Returning a faulty item is one of those everyday transactions where politeness, the passive voice and the conditional all come together. This page annotates a short exchange between a customer and a shop assistant, with a close look at the blive-passive (den blev købt i går), conditional hvis-clauses, the modals burde and skulle, and the shopping vocabulary — bytte, ombytte, refundere, en kvittering — that you will need at the counter.
The text
Kunde: Undskyld, jeg vil gerne reklamere over en lampe. Den blev købt her i går, men den virker ikke. Ekspedient: Det er jeg ked af at høre. Har du kvitteringen med? Kunde: Ja, værsgo. Kan jeg få den byttet, eller får jeg pengene tilbage? Ekspedient: Hvis lampen er defekt, kan du selvfølgelig få den ombyttet. Vil du have en ny, eller skal vi refundere beløbet? Kunde: Jeg vil helst have pengene tilbage, tak. Ekspedient: Det forstår jeg godt. Egentlig burde varen være blevet tjekket, før den blev solgt. Det beklager vi. Kunde: Det gør ikke noget. Sker der nok. Ekspedient: Beløbet bliver sat ind på dit kort i løbet af et par dage.
Translation:
Customer: Excuse me, I'd like to make a complaint about a lamp. It was bought here yesterday, but it doesn't work. Assistant: I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have the receipt with you? Customer: Yes, here you go. Can I get it exchanged, or do I get my money back? Assistant: If the lamp is defective, you can of course have it exchanged. Would you like a new one, or shall we refund the amount? Customer: I'd rather have my money back, please. Assistant: I understand completely. Really, the item should have been checked before it was sold. We apologise for that. Customer: It doesn't matter. These things happen. Assistant: The amount will be put back on your card within a couple of days.
Grammar in action
The blive-passive: Den blev købt i går
A complaint is naturally full of passives — you talk about what was done to the item without naming who did it. Danish has two passives, and this dialogue showcases the periphrastic blive-passive: blive + past participle. Den blev købt = "it was bought". Beløbet *bliver sat ind = "the amount *will be put back".
The blive-passive emphasises the event — the action happening to the subject at a point in time. It is the everyday spoken passive, especially in the past (blev).
Den blev købt her i går.
It was bought here yesterday.
Beløbet bliver sat ind på dit kort.
The amount will be put back on your card.
Danish also has an -s passive (lampen sælges her), but for a specific completed event the blive-passive is the natural choice. Choosing between them is a topic in its own right.
Stacking the passive: burde være blevet tjekket
The assistant's apology contains a beautifully complex verb chain: burde være blevet tjekket = "should have been checked". Read it inside out: tjekket (checked) → blevet tjekket (been checked, passive) → været blevet tjekket (have been checked, perfect passive) → burde være blevet tjekket (should have been checked, with the modal). Only burde is finite; everything after it is non-finite.
Egentlig burde varen være blevet tjekket, før den blev solgt.
Really, the item should have been checked before it was sold.
Conditional hvis: Hvis lampen er defekt…
The assistant offers a remedy conditional on a fact: Hvis lampen er defekt, kan du få den ombyttet. This is a real/open conditional — a plausible situation in the present, so Danish uses the present tense in both clauses, just like English "If the lamp is defective, you can…".
When the hvis-clause comes first, the main clause inverts: kan du (verb-subject), because the subordinate clause occupies the first position and the finite verb must stay second.
Hvis lampen er defekt, kan du selvfølgelig få den ombyttet.
If the lamp is defective, you can of course have it exchanged.
Hvis du har kvitteringen, refunderer vi beløbet.
If you have the receipt, we'll refund the amount.
A hypothetical, less likely version would shift to the past for unreality: Hvis lampen *var defekt, kunne du få den ombyttet* ("if the lamp were defective…") — the conditional of the unreal.
The modals burde and skulle
burde is the modal of moral or expected obligation — "ought to / should". Burde varen være blevet tjekket admits a shortcoming: it ought to have been checked. This is gentler and more reflective than skulle, which in skal vi refundere? simply offers an action ("shall we…").
Egentlig burde jeg have ringet først.
Really, I ought to have called first.
Skal vi refundere beløbet?
Shall we refund the amount?
Note that skulle covers a wide range — obligation, future, plans, polite offers — so context decides. Here skal vi…? is a courteous offer, not a command.
Getting the item dealt with: få den byttet/ombyttet
A very Danish construction: få ("get") + object + past participle expresses "have something done". Kan jeg få den *byttet? = "Can I get it *exchanged?" The participle agrees with the action done to the object.
Kan jeg få den byttet?
Can I get it exchanged?
Jeg vil gerne have lampen ombyttet.
I'd like to have the lamp exchanged.
Shopping vocabulary at the counter
- reklamere over — to make a (formal) complaint about a faulty product (note the preposition over).
- bytte / ombytte — to exchange (for another item); ombytte stresses swapping it for a replacement.
- refundere — to refund; the noun is en refundering, but Danes often just say få pengene tilbage.
- en kvittering — a receipt; you will be asked Har du kvitteringen med? almost every time.
- beløbet — the amount (of money).
Jeg vil gerne reklamere over en lampe.
I'd like to make a complaint about a lamp.
Har du kvitteringen med?
Do you have the receipt with you?
Mis-transfer alert
English speakers tend to keep main-clause word order after a fronted hvis-clause (Hvis lampen er defekt, du kan…), and they reach for reklamere thinking it means "advertise". Both betray the non-native ear instantly.
❌ Hvis lampen er defekt, du kan få den ombyttet.
Incorrect — main clause must invert after the fronted hvis-clause.
✅ Hvis lampen er defekt, kan du få den ombyttet.
If the lamp is defective, you can get it exchanged.
❌ Jeg vil reklamere min nye telefon.
Incorrect — wrong sense and missing preposition.
✅ Jeg vil reklamere over min nye telefon.
I want to complain about my new phone (because it's faulty).
Structures in this text
- The blive-passive den blev købt, and the stacked burde være blevet tjekket — see verbs/passive-blive.
- Conditional hvis-clauses, real and unreal — see verbs/conditional.
- The modals skulle and burde for offers and obligation — see verbs/modal-skulle and verbs/modal-burde-turde.
- Shopping and complaint vocabulary bytte, refundere, kvittering — see expressions/shopping.
- Courtesy and apology formulas det beklager vi, undskyld — see expressions/courtesy.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- The Blive PassiveB1 — The blive-passive (blive + past participle) is Danish's everyday passive for a single, concrete, dynamic event — and the key contrast it forces is blive (the action happening) vs være (the state that results).
- Conditionals: Hvis-clauses and VilleB1 — Real and unreal conditional sentences in Danish — and why the language uses the plain past tense, not a special subjunctive, for hypothetical situations.
- Shopping and MoneyA2 — The phrases for shops and checkouts in Danish — hvad koster det?, the polite request frames jeg vil gerne have and må jeg få, har I...?, det er for dyrt, and money words like kvittering, byttepenge, kontant and kort.
- Skulle: Obligation, Plans and HearsayA2 — The modal skulle (skal/skulle/skullet) — obligation, arranged plans and future, rules, the reportative 'is said to', and hypothetical 'were to'.
- Burde and Turde: Ought and DareB1 — The modals burde (bør/burde/burdet) 'ought to/should' and turde (tør/turde/turdet) 'dare' — advice versus obligation, and the 'should have' construction burde have.
- Please, Thank You and SorryA1 — How politeness works in Danish — the missing word for 'please', the many faces of tak, the difference between undskyld, beklager and desværre, and the untranslatable værsgo.