Learn Hardcore Danish: Lad os gå i biografen i aften og se en sjov film. - Let’s go to the cinema tonight and watch a funny movie.

It’s used for friendly suggestions that include the speaker and the listener(s), just like English let’s. It’s not a strong command; it feels inclusive and cooperative.

How is Lad os … different from Skal vi …? in meaning and tone?

Both are used for suggestions, but they feel slightly different:

Lad os gå i biografen i aften.
→ More like Let’s go to the cinema tonight.
→ Feels a bit more proactive: the speaker is clearly proposing this plan.
Skal vi gå i biografen i aften?
→ Literally Shall we go to the cinema tonight? / Are we going to the cinema tonight?
→ Feels a bit more like an open question: Do you want to? Is that our plan?

In everyday conversation, both are polite and natural. Skal vi …? is very common for gentle suggestions; Lad os … can sound slightly more enthusiastic or decided.

Why is it gå i biografen and not tage i biografen? What’s the difference between gå and tage here?

In this expression, gå does not necessarily mean to walk on foot. It works like English go in phrases such as go to the cinema, go shopping, go to school.

at gå i biografen is a fixed, idiomatic phrase meaning to go to the cinema (to watch a movie).

You can say tage i biografen, but:

tage i biografen focuses more on the trip / outing (“to go off to the cinema”).
gå i biografen is the most common, neutral way to talk about the activity of going to the cinema.

So Lad os gå i biografen i aften is the natural, textbook phrasing.

Why is it i biografen and not til biografen?

Danish uses different prepositions depending on the type of place and the kind of activity. For certain “activity locations”, i is used for the idiomatic go to X:

gå i biografen – go to the cinema
gå i skole – go to school
gå i kirke – go to church
gå i teatret – go to the theatre

Here i is linked to the idea of being in the place to do the usual activity there (watching a film, studying, etc.).

Til biografen is possible, but it sounds more like movement towards the building as a destination, not the standard way to express the activity of “going to the cinema”. In practice, with biograf, i biografen is what you should use for the normal “let’s go to the movies” idea.

Why is it i biografen (with the definite ending) and not i en biograf?

Biograf in this sentence behaves like English the cinema when we talk about the activity in general, not a specific cinema:

gå i biografen ≈ go to the cinema (as an activity)
gå i skole ≈ go to school
gå i kirke ≈ go to church

So:

i biografen = to the cinema in general.
i en biograf = in a cinema (one particular, non‑specified cinema).

If you said Lad os gå i en biograf i aften, it would sound like you are stressing “some cinema or other, any cinema”, which is unusual. The fixed phrase for the activity is with the definite form: i biografen.

What exactly does i aften mean, and how is it different from i nat and i aftes?

i aften = this evening / tonight (from the evening until you go to bed).
- Lad os gå i biografen i aften. – Let’s go this evening.
i nat = tonight (during the night, after bedtime).
- Jeg arbejder i nat. – I’m working tonight (night shift).
i aftes = yesterday evening / last night.
- Jeg var i biografen i aftes. – I was at the cinema last night.

So i aften in the sentence clearly means the upcoming evening of today.

Could i aften be placed somewhere else in the sentence, like Lad os i aften gå i biografen?

Yes, Danish word order is fairly flexible with time adverbs. All of these are grammatically correct, though they differ slightly in emphasis and how natural they sound:

Lad os gå i biografen i aften og se en sjov film.
→ Neutral and very natural.
Lad os i aften gå i biografen og se en sjov film.
→ Emphasises tonight a bit more (“Tonight, let’s go to the cinema…”).
→ More stylistic / spoken emphasis, but still OK.

You generally don’t front i aften all the way to the start with Lad os (e.g. I aften lad os gå…) in everyday speech; it sounds marked or poetic. The version in your sentence is the most typical everyday phrasing.

Why is there no at before gå or se? I thought Danish infinitives usually use at.

Danish does use at as an infinitive marker, but it’s omitted in several common constructions, including this one.

In Lad os gå i biografen i aften og se en sjov film:

Lad os gå … – after Lad os, the verb is in bare infinitive (without at).
… og se en sjov film – gå and se are just two coordinated bare infinitives.

