Expressing "-ever" with "end"
To form words like "whoever", "whatever", "wherever", and "however", Danish adds the word end immediately after a question word. These structures introduce a subordinate clause indicating that an action will happen regardless of the circumstances.
When you place this subordinate clause at the beginning of a sentence, it counts as the first position. To satisfy the V2 (verb-second) rule, the main clause that immediately follows must invert its subject and verb.
| Whoever the sailor is, she is looking through the binoculars. | Hvem end sejleren er, kigger hun i kikkerten. |
Notice how the main clause verb kigger comes right before the subject hun.
| Whatever the course is, the sailor surely drops the anchor. | Hvad end kursen er, smider sejleren da ankeret. |
Other Question Words
This structure works identically with other question words like hvor (where) and hvordan (how).
| Wherever we drop the anchor, the crew must be ready. | Hvor end vi smider ankeret, skal besætningen være klar. |
| However the wind blows, we put the sail on the mast. | Hvordan end vinden blæser, sætter vi sejlet på masten. |
Adding "der" as a Subject Marker
If the phrase hvad end or hvem end functions as the subject of its own subordinate clause, you must add the relative pronoun der immediately after end.
| Whatever happens, we keep the course towards the coast. | Hvad end der sker, holder vi kursen mod kysten. |
When the main clause comes first, standard subject-verb word order applies to the main clause, but the der rule for the subordinate clause remains exactly the same.
| I lay the life jacket here, whoever takes the helm. | Jeg lægger redningsvesten her hvem end der tager roret. |
