Breakdown of Vi tror at toget kører til byen.
køre
to drive / to ride (a bike) / to run (of a train or bus service)
vi
we
byen
the city
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
Questions & Answers about Vi tror at toget kører til byen.
Why do we use tror here instead of synes for 'believe' or 'think'?
In Danish, there are different words for thinking and believing. You use tror when stating a belief about a fact that might be true or false, like the destination of a train. You would use synes for personal opinions, and tænker for the literal act of having thoughts in your head.
Do I have to include the word at (that), or can I leave it out like in English?
Just like in English, you can sometimes drop at in casual spoken Danish. However, as you are learning, it is much safer to always include at to clearly connect your main sentence to the new subordinate clause.
Why is the word order toget kører after at? Doesn't Danish usually swap the verb and subject?
Danish does swap the subject and verb in a main sentence when something other than the subject comes first. However, at toget kører til byen is a subordinate clause. In simple affirmative subordinate clauses like this, the word order stays strictly Subject-Verb, so toget comes right before kører.
How do the words toget and byen become 'the train' and 'the city'?
In Danish, 'the' is attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word. Tog (train) is an et-word, so it takes the ending -et to become toget. By (city or town) is an en-word, so it takes the ending -en to become byen.