Hej, jeg har tandpine.

Hej is usually pronounced like the English word hi.

A simple approximation is: hai.

It is the standard informal greeting in Danish.

Jeg can be tricky for English speakers.

In careful speech, it is often pronounced something like yai or yigh, depending on accent and context. In everyday spoken Danish, it is very often reduced, and may sound more like yai, ya, or even something quite soft and short.

The important thing for beginners is:

• the j sounds like English y
• it does not sound like English j in job

So jeg har is often heard roughly like yai har.

Danish uses har because the usual way to express many physical conditions is I have ..., just like English says I have a headache or I have a cold.

So:

• jeg har tandpine = literally I have toothache

This is the normal and natural way to say it in Danish.

Tandpine is a compound noun:

• tand = tooth
• pine = pain

So literally it means tooth-pain, which matches English toothache.

Danish forms many nouns by joining smaller words together, so this is a very common pattern to get used to.

There is no article because tandpine is being used as a general condition, not as a specific countable thing.

Compare:

• jeg har tandpine = I have toothache
• not I have a toothache word-for-word with an article

This is similar to how Danish often treats illnesses or conditions:

• jeg har feber = I have a fever / I have fever
• jeg har influenza = I have influenza

So tandpine works naturally without en here.

It is an en-word:

• en tandpine

But in this sentence, you do not use the article:

• jeg har tandpine

If you needed the definite form, it would be:

• tandpinen = the toothache

This is the standard Danish main-clause word order:

• jeg = subject
• har = verb
• tandpine = object/complement

So it follows the normal pattern: subject + verb + rest

That is why:

• Jeg har tandpine. is correct.

Danish word order changes in some sentence types, but this sentence is just a simple statement.

In writing, Danish normally separates a greeting from the rest of the sentence with a comma.

So:

• Hej, jeg har tandpine.

That comma is standard and natural in Danish spelling.

Yes, and it means something slightly different in nuance.

• Jeg har tandpine = I have toothache; this is the standard general expression
• Jeg har ondt i tanden = My tooth hurts / I have pain in the tooth

The second version focuses more directly on the painful tooth itself, often as a specific tooth. The first one is the most common general way to say I have toothache.

Hej is normal and common, but it is informal to neutral in tone.

You can use it in many everyday situations:

• with friends
• in shops
• in casual conversation
• often even in fairly ordinary professional settings

If you wanted something more formal, you might use:

• Goddag

But Hej is extremely common in modern Danish.

Yes. Hej, jeg har tandpine. is completely natural Danish.

For example, you might say it:

• when calling a dentist
• when arriving at a clinic
• when explaining your problem to someone

A Dane might also expand it a little, such as:

• Hej, jeg har tandpine, og jeg vil gerne bestille en tid. = Hi, I have toothache, and I would like to book an appointment.

But the sentence by itself is perfectly correct and useful.