Plans and obligations: skulle
To talk about past plans, agreements, or obligations, use the past tense of skal (skulle) followed by an infinitive. This is the Danish equivalent of "was supposed to".
| I was supposed to attend the Christmas lunch, but I had to cancel. | Jeg skulle deltage i julefrokosten, men jeg var nødt til at melde afbud. |
| We were supposed to organize the outing, but we decided to drop it. | Vi skulle organisere udflugten, men vi bestemte os for at droppe den. |
Intentions and desires: ville
To express what someone intended or wanted to do, use the past tense of vil (ville) followed by an infinitive.
| The mother wanted to keep her promise, but she forgot the outing. | Moren ville holde sit løfte, men hun glemte udflugten. |
| He wanted to show his good intention, but he forgot the wedding anniversary. | Han ville vise sin gode intention, men han glemte bryllupsdagen. |
Explaining changed plans
We often use this "future in the past" structure to explain why a plan changed, failed, or didn't happen. You will frequently see skulle and ville paired with conjunctions like men (but) or fordi (because).
| He was supposed to put the cake on the table for the Christmas lunch, but he dropped it. | Han skulle sætte kagen på bordet til julefrokosten, men han tabte den. |
| The boyfriend wanted to prevent the argument, so he chose to drop the subject. | Kæresten ville forhindre skænderiet, så han valgte at droppe emnet. |
Remember that in a dependent clause (like one starting with fordi), an adverb like ikke must come before the verb.
| The father forgot the promise because he did not want to participate in the parent-teacher meeting. | Faren glemte løftet fordi han ikke ville deltage i forældremødet. |
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