In Danish, when you want to express that someone "gets to" see, hear, or find out something, you use the verb at få (to get) paired with at and a sensory infinitive. This is a very common way to talk about receiving information, uncovering secrets, or experiencing a sudden revelation.
Finding Out: Få at vide
The most common of these expressions is at få at vide. While vide means "to know," få at vide translates to "to find out" or "to be told."
Notice the word order: if the information you are receiving is a simple noun phrase, it usually sits right between få and at vide.
| If he should confess, we will finally find out the truth. | Hvis han skulle tilstå, får vi endelig sandheden at vide. |
However, if the information is a full clause (such as a sentence starting with at), the phrase få at vide stays together.
| We were told that the plot was completely hidden. | Vi fik at vide at komplottet var helt skjult. |
Getting to See: Få at se
Similarly, you can use at få at se to mean "get to see." Just like with vide, a noun object typically slips between the two verbs.
| The woman got to see the envelope to the extent that she wished. | Kvinden fik konvolutten at se i det omfang, hun ønskede. |
If the object is pulled to the front of the sentence (like in a relative clause with som), får at se is grouped together at the end.
| It is the content of the envelope that the man gets to see. | Det er indholdet af konvolutten som manden får at se. |
Hearing and Feeling
This construction works beautifully with other sensory verbs as well, such as høre (hear) and mærke (feel/notice). When secrets are uncovered, someone might "get to hear" a rumor, or "get to feel" the consequences of a betrayal.
| They got to hear the rumor in the evening. | De fik rygtet at høre om aftenen. |
Again, the noun object goes directly between få and the infinitive phrase.
| If the boss should discover the betrayal, the thief will get to feel it. | Hvis chefen skulle opdage forræderiet, får tyven det at mærke. |
If the object is instead introduced by a preposition (like om) or a conjunction (like at), the verbal phrase remains unbroken.
| The woman gets to hear about the suspicion and the affair. | Kvinden får at høre om mistanken og affæren. |
| He gets to see that the suspicion about the deceit is correct. | Han får at se at mistanken om bedraget er korrekt. |
