Breakdown of Drengen tegner på papiret.
drengen
the boy
tegne
to draw
på
on / at / in (a language) / of (after nouns like end or start)
papiret
the paper
Questions & Answers about Drengen tegner på papiret.
Why do the words for "the boy" (drengen) and "the paper" (papiret) end differently when they both have "the" attached?
In Danish, the word for "the" attaches to the end of the noun. The ending you use depends on the noun's gender. Dreng (boy) is an en-word, so it takes the -en ending to become drengen. Papir (paper) is an et-word, so it takes the -et ending to become papiret.
Does tegner mean "draws" or "is drawing"?
It means both! Danish does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. Depending on the context, tegner translates to "draws" or "is drawing". For this sentence, "The boy is drawing on the paper" is a perfectly natural translation.
Why does the verb tegner end with an -r?
In Danish, almost all verbs in the present tense end in -r. You simply take the base form of the verb, tegne (to draw), and add an -r to show it is happening right now. This form stays exactly the same no matter who is doing the action.
Do you pronounce the final "t" in papiret?
No, the final -t in the -et ending is always completely silent. When an et-word gets -et attached to mean "the", you simply drop the "t" sound when speaking.
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