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Danish

### The words of an official letter

Official letters are built from a small set of formal words. Learn them as the phrases they come in:

| Danish | English | the phrase you will meet |
|---|---|---|
| **{{item:1238267}}** | to call in | *indkalde til en samtale* — call in for a talk |
| **{{item:1238271}}** | to fulfil, to meet | *opfylde betingelserne*, *opfylde kravene* |
| **{{item:1238275}}** | further, additional | *for yderligere oplysninger* |
| **{{item:1238283}}** | the circumstances | *under alle omstændigheder* |
| **{{item:1238287}}** | specific | *mere specifik* |
| **{{item:1238279}}** | the embassy | *på ambassaden* |
| **{{item:1238291}}** | behind | *bagud med huslejen* |

Most authorities now write *du* to you. The very formal *De* (object *Dem*) still turns up in letters from some firms, lawyers and embassies, as in several sentences below.

{{item:1238268}}

*Indkalde* is what an authority, a boss or a board does: it calls you in, or calls a meeting (*indkalde til et møde*).

{{item:1238272}}

You *opfylde* a requirement, a condition, a promise or a wish. To fill a glass or a box is plain *fylde*.

### Fixed formulas

**Yderligere** stands before the noun like an adjective and never changes form. It often closes a formal letter:

{{item:1238276}}

**Omstændighederne** is usually plural, as in English. *Under alle omstændigheder* means "whatever happens, in any case":

{{item:1238284}}

### Bagud: behind

**Bagud** means behind or backwards. You are *bagud med* a payment or your work, and a team is *bagud* in a match (the team that leads is *foran*). As a direction it is the opposite of *fremad*: you step *bagud*, backwards:

{{item:1238292}}

{{item:1238293}}

Official letters (indkalde, opfylde, yderligere)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite nouns and the copula (-en, -et, er)

Indefinite articles (en, et)

Present tense verbs and word order (-r)

Plural subject pronouns (vi, I, de)

The verb to have (har)

Yes/No questions

Wh-questions (hvad, hvem, hvor)

Main clause negation (ikke)

Regular noun plurals (-er, -r)

Short noun plurals (-e)

Definite plurals (-ne)

Neuter adjective agreement (-t)

Plural adjective agreement (-e)

Adjectives with indefinite nouns

Adjectives with definite nouns (den / det / de ... -e)

Numbers 1 to 10

Numbers 11 to 20

Counting by tens to 100

Expressing age (er ... år)

Genitive possession (-s)

Singular possessives (min, din)

Third-person possessives (hans, hendes)

Plural possessives (vores, jeres, deres)

Reflexive possessives (sin, sit, sine)

Singular object pronouns (mig, dig)

Plural object pronouns (os, jer, dem)

The infinitive marker (at)

The modal verb can (kan)

The modal verb want to (vil)

The modal verb must (skal)

Negating modal verbs

Inversion after adverbs

Prepositions of position (i, på)

Prepositions of direction (til, fra)

Days of the week (mandag, tirsdag...)

Months of the year (januar, februar...)

Telling time (hel, halv, kvart)

Coordinating conjunctions (og, men, eller)

Subordinating conjunctions (at, fordi)

Subordinate clause negation

Commands (køb, vent, spis)

Zero-ending neuter plurals

The Human Body: Head and Face

The Human Body: Limbs and Torso

Personal Hygiene

Digital Life

Tools and Hardware

Emergency and Safety

Common Materials

Money and Payments

Short answers (Ja, det gør jeg)

Greetings (hej, godmorgen, farvel)

Thanks and apologies (tak, undskyld)

Jobs and nationalities (Hun er lærer)

Likes and dislikes (kan godt lide)

Somebody and something (nogen, noget, ingen)

How much? (meget, lidt, mere, nok)

With, by, over and under (med, ved, over, under)

Ordinals and dates (den første april)

Wishes for every occasion (tillykke, god bedring)

Times of day (om morgenen, om aftenen)

My day (stå op, gå i seng)

Past tense I: -ede and -te (i går)

My new hat (min nye hat, små, gamle)

Past tense II: irregular verbs (var, havde, gik)

Reacting in a conversation (nå, det lyder godt)

The family and irregular plurals (mænd, børn, fødder)

In the shop (Hvad koster det?)

Demonstratives: that and those (den, det, de)

Demonstratives: this and these (denne, dette, disse)

Adverbs of manner (-t)

Comparing things (-ere, end)

Superlative adjectives (-est)

Definite superlative adjectives (-este)

Irregular adjective comparison

Comparing long adjectives (mere, mest)

The reflexive pronoun (sig)

Reflexive verbs

Reciprocal verbs (-s)

Deponent verbs (-s)

Past opinions (syntes)

Present perfect tense with regular verbs (har... -et/-t)

Present perfect tense with irregular verbs (har...)

Present perfect tense with movement (er...)

Past perfect tense (havde / var...)

Question	Answer
to call in (to a meeting, an interview)	indkalde
The municipality has called me in for a talk.	Kommunen har indkaldt mig til en samtale.
The boss called all employees to a meeting.	Chefen indkaldte alle medarbejdere til et møde.
She has been called in for a job interview.	Hun er blevet indkaldt til en jobsamtale.
to fulfil (a requirement, a wish)	opfylde
You do not meet the conditions.	Du opfylder ikke betingelserne.
The application must fulfil all requirements.	Ansøgningen skal opfylde alle krav.
The politician did not fulfil his promise.	Politikeren opfyldte ikke sit løfte.
further, additional	yderligere
For further information, you can call us.	For yderligere oplysninger kan De ringe til os.
If you have further questions, you are welcome to write.	Har De yderligere spørgsmål, er De velkommen til at skrive.
We need further documentation.	Vi har brug for yderligere dokumentation.
the embassy	ambassaden
I have to pick up my new passport at the embassy.	Jeg skal hente mit nye pas på ambassaden.
The American embassy is closed today.	Den amerikanske ambassade er lukket i dag.
The embassy helps Danes who have lost their passports.	Ambassaden hjælper danskere som har mistet deres pas.
the circumstances	omstændighederne
Whatever the circumstances, you must reply by Friday.	Under alle omstændigheder skal De svare inden fredag.
Under those circumstances, we cannot help you.	Under de omstændigheder kan vi ikke hjælpe Dem.
The letter does not explain the circumstances.	Brevet forklarer ikke omstændighederne.
specific	specifik
Could you be a little more specific?	Kan De være lidt mere specifik?
The letter does not say anything specific about the date.	Brevet siger ikke noget specifikt om datoen.
The job requires specific experience.	Jobbet kræver specifik erfaring.
behind (in a game, with work); backwards	bagud
We can see that you are behind with the rent.	Vi kan se at De er bagud med huslejen.
The team is two goals behind.	Holdet er bagud med to mål.
He took a step backwards.	Han tog et skridt bagud.

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