Hvordan går det? / How are you?

Lesson Audio

Transcript

Hvordan går det?

1. Goddag!
2. Hej!
3. Hvordan går det?
4. Det går fint, tak.
5. Har du planer i dag?
6. Ja. Jeg skal mødes med nogle venner.
7. Må jeg også komme med?
8. Det ville være super!

Grammar Notes

1. "Goddag" is a polite greeting, which can be made a little less formal by doubling it: "Goddag-goddag!" Most Danes simply say "Hey" "Hej" or "Dav" (very informal) when meeting someone.
2. Hej is a good middle-ground greeting in Danish. If you want to display more affection towards the other speaker you can drag out the middle sound: "Heeeeeej"
3. "Hvordan går det?" is a nice way to ask how things are going. Be aware that for Danish people this is not just a greeting, and you may get a lengthy response to this unlike the American: "How are you?" which usually only requires a 1 word response. Alternatively you can also use the phrase: "Hvad så?" which means "What's up?"
4. "Går" is the conjugated version of "at gå" or "To go" this can mean both literally walking "Jeg går ned af gaden - I'm walking down the street" or the methaphorical sense to ask how things are going. Gå is one of the most versatile verbs in Danish so don't be surprised if you see it in many different contexts.
5. Danish does not use helping verbs like English does, which is why the sentence "Do you have plans" becomes "Have you plans?"
6. Mødes + Med is an ideomatic expression that means you're meeting up with friends. If you omit "med" it suggests you are meeting people for the first time.
7. Just like in English, where can/may are used interchangably so is "Må/Kan" in Danish. "May I come = Can I come?" "Må jeg komme med? - "Kan jeg komme med?"
8. This grammatical construction is word-for-word like English. "would be = ville være" and it denotes something theoretically happening in the future.

Lesson Vocabulary

• Goddag = hello (formal)
• Hej = hi (informal)
• Hvordan = how
• Jeg = I
• Fint = fine
• Tak = thank you
• Har = have
• Planer = plans
• I dag = today
• Ja = yes
• At mødes = to meet
• Nogle = some
• Venner = friends
• Kan = can
• At komme = to come
• Også = too
• Det = that
• Ville være = would be
• Super = great

Translation

How are you?

1. Hello!
2. Hi!
3. How are you?
4. I'm fine, thank you.
5. Do you have plans today?
6. Yes. I'm going to meet some friends.
7. Can I come, too?
8. That would be great!

Translation (Literal)

How is it going?

1. Good day!
2. Hello!
3. How goes it?
4. It goes fine, thanks.
5. Have you plans today?
6. Yes. I will meet with a few friends.
7. Can I also come with?
8. That would be super!

Cultural Notes

01 – Cultural notes will be coming soon