in order. For example, if someone comes before someone else in the line of inheritance, or when saying that family comes before career. |
| Anna: før can also be used as a conjunction. |
| Eric: In this case, it expresses that an event or action took place earlier in time. Anna, can you give us an example? |
| Anna: Sure. For example, you can say.. Det var sjovere, før de kom. |
| Eric: ..which means “It was funnier before they came.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Anna: at have godt af |
| Eric: which means “to serve someone right.” |
| Anna: The phrase at have godt af consists of the infinitive marker at |
| Eric: which means “to,” |
| Anna: the verb have, |
| Eric: “have,” |
| Anna: the adverb godt, |
| Eric: which means “well,” |
| Anna: and the preposition af. |
| Eric: This word has several meanings such as “of,” “from,” and “by.” The complete sentence is a bit mean. It suggests that you think someone deserved their misfortune or punishment. In other words, when something “serves them right.” Anna, can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Anna: Sure. Han har godt af at tabe. |
| Eric: “Serves him right to lose.” Okay, what's the last word? |
| Anna: hvor |
| Eric: which means “where, how.” |
| Anna: In Danish, you can use hvor to ask “where” someone or something is, similar to how you would ask in English. |
| Eric: It can also be used at the beginning of a relative clause. Again, the Danish usage is very similar to its English usage. |
| Anna: Finally, hvor can also mean “how.” |
| Eric: You can use it in relation to size, number, degree, extent, etc. For example you can say… |
| Anna: Hvor høj er du? |
| Eric: This means “How tall are you?” |
| Anna: Hvor mange gange skal jeg sige det? |
| Eric: “How many times do I have to say it?” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express your opinion and use comparative adjectives. Let’s start with some useful verbs that will come in handy when expressing your opinion. |
| Anna: The verbs are at synes, at tro, and at mene |
| Eric: Let’s have a look at each of these verbs, one by one. |
| Anna: The first verb is at synes, and it can be used to let people know what you think. |
| Eric: It means “to think,” “to feel,” or “to find.” In most cases, however, it is translated as “to think.” |
| Anna: at synes is quite straightforward. |
| Eric: Anna, can you give us some examples? |
| Anna: Sure. You might say...Jeg synes, det er en dårlig idé. |
| Eric: “I think it’s a bad idea.” |
| Anna: Or...Han syntes ikke, det gik godt. |
| Eric: “He did not think it went well.” |
| Anna: The second verb is at tro, and you can use it to express that you believe in something. |
| Eric: It means “to think” or “to believe,” but in most cases it’s used to express that you think something is plausible or likely, because of prior knowledge. |
| Anna: Compared to at synes, at tro is used more often to express a subjective opinion, view, or assumption about how something is or ought to be. |
| Eric: Let’s give some examples. |
| Anna: Hun tror, regnen stopper senere. |
| Eric: “She thinks the rain will stop later.” |
| Anna: Vi troede, du sov. |
| Eric: Meaning “We thought you were sleeping.” |
| Anna: You can also use this verb in the imperative mood, for example… Tro mig! |
| Eric: “Believe me!” |
| Anna: Finally, the third verb is at mene, and it can be used to express what you mean. |
| Eric: It means “to mean,” “to think,” or “to feel.” |
| Anna: Compared to the previous two verbs, at mene is stronger in the sense that it’s used to express what you honestly think or feel. |
| Eric: You can also use it to say that something is or was done with certain intentions or a specific attitude. Let’s take a look at some examples… |
| Anna: Hvad mener du? |
| Eric: “What do you mean?” |
| Anna: Han mente det godt. |
| Eric: Meaning “He meant it well,” or “He meant well.” |
| Anna: Nej… Jeg mener ikke, I har ret. |
| Eric: “No… I do not mean you are right.” Alright, now let’s cover our second topic for this lesson. |
| Anna: Making comparisons using adjectives. |
| Eric: Using comparisons can help you express your opinion about different topics in a nuanced and interesting way. |
| Anna: Right, in a previous lesson, we learned how adjectives can be used to compliment any sentence and idea. |
| Eric: Yes, but here we’ll focus on comparative adjectives. Conjugated regular adjectives become comparative adjectives by adding the ending... |
| Anna: -ere |
| Eric: ...to the base form. |
| Eric: Can you give us some examples? |
| Anna: Sure. ny |
| Eric: “new” |
| Anna: becomes nyere |
| Eric: “newer” |
| Anna: høj |
| Eric: “tall” |
| Anna: becomes højere |
| Eric: “taller.” It’s that simple! But keep in mind that the irregular adjectives don’t follow this rule. |
| Anna: In the lesson notes, You can find a conjugation chart for regular adjectives, another covering the most common irregular adjectives, and some sample sentences. |
| Eric: Alright, before we go, let's give some sample sentences using comparative adjectives. |
| Anna: Sure. Bilen er nyere end mit tøj. |
| Eric: “The car is newer than my clothes.” |
| Anna: Pigerne er højere end drengene. |
| Eric: “The girls are taller than the boys.” |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Anna: Vi ses! |
Comments
Hide