Vi vil gerne reservere et bord på caféen til i aften.

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Breakdown of Vi vil gerne reservere et bord på caféen til i aften.

• bordet: the table
• vi: we
• ville: to want

Questions & Answers about Vi vil gerne reservere et bord på caféen til i aften.

Why does vil come before gerne in Vi vil gerne ...?

In Danish, vil is the finite verb (present tense of ville) and in a main clause it normally takes the second position (the V2 rule). Gerne is an adverb, so it comes after the finite verb:

• Vi vil gerne reservere ... = “We would like to reserve ...”
  You can move other elements to the front for emphasis, but the finite verb still stays second.

Does vil gerne mean “want” or “would like”?

Literally, vil is “want/will,” and gerne means “gladly/willingly.” Together, vil gerne is a very common polite way to say “would like (to)”. It’s softer than vi vil alone, which can sound more like a firm “we want.”

Why is it reservere and not a form like reserverer?

Because after a modal verb like vil, Danish uses the infinitive (base form) of the main verb:

• vil + infinitive → vil reservere (“want/would like to reserve”)
  Reserverer would be a present-tense form and would normally be used without a modal: Vi reserverer et bord (“We are reserving a table / We reserve a table”).

What’s the difference between reservere and in this context?