When you speak or write at length, you constantly need to do two things: say the same thing a second, clearer way (reformulation), and back up a general claim with a concrete case (exemplification). Danish has a tight set of markers for both jobs, and at C1 the difference between sounding like a textbook and sounding like an educated native often comes down to whether you reach for these instead of pausing or repeating yourself. This page covers the reformulators altså, det vil sige (dvs.), med andre ord, eller rettere, and the explanatory nemlig, plus the exemplifier for eksempel (fx).
Restating: det vil sige and med andre ord
Det vil sige (literally "that wants to say") is the workhorse of definition and consequence. It introduces a precise restatement of what you just said, often narrowing or pinning down a vague term. It is neutral in register — equally at home in conversation and in academic prose. Crucially, it is the spoken-out form of the abbreviation dvs., which is Danish for what English writes as i.e. Danish does not use i.e.
Mødet er flyttet til på fredag, det vil sige om to dage.
The meeting has been moved to Friday, that is, in two days.
Vi mangler kvalificerede ansøgere, dvs. folk med mindst tre års erfaring.
We lack qualified applicants, i.e. people with at least three years of experience.
Med andre ord ("in other words") is the broader reformulator. Where det vil sige tends to add precision, med andre ord signals that you are repackaging the whole idea — often drawing out an implication the listener might have missed.
Han svarede ikke på en eneste af mine mails. Med andre ord er han ligeglad.
He didn't answer a single one of my emails. In other words, he doesn't care.
altså — the spoken reformulator
Altså is one of the most frequent words in spoken Danish, and learners routinely under-use it. As a discourse marker it means roughly "so" / "I mean" / "what I'm saying is," and it flags that you are about to clarify, conclude, or rephrase. It is largely (informal) to neutral in this clarifying use; as a sentence adverb it can also mean "therefore."
Jeg kan ikke i morgen. Altså, jeg har et møde hele formiddagen.
I can't tomorrow. I mean, I've got a meeting all morning.
Du skal dreje til venstre ved kirken — altså ikke til højre.
You turn left at the church — so, not right.
Be aware that altså has a second, attitudinal life as an intensifier of mild exasperation, where it does not reformulate anything: Altså, hvor er det irriterende! ("Honestly, how annoying that is!"). Context and intonation separate the two.
eller rettere — self-correction
Eller rettere ("or rather") lets you revise a word you have just used because a better one has occurred to you. The fuller form is eller rettere sagt ("or rather said"). It is the polite, controlled way to upgrade your own phrasing mid-sentence.
Det var en god film — eller rettere, en god idé til en film.
It was a good film — or rather, a good idea for a film.
Hun er min kollega, eller rettere sagt min tidligere kollega.
She's my colleague, or rather my former colleague.
nemlig — giving the reason behind a claim
Nemlig is the marker English speakers find hardest, because it has no single equivalent. Its core function is to supply the explanation or justification for what was just stated — the closest English glosses are "you see," "namely," or "the thing is." It tells the listener: here comes why.
Jeg tager cyklen i dag. Bilen er nemlig til reparation.
I'm taking the bike today. The car is at the garage, you see.
Vi måtte aflyse turen. Det havde nemlig sneet hele natten.
We had to cancel the trip — it had been snowing all night, you see.
Note its position: nemlig sits inside the clause as a sentence adverb (in the spot after the finite verb), not at the front. Bilen er *nemlig til reparation, never *Nemlig bilen er....
Nemlig has a second, very common use: as an emphatic (informal) agreement token, standing alone to mean "exactly!" / "that's right!"
— Så det er egentlig hans egen skyld? — Nemlig!
— So it's really his own fault? — Exactly!
Exemplifying: for eksempel (fx)
For eksempel introduces a concrete instance of a general statement — English "for example." Its abbreviation is fx (older spelling f.eks.), which is Danish for what English writes as e.g. Again: Danish does not use e.g.
Du kan tage noget med, for eksempel en kage eller noget frugt.
You can bring something — a cake or some fruit, for example.
Mange nordiske sprog har bestemt artikel som endelse, fx 'huset' og 'bogen'.
Many Nordic languages have the definite article as a suffix, e.g. 'huset' and 'bogen'.
A quick decision summary
| You want to… | Use | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| Define / restate precisely | det vil sige | dvs. (= i.e.) |
| Repackage the whole idea | med andre ord | — |
| Clarify mid-speech (spoken) | altså | — |
| Correct your own wording | eller rettere (sagt) | — |
| Give the reason behind a claim | nemlig | — |
| Give a concrete example | for eksempel | fx (= e.g.) |
Common Mistakes
❌ Vi mangler folk, i.e. erfarne udviklere.
Incorrect — Danish writes 'dvs.', not the Latin 'i.e.'
✅ Vi mangler folk, dvs. erfarne udviklere.
We need people, i.e. experienced developers.
❌ Tag noget med, e.g. en kage.
Incorrect — Danish writes 'fx' (or 'f.eks.'), not 'e.g.'
✅ Tag noget med, fx en kage.
Bring something, e.g. a cake.
❌ Nemlig bilen er til reparation.
Incorrect — 'nemlig' is a sentence adverb and cannot open the clause.
✅ Bilen er nemlig til reparation.
The car is at the garage, you see.
❌ Med andre ord han er ligeglad.
Incorrect — a front-placed marker triggers V2, so the verb must come before the subject.
✅ Med andre ord er han ligeglad.
In other words, he doesn't care.
❌ Jeg tager cyklen, fordi bilen er nemlig til reparation.
Incorrect — don't stack 'fordi' (because) and 'nemlig'; they do the same job, so pick one.
✅ Jeg tager cyklen. Bilen er nemlig til reparation.
I'm taking the bike — the car is at the garage, you see.
Key Takeaways
- Danish uses dvs. for i.e. and fx for e.g. — the Latin abbreviations are wrong in Danish text.
- det vil sige defines and narrows; med andre ord repackages the whole idea.
- nemlig introduces the reason behind a statement and lives inside the clause, never at the front; on its own it means "exactly!"
- Any reformulator placed at the front of a clause triggers V2 — the verb precedes the subject.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Discourse Markers and FillersB2 — The little words that hold spoken Danish together — altså, jo, nå, øh, ikke, vel, jamen, og så, så, du ved — what each one signals and how they manage turns and hesitation.
- Abbreviations and AcronymsC1 — Common Danish abbreviations (fx, dvs., bl.a., osv., mvh) and how acronyms take gender and the definite suffix with an apostrophe — pc'en, tv'et, DSB.
- Discourse Markers: An OverviewB1 — How Danish connectives structure text and argument — and the crucial word-order split between adverbs, coordinators, and subordinators.