Learn how to ask "How much is it?" in Denmark
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| INTRODUCTION |
| The bus is one of the most important means of transportation in local areas. In many Danish cities, even big ones, we use buses almost as often as the train, to cover both long and short distances. However, before starting your trip, you probably need to buy a ticket. For local commuting in Denmark, the fare is around 27 crowns, but this depends on how many zones you will travel through. There are many ways of buying a ticket in Denmark. At any local kiosk, the station itself, in the bus or at ticketing machine. Be aware though only buses sell tickets, and if you ride the train you have to buy it before you board or the ticket inspector will hand you a fine. Upon entering the bus, you must validate your ticket at one of the validation machines that stamps it, or have cash to buy a ticket. |
| No matter what you choose for your trip - the bus or the train - a ticket is what you need to buy. |
| Before you buy a ticket, you’ll want to know how much it costs. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In Danish “How much is a ticket” is: |
| Hvor meget koster en billet? |
| (slow) Hvor meget koster en billet ? |
| Hvor meget koster en billet ? |
| Hvor meget is the question here and this means “how much”. |
| This is followed by koster which literally translates as “costs” or “does it cost” but in this case it is translated as “is” |
| And lastly we have en billet which means “one ticket” |
| (slow) En billet. |
| En billet. |
| ・ |
| As I mentioned earlier, Danish transportation tickets depend on the amount of zones you travel through. The prices vary a bit depending on the city or area, but in general 2 zones cost around 27 crowns. The more zones you buy, the cheaper it gets though. So when buying a ticket in Denmark, you would either have to know how many zones you are traveling through, or the destination name. |
| Let’s say you know the name of the place you are going but want to find out how much it costs to get there. You would ask “ How much is a ticket for …… ?” In Danish this would be: |
| Hvor meget koster en billet til……? |
| It is the exact same question, except that at the end we add til meaning “for”, followed by your destination’s name. |
| If you do know the zones you need to travel through though, your question will sound something like this. |
| Hvor meget koster en 5 zoners billet? |
| How much does a 5 zone ticket cost? |
| These 2 questions will be covered more in lesson 25 and 26. |
| ・ |
| When you’re ready to buy a ticket, you say: |
| En billet, be’om. |
| This means “one ticket, please”. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) En billet, be’om. |
| Once more: |
| En billet, be’om. |
| First we have en, which means “one”. |
| Next comes billet, translated as “ticket.” |
| (slow) Bi -llet. |
| Billet. |
| Don’t forget to add be’om or tak for “please” at the end! |
| So the whole request - “One ticket, please” - is |
| En billet, be’om. or En billet, tak! |
| Remember, if you say this and don’t specify you will just get the normal ticket, which is 2 zones. If you want to be sure of what kind of ticket you are asking for, you can say busbillet meaning “bus ticket” or togbillet meaning “train ticket” |
| Let’s see how the sentence changes. |
| For a bus ticket: |
| En busbillet, tak! |
| For a train ticket: |
| En togbillet, tak! |
| But you shouldn’t worry much about the ticket type, since they are the same ticket types for the bus and train when riding within cities or local regions. |
| ・ |
| If you’re staying in Denmark for more than a few days, the best solution for you is to buy a 10-trip card or a monthly ticket. Let’s learn to ask for that. |
| If you want to buy a 10 trip ticket, you say: |
| Et titurskort, be’om. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow)Et titurskort, be’om . |
| Once more: |
| Et titurskort, be’om. |
| The first word is et which is the neutral gender word for “one” |
| (slow) Et. |
| Et. |
| Next we have titurskort which literally means “10-trip card”. |
| (slow) Titurskort. |
| Titurskort. |
| And at the end, don’t forget to add tak. |
| The whole sentence is: |
| Et titurskort, tak. |
| “A 10 trip ticket, please.” |
| A 10-trip ticket is a card that you can stamp either on the bus or on the platform waiting for the train. You can also buy a five-trip ticket in some places, or a two-trip ticket. The trip tickets are cheaper than the ticket you buy on the bus, since they have a bulk discount. |
| ・ |
| If you want to buy a monthly ticket, you say: |
| Et månedskort be’om. |
| ( slow) Et månedskort, be’om. |
| As you may have noticed, instead of titurs we say måneds, which creates the meaning of “monthly card” |
| (slow) Månedskort. |
| Månedskort. |
| Et månedskort, be’om. |
| “A monthly ticket, please.” |
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