Breakdown of Skal vi vente på ambulancen her?
her
here
vi
we
vente på
to wait for
skulle
to have to / must / to be going to
Questions & Answers about Skal vi vente på ambulancen her?
Why does skal translate to "should" here instead of "must"?
While skal often means "must" or "have to", when it is used in a question with "we" (skal vi), it is usually making a suggestion or asking for direction. It is just like asking "shall we" or "should we" in English.
Why do we use på after vente instead of a word for "for"?
Different languages pair different prepositions with verbs. In Danish, you don't wait "for" something, you wait "on" it. The verb vente (to wait) is almost always followed by på when you mention what you are waiting for.
Where is the word for "the" in ambulancen?
In Danish, "the" is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix rather than being a separate word. Since the base word is en ambulance (an ambulance), we just add an -n to the end to make it ambulancen (the ambulance).
Why does the verb skal come at the very beginning of the sentence?
This is how you form a yes/no question in Danish. You simply swap the subject and the verb. Instead of the normal statement order vi skal (we should), you flip them to skal vi (should we).