Breakdown of Kan du løfte din arm og din skulder?
du
you
og
and
din
your (singular)
kunne
to be able to / can
løfte
to lift
armen
the arm
skulderen
the shoulder
Questions & Answers about Kan du løfte din arm og din skulder?
Why do we use din for both arm and skulder?
Both arm and skulder are common gender words (also known as en-words). Because of this, you use din (your). You would only use dit if the noun was a neuter word (an et-word), such as dit knæ (your knee).
Why do we have to say din twice?
In Danish, you usually have to repeat the possessive word like din before every single noun. In English, we often group them together and say "your arm and shoulder", but Danish requires you to be specific each time: din arm og din skulder.
Why does the verb løfte end in an "e" here instead of "er" for the present tense?
The sentence uses the helper verb kan (can). When you use a helper verb like this, the main action verb that follows it must be in the infinitive (the dictionary form). In Danish, the infinitive form almost always ends in an "e". So we say kan du løfte rather than kan du løfter.
How would this sentence change if I wanted to say "your arms and your shoulders" in the plural?
You would change the nouns to their plural forms and also change din to the plural version, which is dine. The sentence would become: Kan du løfte dine arme og dine skuldre?
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