Are you about to go grocery shopping in Denmark, but aren’t sure how to approach the staff in Danish? Or are you already sweating nervously a the thought of trying to understand what the cashier mumbles under their breath at the checkout?
Whatever the case may be – if you’re looking for useful expressions for Danish grocery shopping, we’ve got you covered! Keep reading for some of the most important phrases that you might hear or use on your next shopping trip.
At the store
Let’s start out with some phrases to help you ask staff and find what you need at the grocery store.
| Undskyld! | Excuse me! |
| Vil du være sød og hjælpe mig? | Can you help me, please? |
| Hvor kan jeg finde… ? | Where can I find … ? |
| Har I … ? | Do you have … ? |
| Hvad koster … ?/Hvor meget koster … ? | What/how much does … cost? |
Stick around to see the end of this article, where we’ve listed some of the basic items you might need to ask for. Over on Swap Language, you can watch this video lesson showing you how to ask your way around the shop!
At the checkout
So now that you’ve found everything you need, it’s time to pay!
You and the cashier might greet each other with one of these expressions:
| Hej! | Hello! |
| God dag! | Good day! |
And then, the cashier will probably tell you how much you have to pay, which may sound something like this:
| Så bliver det/Det bliver 94 (kroner). | That’ll be 94 DKK. |
| 158 (kroner) ska’ jeg be’ om. | 158 DKK, please. |
To help you deal with all the products and their prices (Danish numbers, yay!), you may encounter on your shopping trip, Swap Language has you covered with this lesson.
While paying or right before paying, there are some other phrases you might encounter:
| Ellers andet? | Anything else? |
| På beløbet? | On the amount? |
You might be wondering: “What in the world does ‘on the amount’ mean?” In Denmark, it is often possible to withdraw cash at the checkout of a grocery store. When the cashier asks “På beløbet?” or “Lige på?” (they don’t always do this, though), they want to know if you’re just going to pay the amount that your groceries cost without withdrawing cash. If you do not want to withdraw, you can just respond with “Ja tak”. If you do want to withdraw, you can respond with:
| 100 kroner over. | 100 DKK over. |
If you do this, you’ll get 100 DKK (or whichever amount you ask for) in cash. This only works at checkouts that have cash available, of course. But this leads us to how you can find out about different payment methods:
| Tager I kontanter/kort/Dankort? | Do you take cash/card/Dankort? |
| Kan jeg betale med MobilePay? | Can I pay with MobilePay (smartphone app for money transfer)? |
Once you’ve paid, you’ll probably be asked if you want the receipt. This is usually where a lot of internationals get sweaty palms, because the cashier often speaks very quickly.
| Vil du have kvitteringen/bonnen med? | Do you want the receipt? |
| Kvittering (med)?/Bon (med)? | Do you want the receipt (shorter) |
Luckily, the only thing you need to reply here is yes or no.
| Ja tak. | Yes, please. |
| Nej tak/Ellers tak. | No thanks. |
And once everything is sorted, all that’s left is to say bye like a real Dane! Here are some phrases you can use:
| (Hav en) god dag/aften/weekend! | Have a nice day/evening/weekend! |
| (Tak og) i lige måde! | (Thank you and) you too! |
| Hej hej!/Farvel! | Bye! |
So many lists – if this guide seems a little dry, hop over to Swap Language after reading this post to make learning shopping phrases more fun! Especially with this lesson for paying at the grocery store and this lesson for even more useful phrases for grocery shopping in Denmark.
Basic grocery vocabulary list
Lastly, to fill in the gaps in the expressions above, we’ve made a list of some basic things you might be looking for (find an extended list here)
| Brød/rugbrød | Bread/rye bread |
| Mælk | Milk |
| Frugt | Fruit |
| Grøntsager | Vegetables |
| Ost | Cheese |
| Kød | Meat |
| Slik | Candy |
| Tandpasta | Toothpaste |
| Vaskepulver | Washing powder |
| Toiletpapir | Toilet paper |
And just like that, you’re ready to go grocery shopping in Denmark!
We hope you get to use and understand these phrases on your next Danish grocery shopping trip! For even more helpful language skills to get through all your future grocery shops with ease, check out this video lesson on Swap Language!
Happy speaking, learning, and shopping!
