Breakdown of Du skal ringe når du hører alarmen.
du
you
høre
to hear / to listen to (music, radio, a podcast)
skulle
to have to / must / to be going to
når
when
ringe
to call
alarmen
the alarm
Questions & Answers about Du skal ringe når du hører alarmen.
I thought "skal" meant "shall". Why is it translated as "must" here?
While skal looks like the English word "shall", it is a "false friend." In Danish, skal most commonly means "must" or "have to." It is used to give a command, state a rule, or express a strong obligation.
Why is it just "ringe" and not "at ringe" (to call)?
After a modal verb like skal (must), you use the basic dictionary form of the next verb without at (to). This is called the bare infinitive. Because of this rule, you just say skal ringe.
Could I use "da" instead of "når" for "when" in this sentence?
No, you must use når here. In Danish, når is used for "when" in the present and future tenses, or for things that happen repeatedly. The word da is strictly used for a single, specific event in the past (like "when the alarm went off yesterday").
Where is the word for "the" in "alarmen"?
In Danish, "the" usually isn't a separate word before the noun. Instead, it is attached directly to the end of the noun as a suffix. The base word is alarm, and because it is an "en" word, you add -en to the end to get alarmen (the alarm).
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