Breakdown of De vasker sig om morgenen.
de
they
vaske
to wash
om
in, at (with times of day)
morgenen
the morning
sig
oneself / himself / herself / themselves
vaske sig
to wash (oneself)
Questions & Answers about De vasker sig om morgenen.
Does sig mean "themselves" as well as "himself" and "herself"?
Yes! The reflexive pronoun sig is used for all third-person subjects, whether they are singular (he/she/it) or plural (they). Since the subject here is De (they), sig translates to "themselves".
If we changed sig to dem, what would the sentence mean?
If you said De vasker dem, it would mean "They wash them" (meaning a completely different group of people). We must use sig to show that the action reflects back onto the same people doing the washing.
Why do we need a pronoun here when English just says "They wash in the morning"?
In English, you can often drop "themselves" when talking about personal hygiene. In Danish, the verb vasker (wash) almost always needs an object. If you don't include sig, a Dane will be waiting to hear what is being washed, like clothes or a car.
Why do we say om morgenen instead of just translating "in"?
To talk about a repeated routine that happens at a certain time of day, Danish uses the preposition om followed by the definite form of the time period. The base word is morgen, and adding the -en ending makes it definite, creating the set phrase om morgenen (in the morning or mornings in general).
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