Hello. According to @funwithlanguages post you can understand a lot of a language by learning the ~300 most common words. I decided to translate the list into my native language, Danish. If anyone finds any mistakes, please let me know.
If you want someone to look over your Danish, feel free to message me also, if I have the time I’ll gladly help (I’m currently helping several people I know in real life learning danish also)
First Verbs
To be · At være
there is · Der er
Have · (At) have
Do · (At) gøre
Go · Gå
Want · Vil have
Can · Kan
Need · (At have) brug for
Think · Tænke
Know · Vide
Say · Sige
Like · (At) synes godt om
Speak · Tale
Learn · (At) lære
Understand · (At) forstå
Conjunctions
that (as in “the woman that…”) · der / som (Not applicable for “I think that…”)
And · Og
Or · Eller
But · Men
Because · Fordi
Though · Selvom / Dog (It depends on the context)
so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”) · Derfor
If · Hvis
Prepositions
Of · Af
To · Til
From · Fra
In · I
at (a place) · Ved
at (a time) · Ved
This is very unusual in the danish language. “meet me at 10” would be “mød mig klokken 10” klokken meaning time in this case.
With · Med
About · Om
like (meaning “similar to”) · Som (similar to would be: svarende til)
for (warning, this one has several meanings that you need to take care of) · For
before (also as a conjunction) · Før
after (also as a conjunction) · Efter
During · Imens / Mens
Question Words
Extra comma rule! Whenever there’s a question word that starts with Hv there’s a comma before. Example: Ved du, hvem der gjorde det? Nej, men jeg ved, hvad der er sket.
Who · Hvem
What · Hvad
Where · Hvor
When · Hvornår
Why · Hvorfor
How · Hvordan
How much · Hvor meget
Which · Hvilken
Adverbs
a lot · Meget
a little · Lidt
Well · Godt
Badly · Dårligt
Only · Kun
Also · Også
Very · Meget
too (as in “too tall”) · For
too much · For meget
so (as in “so tall”) · Så
so much · Så meget
more (know how to say “more … than …”) · Mere
less (know how to say “less … than …”) · Mindre
as … as … (e.g. “as tall as”) · Så… som… (så høj som..)
Most · Mest
Least · Mindst
Better · Bedre
Best · Bedst
Worse · Værre
Worst · Værst
Now · Nu
Then · Dengang (meaning back then) / derefter (as in first this, then this.)
Here · Her
There · Der
Maybe · Måske
Always · Altid
Usually · Som regel / for det meste
Often · Ofte / tit
Sometimes · Sommetider / Nogle gange
Never · Aldrig
Today · I dag
Yesterday · I går
Tomorrow · I morgen
Soon · Snart
Almost · Næsten
Already · Allerede
Still · Stadig
Even · Selvom
Enough · Nok
Adjectives
the, a (technically articles) · We don’t have “the” in danish. “A” is either en or et depending on the noun. Instead of the, we end the word in either -en or -et again depending on the noun. (The dog = Hunden. A dog = En hund.)
This · Dette / Det her / Denne / Den her (again depending on the noun)
That · Det der / Den der
Good · God / godt (dependant on the noun?)
Bad · Dårlig / dårligt (dependant on the noun?)
All · Alle
Some · Nogle
No · ingen
Any · Nogen
Many · Mange
Few · Få
Most · Flest / Mest
Other · Anden / Andet (denpendant on the noun)
Same · Samme
Different · Forskellig
Enough · Nok (there is enough = der er nok)
One · En
Two · To
a few · Nogle få
First · Først / Første
Next · Næste
last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”) · Sidste
last (meaning “final”) · Sidste / Endelige
Easy · Nem
Hard · Svær
Early · Tidlig
Late · Sen
Important · Vigtig
Interesting · Interessant
Fun · Sjov
Boring · Kedelig
Beautiful · Smuk
Big · Stor
Small · Lille
Happy · Glad
Sad · Trist / Ked af det
Busy · Travl
Excited · Spændt
Tired · Træt
Ready · Klar
Favorite · Yndlings
New · Ny
right (meaning “correct”) · Rigtig
Wrong · Forkert
True · Sand / Sandt
Pronouns
Know them in the subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms.
