Present Unreal Wishes with "Gid"
To express a wish about the present—something you dream of being true right now, but isn't—Danish uses the word gid. It translates directly to "if only" or "I wish".
Just like in English (where we say "I wish I owned", not "own"), Danish uses the past tense of the verb after gid to show that the situation is hypothetical or unreal.
| I wish my brother owned the huge villa! | Gid min bror ejede den enorme villa! |
| I wish we owned the house with the fantastic view. | Gid vi ejede huset med den fantastiske udsigt. |
Dreaming of Luxury
You can use any verb in the past tense to build your dream scenario. Common verbs for expressing these wishes include vandt (won) and havde (had).
| If only we won the lottery and got a million! | Gid vi vandt i lotteriet og fik en million! |
| If only the large villa had a pool on the terrace! | Gid den store villa havde en pool på terrassen! |
Adding Modals and Adverbs to Wishes
If your wish involves a hypothetical ability ("if only we could..."), use a past tense modal verb like kunne followed by the infinitive of the main verb.
| If only we could always enjoy the peace and the view in the forest. | Gid vi altid kunne nyde roen og udsigten i skoven. |
Because gid introduces a subordinate clause, adverbs like aldrig (never) are placed after the subject and before the verb.
| I wish we never needed the money! | Gid vi aldrig havde brug for pengene! |
