Breakdown of De keder sig ikke, men de morer sig meget.
de
they
ikke
not
men
but
meget
very; much, a lot
more sig
to have fun
kede sig
to be bored
Questions & Answers about De keder sig ikke, men de morer sig meget.
Why do we use sig twice in this sentence?
This sentence uses two reflexive verbs: at kede sig (to be bored) and at more sig (to have fun). Because the subject is de (they), the matching reflexive pronoun is sig (themselves). In Danish, the third-person reflexive pronoun is always sig, whether the subject is singular (he/she/it) or plural (they).
In English, "are bored" describes a state. Why is it an action they do to themselves in Danish?
Languages express feelings differently! In English, you use the verb "to be" plus an adjective to say you "are bored". In Danish, you use the active, reflexive verb at kede sig, which literally translates to "to bore oneself". So De keder sig ikke literally means "They do not bore themselves".
Why does sig come before ikke in the first half of the sentence?
In a standard Danish main clause, the verb comes in the second position (keder). When a verb is reflexive, its short pronoun (sig) acts like an object and tucks in right after the verb. The negation word ikke comes after it. So the order is: Subject + Verb + Reflexive Pronoun + ikke.
Why is "having fun" translated as morer sig instead of something with "having"?
While English uses the verb "to have" to talk about having fun, Danish almost always uses the reflexive verb at more sig (literally "to amuse oneself") for people enjoying themselves. If you try to translate "have fun" word-for-word into Danish, it sounds unnatural.
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