Jeg kommer til at glemme paraplyen.

I am going to end up forgetting the umbrella.

Breakdown of Jeg kommer til at glemme paraplyen.

• jeg: I
• paraplyen: the umbrella
• glemme: to forget
• komme til at: to end up

Questions & Answers about Jeg kommer til at glemme paraplyen.

What does kommer til at mean here? Is it like going to?

Kommer til at + infinitive expresses a likely or inevitable outcome, often something you don’t really intend. The closest English feel is going to or will end up. So you’re predicting that forgetting the umbrella will happen (not on purpose).

Can I say Jeg vil glemme paraplyen to mean the same?

No. Vil mainly expresses desire or intention. Jeg vil glemme paraplyen literally means “I want to forget the umbrella,” which is odd. For a neutral/likely future:

• Jeg kommer til at glemme paraplyen.
• Jeg glemmer nok paraplyen. (nok = probably)
• Present + time word: I morgen glemmer jeg paraplyen.

Why is there at before glemme?

At marks the infinitive and is required after kommer til. You normally drop at after modal verbs like kan, vil, skal, må, bør, tør, gider. So: Jeg kommer til at glemme, but Jeg kan glemme.

Does kommer til at always imply it’s accidental?

• In the past, yes: Jeg kom til at slette filen = I accidentally deleted the file.
• For present/future, it often suggests an unwanted or unintended outcome, or an inevitability, not a plan. You can add ved et uheld (by accident) if you want to make the accident explicit.

How do I negate it? Where does ikke go?

Put ikke after the finite verb (kommer): Jeg kommer ikke til at glemme paraplyen.
Alternative: Jeg glemmer ikke paraplyen. (simple present; also fine, slightly more direct/promise-like)

Can I just use the present tense for a future meaning?

Yes. Danish often uses present for the future if there’s a time marker:

• I morgen glemmer jeg paraplyen. Without a time marker, Jeg glemmer paraplyen tends to mean a habit (“I (always) forget the umbrella.”).

Why is it paraplyen and not en paraply?

Because you mean a specific, known umbrella. Danish marks definiteness with a suffix: paraplyen = the umbrella.
Forms:

• Singular: en paraply (indef.), paraplyen (def.)
• Plural: paraplyer (indef.), paraplyerne (def.) Bare paraply (without article) is not used for a singular count noun.

How do I say “my umbrella”?

Jeg kommer til at glemme min paraply. You can also keep paraplyen if context already makes it clear it’s yours, but min is explicit.

Can I replace paraplyen with a pronoun?

Yes: Jeg kommer til at glemme den. (den because paraply is common gender.)
With negation: Jeg kommer ikke til at glemme den.
For neuter nouns you’d use det.

How is til at pronounced in everyday speech?

Danes often reduce til at so it sounds like one unit, roughly “tilla.” The t in at is light or disappears, and at often sounds like a short “a.” Don’t over-pronounce each word separately.

What’s the difference between kommer til at, skal til at, and er ved at?

• Kommer til at: will end up/likely to happen (often unintended).
• Skal til at
  • verb: about to, imminent start. Example: Jeg skal til at gå (I’m about to leave).
• Er ved at
  • verb: in the process of/close to happening. Example: Jeg er ved at glemme det (I’m on the verge of forgetting it).

Can I stack verbs like “forget to take the umbrella”?

Yes: Jeg kommer til at glemme at tage paraplyen.
Here you have at twice: one for kommer til at + glemme and one for glemme at + tage. That’s normal.

Where do adverbs like nok or sandsynligvis go?

They typically go after the finite verb (kommer):

• Jeg kommer nok til at glemme paraplyen.
• Jeg kommer sandsynligvis til at glemme paraplyen. With time expressions, keep V2: I morgen kommer jeg til at glemme paraplyen / Jeg kommer til at glemme paraplyen i morgen.

What’s the past tense version?

Jeg kom til at glemme paraplyen. This strongly signals it happened unintentionally: “I ended up/accidentally forgot the umbrella.”