Breakdown of Toget ankommer klokken halv fire.
fire
four
toget
the train
ankomme
to arrive
klokken
the clock; o'clock, the time (of day)
halv
half
Questions & Answers about Toget ankommer klokken halv fire.
Why does halv fire mean "half past three"? It looks like it should mean "half past four"!
In Danish, half-hours look forward to the next hour. The phrase halv fire literally means "halfway to four", which is 3:30. This is a very common trap for English speakers, so always remember to subtract an hour in your head when you see halv!
Does klokken just mean "at" here?
Yes, in this context it acts like "at". The word klokken literally means "the clock". When you want to say at what time something happens, you put klokken right before the time, similar to saying "at 3:30" in English.
Why is there an -et at the end of Toget?
That is how Danish says "the". Instead of putting a separate word in front, Danish attaches the definite article to the end of the noun. Since the word for train (et tog) is a neuter noun, it takes the -et ending to become toget (the train).
If there were multiple trains arriving, would the verb ankommer change?
No, it would stay exactly the same. Danish verbs are incredibly friendly because they do not change based on the subject. In the present tense, they almost always end in -r, whether you are talking about one train or several trains.
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