Mistakes Danes make in English (Part I)

We see Danes make the same mistakes in English time and time again. Are you guilty of any of these?

1. I look forward to see you.
2. I am hereby sending you the brochure and would like your response forthwith.
3. I think, that the conference would be of great benefit to you.

Get it right
1. In English, ‘look forward to’ or ‘looking forward to’ is always followed by a verb plus ‘-ing’ (or a noun).

I look forward to seeing you.

2. ‘Hereby’ and ‘forthwith’ are both extremely formal and are rarely used by native speakers.

I am sending you the brochure and would like your response as soon as possible.

3. The comma is not used in the same way in Danish and English. But one simple rule will improve your writing: Don’t put a comma before ‘that’.

I think that the conference would be of great benefit to you.