Facts to go
How to translate Danish authentically – and how to address the Queen
If you have ever been on holiday to Denmark, you will remember how friendly the Danes are. With a population of around 6 million, Denmark is a relatively small country, and you sometimes get the feeling that everyone knows everyone. Of course, this is not the case, but you sense how open people are through the language they use: in Denmark, only the informal form of the pronoun “you” is used. Both in private exchanges and in the business context, informal forms of address are the norm in Danish – even if you do not know the other person. And that is crucial for a good Danish translation.
If you have your (business) texts that use formal forms of address simply translated as they are into Danish, your message might get across, but native speakers of Danish will probably be struck by the impersonal tone. Especially if you are hoping to sell products or services, it is therefore preferable to have the translation adapted to the local linguistic habits – especially the use of the informal “you”. In the same way, translations from Danish should be adapted to use more formal pronouns where this is required. With a professional translation by a native speaker, you can get round these problems very easily and end up with texts that really make a mark on their readers.
There is, however, one exception in Danish: if you ever have cause to correspond with a member of the royal family in Danish, it is advisable to use the more formal form of “you”. Although things are becoming more relaxed even in these circles, the more formal form of address is still regarded as a sign of respect.
More letters and two genders – what a good translation has to deal with
The Danish alphabet consists of the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, along with three special characters: Æ (æ), Ø (ø) and Å (å). That may sound a little strange, but it does not make translation much more complicated for trained professionals. Similarly, the distinction between the two grammatical genders – the common, which brings together masculine and feminine terms, and the neuter – does not present much of a challenge to a Danish translator.
Specialist adaptation of a translation – along with cultural adaptation – is more challenging. Every specialist area has its own language and uses its own terminology. Translations of technical documentation should include the technically correct terms.
Legal translations from or into Danish should render the content of the original text accurately and without any scope for interpretation (here you should also use more formal forms of address in the translation, instead of the more common informal “you” – see above for more on this). In order to ensure that your specialist texts are translated in the correct style, it is best to use the experts of a professional
translation agency.
Danish, Swedish, Norwegian – not all the same
For anyone who does not know the languages, Danish,
Swedish and Norwegian probably look almost identical at first sight (and they sound similar, too). And yes, it is true that they are closely related. All three belong to the Scandinavian family of languages and share many common features. But there are still differences. The grammar in all three languages is similar and differs only slightly from one to another. Danish has fewer cases than Swedish and Norwegian, and the position of verbs also varies in each language.
Nevertheless, Norwegians and Danes in particular can usually understand one another very easily. Many of the words in the two languages have similar roots and similar meanings. This makes communication easier. But it is not true of all words and expressions. If you wish to reach the entire Scandinavian area, a translation in just one of these languages is therefore not enough. Anyone who wants to get their message across successfully in the north of Europe should have it translated precisely into the language that its recipients speak and understand without any limitations.
