Meeting people
| Danish | English | typical use |
|---|---|---|
| den fremmede | the stranger | tale med fremmede |
| spøge | to joke | jeg spøger bare |
| undskyldningen | the apology | tak for din undskyldning |
| blinke | to blink, to wink | blinke til nogen |
Den fremmede is an adjective used as a noun, like den studerende: en fremmed, den fremmede, plural fremmede. The plain adjective fremmed means "foreign" or "unfamiliar".
| Suddenly a stranger knocked on the door. | Pludselig bankede en fremmed på døren. |
With en, it is one person nobody knows.
| Children must not talk to strangers. | Børn må ikke tale med fremmede. |
The plural needs no article: strangers in general.
Jokes, winks and apologies
| Calm down, I am only joking. | Rolig nu, jeg spøger bare. |
Jeg spøger bare means "I'm only joking". In casual speech Danes more often say Jeg laver bare sjov.
| He winked at me across the table. | Han blinkede til mig over bordet. |
Blinke til someone is a wink; blinke on its own is usually an ordinary blink.
| Thank you for your apology. I am not angry any more. | Tak for din undskyldning. Jeg er ikke sur mere. |
After someone says undskyld, their undskyldning is an apology. The same word can also mean an excuse: en dårlig undskyldning is usually a poor excuse.
Words with a second meaning
| word | the other meaning | the meaning in this lesson |
|---|---|---|
| karakteren | a grade at school | a person's character |
| handlingen | the plot of a film | an act, action |
| tilfældet | the case (det er tilfældet) | chance, a coincidence |
| She has a strong character. | Hun har en stærk karakter. |
A teacher giver en karakter; a person har en karakter.
| It was a brave act. | Det var en modig handling. |
A film has en handling; here a person does something.
| We met completely by chance. | Vi mødtes helt ved et tilfælde. |
Ved et tilfælde is a fixed phrase: "by chance".
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