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Danish

### Polite Requests with Ville and Kunne

In Danish, just like in English, you can make a request softer and more polite by using the past tense of a modal verb to ask for something in the present. 

To ask someone if they "would" or "could" do something, use **ville** (the past tense of **vil**) or **kunne** (the past tense of **kan**).

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### Apologizing for the Trouble

When asking for a large favor or setting up a delicate situation, you can make your request even more polite by apologizing for the inconvenience first. You will often see these apologies paired with **kunne** or **ville**.

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### Seeking Permission with Måtte

The past tense of **må** (may/must) is **måtte**. In questions, it is used for very polite, formal permission-seeking, similar to "might I" or "may I" in English.

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### Everyday Polite Commands

For quick, everyday favors—like passing an object across the table—**kunne** is the most common choice.

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You will often hear native speakers drop in the word **lige** (just) to make these small requests sound more casual while remaining polite.

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Polite requests (kunne, ville, måtte)

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
the favor	tjenesten
Would you do me a favor?	Ville du gøre mig en tjeneste?
Could you ask her for the favor?	Kunne du bede hende om tjenesten?
the trouble (the hassle, effort)	besværet
Sorry for the trouble, but could you help my brother?	Undskyld besværet, men kunne du hjælpe min bror?
I apologize for the trouble, but would you wait for my sister?	Jeg beklager besværet, men ville I vente på min søster?
to translate	oversætte
Could you translate the text for me?	Kunne du oversætte teksten for mig?
Might I ask you to translate this?	Måtte jeg bede dig om at oversætte dette?
to pass (an object)	række
Could you pass me the salt?	Kunne du række mig saltet?
Could you just pass me the coffee?	Kunne du lige række mig kaffen?
the form	formularen
Could you fill out the form without asking?	Kunne du udfylde formularen uden at spørge?
Might I ask you to read the form?	Måtte jeg bede dig om at læse formularen?
to print (from a computer)	printe
Would you print the report for my mother?	Ville du printe rapporten for min mor?
Could you also print it for my father if you are at the office?	Kunne du også printe den til min far hvis du er på kontoret?
the copy	kopien
Would you send me the copy of the document?	Ville du sende mig kopien af dokumentet?
Might I see the copy when you are finished?	Måtte jeg se kopien når du er færdig?
to forward	videresende
Could you forward the email to my uncle?	Kunne du videresende mailen til min onkel?
Would you forward the message to my aunt if I ask you to?	Ville du videresende beskeden til min tante hvis jeg beder dig om det?
the meaning	betydningen
Could you explain the meaning of the word for him?	Kunne du forklare betydningen af ordet for ham?
Could you explain the meaning before you go?	Kunne du forklare betydningen inden du går?
to lower (volume or voice)	dæmpe
Could you turn down the music a little?	Kunne du dæmpe musikken lidt?
Would you be so kind as to lower your voice?	Ville du være så venlig at dæmpe din stemme?