Learn how to use the definite form to specify objects
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 12 - The Complaints Never End in Denmark! John here. |
| Nana: Hej, I'm Nana. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the definite form to specify objects. The conversation takes place at a café. |
| Nana: It's between Jon, Helle, and Mia. |
| John: Two speakers are family members and the third is a stranger in a customer service context. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jon: Nå, smager det? |
| Helle: Tja, jeg må indrømme, at jeg er lidt skuffet. Bøffen er svær at tygge. |
| Jon: Åh, det er jeg ked af. Skal jeg få den byttet til en ny? |
| Helle: Nej, det er lige meget. Vi har ventet længe nok bare på at få det her. |
| Jon: Er du sikker? |
| Helle: Ja! Jeg spiser bare så meget af den som muligt og så tilbehøret. |
| Mia: Kunne vi måske få lov til at få nogle flere kartofler? Min salat smager godt forresten. |
| Jon: Selvfølgelig. Er der ellers noget, I mangler? |
| Helle: Nej, ellers tak! Ikke til de priser! |
| Mia: Pas nu på, mor! Du er ved at vælte glassene. |
| Jon: I skal vist ikke have mere vin? |
| Helle: Prøver du at være morsom? Pas på du ikke snart står til en fyreseddel. |
| Mia: Ved du hvad? Lad os bare få regningen sammen med kartoflerne. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Jon: Nå, smager det? |
| Jon: So, does it taste good? |
| Helle: Tja, jeg må indrømme, at jeg er lidt skuffet. Bøffen er svær at tygge. |
| Helle: Well, I must admit that I am a little disappointed. The steak is difficult to chew. |
| Jon: Åh, det er jeg ked af. Skal jeg få den byttet til en ny? |
| Jon: Oh, I'm sorry about that. Should I get it exchanged for a new one? |
| Helle: Nej, det er lige meget. Vi har ventet længe nok bare på at få det her. |
| Helle: No, it doesn't matter. We have waited long enough just to get this. |
| Jon: Er du sikker? |
| Jon: Are you sure? |
| Helle: Ja! Jeg spiser bare så meget af den som muligt og så tilbehøret. |
| Helle: Yes! I'll just eat as much of it as possible and then the accompaniments. |
| Mia: Kunne vi måske få lov til at få nogle flere kartofler? Min salat smager godt forresten. |
| Mia: Perhaps we could have some more potatoes? My salad tastes good by the way. |
| Jon: Selvfølgelig. Er der ellers noget, I mangler? |
| Jon: Of course. Is there anything else you need? |
| Helle: Nej, ellers tak! Ikke til de priser! |
| Helle: Thanks, but no thanks! Not at those prices! |
| Mia: Pas nu på, mor! Du er ved at vælte glassene. |
| Mia: Look out, mom! You are about to knock over the glasses. |
| Jon: I skal vist ikke have mere vin? |
| Jon: You definitely don't want more wine. |
| Helle: Prøver du at være morsom? Pas på du ikke snart står til en fyreseddel. |
| Helle: Are you trying to be funny? Be careful that you won't be facing a dismissal notice soon. |
| Mia: Ved du hvad? Lad os bare få regningen sammen med kartoflerne. |
| Mia: You know what? Let's just get the check along with the potatoes. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: The problems in this restaurant just keep coming. |
| Nana: And Helle just seems to be getting angrier and angrier. |
| John: Yes, she was even threatening to fire Jon! |
| Nana: As a customer, I don’t think she can actually fire him though... |
| John: I don’t think so either. What’s the procedure for being fired in Denmark? |
| Nana: You should receive notice from one to six months before your last day of work. |
| John: Does the length of time depend on how long you’ve been working? |
| Nana: Yes, it does. The notice can be either in writing or given orally. |
| John: Really? Just being told is enough? |
| Nana: Yes, but writing makes things more official and there’s less risk of problems later. |
| John: How about if you quit? How much notice should you give? |
| Nana: Usually a month. It’s best to give a written notice if you are quitting. You can say Jeg opsiger hermed min stilling dags dato til fratræden den… followed by a date. |
| John: Which means "I hereby give notice this day for resignation on the..." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Nana: smage [natural native speed] |
| John: to taste |
| Nana: smage [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: smage [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Nana: indrømme [natural native speed] |
| John: to admit |
| Nana: indrømme [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: indrømme [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Nana: bøf [natural native speed] |
| John: steak, beefsteak |
| Nana: bøf [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: bøf [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Nana: svær [natural native speed] |
| John: difficult, hard |
| Nana: svær [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: svær [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Nana: være lige meget [natural native speed] |
| John: to not matter |
| Nana: være lige meget [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: være lige meget [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Nana: være sikker [natural native speed] |
| John: to be sure, to be certain, to be positive |
| Nana: være sikker [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: være sikker [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Nana: mulig [natural native speed] |
