Going to the Supermarket - S1 Ep2

In this episode, we're heading to one of the first places most newcomers visit in Denmark: the supermarket. You'll learn some of the most common words and phrases you'll hear when interacting with a cashier, including how to answer simple questions, ask for a receipt, and end the conversation politely.

We also introduce the Danish vowel Å!

Words of the Day

Ja - Yes

Nej - No

Godmorgen - Good morning

Kvittering - Receipt

Værsgo - Here you go

Selv tak - You're welcome

Hav en god dag - Have a good day

I lige måde - You too

Main Dialogue

Cashier: Hej. Godmorgen.

Customer: Hej. Godmorgen.

Cashier: Det bliver hundrede kroner.

Cashier: Vil du have kvitteringen?

Customer: Ja tak.

Cashier: Værsgo.

Customer: Tak.

Cashier: Selv tak.

Customer: Hej hej.

Cashier: Hav en god dag.

Customer: Tak, i lige måde.

Words and Phrase Variations

Different ways to say thank you:

Tusind tak - Thank you very much

Mange tak - Many thanks

Tak skal du have - Thanks a lot

Nej tak - No thank you

Ellers tak - Thanks anyway / I'm good, thanks

Different ways to say you're welcome:

Det var så lidt - You're welcome / No problem

Other useful greetings:

God weekend - Have a good weekend

Godaften - Good evening

Common Danish supermarkets:

Netto

Føtex

Meny

Rema 1000

Pronunciation Point:

This episode introduces the Danish vowel Å.

You'll hear it in:

I lige måde - you too

Åben - open

Join us next time as we head to a coffee shop and learn how to order food and drinks in Danish!

Transcript

Intro to the Episode

Speaker 1 0:03

Hi, a little some.

Speaker 4 0:04

Hey everyone. Welcome to Daily Danish Pod, a language learning podcast for beginners focusing on everyday scenarios.

Speaker 1 0:11

My name is Victoria, and I will be the teacher.

Speaker 4 0:14

My name is Andrew, and I will be the learner.

Speaker 1 0:31

Hi Andrew.

Speaker 4 0:32

Hi Victoria. So Victoria, where is today's scenario taking place?

Speaker 1 0:46

Today we'll be heading to the supermarket, where we will learn how to interact with the cashier. As always, we have our dialogue that we will be repeating in various ways throughout the episode. This will give you, the listener at home, an opportunity to develop your comprehension and pronunciation skills.

Speaker 4 1:04

Perfect. As a newcomer to Denmark, the supermarket was one of the first places I went and one of the first places I felt confused. And even after living here for years, it can still feel quite puzzling to understand what the cashier is exactly saying.

Speaker 1 1:19

Well, Andrew, I hope after today it will feel a little more clear. The conversation with the cashier often follows a set script already, so with a few keywords, you and the listener at home should be set.

Speaker 4 1:31

Awesome.

Speaker 1 1:32

So are you ready? Edu cla, Andrew?

Speaker 4 1:36

I am ready. Yay cla.

Speaker 1 1:38

Let's begin. Les Goikan.

Words of the Day

Speaker 4 1:43

We will begin this episode with words of the day. These are the new words and phrases that we will have in today's dialogue. Victoria will say the word a phrase. We will leave a space for you to repeat out loud, and then I will repeat it as well. And don't forget we put the words with their English translations in the description of today's episode.

Speaker 1 2:03

The first word is ye. It means yes. Yeah.

Speaker 3 2:10

Yeah.

Speaker 1 2:12

And the opposite is nigh. It means no. Nigh.

Speaker 4 2:19

Nigh.

Speaker 1 2:20

Next is gumon. It means good morning. Gumon.

Speaker 4 2:28

Gumon.

Speaker 1 2:30

Danes use this in the morning, especially in shops or when arriving to work. We usually say this before 10 AM. Now for a little bit of a longer word. Kvitiang. It means receipt. Repeat after me. Kvitiang.

