Danish vocabulary: 110 essential words for beginners

Greetings and polite phrases

Danish	English	Say it	Example
hej	hello	hi	Hej, hvordan har du det?Hello, how are you?
godmorgen	good morning	goh-MOR-orn	Godmorgen! Sov du godt?Good morning! Did you sleep well?
goddag	good day	goh-DA	Goddag, hvordan kan jeg hjælpe?Good day, how can I help?
godaften	good evening	goh-AF-den	Godaften, velkommen.Good evening, welcome.
godnat	good night	goh-NAT	Godnat, sov godt.Good night, sleep well.
farvel	goodbye	fah-VEL	Farvel, vi ses snart.Goodbye, see you soon.
vi ses	see you	vee says	Vi ses i morgen.See you tomorrow.
tak	thanks	tak	Tak for hjælpen.Thanks for the help.
mange tak	thank you very much	MANG-uh tak	Mange tak for din tid.Thank you very much for your time.
undskyld	sorry / excuse me	ON-skewl	Undskyld, jeg kommer for sent.Sorry, I am coming too late.
selv tak	you're welcome	sel tak	Selv tak, det var så lidt.You're welcome, it was nothing.
værsgo	here you go / please	vairs-GO	Værsgo, din kaffe.Here you go, your coffee.

Numbers

Danish	English	Say it	Example
en	one	ayn	Jeg har en bror.I have one brother.
to	two	toh	Jeg vil have to æbler.I want two apples.
tre	three	treh	Hun har tre børn.She has three children.
fire	four	FEE-uh	Klokken er fire.It is four o'clock.
fem	five	fem	Jeg har fem kroner.I have five kroner.
seks	six	sex	Vi er seks personer.There are six of us.
syv	seven	sew	Butikken åbner klokken syv.The shop opens at seven o'clock.
otte	eight	OH-duh	Barnet er otte år gammelt.The child is eight years old.
ni	nine	nee	Bussen kommer klokken ni.The bus comes at nine o'clock.
ti	ten	tee	Jeg tæller til ti.I count to ten.
tyve	twenty	TEW-vuh	Hun er tyve år gammel.She is twenty years old.
hundrede	hundred	HOON-ruh-thuh	Det koster hundrede kroner.It costs a hundred kroner.

Colors

Danish	English	Say it	Example
rød	red	roeth	Æblet er rødt.The apple is red.
blå	blue	blaw	Himlen er blå.The sky is blue.
gul	yellow	gool	Solen er gul.The sun is yellow.
grøn	green	groen	Græsset er grønt.The grass is green.
orange	orange	oh-RAHNG-shuh	Appelsinen er orange.The orange is orange.
lilla	purple	LEE-la	Hendes kjole er lilla.Her dress is purple.
lyserød	pink	LEW-suh-roeth	Hun kan lide lyserød.She likes pink.
sort	black	sort	Katten er sort.The cat is black.
hvid	white	veeth	Sneen er hvid.The snow is white.
brun	brown	broon	Hans sko er brune.His shoes are brown.
grå	grey	graw	Himlen er grå i dag.The sky is grey today.

Family

Danish	English	Say it	Example
mor	mother	mor	Min mor laver mad.My mother cooks food.
far	father	fah	Min far arbejder i byen.My father works in the city.
søster	sister	SOE-stuh	Min søster er ældre end mig.My sister is older than me.
bror	brother	broh	Min bror spiller fodbold.My brother plays soccer.
datter	daughter	DAH-duh	Deres datter går i skole.Their daughter goes to school.
søn	son	soen	Deres søn er stadig lille.Their son is still small.
bedstemor	grandmother	BESS-duh-mor	Min bedstemor bager kager.My grandmother bakes cakes.
bedstefar	grandfather	BESS-duh-fah	Min bedstefar læser avisen.My grandfather reads the newspaper.
mand	husband / man	man	Hendes mand arbejder hårdt.Her husband works hard.
kone	wife	KOH-nuh	Hans kone er læge.His wife is a doctor.
barn	child	bahn	Barnet leger udenfor.The child plays outside.
familie	family	fah-MEE-lee-uh	Vi spiser sammen med familien.We eat together with the family.

Food and drink

Danish	English	Say it	Example
brød	bread	broeth	Jeg spiser brød med ost.I eat bread with cheese.
ost	cheese	ohst	Dansk ost smager godt.Danish cheese tastes good.
vand	water	van	Må jeg få et glas vand?May I have a glass of water?
kaffe	coffee	KAH-fuh	Jeg drikker kaffe hver morgen.I drink coffee every morning.
te	tea	teh	Vil du have en kop te?Would you like a cup of tea?
mælk	milk	mehlk	Barnet drikker mælk.The child drinks milk.
æble	apple	AY-bluh	Jeg spiser et æble hver dag.I eat an apple every day.
fisk	fish	fisk	Vi spiser fisk om fredagen.We eat fish on Fridays.
kød	meat	koeth	Han spiser ikke kød.He does not eat meat.
grøntsager	vegetables	GROENT-say-uh	Grøntsager er sunde.Vegetables are healthy.
frugt	fruit	froogt	Frugt indeholder mange vitaminer.Fruit contains many vitamins.
øl	beer	url	Danskere drikker gerne øl.Danes like to drink beer.

