# Danish: please, snälla



## zyzzy

Hvordan siger man "please" på dansk i det her fald?

Hvis en datter plager sin mor om en is eller noget, så kan hon sige (på engelsk): 
"*Please*, Mom, can't I have an ice-cream? *Pretty please*?"

Og på svensk:
"_*Snälla *_mamma, kan jag inte få en glass? _*Snälla, snälla, snälla, snälla, snälla*_..."

Hvordan kan man sige noget lignende på dansk? Hvordan plager danske børn sine forældre?


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## klandri

I might be wrong, but if I remember correctly then there is no appropriate word in Danish, at least it's not nearly as common as in English.

Edit: I looked it up in my Danish text book, Dansk er mange ting, and as it turns out I'm right. Instead they use "tak" excessively, "tak for sidst", "tak for i dag", "tak for mad" etc. But I have no idea what kids use when they whine. In Icelandic it's "gerðu það" which means, "do it". Maybe it's something similar?


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## bicontinental

Hej Zyzzy,
Danske børn plager da slet ikke 

Der er ikke et enkelt godt ord på dansk der dækker "please", men man omskriver det: "mor må jeg ikke godt få"...."vær sød at give mig en is, vil du ikke nok"... og så har jeg hørt større børn (teenage-alder) bruge "please" (udtalt "pliis"), men jeg ved ikke om det er noget mere lokalt.


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## hanne

"Søde mor, må jeg bede om en is? Må jeg ikke nok?"

"Ikke nok" med passende verbum er den klassiske plage-formel: "Skal vi tage i Tivoli i morgen? Åh jo, skal vi ikke nok." etc.

Og det engelske "pliiiis" har også efterhånden en vis udbredelse.

(Et andet vigtigt trick er at huske at bruge "bede om" og ikke bare "få", for forældre kan ikke lide at man siger "må jeg få".)


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## DownUnder81

Jeg kan godt lide, hvordan 'ikke' kan bruges i hoefligheden. 

"Maa jeg ikke..."
"Kan du ikke..."

Maa man sige: "Mor, maa jeg ikke faa love for at spise nogle is?", som en oversaettelse fra svenska: "_*Snälla *_mamma, kan jag inte få en glass?"?

Nait


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## NorwegianNYC

As for that - _*snälla*_ can hardly be said to be a replacement for *please*. "Snälla mamma" is sooner "Mommy dear"


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## hanne

NorwegianNYC said:


> As for that - _*snälla*_ can hardly be said to be a replacement for *please*. "Snälla mamma" is sooner "Mommy dear"


I don't think anyone has claimed that, nor that the two example sentences are eachother's translation. In the example sentences, the "snälla" and "please" fill much the same function, and the question was how to express that in Danish.




DownUnder81 said:


> Maa man sige: "Mor, maa jeg ikke faa love for at spise nogle is?", som en oversaettelse fra svenska: "_*Snälla *_mamma, kan jag inte få en glass?"?


You "would be allowed to", yes, but the question was how kids will be "begging" something from their parents, and there's not much begging in your sentence. (on a sidenote, the child wouldn't ask for permission to "eat" an ice cream, they would ask to "get" the ice cream, as a permission to eat ice cream isn't worth much if you don't _have_ any ice cream to eat


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## NorwegianNYC

hanne said:


> I don't think anyone has claimed that, nor that the two example sentences are eachother's translation. In the example sentences, the "snälla" and "please" fill much the same function, and the question was how to express that in Danish.



No, you are right, and I was not being clear. My point is that the functions of the two words are very different. 'Please' is ultimately from Latin _placere_ 'to be acceptable, to be approved', and carries the same semantic meaning as the Dano-Norwegian phrase: "vær så god".

Swedish 'snälla' is on the other hand an adjectiv, and goes to describe a property of the recipient.


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## hanne

I can see I wasn't being clear either. What I was trying to say, is that the _practical function/purpose_ of the two words is the same - getting ice cream. I think the grammatical function is entirely irrelevant in this context, as we're simply looking for an expression that conveys the same meaning.


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## DownUnder81

That is it, language can not be translated directly - one must consider the pragmatics and semantics in order to convey the same meaning. 

Nait


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## zyzzy

hanne said:


> I can see I wasn't being clear either. What I was trying to say, is that the _practical function/purpose_ of the two words is the same - getting ice cream. I think the grammatical function is entirely irrelevant in this context, as we're simply looking for an expression that conveys the same meaning.


Exactly. The Swedish "snälla" construction is just how a Swedish child would nag. 

I was also looking for the Danish equivalent to "please, please, please, please..." and "snälla, snälla, snälla, snälla", i e this repeated nagging.




hanne said:


> I don't think anyone has claimed that, nor that the two example sentences are eachother's translation. In the example sentences, the "snälla" and "please" fill much the same function, and the question was how to express that in Danish.


OT:  Actually, I _would _claim that the example sentences are each other's translation. I don't think there is a better construct in Swedish to cover what is being said in the English sentence.


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## zyzzy

Tack för alla svar, förresten!


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