Speaker 4 2:51

Kvitiang.

Speaker 1 2:52

So this word is a little tricky, but for now we actually do not need to worry how to pronounce it. You actually don't even need to pronounce it well at all. The most important thing is that you just know how to recognize it. So you can say yes or no to the receipt, and we'll let you know how to do that in just a bit as well.

Speaker 4 3:10

Okay, will you say it for me one more time?

Speaker 1 3:12

Kvitia. The next word is vet go. This means here you go. When someone says thank you, you typically respond with siltak.

Speaker 3 3:34

Siltak.

Speaker 1 3:35

It means you're welcome or directly translated self thank you or I myself am also thankful. So siltak.

Speaker 3 3:45

Siltak.

Speaker 1 3:47

Now we have a phrase. He ingote. It means have a good day. He ingote.

Speaker 4 3:57

He ingote.

Speaker 1 3:59

Great. And for the last one, we have ilimool. It means you two. So for instance, when someone says he in gote, we respond with ilimu. Alright, everyone, we're moving into the dialogue listening comprehension part, which means that Andrew and I will go over the dialogue, and at this point, we just want you to sit back and relax and listen to us go through the dialogue at a slowed down tempo and see if you can recognize any of the words that we just introduced to you. Alright, let's head to the supermarket.

Test your Listening

Speaker 1 4:41

Hi Gumon Hi Gumon Kuna Viducia Vasco.

Speaker 2 5:10

Hi hi Hango.

Speaker 1 5:19

So how was that, Andrew?

Speaker 4 5:21

Not too bad. Especially since I didn't have to say krit. But I did see you snuck in a little line with a couple words we haven't gone over yet.

Speaker 1 5:31

Yes. So I said tipli huna kona, which literally translates to it will be 100 crowns. For now, don't worry about the number. The word that we will focus on is kona or crowns, our national currency.

Speaker 4 5:45

Also, I might mention that Denmark is a very digitalized country, maybe one of the most digitalized. So we rarely use physical cash anymore. So personally, I don't always worry about if I don't understand the amount the cashier says, as I can always read the number when it comes up on the payment terminal.

Speaker 1 6:02

Yeah, numbers are something we will slowly work our way up to. We'll start to look at them later this season, and we'll come back to the phrase diplia next

English Translation

Speaker 1 6:11

week. Now you can listen to the dialogue with breaks and an English translation. I will read out the script line for line in Danish and then Andrew will repeat in English.

Speaker 4 6:26

Hi Comon Hi, good morning Diblia Huna Krona That will be one hundred crowns. Do you want to have the receipt?

Speaker 1 6:45

Ya tuck Yes please There's good Here you go Tak Thank you Siltak You're welcome Hi hi Bye bye He go day Have a good day Tak Ilimo Thanks you too Pronunciation Point pronunciation Point Pronunciation Point Okay let's do it

Pronunciation Point

Speaker 1 7:29

Now let's focus on pronunciation The Danish language has three more written symbols for vowels than English, but in reality we distinguish over 20. Throughout the series we will try to demystify some of these sounds. Today we will start with the letter O. This looks like the letter A with a circle on top of it. It's pronounced rounding your lips while keeping it slightly open so your mouth looks like a small O.

unknown 7:58

O.

Speaker 1 8:00

And make sure your tongue is in the back of the mouth. So the sound is okay. Please try at home too. Ooh. Andrew, would you like to try? O Great. That sounded really good. In today's dialogue we encounter O in the word mool as in Ili Mul meaning you two Eli Mool Ili Mul Good. O also shows up in the word ob means open, which is a practical word to know in relation to supermarkets. So in a sentence you could say supermarket at ob the supermarket is open.

Practice Speaking

Speaker 4 9:01

In this next section we'll go over the dialogue we've been working on up until now. Yet this time Victoria will say the lines for both of us, and after each line she will leave a space for you to repeat afterwards, and then I will repeat as well.

