Questions & Answers about Hvorfor kommer du ikke?
Why doesn't the Danish sentence use a word for "are"?
Danish doesn't have a present continuous tense like English (expressions like "are coming" or "is doing"). Instead, you just use the regular present tense. So, kommer translates to both "come" and "are coming".
Why is ikke at the very end of the sentence?
In Danish questions, the verb comes right after the question word, followed by the subject. Words like ikke (not) must come after the subject, which pushes it to the very end of this short sentence.
How do I pronounce Hvorfor?
The h is silent! You only pronounce the v, so it sounds a bit like "vor-for". This silent h rule applies to most Danish question words, like hvad (what) and hvem (who).
Could I say "Hvorfor ikke kommer du" to mean "Why not come?"
No, Danish word order is very strict here. The verb must be the second idea in the sentence, right after the question word. So the order has to be: Hvorfor (1) kommer (2) du (3) ikke (4).