Word
I må ikke parkere her.
Meaning
You must not park here.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about I må ikke parkere her.
Why is ikke placed between må and parkere?
In Danish main clauses with a modal verb (like må) and a second verb, the word ikke (not) comes right after the conjugated modal verb and before the second verb. So the order is always "modal verb + ikke + infinitive".
Does the capital I mean "I" like in English?
No, in Danish, I means "you" when speaking to more than one person, like "you guys". The Danish word for the English "I" is jeg.
If må can mean "may", does må ikke mean "may not" or "must not"?
While må alone can mean both "may" (having permission) and "must" (having to do something), the negative phrase må ikke strictly means "must not" or "are not allowed to". It is used to forbid something.
Why does parkere end in -e instead of the present tense -er?
When you use a modal verb like må, the second verb in the sentence is always in its dictionary form, called the infinitive. For most Danish verbs, the infinitive ends in -e, so we use parkere instead of the present tense parkerer.