Hvis hosten ikke forsvinder, vil jeg bestille tid hos lægen.

If the cough does not go away, I will make an appointment with the doctor.

Breakdown of Hvis hosten ikke forsvinder, vil jeg bestille tid hos lægen.

• jeg: I
• ville: to want
• hvis: if
• ikke: not

Questions & Answers about Hvis hosten ikke forsvinder, vil jeg bestille tid hos lægen.

Why is hvis used here?

Hvis means if.

In this sentence, it introduces a condition:

• Hvis hosten ikke forsvinder ... = If the cough doesn’t go away ...

A very common comparison is hvis vs når:

• hvis = if (something uncertain)
• når = when (something expected or assumed to happen)

So:

• Hvis hosten ikke forsvinder ... = maybe it will go away, maybe it won’t
• Når hosten forsvinder ... = you expect it to go away at some point

Because this sentence describes a possible situation, hvis is the right choice.

Why is it hosten and not just hoste?

Hosten is the definite singular form of en hoste:

• en hoste = a cough
• hosten = the cough

Danish often uses the definite form when talking about a specific symptom or condition already understood from the context. So hosten here means something like:

• the cough
• or, in more natural English, my/the cough I have

English and Danish do not always match exactly here. English might often say the cough or my cough, while Danish very naturally says hosten.