Questions & Answers about Jeg vil hente min ven på stationen.
Does the Danish word vil here mean “will” (future) or “want to”?
Mostly “want to”/“be willing to.” In everyday Danish, vil expresses volition or willingness. So Jeg vil hente min ven på stationen most naturally means “I want to pick up my friend at the station” or “I’m willing to pick up my friend at the station.”
- For a planned or scheduled future, Danes typically use the simple present: Jeg henter min ven i morgen.
- For arrangements/obligations, use skal: Jeg skal hente min ven i morgen.
- Vil can also sound like a spontaneous decision (“I’ll do it”), but that’s about willingness rather than a neutral future tense.
Why is there no at (“to”) before hente?
Because vil is a modal verb, and Danish modals take a bare infinitive (no at):
- Correct: Jeg vil hente...
- Incorrect: Jeg vil at hente... Other common modals that work the same way: kan, skal, må, bør, turde.
Is hente the right verb for “pick up (someone)”? What about afhente or samle op?
- hente = the normal, everyday verb for “pick up/fetch” a person or thing: Jeg henter dig klokken fem.
- afhente = more formal/administrative (“collect”), often for parcels: Du kan afhente pakken.
- samle op = “pick up from the ground/collect along the way,” not used for picking someone up in a car as your main verb. So in this sentence, hente is exactly right.
Why is it min and not mit or mine?