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2022 DANISH ELECTION

The Danish vocabulary you’ll need to follow the election

Do you know your valgflæsk from your valgkort? The difference between Venstre and venstre? Here's a guide to the words and phrases you need to know ahead of the Danish election on November 1st.

Published: 6 October 2022 15:03 CEST
Updated: 30 October 2022 08:07 CET
The Danish vocabulary you’ll need to follow the election
A dog peers out from a Danish valgsted (polling stations). Photo: Claus Bech/Ritzau Scanpix

Danish politics is hard to follow even for those with a lifetime’s experience of the political system and fluency in the language. For foreigners trying to follow events, it can be extremely confusing.

But once you’re armed with a bit of background knowledge and some Danish political vocabulary, the country’s politics does get easier to understand (at least, most of the time).

With Denmark preparing for what could be a knife-edge election on Tuesday, November 1st, here’s our guide to the key phrases, terminology and names you’ll need.

READ ALSO: Denmark to hold election on November 1st

The basics

The word for ‘election’ is valg, which also means ‘choice’, just to make things extra confusing for Danish learners.

Denmark has three types of election: folketingsvalget (the election for the national parliament), regionalvalget (the regional election) and kommunalvalget (the municipal election).

These do not take place at the same time. The latter two, both local elections, were last held in 2021.

That leaves the country to fully concentrate on November 1st on voting for the next regering (government) to take its place in the folketing or parlament (parliament) at Christiansborg, the seat of the parliament in Copenhagen.

Danish citizens over the age of 18 have stemmeretten (the right to vote). But although the national election tends to get more attention, non-citizens should know that they may be able to stemme (vote) in the regional and local elections.

If you’re stemmeberettiget (eligible to vote), either as a Danish national or as a foreigner in local elections, you will receive a valgkort (voting card) in the post.

Prior to elections, you are likely to see increasing reference to meningsmålinger (opinion polls) showing which parties are ahead and which are lagging as voting day nears.

The campaigning

The valgkampagne (election campaign or election season) is already underway with the parties falling over themselves trying to present the most attractive valgløfter (campaign promises) or, if you want to be more cynical, valgflæsk (overly generous promises; literally ‘election pork’).

Broadcasters DR and TV2 have already shown the first partilederdebat (party leader debate), with several more presumably to come. During these debates, there’s a good chance one party leader will accuse another of saying things that are floskler (empty phrases or platitudes).

The voting

Voters are permitted to brevstemme (literally ‘vote by letter’ but meaning to vote in advance). On November 1st, valgdagen (the day of the election), valglokaler and valgsteder (polling stations) will presumably have long queues.

At polling stations, voters take the stemmeseddel (ballot paper) and sætter kryds (place a cross) next to their preferred parti (party), before placing it in the stemmeurn (ballot box).

In most valgkredser (constituencies) there will be the option to stemme personligt, which is when you tick the name of a specific candidate who you think should represent the party as folketingsmedlem (member of parliament). Voters can also just vote for the liste, meaning they give a general vote to a party.

Alternatively, people may choose to stemme blankt, which is when you do turn up at the polling station on the day, but instead of voting you put a blank slip of paper in the ballot box as a form of protest.

Denmark generally enjoys high valgdeltagelse (voter turnout). In the 2019 election more than 84 percent of more than 4.2 million eligible voters cast their vote.

The contenders

There are as many as 13 different Danish parties in parliament currently.

Their names are (deep breath): Socialdemokratiet (Social Democrats), Venstre (Liberal), Socialistisk Folkeparti (Socialist People’s Party, usually shorted to SF), Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals), Enhedslisten (Red Green Alliance), Det Konservative Folkeparti (Conservatives), Danmarksdemokraterne (Denmark Democrats), Dansk Folkeparti (Danish People’s Party, sometimes shortened to DF), Nye Borgerlige (no official English name but translates to New Right), Liberal Alliance (Liberal Alliance), Frie Grønne (Independent Greens), Alternativet (The Alternative) and Moderaterne (Moderates).

A number of members of parliament are meanwhile uden for folketingsgrupperne or løsgængere (independent).

You may have noticed that the Liberal party’s Danish name is Venstre, which is actually the word for ‘left’. Confusingly, Venstre are a højrefløjsparti (right wing party), even though their name suggests they are venstreorienteret (on the left).

READ ALSO: OPINION: Why do the names of Danish political parties have to be so confusing?

The current government is led by the Social Democrats, who are a venstrefløjsparti (left wing party) and part of the rød bloc (‘red bloc’) of allied parties on the left wing.

The traditional opponents are højrefløjen (the right wing), also referred to as blå bloc (the ‘blue bloc’) and sometimes de borgerlige (the bourgeois – which doesn’t automatically have the same strong connotations in Danish as in English).

