Separable Phrasal Verbs
In Danish, many verbs team up with a direction word (a particle) to create a new meaning. Common particles include væk (away), op (up), ned (down), and frem (out or forth).
When using these phrasal verbs, the verb and the particle split up. The particle moves to the end of the clause, after the direct object.
| I am throwing the trash away. | Jeg smider affaldet væk. |
| The woman hangs the picture up. | Kvinden hænger billedet op. |
Pronoun Objects
This separation is strictly required when the object is a pronoun (like den or det).
| Whenever he sees the mess, he throws it away. | Når han ser rodet, smider han det væk. |
| The girl writes it down. | Pigen skriver det ned. |
Helping Verbs and Negation
With helping verbs (like skal), the main verb stays in the infinitive, followed by the object, and then the particle.
| The boy must take it out. | Drengen skal tage den frem. |
When negating a sentence with a pronoun object, ikke comes after the pronoun, pushing the particle to the very end.
| They do not hide it away. | De gemmer den ikke væk. |
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