| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Off topic: Danish versus Swedish Thread poster: Robert Rietvelt
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In Holland we have 'Scandinavian' TV series (mostly detectives). Al lot of them play around Kopenhagen and Malmö (must be the bridge, I guess). The main characters are from Denmark and/or Sweden, but where ever they come from, they don't seem to have any problem understanding each other (at least not on the tele).
I don't speak any Scandinavian language, but we in Holland are being told that there is little difference between Danish and Swedish. That would explain the fluent conve... See more In Holland we have 'Scandinavian' TV series (mostly detectives). Al lot of them play around Kopenhagen and Malmö (must be the bridge, I guess). The main characters are from Denmark and/or Sweden, but where ever they come from, they don't seem to have any problem understanding each other (at least not on the tele).
I don't speak any Scandinavian language, but we in Holland are being told that there is little difference between Danish and Swedish. That would explain the fluent conversations in these kind of films.
Today I read in a Dutch newspaper that the Danes and the Sweeds don't understand each other at all, and that the languages spoken in these kind of series are bogus.
Just out of curiosity, what is fact and what is fiction here?
[Edited at 2021-05-31 13:03 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Many differences | May 31, 2021 |
Swedish and Danish are close, but there are many differences.
They are pronounced differently, which can make it more difficult to understand the spoken language than the written language.
People who regularly watch TV in the other language or visit the other country will probably be able to understand each other reasonably well.
I started watching The Bridge on Netflix but could not understand the Swedish dialogue and the subtitles were only in German, so ... See more Swedish and Danish are close, but there are many differences.
They are pronounced differently, which can make it more difficult to understand the spoken language than the written language.
People who regularly watch TV in the other language or visit the other country will probably be able to understand each other reasonably well.
I started watching The Bridge on Netflix but could not understand the Swedish dialogue and the subtitles were only in German, so I gave up.
But I can understand a Swedish text with the help of a dictionary.
As a rough comparison, you could say that the difference is much like the difference between Spanish and Portuguese. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Rietvelt 
Local time: 06:29
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
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TOPIC STARTER
Thomas T. Frost wrote:
difference is much like the difference between Spanish and Portuguese.
Whereby the Portuguese understand Spanish, but the Spanish have no clue (or hardly) about Portuguese. Same goes for Dutch and German, the Germans don't understand us, or very badly.
Strange, if you think about it.:-)
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Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Whereby the Portuguese understand Spanish, but the Spanish have no clue (or hardly) about Portuguese. Same goes for Dutch and German, the Germans don't understand us, or very badly.
Strange, if you think about it.:-)
Yes. And many Swedes wouldn't understand a word of Danish.
The Spanish and Portuguese have Portuñol, but there is nothing equivalent between Danish and Swedish.
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Robert Rietvelt
Local time: 06:29
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
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TOPIC STARTER
Thomas T. Frost wrote: Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Whereby the Portuguese understand Spanish, but the Spanish have no clue (or hardly) about Portuguese. Same goes for Dutch and German, the Germans don't understand us, or very badly.
Strange, if you think about it.:-) Yes. And many Swedes wouldn't understand a word of Danish. The Spanish and Portuguese have Portuñol, but there is nothing equivalent between Danish and Swedish.
| | | | Robert Rietvelt
Local time: 06:29
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Then the question is...... | May 31, 2021 |
..... In what (which) language(s) do they communicate in those series?
| | | | | Danish and Swedish | May 31, 2021 |
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
..... In what (which) language(s) do they communicate in those series?
Danish and Swedish, very clearly, but it could be that the language doesn't sound natural. I wouldn't know, since it made no sense to watch the series and only understand the Danish half.
| | | | | Suspend your disbelief | May 31, 2021 |
I understand written Danish perfectly, but as an honorary Swede I don’t understand much spoken Danish. The buggers just don’t enunciate. All consonants in the middle of the word just get swallowed. Whereas the Swedes pronounce more or less everything as it’s written.
So yes, the TV shows are a bit fake. They would be able to communicate just fine, but the Swedes in particular would constantly be asking for stuff to be repeated slowly, especially if not from Skåne.
... See more I understand written Danish perfectly, but as an honorary Swede I don’t understand much spoken Danish. The buggers just don’t enunciate. All consonants in the middle of the word just get swallowed. Whereas the Swedes pronounce more or less everything as it’s written.
So yes, the TV shows are a bit fake. They would be able to communicate just fine, but the Swedes in particular would constantly be asking for stuff to be repeated slowly, especially if not from Skåne.
But we suspend our disbelief constantly anyway when watching telly. Nobody in real life talks in complete sentences, or does those big dramatic silences, or is so consistently good-looking.