This has the potential to change after the election. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said she wants to form a bred regering (‘broad government’), meaning a centre coalition or a cross-aisle government. That would break with Denmark’s established ‘bloc politics’ system which sees the left- and right-wing parties in opposing factions.

READ ALSO: ‘Bloc politics’: A guide to understanding parliamentary elections in Denmark

The future

According to meningsmålinger (opinion polls), the two blocs could be very close following the vote on November 1st. That could mean lengthy post-election forhandlinger (negotiations), especially with Frederiksen adding to the intrigue by talking up a government which spans hen over midten (‘across the centre’).

The current government is a mindretalsregering (minority government), but this might not be the case if several parties come together to form a koalitionsregering (coalition government).

The siddende statsminister (incumbent prime minister) continues after the election if they have a majority of Denmark’s 179 MPs behind them – meaning their own party along with allied parties has an overall majority.

If the incumbent loses the election, a new prime minister must be found. This is done through a process known as a dronningerunde (literally a ‘Queen’s round’). Here, the leader of each party has an audience with the Queen. After this, the Queen nominates a person to lead the new government or lead negotiations to form it.

The leader of the losing bloc can also concede the election.

Once a new prime minister and government is in place, they are formally nominated by the Queen at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen before emerging and facing the public on the palace square.

Can you think of any other Danish political words? Let us know and we’ll add them to the list.

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JOBS

How much Danish do you need to learn to get a job in Denmark?

Learning a new language like Danish is a process that can take years. So at what level can you test out your new skills and apply for a job in Danish? We spoke to a language teacher to find out.

Published: 8 May 2024 15:38 CEST
How much Danish do you need to learn to get a job in Denmark?

There are many international companies in Denmark where the workplace language is English – opening up opportunities to many nationalities who want to live and work in Denmark. However for some professions, a certain level of Danish is a requirement and for others, working in Danish opens up more doors.

“The level we say you need to get a job is to have passed the Prøve i Dansk 3 (PD3), which is the official exam by the Ministry of Education. It is equivalent to the B2 European Framework level,” Maria-Sophie Schmidt, language consultant at Studieskolen’s private Danish department told The Local.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for describing language ability. It uses a six-point scale: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, where C2 is for those who are advanced and fluent in the language. It means employers and educational institutions can easily assess language abilities.

“When you pass Prøve i Dansk 3 and are B2 level, you’re not completely fluent but you can function in Danish and read newspaper articles in Danish. Usually I say B2 level is like a driver’s license we give you on your Danish. So you can drive a car but if you want to be a really good driver, you have to go practice in traffic. So after PD3 and with practice and with help perhaps, you should be able to write an application in Danish and go through an interview,” Schmidt said.

“PD3 will always help you get a job because companies appreciate you have the certificate. There’s a worry for some companies that you aren’t fluent.

“It is also helpful because Danes like to socialise in our workplaces such as at julfrokost (Christmas lunch) or fredagsbar (Friday afternoon drinks) and some are uncomfortable having to change their language to English all the time, maybe because we don’t feel we speak it well enough. So if you come as a foreigner and have a certificate of Prøve i Dansk 3, I think it’s a big advantage,” Schmidt added.

Foreign dentists and doctors need to have passed Prøve i dansk 3, as well as other professional tests before being able to start an evaluation period of working. 

However there are some sectors where passing the Danish language exam isn’t a requirement. Due to current pressure on hospital waiting times in Denmark, nurses outside of the EU are no longer asked to pass Prøve i dansk 3. Instead, they can demonstrate their Danish language ability, in line with the requirements used for nurses from EU and EEA countries. This includes a six-month probation period where Danish communication skills are assessed.

READ ALSO:

The construction industry and engineering, as well as hospitality are other sectors where Danish language skills won’t necessarily need to be B2 level or need certification. But whether or not you require the Prøve i Dansk 3 certificate, practicing Danish is the key to gaining confidence in the Danish workplace.

“Sign up for a language course or sign up to a sports club and surround yourself with Danish language. Insist on speaking Danish and if you know anyone speaking native Danish, ask to have a coffee and practice your Danish. If you have kids and meet other parents, speak Danish, or volunteer at somewhere like a nursing home,” Schmidt suggested.

READ ALSO:

Language schools offer a Module 6 course, called Studieprøve to get to C1 level. Here you learn to read, write and speak more academic Danish. It is a requirement for those wanting to study in Danish but you don’t need it for a job.

“At Studieskolen we offer Classes after PD3 – a conversation class at B2 and C1 level where you don’t focus on grammar and writing but on speaking relevant topics in society such as what’s going on now, newspaper articles, TV shows and practice speaking to colleagues in small talk and more complicated conversations. PD3 is a driver’s license but you often can’t join a conversation spontaneously or you may lack confidence and vocabulary, so those classes help that.”

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