Vi taler om filmen i stuen.

We talk about the movie in the living room.

Breakdown of Vi taler om filmen i stuen.

• i: in
• vi: we
• stuen: the living room
• tale: to talk
• om: on
• filmen: the movie

Questions & Answers about Vi taler om filmen i stuen.

Why is it taler and not something like er taler for “are talking”?

Danish does not have a separate continuous tense like English am/is/are talking.

• Vi taler = We talk / We are talking
• The simple present (taler) covers both the general and the “right now” meaning.
• You do not add er (am/is/are) before a main verb to make a continuous form in Danish.

So Vi taler already means We are talking in this context.

What is the difference between taler and snakker?

Both can often be translated as talk or speak.

• tale (taler) is a bit more neutral/formal and can also mean “give a speech”.
• snakke (snakker) is more informal/colloquial, like chat.

In this sentence, you could also say:

• Vi snakker om filmen i stuen.

It would sound more casual, but the meaning is almost the same.

Why is it filmen and not just film?

Danish usually marks “the” by adding a suffix instead of using a separate word.

• en film = a movie
• filmen = the movie

So om filmen literally means about the movie.
If you said om film, it would be more like about movies (in general), not one specific movie.

Why is there no separate word for “the” before filmen and stuen?

Danish definite nouns are usually formed with an ending:

• en film → filmen (the movie)
• en stue → stuen (the living room)

You don’t say ✗ den film or ✗ den stue here in basic sentences.
den film exists, but it’s used in more specific contexts (often with emphasis), e.g.:

• den film, vi så i går – that movie we watched yesterday

What does the preposition om mean here?

In this sentence, om means about:

• tale om noget = talk about something

Some common uses of om:

• Vi taler om filmen. – We talk about the movie.
• En bog om katte. – A book about cats.

So om + noun = “about” + noun in many cases.

Does om filmen i stuen mean “about the movie that is in the living room” or “about the movie, in the living room”?

By itself, Vi taler om filmen i stuen is somewhat ambiguous, just like in English.

1. Most natural reading in everyday speech:

   • We are in the living room, talking about the movie.
   • i.e. i stuen describes where we are talking.

2. Possible but less likely reading:

   • We are talking about the movie that is in the living room.
   • i.e. i stuen describes the movie.

If you really want to stress meaning (2), you’d usually make it clearer, e.g.:

• Vi taler om den film, der er i stuen.
  (We’re talking about the film that is in the living room.)

Why is it i stuen and not på stuen or something else?

The preposition used with stue (living room) is i:

• i stuen – in the living room

i is used for being inside something (rooms, buildings, countries, etc.):

• i huset – in the house
• i køkkenet – in the kitchen
• i Danmark – in Denmark

på is used for other types of locations (e.g. på bordet – on the table, på arbejde – at work), but not with stue for normal “in the living room” meaning.

Why is it stuen and not stue?

Same reason as with filmen: it’s the definite form.

• en stue = a living room
• stuen = the living room

After many prepositions indicating a specific place, Danish often uses the definite form:

• i stuen – in the living room
• på skolen – at the school
• i køkkenet – in the kitchen

Can I change the word order and say Vi taler i stuen om filmen?

Yes, that is also correct Danish:

• Vi taler om filmen i stuen.
• Vi taler i stuen om filmen.

Both are grammatically fine. The neutral word order is usually:

Subject – Verb – (Object) – Place

So the original Vi taler om filmen i stuen feels very neutral.
Moving i stuen earlier can give it a little more emphasis (on the place), but it’s still natural.

What is the basic word order pattern in this sentence?

In a main clause, Danish is a V2 language (the verb is in second position):

• Vi (subject)
• taler (verb, 2nd position)
• om filmen i stuen (rest of the sentence)

Pattern: Subject – Verb – (Other elements)
English often follows the same pattern here, so this sentence feels similar to English word order.

How do you pronounce Vi taler om filmen i stuen?

Approximate pronunciation (in simple English-style hints):

• Vi – like “vee”
• taler – roughly “TAH-ler” (the r is soft/weak)
• om – like the English “om” in “om-nom”, shorter
• filmen – “FIL-men”
• i – like English “ee”
• stuen – “STOO-en” (often something like “STOO-ən”)

Spoken fluently, some sounds may blend, and the final -er / -en endings are not very strong.

What are the genders of film and stue, and why do they take -en?

Both film and stue are common gender (en-words):

• en film → filmen
• en stue → stuen

Common gender nouns form the definite singular with -en.
(Neuter gender nouns – et-words – use -et, e.g. et hus → huset, the house.)

Can I say Vi taler om filmen inde i stuen? Does that sound natural?

Yes, that’s natural and a bit more explicit:

• inde i stuen = inside the living room

So:

• Vi taler om filmen inde i stuen.
  = We’re talking about the movie inside the living room.

It clearly emphasizes that we are located inside the living room.