I · Jeg
You · Du
She · Hun
He · Han
It · Den / Det
We · Vi
you (plural) · I (Written in uppercase)
They · De
Nouns
Everything · Alt
Something · Noget
Nothing · Ingenting
Everyone · Alle / Alle sammen
Someone · Nogen
no one · Ingen
(name of the language you’re studying) · Dansk
English · Engelsk
Thing · Ting
Person · Person
Place · Sted
time (as in “a long time”) · Tid
time (as in “I did it 3 times”) · Gang(e) (Jeg gjorde det 3 gange)
Friend · Ven (male and female, used most often) / Veninde (female)
Woman · Kvinde
Man · Mand
Money · Penge
Country · Land
(name of your home country) · Danmark
City · By
Language · Sprog
Word · Ord
Food · Mad
House · Hus
Store · Butik / Forretning
Office · Kontor
Company · Firma
Manager · Manager
Coworker · Kollega
Job · Arbejde / Job
work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”) · Arbejde
Problem · Problem
Question · Spørgsmål
Idea · Idé
Life · Liv
World · Verden
Day · Dag
Year · År
Week · Uge
Month · Måned
Hour · Time
mother, father, parent · Mor, far, forælder (forældre in plural)
daughter, son, child · Datte, søn, barn
wife, husband · Kone, Mand
girlfriend, boyfriend · Kæreste (gender neutral)
More Verbs
work (as in a person working) · Arbejde
work (meaning “to function”, e.g. “the TV works”) · Virke
See · Se
Use · Bruge
Should · Burde
Believe · Tro
Practice · Øve sig
Seem · Synes (Context dependant)
Come · Komme
Leave · Gå / Forlade
Return · Vende tilbage / Tilbagevende
Give · Give
Take · Tage
Bring · Bringe
look for · Lede efter
Find · Finde
get (meaning “obtain”) · Få
Receive · Få
Buy · Købe
Try · Prøve
Start · Starte
stop (doing something) · (At) Stoppe / (Jeg) stopper
Finish · Færdiggøre
Continue · Forstætte
wake up · Vågne
get up · Stå op (get out of bed)
Eat · Spise
eat breakfast · Spise morgenmad (verb + noun)
eat lunch · Spise frokost (verb + noun)
eat dinner · Spise aftensmad (verb + noun)
Happen · Ske
Feel · Føle
create (aka “make”) · Lave
cause (aka “make”) · Forårsage / at være årsag til
meet (meeting someone for the first time) · Møde
meet (meaning “to bump into”) · Støde ind i / Møde
meet (an arranged meeting) · Møde
ask (a question) · Spørge
ask for (aka “request”) · Bede om
Wonder · Undre (sig)
Reply · Svare
Mean · Mene
Read · Læse
Write · Skrive
Listen · Lytte
Hear · Høre
Remember · Huske
Forget · Glemme
Choose · Vælge
Decide · Beslutte (sig)
be born · (Blive) Født
Die · Dø
Kill · Dræbe
Live · Leve
Stay · Blive
Change · Ændre
Help · Hjælpe
Send · Sende
Study · Studere
Improve · Forbedre
Hope · Håbe
Care · (At) Bekymre (sig om)
Phrases
Hello · Hej
Goodbye · Farvel
thank you · Tak
you’re welcome · Det var så lidt / Selv tak
excuse me (to get someone’s attention) · Undskyld mig
Sorry · Undskyld
it’s fine (response to an apology) · Det er okay
Please · We don’t have this. We would say “Vil du være sød at…” (Would you be so kind as to…) ending the sentence in “..., tak”
Yes · Ja
No · Nej
Okay · Okay
My name is · Mit navn er...
What’s your name? · Hvad er dit navn? (uncommon) / Hvad hedder du? (common)
Nice to meet you. · Godt at møde dig / Rart at møde dig
How are you? · Hvordan har du det?
I’m doing well, how about you? · Jeg har det godt, hvad med dig?
Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something) · Undskyld? / Hvad?
How do you say ______? · Hvordan siger man ____?
What does ______ mean? · Hvad betyder ____?
I don’t understand. · Jeg forstår ikke (helt) / Det forstår jeg ikke (common) / Jeg forstår det ikke
Could you repeat that? · Kan du gentage det?
Could you speak more slowly, please? · Kan du snakke lidt langsomere?
Well (as in “well, I think…”) · Altså
Really? · Virkelig?
I guess that · Jeg tror at...
It’s hot. (talking about the weather) · Her er varmt / Det er varmt
It’s cold. (talking about the weather) · Her er koldt / Det er koldt
