# Danish: my love



## jun

Does anybody here know how to say "my love" in Danish? Thanks!


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## Lemminkäinen

I think it's *min elskede* (a google search seems to indicate that it's correct).


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## jun

Thanks so much, Lemmin! 

And could you also tell me how to pronounciate those words, even roughly please?


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## Lemminkäinen

That's where it gets harder. I'm afraid I can only give you the Norwegian pronounciation, but if you put a hot potato in your mouth, you'll sound Danish  

A pragmatic pronounciation key would be something like 'meen ELL-skedd-eh'.


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## Namakemono

You have to pronounce that _d_ sound while keeping your tongue down. It's very hard at first.


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## 1234plet

Lemminkäinen said:


> A pragmatic pronounciation key would be something like 'meen ELL-skedd-eh'.


 
That's if you use an English pronounciation, but it's very hard to give an exact way of pronouncing the Danish language. 

You can say 'min skat' which is more common and much easier to pronounce. The word 'min' is pronounced like the other one and 'skat' is just the way it's written.

Good luck!


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## elroy

1234plet said:


> That's if you use an English pronounciation, but it's very hard to give an exact way of pronouncing the Danish language.


 But now we're all curious (or at least I am): How do you pronounce the other phrase?  It can't be _that_ hard to describe.

I don't have a hot potato around.


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## jun

Guys, thank you all so much for the reply! 

I'm Korean, and the English pronunciation is already too difficult for me. *weep*

Anyway, 답변해주셔서 감사합니다~♡


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## 1234plet

elroy said:


> But now we're all curious (or at least I am): How do you pronounce the other phrase? It can't be _that_ hard to describe.
> 
> I don't have a hot potato around.


 
It actually can... If you don't have a hot potato, just take a lot of food in your mouth.  Haha, no, I haven't heard the one with potato actually. But it's probably correct. 
I can give another try though: 'min elskede' [meen è(æ)ls-ke-the] (the e's are like the e's in 'the')

But you can listen to a Danish Disney song from "The Lion King". The you can see, some of the words are not that easy. It does not contain the word 'elskede' though. But to give taste of the Danish language. (a little Spanish in it though?)
xxxxx


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## jun

Thanks for the link, *1234plet*! 

Is that really Danish? It sounds somewhat like English to my Korean ear.


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## Lemminkäinen

jun said:


> Is that really Danish? It sounds somewhat like English to my Korean ear.



There are some comedians over here who imitate Danish by speaking English with a Danish accent, so you're not alone in thinking that


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## 1234plet

jun said:


> Thanks for the link, *1234plet*!
> 
> Is that really Danish? It sounds somewhat like English to my Korean ear.


 
But yes, it is Danish. You can search for 'Danish language' on YouTube if you want to hear more. Then you can listen how it's pronounced.


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## jun

Thanks for the tip, *1234plet*!


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## destrukktor

I've been in Denmark for awhile, and I can concur...  It's very difficult to express with the english language how to pronounce danish words.  Even the danish written language doesn't tell you how to pronounce the words.  And the potato suggestion is sort of true.  I try to speak Danish as much as I can, and apparently I sound more Danish with food in my mouth.  Kind of a weird thought, isn't it?

Try saying elskede in an english way, except replacing the "d" sound with a mixture of a "th" and an "l" sound, and pronounce the "e" at the end.  You might get close..

Anyways, "my love" would definitely not translate to "min elskede" (that may be norwegian, or possibly swedish).  Elskede means "loved."  I tried "min elskede" once, and I was corrected.  Love (the noun) is "kærlighed."  So say "min kærlighed."  (easy to pronounce, too...  "care-lee-hill")

"Min skat" = "my sweetheart" or directly translated: "my treasure"


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## Hakro

"Min elskede" sure is Danish (in Swedish it's "min älskade") but I don't how commonly it's used today (I haven't had a Danish girlfriend for years).

(By the way, the originally Finnish name Lemminkäinen shouldn't be abbreviated to 'Lemmin' because it means "I make love".)


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## Lemminkäinen

destrukktor said:


> Anyways, "my love" would definitely not translate to "min elskede" (that may be norwegian, or possibly swedish).  Elskede means "loved."  I tried "min elskede" once, and I was corrected.  Love (the noun) is "kærlighed."  So say "min kærlighed."  (easy to pronounce, too...  "care-lee-hill")



The same goes for Norwegian, but you can't use *kjærlighet* about a person (in Norwegian that is).



> "Min skat" = "my sweetheart" or directly translated: "my treasure"



Or "my tax" 



Hakro said:


> (By the way, the originally Finnish name Lemminkäinen shouldn't be abbreviated to 'Lemmin' because it means "I make love".)



 Learn something new every day


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## destrukktor

Hakro said:


> "Min elskede" sure is Danish (in Swedish it's "min älskade") but I don't how commonly it's used today (I haven't had a Danish girlfriend for years).



Well, yes, it's a word in Danish, but I'm pretty sure it's not used in that sense in Danish. (though it perhaps was at one point)




Lemminkäinen said:


> Or "my tax"


Right.  An interesting combination, but understandable seeing as they both come from the meaning "treasure" 

"How's your day going, my lovely tax?"

Danish sure has its share of interesting translations.


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## 1234plet

destrukktor said:


> Anyways, "my love" would definitely not translate to "min elskede" (that may be norwegian, or possibly swedish). Elskede means "loved." I tried "min elskede" once, and I was corrected. Love (the noun) is "kærlighed." So say "min kærlighed." (easy to pronounce, too... "care-lee-hill")


 
"Min elskede" was used more often in older days and is not used now very often, but we would not say "min kærlighed". Not if it's a nick name to use on a person you love. Then "min skat" is used very often.


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## destrukktor

Ok, sounds like I'm wrong about the "min kærlighed" thing.  I guess I'm still a wannabe dane...  

To clarify, you would use "min kærlighed" if you were going to say something like "my love for you."

But from what I've seen, "skat" isn't exclusive to a spouse, but can be also used for other people you are very close to, such as a daughter.  So it's not quite as good of a match as the defunct "elskede."


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## 1234plet

destrukktor said:


> Ok, sounds like I'm wrong about the "min kærlighed" thing. I guess I'm still a wannabe dane...
> 
> To clarify, you would use "min kærlighed" if you were going to say something like "my love for you."
> 
> But from what I've seen, "skat" isn't exclusive to a spouse, but can be also used for other people you are very close to, such as a daughter. So it's not quite as good of a match as the defunct "elskede."


 
You are right - both with "min kærlighed" and "skat". 
To use for a spouse... hmm, then I don't know. "Min elskede" still sounds like the 1940's to me. But that could be just my opinion, of course!


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## AtropoZ

I still use "Min elskede" from time to time, when "skat" just ain't good enough. 

Jun:
My love for you = min kærlighed for dig.
My love (as in my dearest, my beloved etc.) = Min elskede.

Regards
I'm not good at figurering out how to make phonetic words out of it. Wish I could post a mp3 file with a recording of the pronounciation


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