Lad os spise aftensmad i haven.

Let's eat dinner in the garden.

Breakdown of Lad os spise aftensmad i haven.

• i: in
• haven: the garden
• spise: to eat
• aftensmaden: the dinner
• lad os: let's
• os: us

Questions & Answers about Lad os spise aftensmad i haven.

What does lad os mean literally, and why is it used here?

Lad os is literally “let us”:

• lad = imperative of the verb at lade (to let / to allow)
• os = us

Together lad os is the normal way in Danish to say “let’s …” (a 1st‑person plural imperative).
So Lad os spise … = Let’s eat …

Why is there no vi (we) in the sentence?

Danish does not use vi after lad os.

• lad os already contains the idea of “we/us” in os.
• Saying ✗ Lad os vi spise aftensmad … would be wrong.

So you either say:

• Lad os spise aftensmad … – Let’s eat dinner …
• Vi spiser aftensmad … – We are eating dinner …

What form of the verb is spise, and why is there no at?

spise is the infinitive (the dictionary form: “to eat”).

After lad os, Danish uses the bare infinitive, without at:

• Lad os spise aftensmad. – correct
• ✗ Lad os at spise aftensmad. – incorrect

You use at before infinitives in other contexts, e.g.:

• Jeg vil gerne lære at spise sundere. – I would like to learn to eat more healthily.

Why is there no article before aftensmad?

Meals in Danish are usually treated like uncountable nouns in this context, so you don’t use an article:

• spise morgenmad – eat breakfast
• spise frokost – eat lunch
• spise aftensmad – eat dinner

You only use the definite form when you mean a specific meal:

• Aftensmaden var lækker. – The dinner was delicious.

Is aftensmad always one word, and what is it made of?

Yes, it should be written as one compound word: aftensmad.

It is made from:

• aften = evening
• mad = food

So literally: “evening food”, i.e. dinner / supper.

Writing ✗ aften mad or ✗ aftens mad would be wrong in standard spelling.

What is the difference between aftensmad, middag, and aften?

• aftensmad = the normal modern word for dinner / the evening meal.
• middag:
  • traditionally “the main meal” (could be at midday or evening),
  • today often used for a somewhat nicer / more formal meal:
    Vi skal til middag hos mine forældre. – We’re going to (a) dinner at my parents’.
• aften = evening (the time of day), not the meal.

So spise aftensmad = eat the evening meal, while i aften = this evening (time).

Why is it i haven and not i have or på haven?

• i means in (inside a space). A garden is seen as a space you are inside, so i haven = in the garden.
• på is more like on / at for surfaces, islands, some public places, etc.

You say:

• i haven – in the garden
• i huset – in the house
  but
• på gaden – in the street
• på altanen – on the balcony

Why does have become haven here?

Danish usually marks “the” by adding a definite ending to the noun.

• en have – a garden
• haven – the garden

In your sentence, you are talking about a specific garden (probably “our garden” or the one you share in context), so you use the definite form:

• i haven = in the garden (the specific one)

Could I say i en have instead of i haven?

You can, but it changes the meaning slightly:

• i haven – in the garden (a particular, known garden)
• i en have – in a garden (some garden, not specified which one)

Normally, if you mean the garden at your home, you would say i haven.

Can I move i haven earlier in the sentence?

In normal, neutral speech you keep the order:

• Lad os spise aftensmad i haven.

Other orders are either wrong or sound very marked / poetic:

• ✗ I haven lad os spise aftensmad. – ungrammatical in normal Danish
• Lad os i haven spise aftensmad. – technically possible but sounds unusual and emphatic.

So for everyday use, keep i haven at the end.

How do I say “Let’s not eat dinner in the garden” in Danish?

You place ikke (not) after lad os and before the verb:

• Lad os ikke spise aftensmad i haven.

If you only want to negate the location (not in the garden, but somewhere else), you can say:

• Lad os spise aftensmad, men ikke i haven. – Let’s eat dinner, but not in the garden.

Is Lad os spise aftensmad i haven formal or informal?

It is neutral and very common. You can use lad os …:

• with friends and family,
• with colleagues,
• in many polite contexts.

It’s not rude or overly casual. With strangers in very formal situations, you might prefer a question form like:

• Skal vi spise aftensmad i haven? – Shall we eat dinner in the garden?

Can I drop os and just say Lad spise aftensmad i haven?

No. Lad os is a fixed construction meaning “let’s …”.

• ✗ Lad spise aftensmad i haven. – incorrect
• Lad os spise aftensmad i haven. – correct

Without os, lad would normally need some other object:

• Lad ham spise i fred. – Let him eat in peace.

How is each word in the sentence roughly pronounced?

Very approximate pronunciation (for an English speaker):

• Lad – like “la”, with a soft / very light d at the end
• os – like “oss” (short o as in “off”, but shorter)
• spise – “SPEE-seh” (stress on SPI)
• aftensmad – “AF-ten-smahth”
  
  • aften = AF-ten (short a)
  • mad has a soft d, almost like “math” with the tongue touching gently
• i – like English “ee”
• haven – roughly “HA-ven”, but the v can sound weak and the final -en is quite reduced in real speech

Real Danish speech will sound more blurred and connected than these syllables suggest, but this gives a starting point.

What are some other common ways to say “Let’s eat dinner in the garden” in Danish?

Some natural alternatives:

• Skal vi spise aftensmad i haven?
  Literally “Shall we eat dinner in the garden?” – very common as a suggestion.
• Vi kan spise aftensmad i haven.
  “We can eat dinner in the garden.” – mild suggestion.
• Hvad med at spise aftensmad i haven?
  “What about eating dinner in the garden?” – proposing the idea.