When discussing contingency plans or backup options, you will often need to state negative conditions. In Danish, the conjunction medmindre means "unless."
Starting a Sentence with "Medmindre"
You can use a medmindre clause at the beginning of a sentence to emphasize the condition.
When you do this, the entire subordinate clause acts as the first element in the sentence. Because Danish strictly follows the V2 (verb-second) rule, the main clause that follows must immediately invert its subject and verb (verb-subject).
| Unless everyone is ready, we postpone the meeting. | Medmindre alle er parate, udskyder vi mødet. |
| Unless you want a crisis, the contingency plan must be ready. | Medmindre du vil have en krise, skal nødplanen være parat. |
Using "Medmindre" Mid-Sentence
When medmindre connects two clauses and appears in the middle of the sentence, it introduces the subordinate clause in the second half. Since the main clause is now at the beginning, it keeps its standard word order (subject-verb).
| We risk a crisis unless we change the deadline. | Vi risikerer en krise medmindre vi ændrer fristen. |
| He postpones the party unless the weather is good. | Han udskyder festen medmindre vejret er godt. |
Discussing Backup Plans
This lesson also introduces useful vocabulary for navigating changes and setting backup options, such as nødplanen (the contingency plan) and fleksibel (flexible). Notice how these words naturally pair with conditional statements.
| The deadline is flexible unless she says otherwise. | Fristen er fleksibel medmindre hun siger noget andet. |
| We get the contingency plan changed unless the boss stops us. | Vi får nødplanen ændret medmindre chefen stopper os. |
