Say Hello in Danish

Would you like to greet some Danish people, or practice to impress your friends? As with any language, speaking it effectively depends on how close you come to native pronunciation. The Scandinavian and Germanic languages - Danish in particular - can be challenging to master. Luckily, a number of helpful online resources can teach us how to speak just like the Danes themselves.

Steps

Greeting in Different Ways

  1. Say "hej!" This casual greeting translates to "hi" or "hello."
    • Pronounce this word as high.
  2. Politely greet someone with "hallo". Although more common when answering the phone, this world is also acceptable to use in person, and translates to "hello".
    • Pronounce this word as hah-lo
  3. Greet someone based on the time of day. Depending on whether it is morning, the afternoon, or the evening you will either say god morgen[1], god eftermiddag, goddag, or god aften[2]. Like English, French, and the many latin based languages, these are common phrases and considered appropriate and polite to use with anyone from friends to strangers, regardless of social hierarchy. In Scandinavian countries like Denmark and Norway "god morgen" is used until 12 AM when you switch to greeting with "god eftermiddag". Then you can stick with that until 6 PM, at which point it's more appropriate to say "god aften" to people[3]. It is considered normal to use goddag for the entire day up until the evening time.
    • Pronounce god morgen as goh-morn[1]. The r is uvular - similar to the French and German r - and the intonation rises at the end[4].
    • Pronounce "god eftermiddag" as goh-ef-tuh-mi-dhai[5].
    • Pronounce "god aften" as goh-haf-den[2].
    • Pronounce "goddag" as goo'dey[6]
  4. Greet someone informally. Say "Hva så?" This is translated as "What's up?" This is best used amongst friends, familiar acquaintances, and people of similar social standing. For instance it wouldn't typically be appropriate to ask your grandmother "Hva så". Or maybe it would, depending on your relationship with your grandma.
    • Pronounce this greeting as hveh-sah, with a rising intonation at the end.
  5. Enjoy yourself! Du må hygge dig! Now that you've got some basic greetings and friendly phrases, you can open up new social situations with Danes and Danish speakers. Good luck improving your language skills and experiencing new cultures.
    • Pronounce this as doo-mah-hoog-dah.

Following a Typical Conversation

  1. Take a look at one common interaction. This will show us the basic form of greeting and interaction. Then we'll go through each word to understand proper pronunciation.
    • Claus: Hej! "Hey!"
    • Emmy: Goddag! "Good day!"
    • Claus: Hvordan har du det? "How are you?"
    • Emmy: Fint, tak. Hvad med dig? "Fine, thanks. How about you?"
    • Claus: Det går godt! "It's going well!"
  2. Say "Hej!" This is the most common greeting among Danish speakers. Although considered informal, it is perfectly acceptable to use with your friends, those younger than you, as well as social superiors and elders.
    • "Hej" is pronounced like the English word high, with a rising intonation[7].
    • If you say "hej" twice in a row, this is actually the informal goodbye[8].
    • When answering the phone it is more common to say "hallo". This is pronounced hah-lo[9].
  3. Say "Goddag". "Goddag" is pronounced in two short syllables, with the second syllable stressed and rising. The first d is silent, and, although it might be confusing to English speakers, in Danish "dag" is actually pronounced similar to the word "day." Comparatively, English pronunciation sounds crisp, with consonants being clearly enunciated, whereas Danish seems to have a natural slur to it. Be sure to listen to the audio clip to understand how natural speakers sound.
    • Pronounce this as goo'dey
  4. Ask "Hvordan har du det?"[10] Once you can say hello, you'll probably want to follow up by asking people how they are doing. In Dutch the letters "hv" proceed question words like how and what[11]. The h is silent, and when spoken, this word (despite its written length) appears to collapse into a sound more similar to "vin" or "win" to English speaker's ears. But be sure to listen closely to the slowed down example and it becomes clear that the d is in fact enunciated.
    • Pronounce this phrase as vor-dan-har-doo-deh[8]
    • The "du" in this phrase refers to "you" in the informal. If you would like to show respect or are speaking to someone older or socially superior to you, use "De"[12].
  5. Reply "Fint, tak. Hvad med dig?"The "i" in "fint" is pronounced as the "ee" in "geese". However, the sound is short and not elongated. "Tak", meaning thank you, is pronounced as the word "tack" in English. Hvad med dig is pronounced phonetically similar to "ver muh die." The r in Danish, similar to German and French, is uvular and pronounced at the back of the throat[13]. Note that "med" is a short syllable within this phrase and is less emphasized compared to the words "Hvad" and "dig."
    • Pronounce this as feent-tack, ver-muh-die[14].
  6. Finish the interaction by responding "Det går godt." This is an informal way of saying "It's going well." Similar to in English, it is common to reply informally in this way, as opposed to referring directly to yourself, as in "I am well, thank you." Danish culture enjoys commonplace informality and humor; so speaking in this manner with an air of unpretentiousness is an easy way to fit in to the best of your abilities[15].
    • Pronounce this phrase as dee-gohwa-guht[8]. The wa sound is faintly voiced; be sure to check the provided page of native speaking audio samples to get the hang of it.



Tips

  • Listening to Danish podcasts, movies, and music is a passive and enjoyable way to condition your ears to the language's sounds.
  • Remember practice will improve your accent and vocabulary.
  • If you are planning to spend a significant amount of time in Denmark, or if you are planning to work in Denmark free language classes might be available.[1]

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/danish/goodmorning_dk.mp3
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/danish/goodafternoon_dk.mp3
  3. ↑ http://mylittlenorway.com/norwegian-lesson/hello-and-good-bye/
  4. ↑ http://da.forvo.com/word/god_morgen/
  5. ↑ http://da.forvo.com/word/god_eftermiddag/#da
  6. ↑ http://da.forvo.com/word/goddag/#da
  7. ↑ http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/danish/hello1_dk.mp3
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 http://www.speakdanish.dk/en/phrases/0020-greetings-wishes.php
  9. ↑ http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/danish/hello2_dk.mp3
  10. ↑ http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/danish/howareyou1_dk.mp3
  11. ↑ http://mylanguages.org/danish_questions.php
  12. ↑ http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/danish/howareyou2_dk.mp3
  13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCScmkh8hQg
  14. ↑ http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/danish/fine_dk.mp3
  15. ↑ http://businessculture.org/northern-europe/denmark-business-culture/business-communication/

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