Questions & Answers about I dag laver du mad.
Why does the sentence say laver du instead of du laver?
This is the famous Danish V2 rule (verb-second rule) in action. Because we started the sentence with the time phrase I dag (today), the verb laver has to come exactly second. To make room for the verb, the subject du flips to the other side of it.
Does I dag count as one position or two for the V2 rule?
It counts as just one block! Even though it is two words, I dag works together as a single adverbial phrase. Because it acts as one unit, laver is still sitting perfectly in the second position.
Why does the English translation say "are making" when Danish just uses the present tense laver?
Danish doesn't have a specific "-ing" form (present continuous) like English does. The single present tense word laver covers both "make" and "are making" depending on the context.
Is laver mad the normal way to say "cooking"?
Yes! Danes literally say "make food" (at lave mad) for general cooking. If you look up "cook" in a dictionary you might find koger, but that specifically means to boil something in water.
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