Breakdown of Jeg beklager besværet, men ville I vente på min søster?
jeg
I
I
you (plural)
min
my
søsteren
the sister
vente på
to wait for
ville
want to / will
men
but
beklage
to regret (to be sorry about)
besværet
the trouble (the hassle, effort)
Questions & Answers about Jeg beklager besværet, men ville I vente på min søster?
Why use the past tense ville when asking someone to wait right now?
Using the past tense of a modal verb, like ville (would) instead of the present tense vil (will/want), is a common way to make a request softer and more polite in Danish. It works exactly like choosing 'would' over 'will' in English.
Could I just use undskyld instead of beklager here?
You could, but beklager is a great fit for this context. It literally means to regret or apologize for something and is slightly more formal. It is exactly what you say when acknowledging a specific inconvenience like besværet (the trouble).
Why is there a på after vente? Doesn't på mean 'on'?
While på very often translates to 'on', Danish requires specific prepositions to pair with certain verbs. To say 'wait for' someone or something, you must always use the set phrase vente på.
Why does the sentence use I instead of du for 'you'?
I is the plural form of 'you' in Danish. This tells us the speaker is asking two or more people to wait. If they were speaking to just one person, they would say ville du vente.
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