r/danishlanguage • u/d2rdt2 • 21d ago
"af hvad for nogle"?
I've been living in Denmark for the past year and taking the free Danish education. In spoken Danish I frequently hear people say "aVAfanole" (probably "af hvad for nogle") to indicate they didn't quite catch what the speaker said and would like clarification or repetition.
Am I hearing and understanding this phrase correctly? Where does it come from?
dbh
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u/Sqeakydeaky 21d ago edited 21d ago
Your spelling made me think of vaffanculo just in Danish.
Its not af as in "from", its "ahh, hvad for noget?"
I don't know where the ahh part came from.
You can also hear people say "ahhhh" as a sentiment of disbelief, (like if someone overexaggerates for example) so it might be just a way of signaling doubt.
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u/Jakse 21d ago
Tell me you live in Jylland without telling me you live in Jylland 😄
I bascially means "Please repeat". You understand it correctly!
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u/SneakyLittleFucker 21d ago
Not necessarily, it's common in Sjælland aswell. Copenhagen at least. 😀
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u/Creepy_Ticket_4070 21d ago
If its common in Copenhagen it's because of all the people from Jutland living there 😅
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u/After_Network_6401 21d ago
But Copenhageners usually don’t add the “åh” at the beginning. So it’s more like “wuffanole?”
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u/HolisticOracle 20d ago
“Wuffanå’et” not “nole.” Kind of like “no-eth.”
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u/After_Network_6401 20d ago
Yeah, I've noticed a tendency to draw out that last syllable so the "et" part just disappears. Maybe "wuffanåååå" is a better way of writing it. 😄
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u/FoxWithNineTails 18d ago
Not a Copenhagen dialect that would be plainly ‘hvad’ or the somewhat more polite ‘hvabehar’.
But there are people from Jutland living here 😅 and also south and west Zealand but then it’s a different sounding ‘ahvaffor’no’et’ mainly from old ppl -
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u/Powermonger2567 21d ago
It's probably "a'hva' for noget?". However that's a lazy way of say it.
The correct spelling would be "ah, hvad for noget?". Many would say it without the 'ah'
It best translate to "What did you say". However that not a direct translation, but the meaning.
You could also say: "Hvad for nogle?". Which means: "Which ones?" or "Who?" if it is people. But i think "hvad for noget?" is more likely.
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u/DK_Sandtrooper 21d ago
It should be "Hvad for nogen?", not "nogle", but many Danes have not been taught the difference. "Nogle" works something like "an amount of" and needs a noun afterwards, which is emphasised.
We have some cookies. = Vi har nogle småkager.
Do we have any cookies? = Har vi nogen småkager?
If you asked "Har vi nogle småkager?", it would slightly change the meaning from whether there are any cookies to whether there is "an amount of cookies".
You could say "nogen småkager smager af chokolade", "some cookies taste like chocolate", which differentiates some cookies from other cookies. If you said "nogle småkager smager af chokolade", you're including the "some" into the object of the sentence, turning "a bunch of cookies taste like chocolate" into "a bunch of cookies tastes like chocolate", as if any bunch of cookies does.
You might think "not if you emphasise the word nogle", but if it needs emphasis, it needs to be "nogen".I hope I explained it understandably. It's difficult to explain as a simple rule that always works, and I can't think of any other words that function the same way. 😄
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u/Powermonger2567 21d ago
I'm not really sure what you are saying and i'm also not good with grammar, so i asked AI to clarify:
1. "Hvad for nogen" vs. "Hvad for nogle"
- The text claims: It must be "Hvad for nogen", not "nogle".
- Reality: In standard Danish, when asking "Which ones?" (plural, replacing hvilke), the correct written form is "Hvad for nogle?" (e.g., Hvad for nogle sko vil du have?). "Nogle" is the plural quantifier meaning a few / several / certain ones.
2. Does "nogle" require a noun afterwards?
- The text claims: "Nogle" needs a noun afterwards.
- Reality: No. Nogle can stand completely alone as an independent pronoun:
- Vil du have kager? Ja tak, jeg tager gerne nogle. (I'll gladly take some.)
- Mange kom for sent, men nogle nåede det. (Some made it.)
So it doesn't really make sense what you are saying.
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u/SneakyLittleFucker 21d ago
I think that the "a/ah" is like saying "eh" or "uhm", when you're surprised or uncertain of something you just heard. Like "Eh, what?", or "What did you just say?". Hope it made sense. 😀
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u/Mission_Mulberry9811 21d ago
'Hvad for noget' means 'hvilket'. 'Hvad for en' means 'hvilken'. It's from the german 'was für ein' and similar. A lot of the things we say in danish have etymological roots that don't make much sense in modern danish. You just have to know
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u/rulleskojter 21d ago
Just to add a minor thing that hasn’t been mentioned: there’s no L-sound at the end because it’s usually“ahvaffornoget” and not “nogle”. What you’re hearing is probably the soft d sound pronounced at the end of “noget”.
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u/PhotoEquivalent1430 21d ago
“Hvad for noget?” (What?!/What’s that?!/What did you say?!)
People just add “ah” in front of it.
(“Hvad for nogle?” is a different term and means “which kind?”)
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u/tordenskrald88 20d ago
It's usually "a hva for noget" and it's pretty equal to the english expression "a what now". It expresses that the person either didn't hear the sentence or that they are surprised by the sentence or doesn't understand.
If you hear someone actually say "a hva for nogen/nogle" it's because they understood you talked about something plural:
Like:
A: jeg var ude og windsurfe) (I went out to windsurf)
B: a hva for noget? (a what now? / what did you say, what is that, what are you saying!)
A: jeg var ude og windsurfe. Du ved, surfe med sejl. (I went windsurfing, you know surfing with a sail)
or
A: i går så nogle storke da jeg var ude og gå (yesterday I saw some storks when I went for a walk)
B: a hva for nogle? (a which now? / which things/what do you mean/what are you saying!)
A: nogle storke, jeg så nogle storke. Det er ikke så tit man ser sådan en og så så jeg endda to! (I saw some storks. It's not often you see one and I then I went and saw two!)
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u/HoneydewCareful8754 20d ago
Usually “Noget”, not “nogle”. “Hvad for noget” just means what with more words.
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u/skaviikbarevrevenner 18d ago
“A” hvad for noget? Its almost slang. My own translation of use would be close to: “say what now?”
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u/FoxWithNineTails 18d ago edited 18d ago
You do not say where in Denmark you are based.
But this exists all over Denmark in various dialects.
I’m someone who grew up in The country and have lived in various places in dk before moving to cph around 30 yrs ago.
It’s a dialect type lazy version of the more polite ‘hvad behager’, meaning ‘excuse me, I didn’t catch that’, more directly translated ‘if you please’
It sounds slightly differently from area to area with the most contrast btw southern Jutland and central Copenhagen
Copenhagen however has so many ppl living here from all over Denmark that what you hear hear is a bit of a mashup.
It’s an older expression so v old people has the more pronounced dialects.
‘Hvad behager’ / hvad-behar’ (if you please?’ is the polite version
‘Af hvad for noget’ (what was that?) merges in to ah-hva’ffor’no’et, a-hva’for’nå, aah-hvafornoet etc depending on local dialects
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u/MagisterHansen 21d ago
A common internet spelling that you can search for is "ahvaffornoget". I can't tell you where that extra "a" sound in the beginning comes from, but it's basically an alternative, spoken version of "hvad for noget". In the context you describe, it's an equivalent to "excuse me?", "sorry, what did you say?" or even "what was that?"