Essential Danish Phrases for Conversation

There's a small set of phrases that show up in almost every Danish interaction. Memorising thirty of them gets you further than memorising three hundred random vocabulary words — because these phrases handle the frame of conversation, leaving the topic-specific words to be filled in as needed.

This page is organised by what each phrase is for, not alphabetically — so you can drop in to the section you need.

Greetings and politeness

The basics. Use without thinking; nobody minds if you say hej too often.

Hej — Hi (universal)
Hej hej — Hi (warmer) / Bye (informal). Context tells you which.
Goddag — Good day. More formal; doctors, older people, professional settings.
Godmorgen — Good morning
Godaften — Good evening
Godnat — Good night
Farvel — Goodbye
Tak — Thanks
Mange tak — Thanks a lot
Tusind tak — A thousand thanks (very enthusiastic)
Selv tak — You're welcome (literally "self thanks"; the standard response to tak)
Undskyld — Excuse me / Sorry. Same word for both.
Beklager — I apologise / I'm sorry (slightly more formal, used when expressing regret)

Getting attention and asking for help

Undskyld, kan du hjælpe mig? — Excuse me, can you help me?
Må jeg spørge om noget? — May I ask something?
Har du tid et øjeblik? — Do you have a moment?
Hvor er...? — Where is...?
Hvad koster det? — How much does it cost?
Kan jeg få...? — Can I have...?
Jeg vil gerne have... — I'd like to have... (the polite default for ordering and requesting)
Må jeg bede om...? — May I ask for...? (more formal/polite)

Reactions, agreement, surprise

These are the small responses that signal you're listening and engaged. Sprinkle them in to sound less like a tourist.

Ja — Yes
Nej — No
Jo — Yes (in response to a negative question: Spiser du ikke kød? — Jo, det gør jeg. — "Don't you eat meat? — Yes, I do.")
Måske — Maybe
Selvfølgelig — Of course
Helt sikkert — Definitely / for sure
Det er rigtigt — That's right
Det passer — That's true / accurate
Det lyder godt — That sounds good
Hvor sjovt — How funny
Wow / hold da op / ej! — Wow / oh wow! (real Danish "oh!" reactions)
Det var en skam — That's a shame
Det gør mig ondt — I'm sorry (to hear that)

Fillers and continuers

These small words keep the conversation flowing. They also buy you time while you're thinking.

Øh / øhm — The Danish "uh"/"um"
Altså... — Well... / I mean... (great for buying thinking time)
Faktisk — Actually
Ikke? — Right? / Isn't it? (tagged onto a statement)
Nå? — Oh? / Really? (signals you want to hear more)
Helt klart — Absolutely
Lige præcis — Exactly

When you don't understand

Be specific — vague requests put the burden of guessing what to fix on the other person.

Hvad sagde du? — What did you say?
Kan du gentage det? — Can you repeat that?
Lidt langsommere, tak — A little slower, please
Hvad betyder...? — What does ... mean?
Jeg forstår ikke — I don't understand
Jeg forstår ikke helt — I don't quite understand
Hvordan staver man det? — How do you spell that?

Closing a conversation

Ending feels harder than it is. Any of these works:

Det var hyggeligt at snakke med dig — It was nice talking to you
Vi snakkes ved — Talk soon (literally "we'll be talked with"; common in Danish)
Vi ses — See you
Ha' en god dag — Have a good day
Ha' en god aften — Have a good evening
Pas på dig selv — Take care of yourself
God weekend — Have a good weekend

lightbulb

Memorise these as units, not as words

The single biggest mistake when learning phrases is to memorise the individual words and then try to compose the phrase from them. Danes don't compose selv tak every time — they say selv tak as one chunk. Treat each phrase as a single thing your mouth knows, like a song lyric. That's how natives use them.

A starting set

If you only learn ten phrases from this page, learn these — they cover roughly 80% of beginner interactions:

Hej — Hi
Tak / Mange tak — Thanks / Thanks a lot
Undskyld — Excuse me / Sorry
Jeg vil gerne have... — I'd like to have...
Hvad koster det? — How much does it cost?
Jeg forstår ikke — I don't understand
Taler du engelsk? — Do you speak English? (the polite admission)
Lidt langsommere, tak — A little slower, please
Ja, tak / Nej tak — Yes, please / No, thanks
Farvel — Goodbye

Pair these with the Greetings & Polite Phrases word list for audio and example sentences, and try the practice conversations to hear how they flow together. If you're brand new to speaking, the Start Speaking Danish as a Beginner guide walks through the first interactions in more detail.