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LEARNING DANISH

Seven phrases you need for getting romantic in Danish

Valentine’s day has arrived, so here are some essential phrases to help you woo your Danish crush.

Seven phrases you need for getting romantic in Danish
Which Danish phrases can spread the love on February 14th? File photo: Ida Guldbæk Arentsen/Ritzau Scanpix

Jeg har sommerfugle i maven

The feeling of excitement and anticipation when you set eyes on your crush is the same for Danes as it is for English-native speakers, it seems: the phrase “having butterflies in the stomach” – or sommerfugle i maven – is widely used in Denmark too. 

Jeg er vild med dig

Before you reach the being-in-love part of a relationship, you may find yourself being vild med someone.

This translates directly to “I’m crazy about you”, but it can have a somewhat softer meaning in Danish, depending on the context.

You can tell a friend jeg er lidt vild med Christian if you have a crush on Christian, but if you go over to Christian and say jeg er vild med dig, you’ll probably embarrass Christian unless you pick your moment wisely.

READ ALSO: READERS REVEAL: What are the barriers to a successful relationship with a Dane?

Jeg tænder på dig

If you want to take things up a notch from hand-holding, you might want to drop this one into conversation with your beau. 

At tænde literally means “to switch on” in Danish, but in the context of love, it means “to turn on”. 

Be warned though: if you are not charming enough, the object of your affections might find they tænder af (get turned off) by your advances.

Du har smukke øjne

A stone-cold dating classic or the cheesiest line of all time?

Saying “you have beautiful eyes” could bring a smile to your Danish sweetheart’s face. But use it appropriately: Danes do not like superficial compliments or empty statements of any kind. Flattery falls into this category.

Like most of the lines in this list, context is everything and you should only say this phrase to someone with whom you already have an established relationship.

If you do know each other well, you can replace øjne (“eyes”) with any other part that you find particularly beautiful. Ahem.

Jeg er forelsket i dig

Forelsket means “to be in love with” and is an elegant way of telling someone you’ve fallen for them, or have a crush on them.

It’s both romantic and concise – what’s not to like?

At forelske sig i is a reflexive verb meaning to fall in love with something or someone. The perfect Valentine’s vocabulary.

Vil du være min kæreste?

In the modern world it might not always be clear where you stand with your lover in terms of exclusivity. 

To clear things up and move to the next level by becoming an official girlfriend or boyfriend you can ask this question, which means “Do you want to be my boyfriend/girlfriend?”

The gender-neutral noun kæreste means both girlfriend and boyfriend, so at least you won’t have to worry about grammar when about to pop the big question.

Hopefully, they won’t say jeg leder ikke efter noget seriøst lige nu (“I’m not looking for anything serious at the moment”).

Jeg elsker dig

The most romantic line of all, “I love you” should be kept firmly in your locker if you are on a Valentine’s first date.

On the other hand, what better moment than February 14th to break out the big one and tell your kæreste that you are håbløst forelsket (hopelessly in love) with them?

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LEARNING DANISH

The essential vocabulary for talking about the weather with Danes

Denmark’s climate can give you a taste of all four seasons in the space of an afternoon, so it’s worth knowing the vocabulary you need to describe it.

The essential vocabulary for talking about the weather with Danes

Denmark-based readers have probably heard the saying der finds ikke dårligt vejr, kun dårlig påkældning(there’s no bad weather, only bad clothes) more times than they’ve receive a bicycle-related soaking.

But there are plenty of other weather phrases in the Danish language that describe all situations from strandvejr (beach weather) to ruskregn (cold rain with wind).

Let’s start with the four seasons (årstider): forår (spring), sommer (summer), efterår (autumn) and vinter (winter).

In summer, you’re probably hoping for lækkert vejr (beautiful weather), with solskin (sunshine) and grillvejr (barbecue weather) on those lune (balmy) evenings. Gennemsnitstemperaturen (the average daily temperature) will rise thanks to the højtryk (high pressure), causing you to feel a bit svedig (sweaty), and the country will experience lyse nætter (“light nights”, when the sun sets late dusk sometimes doesn’t fall until 11pm).

You might go through a varmebølge or hedebølge – both essentially meaning a heatwave but with a subtle yet important difference.

In sensommeren (late summer), there may be some torden (thunder) and lyn (lightning), but if you are lucky you might see a regnbue (rainbow).

READ ALSO: Five Danish phrases you only hear in summer

Come autumn the weather will turn grå og trist (grey and dull), overskyet (overcast) with skydækning (cloud cover), and blæsende (windy). It’s time to get your paraply (umbrella) out, and maybe even your regnjakke (rain coat) and gummistøvler (wellies).

Low-lying tåge or dise (fog or mist) over fields can elicit warnings about visibility for early-morning drivers and cyclists.

There are several words for nedbør (precipitation), including støvregn (drizzle, literally “dust rain”), byge (shower), styrtregn (downpour) or skybrud (heavy rain or cloudburst).

If it’s raining cats and dogs you say det regner skomagerdrenge (literally, “it’s raining shoemaker boys”).

November will be here sooner than you think, and it might prompt you to exclaim Sikke et vejr (“What miserable weather!”) or even Sikke noget skodvejr! (literally “what cigarette-butt weather!”).

If mange agern spar en hård vinter, this means that if many acorns fall from the trees, a cold winter awaits.

Finally, it’s winter and snefnug (snowflakes) will start to fall.

There are a number of similar-sounding but distinct words about snow (sne): snefog, snedynge and snedrive (all snow drift) and snefri, which can mean “free of snow”, but also when kids are given the day off school due to the snow.

The most unique is possibly the noun snefygning, when the wind kicks up and fresh snow is blown into the air, dancing momentarily in the winter cold before falling back to the ground.

Tøsne (thawing snow) could be a sign that temperatures are starting to become mild as the end of winter nears.

When it’s finally forår again, you might hear people talking up the welcome return of tocifrede grader (temperatures in double digits) and finally being able to remove their vintertøj (winter clothing).

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