Vi taler om forholdet.

Because taler is the present tense form of the verb at tale (to speak / to talk).

• at tale = to speak / to talk
• taler = speak / are speaking / talk / are talking

In Danish, the present tense is often formed by adding -r to the infinitive:

• at tale → taler
• at bo → bor
• at lære → lærer

So Vi taler om forholdet means We are talking about the relationship or We talk about the relationship, depending on context.

Om often means about in Danish.

So:

• tale om noget = to talk about something

This is a very common pattern:

• Vi taler om dig = We are talking about you
• Han taler om sin familie = He is talking about his family

A learner may want to translate word-for-word from English, but in this case the Danish matches English closely:

• talk about = tale om

Because forholdet is the definite form of the noun.

In Danish, instead of usually putting a separate word like the before the noun, you often add the definiteness to the end of the noun.

• et forhold = a relationship
• forholdet = the relationship

So the ending -et here means the.

This happens because forhold is a neuter noun (et-word).

You learn it together with the noun:

• et forhold = a relationship

In Danish, nouns are generally either:

• en-words
• et-words

Since this noun is et forhold, its definite singular form becomes:

• forholdet

Compare:

• en bil → bilen
• et hus → huset
• et forhold → forholdet

Unfortunately, noun gender in Danish usually has to be memorized.

Yes, vi means we.

It is the subject pronoun used when the speaker includes themselves and at least one other person.

Examples:

• Vi taler dansk = We speak Danish
• Vi kommer i morgen = We are coming tomorrow

In this sentence, vi is the subject, so the basic structure is:

• Vi = subject
• taler = verb
• om forholdet = prepositional phrase

This sentence uses the normal basic word order of a Danish main clause:

Subject + verb + rest

So:

• Vi = subject
• taler = verb
• om forholdet = rest of the sentence

Danish main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule, often called V2. In a simple sentence like this, that gives you:

• Vi taler om forholdet

If something else comes first, the verb still stays in second position:

• I dag taler vi om forholdet = Today we are talking about the relationship

Notice that when I dag comes first, taler still stays second, and vi moves after the verb.

A careful approximation is:

vee TAH-luh owm for-HOL-eth

But natural Danish pronunciation is usually more reduced than that.

A few helpful points:

• Vi sounds roughly like vee
• taler often sounds like TA-luh or TE-luh, depending on accent and speaking speed
• om is roughly like om / awm
• forholdet is often pronounced with a soft d near the end, not a strong English d

The exact pronunciation can vary, but the biggest thing for English speakers is that spoken Danish is often softer and less clearly separated than the spelling suggests.

Not always. Forhold can have several meanings depending on context, such as:

• relationship
• conditions
• circumstances
• ratio / proportion
• affair

So forholdet could mean:

• the relationship
• the matter
• the situation
• the affair

However, if the meaning shown to the learner is something like the relationship, then that is probably the intended sense here.

Context is very important with forhold.

Yes. Snakke om is also very common and often feels a bit more informal than tale om.

• Vi taler om forholdet = We are talking about the relationship
• Vi snakker om forholdet = We are talking about the relationship

Both are natural. Very roughly:

• tale can sound a little more neutral or formal
• snakke can sound a little more conversational

In everyday speech, many Danes use snakke a lot.

Yes. Danish present tense often covers both meanings.

So Vi taler om forholdet can mean:

• We talk about the relationship
• We are talking about the relationship

The exact meaning depends on context.

If you want to make the ongoing action extra clear, Danish often relies on context or adds time expressions rather than using a special verb form like English does.

For example:

• Lige nu taler vi om forholdet = Right now we are talking about the relationship

Because Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

So English:

• the relationship

Danish:

• forholdet

This is one of the most important differences between English and Danish nouns.

Compare:

• a car = en bil

• the car = bilen

• a house = et hus
• the house = huset

So in this sentence, forholdet already includes the meaning of the relationship.