I dag lærer vi udtrykket “skulle gerne”, som vi bruger, når vi håber eller forventer, at noget sker.

Because Danish follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

So in:

• I dag = first element
• lærer = second element, so it must come here
• vi = subject, which comes after the verb

That is why Danish says:

• I dag lærer vi udtrykket ...

and not:

• I dag vi lærer ...

This is very common in Danish whenever you begin with a time word, place word, or another adverbial:

• Nu går jeg hjem.
• I morgen kommer hun.
• På dansk siger man ...

Lærer is the present tense of at lære.

In this sentence, it means learn:

• I dag lærer vi udtrykket ... = Today we are learning the expression ...

A useful thing to know is that at lære can sometimes relate to both learning and teaching, depending on the structure, but in modern Danish:

• at lære usually means to learn
• at undervise is the clearest verb for to teach

So here, lærer vi is naturally understood as we learn / we are learning.

Because udtrykket is the definite singular form: the expression.

The noun is:

• et udtryk = an expression
• udtrykket = the expression

Since the sentence is talking about one specific expression, namely skulle gerne, Danish uses the definite form:

• I dag lærer vi udtrykket ...
• literally: Today we learn the expression ...

This is a very common Danish pattern with neuter nouns:

• et ord → ordet
• et spørgsmål → spørgsmålet
• et udtryk → udtrykket

Because when Danish names an expression or construction, it often uses the base form.

With modal verbs, the infinitive form is often used when talking about the expression itself:

• skulle gerne

Even though in a real sentence you might see other forms, such as:

• det skal gerne virke
• det skulle gerne komme i morgen

So here, skulle gerne is being presented as a label for the expression, not as a fully inflected sentence form.

Also, with skulle, the infinitive and past form look the same, so context matters. In this sentence, it is best understood as the named expression, not a past tense form.

Here som is a relative word meaning something like that/which.

It connects udtrykket with extra information about it:

• udtrykket “skulle gerne”
• som vi bruger ...

So the structure is:

• the expression “skulle gerne”, which/that we use ...

In English, you might say:

• the expression that we use
• the expression which we use

In Danish, som is extremely common in relative clauses.

The sentence uses the traditional Danish comma style, where a comma is often placed before subordinate clauses.

That is why you see commas before:

• som
• når
• at

So the sentence is written:

• ..., som vi bruger, når vi håber eller forventer, at noget sker.

In modern Danish, there are two accepted comma systems:

1. Traditional comma / start comma

   • commas before subordinate clauses

2. New comma / no start comma

   • often no comma before the subordinate clause, but still comma at the end where needed

So depending on style, you may also see something closer to:

• I dag lærer vi udtrykket “skulle gerne” som vi bruger, når vi håber eller forventer at noget sker.

Both styles can be seen, but you should be consistent within the system you use.

Because når usually means when in a general sense, often like whenever.

Here the sentence is describing a general situation:

• we use this expression when we hope or expect that something happens

So når fits because it means something like:

• in situations where
• whenever

By contrast, hvis means if and usually introduces a condition:

• Hvis det regner, bliver vi hjemme. = If it rains, we stay home.

So in this sentence, når is the natural choice because the speaker is not giving a condition, but describing a regular use.

Because Danish often uses the present tense in subordinate clauses even when English might think about the future.

So:

• at noget sker = literally that something happens

But in context, it can mean:

• that something will happen
• that something happens

After verbs like håbe and forvente, Danish very often just uses the present tense:

• Jeg håber, at han kommer.
• Vi forventer, at det virker.

English sometimes prefers will, but Danish often does not need it.

So at noget sker is completely natural Danish.

Noget means something.

In the phrase:

• at noget sker

it means:

• that something happens

It is an indefinite pronoun, and it is very common in Danish.

Compare:

• noget = something
• ingenting / ikke noget = nothing / not anything
• alt = everything

So if you changed the sentence, you could get:

• Vi håber, at noget sker. = We hope that something happens.
• Vi håber, at der ikke sker noget. = We hope that nothing happens / that nothing bad happens.

Because Danish treats main clauses and subordinate clauses differently.

Main clause

In the main clause, Danish uses the V2 rule:

• I dag lærer vi ...

Subordinate clauses

In subordinate clauses, Danish usually keeps a more subject-before-verb order:

• som vi bruger
• når vi håber eller forventer
• at noget sker

So a good basic contrast is:

• I dag lærer vi udtrykket ...
  main clause: verb second

• ..., som vi bruger ...
  subordinate clause: subject before verb

This difference is one of the most important word-order patterns in Danish.

In Danish, ikke is placed differently in main and subordinate clauses.

In a main clause

It usually comes after the finite verb:

• I dag lærer vi ikke udtrykket.

In a subordinate clause

It usually comes before the finite verb:

• ..., som vi ikke bruger
• ..., når vi ikke håber eller forventer ...
• ..., at noget ikke sker

So the sentence is a nice example of the bigger rule:

• main clause: verb before ikke
• subordinate clause: ikke before verb

Here vi probably means the speaker together with the listener or class, so yes, literally we.

In teaching contexts, Danish often uses vi the same way English teachers do:

• Today we learn ...
• Now we look at ...
• First we take an example ...

So it can be both:

• genuinely inclusive: teacher + students
• a natural classroom/explanatory style

It does not sound strange in Danish.

In careful pronunciation, it is roughly:

• skulle: something like SKOO-le
• gerne: roughly GAIR-nuh or GYAIR-nuh, depending on accent

But in normal speech, both words are often reduced somewhat.

A few helpful points:

• sk before front vowels in Danish is not like English sk in skin
• gerne is a very common word, and learners often need practice hearing it in fast speech
• the phrase skulle gerne is often said smoothly as one unit because it functions like a set expression

If you want to sound natural, it helps to learn the whole chunk together rather than word by word.