Breakdown of Kvinden begynder at synge sangen.
kvinden
the woman
at
to
begynde
to begin
synge
to sing
sangen
the song
Questions & Answers about Kvinden begynder at synge sangen.
Why do we use at before synge?
at is the infinitive marker in Danish, acting just like the word to in the English phrase to sing. Because synge follows the main present tense verb begynder, it takes its dictionary form (the infinitive) and needs the marker at in front of it.
How do I pronounce at in this sentence?
When at is used as an infinitive marker before a verb, the t is completely silent. It is pronounced like a short Danish å sound, which is similar to the aw in the English word law.
How does the word sangen get its meaning?
The base dictionary word is sang, which means song. Because it is an en-word, we attach -en to the end of it to mean the. So, sangen means the song. You can see the exact same pattern at the start of the sentence with kvinden (the woman).
Would the verb begynder change if the sentence was about multiple women?
No! Danish verbs do not change based on who or how many people are doing the action. Even if the subject were plural, the present tense verb would still be begynder.
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