Competent is often used in contrast to someone who is incompetent. “Do you have a competent bicycle mechanic who can fix my handle bars? The last guy put them on upside-down.”
6. Using week numbers outside of Northern Europe
Occasionally bad technology beats out good technology, and while week numbers are a highly efficient way to describe vacation arrangements, company closures, and short-term rental periods, hardly anyone outside of Northern Europe uses them.
If you tell colleagues elsewhere that a project needs to be finished by, say, Week 42, expect a follow-up email in which they try to clarify the dates using a less efficient system. “Do you mean the week of Monday, October 17?”
7. Thinking a sparring partner is a friend
Every management job ad in Denmark seems to require that the applicant be ready to serve as a ‘sparring partner’ to somebody or other. What the employer means is that the applicant should be able to brainstorm, or give feedback, or maybe even act as sounding board for business ideas.
What they probably don’t want is the English meaning of a sparring partner, which is generally an irritable person who quibbles with everything you say and is generally a thorn in your side, even if their input may have some value in the long run. Bernie Sanders proved to be a stronger-than-expected sparring partner for Hilary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
8. Misplacing apostrophes
Many English speakers have trouble figuring out where to put an apostrophe, so don’t feel bad if you do too. In English, unlike Danish, apostrophes are required when indicating possession: Ghita Norby’s first Bodil Award was in 1976. They’re also used to replace missing letters in contractions: Amalie Szigethgy can’t wait to win her first Bodil award. She’s already planning her acceptance speech.
But there is an important exception to this rule, and it is the word ‘its’.
Its uses no apostrophe for the possessive, only for a contraction. It’s a shame that the Bodil Awards can’t honor people who might widen its target group.
9. Using the term “Private Economy”
Danes on the way to visit their bank manager need to collect as many papers detailing their privatøkonomi, but in English, there’s no such thing as a “private economy”. Your income, investments and monthly cat food bills make up your personal finances, or family budget.
Den forsvarende mester af danglish, SFs tidligere formand Villy Søvndal, var under Cop 15 på noget af et sprogligt overarbejde.
10. Pronouncing “Price” and “Prize” the same way
The difference between British and American English aren’t as vast as some Danes think they are. In fact, the two countries themselves refer to their languages as “British English” and “American English”, which suggest two dialects, not separate languages with strong similarities like Danish and Norwegian.
There’s no mistaking a British accent for an American one in spoken English. In written English, the two are mostly distinguished by an extra ‘u’ in British versions of ‘colour’, ‘honour’ and ‘glamour’, and by the British tendency to spell some verbs with an ‘s’ that Americans spell with a ‘z’ – recognise vs. recognize, for example.
That can cause some confusion when it comes to the Danish word "pris", which can be translated as both price and a prize. (‘Prise’ is an obscure word that means something entirely different.)
Many Danes say “price” and “prize” exactly the same way aloud, because spoken Danish does not include a hard ‘Z’ sound. If you want to tone down your Danish accent in English, learning how to say the hard “Z” will help a lot.
Kay Xander Mellish is the author of “Top 35 Mistakes Danes Make in English”, published the 20th of June by KXMGroup.