Questions & Answers about Vil du have mere kaffe?
Doesn't "vil" mean "will" like in English?
It looks like it, but vil is a false friend. In Danish, vil usually means "want" or "want to." If you want to talk about the future (like saying "will" in English), Danish often uses other verbs or just the present tense. Here, vil simply means "want."
Why do we say "Vil du have" instead of just "Vil du"?
In English, you can say "want" followed directly by a noun (Do you want coffee?). In Danish, vil is a helper verb that expects another action verb to follow it. You literally have to ask "Do you want to have more coffee?" which is why we must add have.
Why is the verb "have" used here instead of the present tense "har"?
Have is the base dictionary form of the verb. You use this base form because it comes after vil. In Danish, whenever you use a helper verb like vil (want to), kan (can), or skal (must), the second verb always drops its present tense "-r" ending.
Why is the word order "Vil du" instead of "Du vil"?
To make a yes/no question in Danish, you swap the subject and the verb. The normal statement is du vil (you want), so swapping them to Vil du turns it into the question "Do you want?".
Can I use "mere" for everything when I want to say "more"?