Transformations and outcomes: til
When something changes its physical state or form, Danish uses the preposition til to indicate the final outcome. This works much like "into" or "to" in English. We frequently pair til with verbs of transformation, such as forvandle (to transform).
| The witch transformed the man into a frog. | Heksen forvandlede manden til en frø. |
| The young prince transformed into a monster. | Den unge prins forvandlede sig til et uhyre. |
Natural changes: blive til
The verb blive usually means "to become". However, when emphasizing a complete physical transformation from one material or state to another, Danish often uses the phrase blive til (to turn into). The preposition til is also used with other natural processes, like melting (smelte).
| When the water boils, it becomes steam. | Når vandet koger, bliver det til damp. |
| The snow has melted into water. | Sneen er smeltet til vand. |
Breaking things down
When a material is broken down, destroyed, or recycled, til points to the resulting state. You will frequently see this with verbs of destruction like brænde (to burn) and knuse (to crush), resulting in materials like ash (aske), dust (støv), or powder (pulver).
| The letter quickly burned to ash in the fireplace. | Brevet brændte hurtigt til aske i pejsen. |
| They crush the stone to dust at the factory. | De knuser stenen til støv på fabrikken. |
| Can you crush the pills into powder for me? | Kan du knuse pillerne til pulver for mig? |
