Saying What You Like and Want

Telling people what you like and want is one of the very first things you do in a new language — ordering coffee, accepting an invitation, saying no thanks. Danish handles "like" and "want" with fixed expressions that do not map word-for-word onto English, so the trick is to learn the whole phrase as one chunk rather than trying to translate like or want directly. This page builds those chunks up from the simplest sentence to a full one, with a substitution table you can drill.

Pattern 1: kan godt lide — "like"

The Danish for "I like X" is Jeg kan godt lide X. Read literally it is "I can well suffer X", which sounds bizarre, so don't translate it — memorise it. The core is the two-part verb kunne lide, and in practice you almost always wedge godt ("well") in the middle to make it sound natural and friendly.

Crucially, lide never conjugates the way English like does. There is no Danish liker, likes, liking. The form that changes is the little modal kan ("can"), and even that stays the same for every person:

In the question, kan fronts and godt usually drops out: Kan du lide…? To say you don't like something, slot ikke in after kan:

So the three shapes you need are: kan godt lide (like), kan ikke lide (don't like), and kan … lide? (do you like?). The verb lide itself is frozen in place every time.

Pattern 2: vil gerne have — "would like / want"

English want feels blunt to Danish ears when said baldly. The polite, everyday way to say "I want X" is Jeg vil gerne have X — literally "I will gladly have X". The word gerne ("gladly/willingly") is what softens it into "I'd like". Without gerne, jeg vil have sounds demanding, almost like a child stamping their foot.

This is the phrase for ordering in a café, asking for something, or offering something. The verb vil never changes for person (jeg vil, du vil, vi vil), and have stays in its base form because it follows the modal vil.

You can also use vil gerne + another verb to say "I'd like to do X":

Pattern 3: elske — "love"

For things you love, use elske. Unlike kunne lide, this is an ordinary verb and it conjugates simply: present tense elsker for everybody.

Use elske the way you would in English — sparingly for strong feeling. Danes do say jeg elsker about food and hobbies, but overusing it sounds over-the-top, just as in English.

Pattern 4: foretrække — "prefer"

To say you prefer one thing over another, use foretrække (present: foretrækker). The "rather than" part is introduced by frem for.

A note on the object: people take the object form

When what you like is a person, the pronoun shifts to its object form — ham (him), hende (her), dem (them), mig (me), just as English uses him, not he.

This will feel natural to English speakers, who already say "I like him" and not "I like he". The forms are different, but the logic is identical.

Building it up: simplest to fuller

Each step adds one piece — an adjective, a time phrase, then a contrasting clause — without disturbing the frozen kan … lide core.

Substitution table

Swap any subject in (the verb forms never change for person), then pick what is liked.

And for wants:

A note on word order

All these sentences follow Danish's verb-second habit: the conjugated verb (kan, vil, elsker, foretrækker) sits in second position. In kan godt lide and vil gerne have, only the first verb counts for that rule — kan and vil take second place, and lide/have trail at the end of the clause. In a question, that first verb leaps to the front: Kan du lide…?, Vil du gerne have…?

Common Mistakes

This is the number-one transfer error. English speakers (and Danes joking around) invent liker from like, but standard Danish only has kan lide.

Vil alone isn't enough; you need gerne have to express a polite "want" with an object.

After the modal kan, the second verb stays in its plain form lide — never lider.

Use ham/hende/dem, not han/hun/de, after the verb.

Godt belongs in the friendly statement; in a question it normally disappears.

Key Takeaways

• "Like" is the fixed chunk kan godt lide — lide never conjugates; only kan moves.
• "Want" is politely vil gerne have; bare vil have sounds demanding.
• elske (love) and foretrække (prefer) are ordinary verbs that take -r in the present.
• A liked person takes the object pronoun: ham, hende, dem, mig.
• In questions, the first verb fronts and godt drops: Kan du lide…?