Breakdown of Kvinden læser kollegaens dokument.
kvinden
the woman
læse
to read
kollegaen
the colleague
dokumentet
the document
Questions & Answers about Kvinden læser kollegaens dokument.
How exactly do we form the word kollegaens?
It is made of three parts: kollega (colleague) + -en (the definite ending for "the") + -s (the possessive ending meaning "'s"). Put together, it means "the colleague's".
Does the Danish possessive -s use an apostrophe like in English?
No, Danish generally does not use an apostrophe to show ownership. You just attach the -s directly to the end of the word, which is why it is kollegaens and not kollegaen's.
Why isn't the word for document in its definite form (dokumentet)? After all, it's a specific document.
Just like in English, when you put an owner with an -s right before a noun, the owned thing doesn't take a "the" ending. We say kollegaens dokument (the colleague's document), not kollegaens dokumentet.
As a quick reminder, why does læser translate to "is reading" here?
Danish does not have a separate continuous tense (like "is reading" or "are doing"). The simple present tense læser covers both "reads" and "is reading". You choose the best English translation based on the context.