INTRODUCTION |
If you’re a smoker, it may be important that you get a hotel room that allows smoking. You can ask using these phrases at the reception desk. |
GRAMMAR POINT |
Let’s imagine you are getting a room in Denmark and you are a smoker looking for a smoking room. You could ask: ”Do you have smoking rooms?” |
Har I ryger værelser? |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Har I ryger værelser? |
Once more at natural speed: |
Har I ryger værelser? |
Har is a form of the verb which means “to have” |
(slow) Har. |
Har. |
I this is the plural pronoun for “you” |
(slow) I. |
I. |
It’s followed by ryger which is the form of the verb to smoke that means “smoker” |
(slow) Ryger. |
Ryger. |
The last word værelser means “rooms” |
(slow) Værelser. |
Værelser. |
The whole question is: |
Har I ryger værelser? |
(slow) Har I ryger værelser? |
Once more: |
Har I ryger værelser? |
Here the answers could be “yes” or “sorry, no”. |
In Danish: |
Ja. |
or |
Nej, desværre. |
Let’s say you’ve already asked for a room, and the question “One room please” is Et værelse, tak! in a hotel. You might be asked this by the receptionist - Et ryger eller ikke-ryger værelse? “A smoking or non-smoking room?” |
Let’s hear it one more time: |
Et ryger eller ikke-ryger værelse? |
Et is the neutral form of “one” or in this case “a” |
(slow) Et. |
Et. |
The second word ryger means “smoker” |
(slow) Ryger. |
Ryger. |
Next we have “or” |
(slow) Eller. |
Eller. |
It’s followed by the next option ikke-ryger which means “non-smoker” |
(slow) Ikke-ryger. |
Ikke-ryger |
・ |
Now let’s go over the possible answers to this question. |
Ryger. (3 sec) “Smoking.” |
Ikke-ryger. (3 sec) Non-smoking. |
・ |
Before smoking in any area, it would be a good idea to ask if you can smoke there, “Excuse me, is smoking allowed here?”: |
Undskyld mig, må man ryge her? |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Undskyld mig, må man ryge her? |
Once more |
Undskyld mig, må man ryge her? |
Undskyld mig, as we have seen, means “Excuse me.” |
(slow) Undskyld mig. |
Undskyld mig. |
We follow this with må man, which can be translated as “may one” or “may you”. |
(slow) Må man. |
Må man. |
This is followed by the verb “to smoke” |
(slow) Ry-ge. |
Ryge. |
And last, her, which means “here”. |
(slow) Her. |
Her. |
Here’s the whole sentence: |
Undskyld mig, må man ryge her? |
(slow) Undskyld mig, må man ryge her? |
・ |
The answer to this question is simple. If it is positive you will be answered with a simple “Yes.” Ja. |
In the opposite case, you might be answered with Nej, desværre, which would be translated as “Sorry, no.” If the answer is negative, then you might want to ask “Whereabouts can I smoke?” |
Which in Danish would be Hvor kan jeg ryge henne? |
Let’s break it down: |
First we have hvor the adverb that means “where” |
(slow) Hvor. |
Hvor. |
This is followed by the verb “can” and the personal pronoun indicating who, in this case “I”, jeg. |
(slow) Kan jeg. |
Kan jeg. |
Ryge is the root form of the verb “to smoke” |
(slow) Ryge. |
Ryge. |
And lastly we have henne which indicates location. It literally translates as “along” but here it would be translated as “abouts”. |
(slow) Henne. |
Henne. |
One more time. |
Hvor kan jeg ryge henne? |
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