Immediate intention: skal/skulle til at
To express that an action is on the verge of happening—meaning someone is "about to" do something—Danish uses the phrase skal til at followed by the infinitive of the main verb.
| After the countdown, the channel is about to show the commercial break. | Efter nedtællingen skal kanalen til at vise reklameblokken. |
To talk about the past and say that someone "was about to" do something, simply shift the verb to its past tense form: skulle til at. This is especially useful for setting the scene just before a critical event, or for describing actions that were suddenly interrupted.
| The countdown began, and we were about to start the commercial break. | Nedtællingen begyndte, og vi skulle til at starte reklameblokken. |
| They were about to change the angle when they lost the signal. | De skulle til at ændre vinklen da de mistede signalet. |
Adding "lige" for extra suspense
In the high-stress environment of a live broadcast, precise timing is everything. To emphasize that someone is just about to do something right at that exact second, insert the word lige immediately before til at.
| The host can feel the tension, and the broadcast is just about to begin. | Værten kan mærke spændingen, og udsendelsen skal lige til at begynde. |
| We are just about to end the broadcast after the last segment. | Vi skal lige til at slutte udsendelsen efter det sidste indslag. |
This works exactly the same way in the past tense (skulle lige til at) to capture nail-biting, down-to-the-wire moments in the control room.
| The producer was just about to start the broadcast. | Produceren skulle lige til at starte udsendelsen. |
| We were just about to send the signal on the channel, and the tension was high. | Vi skulle lige til at sende signalet på kanalen, og spændingen var høj. |