Travel and directions

Danish	English	Say it	Example
station	station	stah-SHOHN	Stationen ligger tæt på.The station is nearby.
tog	train	toh	Toget kører klokken otte.The train departs at eight o'clock.
cykel	bicycle	SEW-kel	Jeg kører på cykel til arbejde.I ride a bicycle to work.
fly	airplane	flew	Flyet lander om en time.The plane lands in an hour.
venstre	left	VEN-struh	Drej til venstre ved kirken.Turn left at the church.
højre	right	HOY-ruh	Museet ligger til højre.The museum is on the right.
ligeud	straight ahead	LEE-uh-oothe	Gå ligeud til pladsen.Walk straight ahead to the square.
hotel	hotel	ho-TEL	Vores hotel ligger i centrum.Our hotel is in the center.
billet	ticket	bee-LET	Jeg køber en billet til toget.I buy a ticket for the train.
gade	street	GAH-thuh	Denne gade er meget travl.This street is very busy.
by	city	bew	København er en smuk by.Copenhagen is a beautiful city.
lufthavn	airport	LOOFT-hown	Vi venter i lufthavnen.We are waiting at the airport.

Time and days

Danish	English	Say it	Example
i dag	today	ee da	I dag er det solskin.Today it is sunny.
i morgen	tomorrow	ee MOR-orn	I morgen skal jeg arbejde.Tomorrow I have to work.
i går	yesterday	ee gore	I går var det koldt.Yesterday it was cold.
uge	week	OO-uh	Næste uge skal jeg rejse.Next week I am going on a trip.
mandag	Monday	MAN-da	Skolen starter igen mandag.School starts again on Monday.
tirsdag	Tuesday	TEERS-da	Jeg har undervisning om tirsdagen.I have class on Tuesdays.
klokken	o'clock	KLOK-en	Klokken er to.It is two o'clock.
minut	minute	mee-NUT	Vent et minut, tak.Wait a minute, please.
morgen	morning	MOR-orn	Jeg går tur hver morgen.I go for a walk every morning.
aften	evening	AF-den	Vi spiser sammen om aftenen.We eat together in the evening.

Common verbs

Danish	English	Say it	Example
være	to be	VAY-ruh	Jeg er træt.I am tired.
have	to have	HA-vuh	Vi har en hund.We have a dog.
gå	to go / walk	gaw	Jeg går hjem.I am going home.
lave	to make / do	LA-vuh	Hvad laver du i dag?What are you doing today?
se	to see	say	Jeg ser en fugl.I see a bird.
vide	to know	VEE-thuh	Jeg ved svaret.I know the answer.
ville	to want	VIL-uh	Jeg vil have en is.I want an ice cream.
kunne	can / to be able	KUN-uh	Kan du hjælpe mig?Can you help me?
tale	to speak	TA-luh	Taler du engelsk?Do you speak English?
spise	to eat	SPEE-suh	Vi spiser klokken seks.We eat at six o'clock.
arbejde	to work	AR-buy-thuh	Han arbejder på et kontor.He works in an office.

Adjectives

Danish	English	Say it	Example
stor	big	stohr	Huset er stort.The house is big.
lille	small	LEE-luh	Hunden er lille.The dog is small.
smuk	beautiful	smook	Udsigten er smuk.The view is beautiful.
grim	ugly	grim	Den bygning er grim.That building is ugly.
god	good	goeth	Maden er god.The food is good.
dårlig	bad	DOR-lee	Vejret er dårligt i dag.The weather is bad today.
hurtig	fast	HOOR-tee	Bilen kører hurtigt.The car drives fast.
langsom	slow	LANG-som	Toget kører langsomt.The train goes slowly.
varm	warm / hot	vahm	Suppen er varm.The soup is hot.
kold	cold	kol	Vandet er koldt.The water is cold.

Question words

Danish	English	Say it	Example
hvem	who	vem	Hvem er det?Who is that?
hvad	what	va	Hvad vil du spise?What do you want to eat?
hvor	where	vor	Hvor bor du?Where do you live?
hvornår	when	vor-NOR	Hvornår ankommer du?When do you arrive?
hvorfor	why	VOR-for	Hvorfor græder du?Why are you crying?
hvordan	how	vor-DAN	Hvordan har du det?How are you?
hvor meget	how much	vor MY-uht	Hvor meget koster det?How much does this cost?
hvilken	which	VIL-ken	Hvilken farve kan du lide?Which color do you like?

Study tips for Danish

Danish has soft, often swallowed consonants, so the written and spoken forms can look very different; listen to audio for every new word.
The stød, a brief glottal catch in words like hund, can change meaning, so pay attention to it even though it is not written.
Nouns are either common gender (en words) or neuter (et words) with no reliable rule, so learn the article together with each noun.
Vowels such as ø and å do not exist in English, so practice them on their own before combining them into full sentences.
Focus on high-frequency phrases like Hvordan har du det? first, since Danish pronunciation is easier to absorb in short chunks than word by word.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say hello in Danish?

Hello in Danish is hej, a friendly and informal greeting used at almost any time of day.

Is Danish hard to pronounce?

Danish pronunciation is considered challenging because many consonants are softened or dropped in speech and vowels like ø and å are unfamiliar to English speakers, so listening practice matters more than reading rules.

How do you count to ten in Danish?

The numbers one to ten are en, to, tre, fire, fem, seks, syv, otte, ni and ti.

What script is Danish written in?

Danish uses the Latin alphabet plus three extra letters, æ, ø and å, placed at the end of the alphabet.