Breakdown of Som kunde vil jeg gerne have gode tilbud uden at skulle stå længe i kø.
Questions & Answers about Som kunde vil jeg gerne have gode tilbud uden at skulle stå længe i kø.
In Danish, after som meaning as, you often leave out the article when you talk about a role, function, or identity:
- som kunde = as (a) customer
- som lærer = as (a) teacher
- som ven = as (a) friend
You can say som en kunde, but it sounds more specific or contrasting, like:
- Som en kunde forventer jeg god service = As a customer (as opposed to something else), I expect good service.
In your sentence, som kunde is general: In my role as a customer…, so no article is used.
Here som means as, not like in the sense of similarity:
- Som kunde = As a customer, in the role/capacity of a customer.
Compare:
- Han arbejder som lærer. = He works as a teacher. (his job)
- Han er som en lærer. = He is like a teacher. (he behaves that way, but maybe isn’t one)
So som kunde is about identity/role, not just resemblance.
The basic word order is:
- Jeg vil gerne have gode tilbud … = I would like to have good offers …
But Danish often puts an adverbial or phrase at the beginning for emphasis or flow. When you move som kunde to the front, the verb must still come second in the main clause (V2 rule):
- Som kunde vil jeg gerne have gode tilbud …
So:
- Som kunde (fronted phrase)
- vil (the finite verb)
- jeg (the subject)
- gerne have gode tilbud … (rest of the clause)
This is a standard V2 word order pattern in Danish main clauses.
Gerne softens the statement and makes it polite/desirous, similar to would like to in English.
- Jeg vil have gode tilbud = I want good offers (more direct, can sound demanding)
- Jeg vil gerne have gode tilbud = I would like to have good offers (politer, more typical in normal speech)
In your sentence, vil jeg gerne have matches the polite English I would like to have.
You can omit gerne, but the tone becomes more blunt.
Both are possible, but they focus on slightly different things:
- have gode tilbud = have good offers available (focus on the state: that such offers exist for me as a customer)
- få gode tilbud = get/receive good offers (focus on the action of receiving them)
Your sentence is about what the customer wants to enjoy as a condition of being a customer: that there are good offers for them without long queues. So have gode tilbud fits well.
You could say:
- Som kunde vil jeg gerne få gode tilbud …
That would lean more toward I want to receive good deals, which is also understandable and correct, just with a slightly different nuance.
- et godt tilbud = a good offer (one)
- gode tilbud = good offers (plural, some/any number of them)
In this context, gode tilbud is more natural because a customer typically wants access to good offers in general, not just one single offer.
You could say:
- Som kunde vil jeg gerne have et godt tilbud …
but it would feel like you’re talking about one specific offer. The plural sounds more general and typical.
Both are grammatically possible, but skulle adds a nuance:
- uden at stå længe i kø = without standing long in line (simple description)
- uden at skulle stå længe i kø = without having to stand long in line (focus on the obligation/necessity)
skulle here works like have to:
- Jeg skal stå i kø. = I have to stand in line.
So uden at skulle stå længe i kø emphasizes avoiding the requirement or need to stand in a queue for a long time. It matches the English without having to stand more closely.
Skulle is a modal verb (like should, have to, be supposed to) and is often followed by another verb in the infinitive:
- Jeg skal gå. = I have to go.
- Jeg skulle købe mælk. = I was supposed to buy milk.
In uden at skulle stå, you have:
- at (infinitive marker)
- skulle (modal verb, infinitive form)
- stå (main verb, infinitive)
Literally: without to have-to stand. Together this is understood as without having to stand.
Danish uses stå i kø (stand in queue) as the normal idiom:
- Jeg står i kø. = I’m in line / I’m queuing.
Using være i kø (be in queue) is unusual or at least not the standard expression for waiting in a line of people.
So even if you are sitting, you still usually say stå i kø in Danish. It’s just the fixed expression, like English stand in line even when you’re not literally standing.
Danish often omits the article in fixed expressions with kø:
- stå i kø = stand in line (general activity)
- komme foran i kø = get ahead in line
If you add an article, you make it more specific:
- i en kø = in a certain line (not a very typical phrase)
- i køen = in the (particular) line
In your sentence, the idea is general: standing a long time in line (in queues in general), not one specific line, so the expression stå længe i kø is used without an article.
Both længe and lang tid can mean for a long time, but they’re used slightly differently:
- stå længe i kø = stand long in line / stand in line for a long time (very natural, adverb)
- stå i kø i lang tid = stand in line for a long time (also correct, a bit more explicit)
længe is an adverb and fits nicely before the prepositional phrase i kø. It’s shorter and more idiomatic in this exact expression.
lang tid is a noun phrase (literally long time) and usually comes with i:
- i lang tid = for a long time
So we’d say:
- uden at skulle stå længe i kø
or - uden at skulle stå i kø i lang tid
Both are correct; the original just chooses the more compact adverb længe.