To express curiosity, speculation, or doubt, Danish uses the particle mon. It translates roughly to "I wonder" or "I wonder if."
Using mon with Question Words
When a question begins with a question word like hvad (what), hvem (who), or hvor (where), place mon directly after it.
| I wonder what is lying in the soil? | Hvad mon der ligger i jordbunden? |
| I wonder who has left the buried casket here? | Hvem mon har efterladt det nedgravede skrin her? |
| I wonder where they have hidden the old relic? | Hvor mon de har skjult det gamle klenodie? |
Starting with mon ("I wonder if...")
To ask "I wonder if..." as a yes/no question, start the sentence with Mon. This triggers subordinate clause word order, meaning the subject and verb are not inverted, and adverbs like bare (just) come before the verb.
| I wonder if the object is something valuable? | Mon genstanden er noget værdifuldt? |
| I wonder if it is just a rusty capsule? | Mon det bare er en rusten kapsel? |
mon in Standard Questions
You can also insert mon into a regular yes/no question to make it more speculative. Since these questions start with the verb, mon is placed immediately after the subject.
| I wonder if she is hiding the artifact here? | Gemmer hun mon artefaktet her? |
| I wonder if he is pulling the artifact out of the hiding place? | Trækker han mon artefaktet ud af gemmestedet? |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
