Learn Danish: Jeg ville ikke fornærme dig. - I did not want to offend you.

In Danish, ville is the past tense of at ville, which primarily means "to want". While it can sometimes express the conditional like the English "would", here it directly expresses past intention: "I did not want to". English speakers often trip up by assuming vil and ville strictly match "will" and "would".

Is jeg ville ikke the best way to translate the English "I didn't mean to"?

Yes! If you accidentally step on someone's toes, either literally or figuratively, jeg ville ikke is the standard phrasing. Danish doesn't use a direct equivalent of "mean to" (like the verb mene) in this context. You just say that you didn't want to do it.

How would the word order change if I made this a subordinate clause?

In a main clause like this one, ikke comes after the first verb (ville). However, in a subordinate clause, ikke moves before the verb. For example, if you say "I said that I didn't want to offend you", it becomes: Jeg sagde, at jeg ikke ville fornærme dig.

Could fornærme be used if I accidentally physically hurt someone?

No, fornærme specifically means to insult or offend someone emotionally, mentally, or socially. If you accidentally caused physical pain, you would use a phrase like gøre ondt på dig (hurt you) instead.