Speaker 9:16

Hi, come on.

Speaker 4 9:20

Hi, come on.

Culture Point

Speaker 4 10:40

So Victoria, is it actually true that Danish people don't say please? And if so, does this mean that Danes are rude?

Speaker 1 10:48

First of all, Andrew, yes and no. Those are my short answers, but let's go into it a little bit deeper because there is no word for please in Danish, but that does not mean that Danes don't express politeness in other ways. And this is where the tack comes in, the many different ways that you can say thank you in Danish to express gratitude and also politeness. Does that mean that Danes are rude when they don't say please? No. Like I said, they express it in different ways, but Danes can come off as like a little standoffish or maybe reserved to a lot of people coming to visit or to live here. So I work with students who primarily come from universities in the US and they come to spend a semester in Copenhagen. And something that shows up almost every single semester is that their first impression of the Danes, especially meeting them in public transport and out and about, is they are kind of standoffish, a little reserved, and maybe even cold. But what I see happen again and again is that by the end of the semester, they see that reservedness as actually a sign of politeness and um almost like as a way to not bother people around you. So they actually end up really enjoying being in those public spaces with people who are not necessarily up in your face.

Practice Listening - Real Speed

Speaker 1 12:22

We will now repeat the dialogue at a normal conversational speed. Hi, come on.

Speaker 4 12:31

Hi, come on.

Speaker 1 12:33

We do heang Yah.

Speaker 4 12:40

Hi hi Henko Day Takimo.

Word & Phrase Variations

Speaker 4 12:51

Now we move on to our next section called words and phrase variations. These are different ways you can say similar ideas in Danish from today's dialogue. Victoria will give us the new words and then leave space for you to repeat.

Speaker 1 13:05

In Danish we have many ways of saying tek or thank you. We have to, literally meaning a thousand thank yous, but it's to be understood as thank you very much. There is also mang meaning many thanks or thanks a lot. Mang tuk Mang tak another variation of thank you is to use taxkeruhe, meaning thanks you shall have. It's a kind and common way to say thank you when tax seems too short. We already learned to say no thank you. Do you remember?

Speaker 4 14:01

That would be nine tack.

Speaker 1 14:04

Yeah, exactly. Another way to say no thank you would be to say atlas tek, literally meaning otherwise thank you, but in English is to be understood as thanks anyway or I am good thanks. So a softer way of saying no thank you. To say you are welcome, you can say teva salit, literally meaning it was so little, but to be understood as no big deal, you are welcome. Other ways of greeting people could be go vegant meaning have a good weekend.

Speaker 4 14:52

Go weekend Go weekend We also have go aften meaning good evening Go aften Go aften This is all very helpful, but I have to admit something to you. I still have trouble pronouncing the names of some of the supermarkets. Could you maybe help me and the listeners out with this a little bit?

Speaker 1 15:16

So furly of course we have neto Neto Perfect Neto There is Furtix Furtex Yeah Furtix Another one is menu Minu Precise Minu And finally one last one for today Remetusen Ye Matusen That's all for this episode on supermarkets. Join us next time as we take a trip to the coffee

Teaser for next Episode

Speaker 1 16:00

shop.

Speaker 4 16:00

We would love to hear from you, our listeners. Please comment whether you have ideas for how we can improve, scenarios you would like us to cover, or even just to say hi and introduce yourself. We'd love to know where you're from and your motivation for learning Danish. If you'd like to support us further, please like and subscribe. And check out our Instagram at daily DanishPod to get updates on our work.

Speaker 1 16:22

This podcast was created and recorded at Union, the culture house in Napa, Copenhagen, with funding from Fun from House. The pod would not be possible without both of their help. A big thank you to Chenny, Esm, and Gustavo for your ongoing support. Shout out to Omar for our logo design and Andrew Renison for creating our jingle.

Speaker 4 16:46

See you next time.