Non-native English speaker? Here is what gives you away

Danes are famously fluent in English, but every now and then, they’ll pair words in ways that make native speakers do a double-take – and then chuckle (the same goes for many other non-native English speakers, by the way).

If you’re a native English speaker and have ever worked, studied, or shared a beer with a Dane speaking English, you’ve likely encountered a delightful phenomenon: the collocation conundrum.

READ ALSO: Academics lose status when they teach Danish with an accent

Collocations can be defined as frequently occurring two-to-three-word combinations like ‘bitterly cold’, ‘make a mistake’, ‘perform an operation’, and so on. You can call them word buddies if you like.  They tend to be conventionalized combinations that co-occur »with a mutual expectancy greater than chance«, as two linguists once put it.

In the past, such collocations were considered to be more or less random, but in fact there is very often meaning embedded in collocational pairings. Take ‘heavy rain’ versus ‘strong wind’. Why can’t you say ‘strong rain’: after all, in Danish you talk about ‘kraftig regn’, which literally translates as ‘strong’ or ‘powerful rain’. The logic behind this in English is that rain is made up of water which can have weight and therefore be ‘heavy’. Wind, on the other hand, has no weight but exerts a force, hence it is perfectly reasonably that it can be ‘strong’.

Let’s steal… one beer!

Native English speakers have strong and widely shared intuitions about such collocations. And if non-collocational combinations are used, they just sound ‘wrong’.

So if a Dane says – as they very often do – »I’m sorry I haven’t made my homework«, a native English speaker will understand what they mean, but it sounds, well, ‘not quite right’ – unless, of course, they’re taking a course in origami, in which case »making your (paper animal) homework« might conceivably make sense.

Then take the phrase »let’s take a beer together!« This one sounds like you (and a friend) are planning the great beer heist – breaking into a pub to steal… one beer. That’s because in Danish you can ‘tage en øl’ which translates literally to ‘take a beer’, but in English, you would ‘have’ or, more informally, ‘grab’ a beer.

Many Danes take an English language course believing that it will ‘strengthen’ their English vocabulary. This is probably because in Danish you can ‘styrke’ (strengthen) almost anything: ‘styrke sine kompetencer’ (skills), ’styrke sin udtale’ (pronunciation), ’styrke sin grammatik’ (grammar), and so on. In English, all these different nouns would want to go together with their own unique set of verb collocations – ’upgrade your skills’, ’improve your pronunciation’ or ’enhance your grammar skills’.

Therefore, rather than merely ‘improving’ your vocabulary, maybe such a language course should focus on ‘developing your instinct’ for which collocation is right in which context. That would really ‘sharpen your English skills’!

Little, linguistic hugs

Similarly, one of the most charming missteps is ‘to hold a party’. Danes don’t just throw parties, they hold them. It’s a beautiful thought, really. Why throw something when you can lovingly hold it and maybe give it a little hug?

In the end, these quirky collocations are part of what makes Danish English so endearing. They’re not mistakes – they’re linguistic hugs from the country that gave us ‘hygge’, Lego, and the world’s happiest people.

READ ALSO: The UCPH language requirements are just nationalist gesture politics

If you’d like to learn more about the phenomenon that is English collocations, come along to our workshop: ‘Word Buddies: Mastering the Art of Perfect Pairings’ on 20 June 2025, 9:00-11:00 in room 23.4.39 on the South Campus.

The deadline for registration is Monday 16 June 2025 at noon.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all!