In general, at is often omitted:

after modal-like verbs: vil, kan, skal, må, bør
- Jeg vil gå. (not vil at gå)
after lade in this kind of construction:
- Lad os gå. (not Lad os at gå)

You typically use at when the infinitive is more like a nouny clause or not directly governed by a modal/auxiliary:

Det er godt at se dig. – It is good to see you.
Jeg prøver at lære dansk. – I’m trying to learn Danish.

So here, no at is exactly what you want.

Why is it en sjov film and not et sjov film or en sjovt film?

This is about noun gender and adjective agreement.

Film is common gender in Danish:
- en film (a film), not et film.
- Therefore, the correct article is en.
Adjective agreement before a singular, common‑gender noun:
- Base form of the adjective is used: sjov.
- en sjov film – a funny film
- et sjovt program – a funny programme (neuter: et
  - sjovt)
- sjove film – funny films (plural: sjove)

So the correct combination is:

en (common gender)
sjov (common‑gender singular form)
film (common-gender noun)

→ en sjov film.

What gender is film, and what are its main forms (singular/plural, definite/indefinite)?

Film is a common gender noun in Danish.

Key forms:

Singular, indefinite: en film – a film / a movie
Singular, definite: filmen – the film / the movie
Plural, indefinite: film – films / movies
Plural, definite: filmene – the films / the movies

So in your sentence:

en sjov film = a funny movie (singular, indefinite).

Does sjov mean “fun” or “funny” in Danish?

Sjov can cover both English fun and funny, depending on context:

en sjov film
→ Usually understood as a funny movie (it makes you laugh).
Det var sjovt.
→ Can mean That was fun or That was funny, again depending on context.

More precise alternatives:

morsom – often clearly funny, humorous.
underholdende – entertaining.
sjov is very common and colloquial for both fun and funny.

Why is the conjunction og used instead of for at? Could I say … i aften for at se en sjov film?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:

… i aften og se en sjov film.
→ Literally: … tonight and see a funny movie.
→ Presents two linked actions: going to the cinema and seeing a movie (as a natural consequence).
… i aften for at se en sjov film.
→ Literally: … tonight in order to see a funny movie.
→ Emphasises purpose: the reason for going is to see a funny movie.

In everyday speech:

og se is very natural and idiomatic in this context.
for at se is also correct; it just highlights the purpose more explicitly.

Your original sentence with og is perfectly standard.

Is this sentence a strong command or more like a polite suggestion?

Even though Lad os is built from an imperative (Lad!), Lad os … is understood as a suggestion, not a strict command.

Lad os gå i biografen i aften…
→ Inclusive, friendly: Let’s go to the cinema tonight…

It’s roughly as soft as English let’s …. It assumes the speaker is included and that they are trying to agree on a plan together.

How would the sentence change if I wanted to talk about last night instead of tonight?

You mainly just change the time expression:

Lad os gå i biografen i aftes og se en sjov film.

However, that sounds a bit strange in practice, because Lad os … usually refers to a future or present action (a suggestion). For something in the past, you’d normally use a past tense, not Lad os:

Vi gik i biografen i aftes og så en sjov film.
→ We went to the cinema last night and saw a funny movie.

So Lad os … + i aften is natural; Lad os … i aftes is grammatically possible but pragmatically odd.

Are there any pronunciation points in this sentence that are tricky for English speakers?

A few parts are often challenging:

Lad os
- The d in lad is very soft or almost inaudible in everyday speech.
- It can sound a bit like “la os” or even closer to “las”.
gå
- The å is a long vowel, roughly like the vowel in English “law” (British) or “saw”, but rounded.
biografen
- Stress on -gra-: bio-GRAF-en.
- Final -en is a weak, reduced syllable.
sjov
- sj is a single sound, somewhat like English “sh”, but produced a bit further forward in the mouth.
- The vowel + consonant blend at the end can sound like “show” with a bit of extra friction at the end.
aften
- Often pronounced quite quickly, something like “AF-ten”, with a short a (similar to English “a” in “cat”, but shorter).

Listening to native audio of the full sentence a few times and repeating it aloud will help you get used to how many of these consonants are softened or reduced in real speech.