PS The Bridge (Bron/Broen) was really good. Laugh out loud funny at times.
[Edited at 2021-05-31 13:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I find it a bit strange they don't see to have any problems understanding each other... am I correct to think that maybe Norwegians and Danes understand each other better? Although understanding the Danes is pretty problematic for me...
If you want to get even more confused, watch the series Vikings... lol
| | | | | Duplicate post | May 31, 2021 |
So good they put it up it twice.
Would’ve been more apt once in Swedish and once in Danish.
[Edited at 2021-05-31 14:01 GMT]
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Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
I find it a bit strange they don't see to have any problems understanding each other... am I correct to think that maybe Norwegians and Danes understand each other better?
No. The Norwegians 'sing' their language, which in writing looks very much like Danish, whereas the Danes mumble it and chop off half the letters or words, as Chris said, and then pronounce the rest in a way that often bears little resemblance to the letters. What to others could sound like just a 'hum' could be a complete Danish sentence.
When watching the Danish film Pusher, I had to enable the subtitles to be able to follow it. Also, Danish numbers are messy and incoherent and Norwegians and Swedish don't understand them.
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Thomas T. Frost wrote:
No. The Norwegians 'sing' their language, which in writing looks very much like Danish, whereas the Danes mumble it and chop off half the letters or words, as Chris said, and then pronounce the rest in a way that often bears little resemblance to the letters. What to others could sound like just a 'hum' could be a complete Danish sentence.
When watching the Danish film Pusher, I had to enable the subtitles to be able to follow it. Also, Danish numbers are messy and incoherent and Norwegians and Swedish don't understand them.
Because the two written languages looked pretty much the same to me, I thought maybe the Norwegians would understand the Danes a bit better. I know a bit of Danish because I studied for 4 years at uni and i have been to Denmark several times. But mastering the spoken language is a bit of a nightmare... 
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 07:29
Member
English to Turkish
| No wonder... | May 31, 2021 |
Thomas T. Frost wrote:
When watching the Danish film Pusher, I had to enable the subtitles to be able to follow it. Also, Danish numbers are messy and incoherent and Norwegians and Swedish don't understand them.
I think the majority of the actors in those films were foreigners speaking very poor Danish (not that I knew/noticed anything about it). It was a great trilogy. Shame that the director decided to make rubbish Hollywood films after them.
Incidentally, I just watched the 'celebrated' Druk (Another Round) the other day, I failed to see the hype...
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 05:29
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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| A matter of sounds | May 31, 2021 |
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Whereby the Portuguese understand Spanish, but the Spanish have no clue (or hardly) about Portuguese. Same goes for Dutch and German, the Germans don't understand us, or very badly.
Strange, if you think about it.:-)
Spanish is more intelligible with Portuguese in writing, though less so when spoken. This is what it makes more difficult for Spanish (and not only for Spanish): Portuguese phonetics.
Spanish only has 24 phonemes, whereas European Portuguese has 37.
However, it's pretty easy for a Galician to understand Portuguese and vice-versa, both orally and written.
'Portunhol' or Portuñol' is often a pidgin, a mixture of both languages.
(I am sorry for hijacking your topic!)
| | | | | Danish actors mumble... | May 31, 2021 |
I have not seen Druk /Another Round, but I have heard criticism on the radio that even for Danes, it was quite difficult to catch what was actually said.
With earlier Danish series, people have only been half joking when they said they would wait for the English versions and read the Danish subtitles to get the nuances and the details!
After more than 40 years in Denmark I can understand Danish as well as most Danes (  ... See more I have not seen Druk /Another Round, but I have heard criticism on the radio that even for Danes, it was quite difficult to catch what was actually said.
With earlier Danish series, people have only been half joking when they said they would wait for the English versions and read the Danish subtitles to get the nuances and the details!
After more than 40 years in Denmark I can understand Danish as well as most Danes ( ), but for all that time I have teased my husband and said he is the last person I could understand! We have a Swedish branch of the family, and manage fairly well, but we get on best with the younger generation, who are actually bilingual! Quite unusual for Scandinavians, but with a Danish father and Swedish mother, it came naturally. A new Swedish daughter-in-law sometimes resorts to English - our Danish and the rest of the family's adapted Swedish are just too odd!
I can read Norwegian and Swedish, and even translate them occasionally, but I depend heavily on the subtitles when watching/listening to TV programmes. I do the same with German, but I can often knit and listen to German - depending on the dialect!
I would love to learn Dutch, but now I have family in Italy, and all my Dutch friends speak such beautiful English... I make do with smiling and saying Dank U ...
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