Breakdown of Har butikken halvtreds aviser?
avisen
the newspaper
have
to have
butikken
the shop
halvtreds
fifty
Questions & Answers about Har butikken halvtreds aviser?
Why doesn't this question start with a word for "does"?
English uses helper verbs like "do" or "does" to form questions, but Danish keeps it simpler. You just swap the subject and the verb. "The store has" is butikken har, so to ask a question, it simply flips to become Har butikken? (Has the store?).
How does the word halvtreds mean fifty? It doesn't look anything like the number five!
Welcome to the Danish number system! Numbers from 50 to 90 are based on counting by twenties. Halvtreds is actually an old abbreviation for 2½ times 20. In old Danish, "half-third" meant 2½, and 2½ × 20 = 50. You don't need to do the math every time, but knowing the history helps explain why the word looks so unique!
Where is the word for "the" in butikken, and why are there two K's?
In Danish, "the" is attached to the end of the noun. The base word is butik (a store). Because it is an en-word, we add -en to the end. However, because butik ends with a short vowel sound followed by a single consonant, that final k doubles when we add the ending. This keeps the vowel sound short, giving us butikken.
What is the singular form of aviser?
The singular form is avis (newspaper). To make it plural, you just add the very common plural ending -er to the end to get aviser (newspapers).