Undskyld, har De også lim, eller skal jeg spørge læreren?

De is the formal way to say you in Danish. It is often capitalized to show respect and to distinguish it from de, which normally means they.

So in this sentence, har De også lim means do you also have glue? in a polite, formal way.

In modern Danish, du is much more common in everyday speech, and De can sound quite formal, old-fashioned, or especially polite depending on the situation.

Undskyld means excuse me or sorry.

In this sentence, it works like Excuse me at the start of a polite question:

• Undskyld, har De også lim ...? = Excuse me, do you also have glue ...?

It can also be used:

• to apologize: Undskyld! = Sorry!
• to get someone’s attention: Undskyld, hvor er stationen? = Excuse me, where is the station?

Because this is a question. In Danish main-clause questions, the finite verb usually comes before the subject.

So:

• Statement: De har også lim. = You also have glue.
• Question: Har De også lim? = Do you also have glue?

This kind of inversion is very common in Danish.

Også means also or too.

In har De også lim, it suggests something like:

• Do you also have glue?
• Do you happen to have glue as well?

Its position is natural in Danish after the subject in this kind of clause. Danish word order with adverbs like også does not always match English exactly word-for-word, so it is best to learn the whole pattern:

• Har De også ... ?

Lim means glue.

It is an uncountable noun here, just like English glue, so there is no article:

• har De lim? = do you have glue?

If you want the glue, Danish would use the definite form:

• limen = the glue

Because this part is also a question, introduced after eller (or):

• ... eller skal jeg spørge læreren?
• ... or should I ask the teacher?

Again, Danish uses verb-subject order in direct questions:

• Statement: Jeg skal spørge læreren. = I should / have to ask the teacher.
• Question: Skal jeg spørge læreren? = Should I ask the teacher?

Here skal is best understood as should in English:

• eller skal jeg spørge læreren? = or should I ask the teacher?

But skal can have several meanings depending on context, including:

• must / have to
• shall / will
• be going to
• should

In this sentence, it expresses a practical option: Should I ask the teacher instead?

Læreren means the teacher.

Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun:

• en lærer = a teacher
• læreren = the teacher

So:

• spørge læreren = ask the teacher

This implies a specific teacher, probably one both speaker and listener know about.

It is:

• spørge = to ask
• læreren = the teacher

So spørge læreren literally means ask the teacher.

After modal verbs like skal, Danish uses the infinitive without at:

• jeg skal spørge læreren not
• jeg skal at spørge læreren

This is similar to English:

• I should ask the teacher not
• I should to ask the teacher

Yes, basically. Eller means or.

In this sentence it connects two alternatives:

• har De også lim
• eller skal jeg spørge læreren?

So the speaker is saying:

• Do you also have glue, or should I ask the teacher?

Danish does not use a helper verb like English do to form ordinary questions.

English:

• You have glue.
• Do you have glue?

Danish:

• De har lim.
• Har De lim?

So Danish usually forms questions by changing the word order rather than adding a separate word like do.

It sounds polite and formal, mainly because of De.

A more everyday version would usually use du:

• Undskyld, har du også lim, eller skal jeg spørge læreren?

That version is much more typical in modern spoken Danish. The original sentence is still perfectly understandable, but it has a more respectful tone.

More or less, yes:

• Undskyld = Excuse me
• har = have
• De = you (formal)
• også = also
• lim = glue
• eller = or
• skal = shall/should
• jeg = I
• spørge = ask
• læreren = the teacher

A very literal version would be:

• Excuse me, have you also glue, or shall/should I ask the teacher?

But natural English is:

• Excuse me, do you also have glue, or should I ask the teacher?