Danish 16

2026/03/04

PD2 exam notes: fill-in-the-blanks

Besides vocabulary and grammar, these points are often what decide whether you get the blank right:

1. Look for sentence signals

Common words that show contrast, reason, result, example, or time:

If you identify the function first, it is much easier to guess the missing word.

2. Watch the word class

Before filling a blank, ask:

Very often the surrounding words tell you the answer type before they tell you the exact word.

3. Learn fixed expressions, not only single words

These are especially useful in PD2 texts:

If you remember chunks, you can often fill a blank even if you are unsure about the whole sentence.

4. Pay attention to references

In gap-fill exercises, a blank is often a small word that refers back to something earlier:

Always check what or who the word refers to in the previous clause.

5. Read for tone and logic

This text mixes advantages and disadvantages. That means blanks are likely to depend on the logic of the paragraph:

When the meaning turns from positive to negative, a connector like men is often needed.

6. Quick exam method

  1. Read the whole text once without filling anything in.
  2. Mark whether each blank needs a noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, preposition, or connector.
  3. Check collocations and fixed expressions.
  4. Re-read the full sentence to test meaning and word order.
  5. At the end, read the whole text aloud in your head to see whether it sounds natural.

7. What to review for this topic

PD2 grammar cheat sheet

Present tense

Past tense

Subordinate clauses

Common starters:

In many subordinate clauses, the adverb often comes before the verb:

Word order in main clauses

When a sentence starts with something other than the subject, the verb usually comes before the subject:

This is very common in PD2 gap-fill tasks.

Common pronouns and reference words

Prepositions and particles to review

Useful connector meanings

Adjective comparison

These comparison forms are often tested in short blanks.

Mini test

Try to answer without looking at the original text.

  1. What is the difference between men and fordi?
  2. In the phrase få råd til, what does råd mean in context?
  3. Fill in the blank: Ida er træt ___ larm på kollegiet.
  4. Fill in the blank: Hun har bedt hende om at ___ ned.
  5. Which word shows contrast: derfor, men, fordi?
  6. Which word means peace and quiet: fred og ro or fællesspisning?
  7. Fill in the blank: Køkkenet deler hun ___ 14 andre unge.
  8. Which is correct: bo i et kollegium or bo på et kollegium?
  9. Fill in the blank: Alt i alt er Ida ___ med at bo på kollegiet.
  10. Why is therefore a good translation of derfor in this text?

Answers

Show answers

Mini test

  1. men shows contrast; fordi gives a reason.
  2. It means being able to afford something.
  3. af
  4. skrue
  5. men
  6. fred og ro
  7. med
  8. bo på et kollegium
  9. tilfreds
  10. Because the sentence gives a result: many young people choose dormitory living as a consequence of high living costs.

De fleste unge flytter hjemmefra, når de er 18-20 år og skal starte på en uddannelse. Men det kan være svært at få råd til at bo alene i en lejlighed, når man studerer. Mange unge vælger derfor at flytte på et kollegium, hvor det ofte er billigere at bo.

fleste = most

unge = young people

uge = week

svært = difficult

forskellig = different

råd = afford

rød = red

at vælge = to choose

The majority of young people move out of home when they are 18-20 years old and start their education. But it can be difficult to afford to live alone in an apartment while studying. Many young people therefore choose to move into a dormitory, where it is often cheaper to live.

Ida er 20 år og studerer på Aarhus Universitet, og hun har et værelse på et kollegium midt i Aarhus. Værelset er lidt mindre end det, hun havde, da hun boede hjemme hos sine forældre. Men det er stort nok til hende, og hun har også eget bad og toilet. Køkkenet deler hun med 14 andre unge. For det meste synes Ida, at det er hyggeligt at bo på kollegiet. For der er altid nogen at snakke med, og der er også fællesspisning i køkkenet et par gange om ugen. Det deltager Ida næsten altid i, for hun kan godt lide at spise sammen med de andre.

havde = had

nok = enough

deler = shares

fællesspisning = communal dining

par gange = a couple of times

deltager = participates

Ida is 20 years old and studies at Aarhus University, and she has a room in a dormitory in the middle of Aarhus. The room is a little smaller than what she had when she lived at home with her parents. But it is big enough for her, and she also has her own bathroom and toilet. She shares the kitchen with 14 other young people. For the most part, Ida thinks it’s cozy to live in the dormitory. Because there is always someone to talk to, and there is also communal dining in the kitchen a couple of times a week. Ida almost always participates in it because she likes eating together with the others.

Men Ida synes også, at der er nogle ulemper ved at bo på kollegiet. Fx er der en fyr, der aldrig rydder op efter sig i køkkenet, når han har lavet mad. Det er Ida ret sur over, for det betyder, at hun somme tider er nødt til at gøre rent efter ham, før hun selv kan lave mad. Ida er også træt af, at der tit er larm på kollegiet. Når hun skal sidde og læse på sit værelse, vil hun nemlig godt have fred og ro. Men ved siden af Ida bor der fx en pige, som elsker at høre høj musik. Det gør hun næsten hver dag, selvom Ida har bedt hende om at skrue ned.

ulemper = disadvantages

fyr = guy

rydder op = cleans up

ret sur over = quite angry about

betyder = means

nødt = obliged

sidde = to sit

fred og ro = peace and quiet

skru ned = turn down

But Ida also thinks that there are some disadvantages to living in the dormitory. For example, there is a guy who never cleans up after himself in the kitchen when he has cooked. Ida is quite angry about it because it means that she sometimes has to clean up after him before she can cook herself. Ida is also tired of the fact that there is often noise in the dormitory. When she wants to sit and read in her room, she wants peace and quiet. But next to Ida lives, for example, a girl who loves to listen to loud music. She does it almost every day, even though Ida has asked her to turn it down.

Men alt i alt er Ida tilfreds med at bo på kollegiet, fordi hun bor centralt og har en billig husleje, og så har hun altid nogen at være sammen med.

But all in all, Ida is satisfied with living in the dormitory because she lives centrally and has cheap rent, and she always has someone to be with.

Some unused words: