Vi kunne tage til stranden. Hvad siger du til det?

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Breakdown of Vi kunne tage til stranden. Hvad siger du til det?

• vi: we
• tage: to go
• stranden: the beach

Questions & Answers about Vi kunne tage til stranden. Hvad siger du til det?

Why is kunne used here? Doesn’t it normally mean could in the past?

Yes—kunne is formally the past tense of kan (can), but in Danish it is also very commonly used to make a suggestion sound softer, more tentative, or more polite.

So Vi kunne tage til stranden is not really about the past. It means something like:

• We could go to the beach
• We might go to the beach
• How about going to the beach?

This is very similar to English, where could is often used for suggestions rather than past time.

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Could you also say Vi kan tage til stranden?

Yes, you can, but it sounds a bit different.

• Vi kan tage til stranden = We can go to the beach
  This sounds more like talking about possibility or ability.
• Vi kunne tage til stranden = We could go to the beach
  This sounds more like a suggestion.

So if you are proposing an idea, kunne is often the more natural choice.

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Why is it tage til stranden? Why use tage for go?