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Min veninde siger: “Sæt tallerkenerne i opvaskemaskinen,” og jeg gør det med det samme.

Min veninde siger: “Sæt tallerkenerne i opvaskemaskinen,” og jeg gør det med det samme.
My (female) friend says, “Put the plates in the dishwasher,” and I do it right away.

Breakdown of Min veninde siger: “Sæt tallerkenerne i opvaskemaskinen,” og jeg gør det med det samme.

jeg
I
og
and
i
in
min
my
det
it
sætte
to put
tallerkenen
the plate
veninden
the (female) friend
gøre
to do
sige
to say
opvaskemaskinen
the dishwasher
med det samme
right away
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Questions & Answers about Min veninde siger: “Sæt tallerkenerne i opvaskemaskinen,” og jeg gør det med det samme.

Why does Danish use a colon before the quote: siger: “…”?

In Danish it’s very common to put a colon after a “speech verb” (like sige, spørge, råbe) before a direct quote: Hun siger: “…”.
You can also see a comma used in some styles, but the colon is especially common and feels natural in modern Danish writing.

What does min veninde mean exactly, and why not min ven?
  • veninde = a (female) friend (of mine)
  • ven = a (male) friend (of mine)
    So min veninde tells you the friend is female. English “friend” doesn’t mark gender, but Danish often does.
    Also, veninde can sometimes imply “girlfriend” in context, but normally it just means “female friend.” If you want to be unambiguous, you can say min kæreste for “my girlfriend/partner.”
Why is it min veninde and not min veninden?

Danish distinguishes:

  • min veninde = my friend (indefinite noun form after a possessive)
  • veninden = the friend (definite form)

A key rule: when you use a possessive (min/mit/mine, din, hans, etc.), Danish normally uses the indefinite noun form (no -en/-et):
min bil, mit hus, min veninde.

Why does the verb come before the subject in Sæt tallerkenerne…?

Because it’s an imperative (a command). In Danish, the imperative is formed from the verb and typically comes first:

  • Sæt …! = “Put …!”
    No subject is stated (it’s implied “you”).
How is the imperative sæt formed, and why isn’t it sætte?

The infinitive is at sætte (“to put”). The imperative is a special form: sæt!
Many common Danish verbs have an imperative that looks like the present tense but without -r (and sometimes with spelling changes):

  • at sætte → present sætter → imperative sæt
  • at tage → present tager → imperative tag

This one is irregular in the sense that you can’t just “remove -e” from sætte to get the imperative.

What is tallerkenerne—and why does it have -ne?

tallerken = “plate”
Plural indefinite: tallerkener = “plates”
Plural definite: tallerkenerne = “the plates”

So Sæt tallerkenerne… means “Put the plates …” (specific plates).

Why is it i opvaskemaskinen and not på opvaskemaskinen?

Because you’re placing them inside the dishwasher:

  • i = in/inside
  • på = on (on top of a surface)

So: i opvaskemaskinen = “in the dishwasher.”

What does opvaskemaskinen literally mean, and how is it built?

It’s a compound noun:

  • opvask = washing dishes (dishwashing)
  • maskine = machine
  • -n/-en = definite ending (“the”)

So opvaskemaskinen = “the dishwashing machine” = “the dishwasher.”

Why is there og before jeg gør det…—does it affect word order?

Here og just coordinates two main clauses: 1) Min veninde siger: “…”
2) jeg gør det med det samme

After og, Danish often uses normal main-clause word order: subject then verb (jeg gør).
(If the second clause started with something else—like an adverbial—then you might see verb-second effects more clearly.)

What does gør det mean here, and why use gøre instead of repeating sætte?

gøre det is like English “do it” and refers back to the whole action in the quote (putting the plates in the dishwasher). Danish commonly uses gøre det to avoid repeating the earlier verb:

  • … og jeg gør det = “… and I do it” (= I carry out what she said)

If you wanted to repeat the action explicitly, you could say something like: … og jeg sætter dem i opvaskemaskinen med det samme.

Why is it det (not den) in jeg gør det?

Because det can refer to an entire action/idea (“that/it”), not just a specific common-gender noun. Here it means “that (thing she told me to do).”
den typically refers back to a common gender noun (en-word) that’s already mentioned, and det refers back to a neuter noun (et-word) or to an abstract idea/action.

What does med det samme mean, and are there alternatives?

med det samme means “immediately / right away.” It’s a fixed phrase.
Common alternatives:

  • straks = immediately
  • lige med det samme = right this second (more emphatic)
  • med det samme is very idiomatic and common in spoken Danish too.
Why is it min and not mit or mine?

Because veninde is a common-gender noun (en veninde).
Possessives agree with gender/number:

  • min
    • common gender singular (en-words): min veninde
  • mit
    • neuter singular (et-words): mit hus
  • mine
    • plural: mine venner / mine veninder