It Appears That
When looking at the night sky, you can't always be 100% certain about what you are seeing. Danish uses the phrase lade til to express impressions, meaning "to appear to" or "to seem to".
To say "it appears that..." followed by a full observation, use det lader til at plus a full clause (a sentence with its own subject and verb).
| It appears that the sky will be cloudless tonight. | Det lader til at himlen bliver skyfri i aften. |
| It appears that the telescope magnifies the object a lot. | Det lader til at teleskopet forstørrer objektet meget. |
Appearing to Do Something
You can also attach this directly to a specific subject, just like in English. State the subject, followed by lader til at and an infinitive verb.
| The comet appears to orbit the sun slowly. | Kometen lader til at kredse langsomt om solen. |
| The meteor appears to disappear in the sky. | Meteoren lader til at forsvinde på himlen. |
Expressing Doubt with vist
Another common way to distance yourself from absolute certainty is the small adverb vist. It translates to "supposedly", "probably", or "I think", and softens a statement into an assumption.
| The amateur can supposedly see a strange object in the galaxy. | Amatøren kan vist se et mærkeligt objekt i galaksen. |
| The star supposedly orbits a dark object in the galaxy. | Stjernen kredser vist om et mørkt objekt i galaksen. |
Don't Do That!
Since we are working with the verb at lade (to let/allow), it is a good time to introduce its negative command form. To tell someone not to do something, use the phrase lad være med at followed by an infinitive verb.
| Do not magnify the object any more. | Lad være med at forstørre objektet mere. |
| Do not look away if you want to see the meteor. | Lad være med at kigge væk hvis du vil se meteoren. |
