Word
I går arbejdede jeg hjemme.
Meaning
Yesterday I worked at home.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about I går arbejdede jeg hjemme.
Why is the verb before the subject here (arbejdede jeg instead of jeg arbejdede)?
Danish uses a rule called V2, meaning the main verb is almost always the second piece of information in a sentence. Because this sentence starts with the time phrase I går (position 1), the verb arbejdede must come next (position 2), pushing the subject jeg into position 3.
Why does the sentence use hjemme instead of just hjem?
In Danish, there is a difference between being in a location and moving towards it. You use hjemme when you are stationary or already at home. You use hjem when you are traveling there, like in "I go home" (jeg går hjem).
How do we form the past tense for arbejdede?
Many regular Danish verbs form the past tense by adding -ede to the verb stem. The dictionary form is arbejde (to work). To make it past tense ("worked"), you add the past tense ending to make arbejdede.
Why are there two words for "yesterday" (I går)?
I går is a fixed phrase. Many Danish time expressions for the past use the preposition i followed by another word. You cannot just say går to mean yesterday; the two words must always go together.