| John: possible |
| Nana: mulig [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: mulig [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Nana: mangle [natural native speed] |
| John: to lack, to be short of, to be without, to be lacking, to be missing |
| Nana: mangle [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: mangle [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Nana: vælte [natural native speed] |
| John: to fall over, to fall down, to tip over, to tumble, to knock over, to push over, to overturn |
| Nana: vælte [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: vælte [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Nana: stå [natural native speed] |
| John: to stand |
| Nana: stå [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nana: stå [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Nana: smage |
| John: ...meaning "to taste." What can you tell us about this? |
| Nana: You can use this the same way you use “to taste” in English. |
| John: So it can be used for something that has a characteristic taste or for the action of tasting something? |
| Nana: That’s right. It can also be used when asking if something’s good or pleasant to eat or drink. |
| John: Like “tastes good.” Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nana: Sure. For example, you can say, Denne ret smager fantastisk. |
| John: ...which means "This dish tastes fantastic." |
| John: Okay, what's next? |
| Nana: være svær at |
| John: Meaning "to be difficult to." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Nana: The first word is the irregular verb være, which means "to be." The second word is the adjective svær, which means "difficult" or "hard." And the last word is the infinitive marker at, which means "to." |
| John: How is it used? |
| Nana: It’s used to say that it’s difficult to do something. We use this with verbs. |
| John: You can just add a verb to the end of the phrase? |
| Nana: Yes. Just make sure that the verb is in infinitive form. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Nana: Sure. For example, you can say, Det var svært at få øjenkontakt. |
| John: ...which means "It was difficult to make eye-contact." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Nana: så...som muligt |
| John: Meaning "as...as possible." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Nana: The phrase consists of the adverb så, which means "as" in this case, the conjunction som, which means "as," and the adjective mulig, which means "possible." |
| John: How do we use this? |
| Nana: We can use it to say that something is as something as something. |
| John: For example, “as quickly as possible” or “as carefully as possible.” |
| Nana: Right. You can use any adjective. |
| John: Can you give us another example using this phrase? |
| Nana: Sure. For example, you can say, Jeg siger det så pænt som muligt. |
| John: ...which means "I will say it as nicely as possible." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the definite form to specify objects. |
| Enter Lesson Focus section here. |
| John: Let’s take a look at the definite and indefinite nouns first. |
| Nana: The easiest way to tell the difference between nouns in indefinite and definite form is by looking at what’s in front of a noun and the noun ending. |
| John: What are the differences? |
| Nana: If the indefinite articles en or et precedes a noun, it’s in indefinite form. |
| John: Also known as the dictionary form. |
| Nana: If a noun ends with -en or -et, it’s in definite form. For plural form, you look at the noun ending. If it ends with an -r, it’s in indefinite form. And if it ends with -ne, it’s in definite form. |
| John: Let’s hear some examples. What is the indefinite singular form for “a complaint?” |
| Nana: en klage. The definite singular form is klagen. |
| John: How about the definite and indefinite plural forms? |
| Nana: klager and klagerne, respectively. One thing to look out for is double consonants in nouns. |
| John: This can happen when you conjugate a noun. When forming the definite singular form and both plural forms, nouns ending with a short vowel sound plus a consonant get double consonant. |
| Nana: Although, there are exceptions. |
| John: There always are! Let’s hear an example. |
| Nana: “Chef” is kok in indefinite singular form. When conjugated into the other forms, it gets two k’s. For example, kokken. |
| John: That is the definite singular form. |
| Nana: Kokken er gået til pause. |
| John: “The chef has gone on a break.” |
| Nana: If a noun already has a double consonant in dictionary form and ends with -el, you lose the e when conjugated in definite singular form and both plural forms. |
| John: This is because you can’t have a double consonant in front of a consonant. The double consonant changes to a single consonant, now that the e is gone. |
| Nana: Right. And some nouns containing a double consonant in dictionary form and ending with -er lose the e when conjugated in both plural forms. |
| John: Let’s work through an example with the word “note.” |
| Nana: The indefinite singular form is seddel. The definite singular form is sedlen. |
| John: And a sentence example? |
| Nana: Hvad står der på sedlen? |
| John: “What does it say on the note?” |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nana: Hej hej! |
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