Jeg skal til at gå ud, for min ven kommer lige om lidt.

Skal til at + infinitive is a very common Danish pattern meaning be about to, be just going to, or be on the point of doing something.

So:

Jeg skal til at gå ud
means roughly
I’m about to go out

The idea is that the action has not really started yet, but it will start very soon.

Not really, or at least not in the strong obligation sense.

On its own, skal often means something like must, have to, or sometimes a future-like will. But in the fixed expression skal til at, it usually does not feel like duty. Instead, it signals that something is about to begin.

So here skal is part of the whole expression, and the meaning is closer to am about to than must.

Because gå is an infinitive, and in this expression the pattern is:

skal til at + infinitive

So at is not optional here. It is part of the structure that leads into the verb in its base form.

It is best to learn skal til at as one chunk, rather than trying to translate each word separately.

Because gå ud is the natural expression for go out / leave.

Danish often uses verb-particle combinations like:

• gå ud = go out
• gå ind = go in
• stå op = get up / stand up
• komme tilbage = come back

Here ud gives the idea of moving outward, leaving a place, or going out.

Without ud, gå would just mean walk/go in a more general sense.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Gå ud can mean:

• physically go out / leave
• go out socially

In this sentence, it most naturally means leave / go out, since the speaker explains it with for min ven kommer lige om lidt. The exact real-world situation depends on context, but the grammar works for either reading.

Because Danish, like English, often uses the present tense for the near future.

So:

min ven kommer lige om lidt

is like English:

my friend is coming in a moment

This is very natural when something is expected, planned, or about to happen soon.

You do not need a separate future form here.

Lige om lidt means in just a little while, very soon, or in a moment.

The core expression is om lidt, which already means soon / in a little while.

Adding lige makes it feel more immediate or natural, a bit like just in English:

• om lidt = soon
• lige om lidt = very soon / in just a moment

So lige does not have its literal meaning here; it helps create a common time expression.

For can mean because in Danish.

In this sentence:

Jeg skal til at gå ud, for min ven kommer lige om lidt.

the second clause gives the reason or explanation for the first one.

You could also say:

Jeg skal til at gå ud, fordi min ven kommer lige om lidt.

Both are possible. A useful difference is:

• for introduces a new main clause
• fordi usually introduces a subordinate clause

In everyday meaning, both can often be translated as because, but for often feels a little more like an added explanation.

Because after for, this is still a main clause.

Danish main clauses normally have the finite verb in the second position, but if the subject comes first, the order looks simple:

min ven kommer lige om lidt

If another element were moved to the front, then you would see inversion:

Lige om lidt kommer min ven.

So the sentence as given has perfectly normal main-clause word order.

Because a possessive like min already makes the noun definite.

So Danish says:

• min ven = my friend
• din bil = your car
• hans hus = his house

You do not add an article as well.

This works like English: we say my friend, not the my friend.

Normally, no.

In modern Danish, ven usually just means friend. If you want to say boyfriend / girlfriend / partner, the usual word is kæreste.

So unless the context strongly suggests something else, min ven will be understood as my friend.

Yes, and it is close in meaning, but the nuance is a little different.

• Jeg skal til at gå ud = I’m about to go out / I’m just going to go out
• Jeg er ved at gå ud = I’m in the process of going out / I’m just about to go out

Both can refer to something very near in time. But skal til at often focuses on the action being about to begin, while er ved at can sound a bit more like the action is already starting or underway.

In many everyday situations, either could work.