Verbs that bring their own preposition
Each verb here comes with a fixed preposition, and the pair is learned as one unit. Sometimes the Danish preposition differs from English (afhænge af, depend on):
| Danish | English |
|---|---|
| afhænge af | to depend on |
| bestå af | to consist of |
| resultere i | to result in |
| svare til | to correspond to |
| bygge på | to be based on |
| medvirke til | to contribute to |
| råde over | to have at one's disposal |
Without the preposition, some of these verbs mean something else: bestå alone is "to pass (an exam)", and svare alone is "to reply".
| The apartment consists of three rooms and a kitchen. | Lejligheden består af tre værelser og et køkken. |
Afhænge af is neutral and common in writing; in everyday speech det kommer an på says the same.
Skyldes
Skyldes ends in -s but is not a passive: it simply means "to be due to". The cause follows directly, with no preposition. The past is skyldtes. It is typical of news and written explanations.
| The delay is due to snow. | Forsinkelsen skyldes sne. |
Dreje sig om, gå ud over
Dreje sig om means "to be about, to concern". In a question the subject goes between the verb and sig om:
| What is it about? | Hvad drejer det sig om? |
Gå ud over someone is to hurt or affect them; lade noget gå ud over someone is to take it out on them. Don't confuse it with ud over, "in addition to".
| He took it out on his brother. | Han lod det gå ud over sin bror. |
