Doing It Yourself with "Selv"
In English, we use words like "myself," "yourself," or "themselves" to emphasize that a person is doing an action independently. In Danish, you only need one word for all of these: selv.
| oneself / myself / yourself / etc. (emphatic) | selv |
Selv is invariable—it doesn't change based on who is doing the action. It is often placed at the end of the clause or right after the object.
| The help is unfortunately delayed, so we will manage it ourselves. | Hjælpen er desværre forsinket, så vi klarer det selv. |
| She always makes the decision herself. | Hun tager altid beslutningen selv. |
Placement with Multiple Verbs
When a sentence has a helping verb and a main verb, selv typically sits between them.
| The boy wants to carry the bag himself. | Drengen vil selv bære tasken. |
| We have sorted out the project ourselves. | Vi har selv ordnet projektet. |
In questions, selv follows the subject.
| Did you cut your hair yourself? | Har du selv klippet håret? |
Expressing Independence
When used with an infinitive phrase, such as expressing what someone prefers (foretrækker) to do, selv usually falls at the very end of the sentence.
| They prefer to earn the money themselves. | De foretrækker at tjene pengene selv. |
| The woman prefers to repair the bicycle herself. | Kvinden foretrækker at reparere cyklen selv. |
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