Breakdown of Da politiet ankom, var tyven flygtet.
være
to be
ankomme
to arrive
politiet
the police
da
when (single past event)
Questions & Answers about Da politiet ankom, var tyven flygtet.
Why does the Danish sentence use var (was) instead of havde (had) for "had fled"?
In Danish, the past perfect tense usually uses havde plus the past participle, just like in English. However, verbs that describe a motion from one place to another or a change of state (like flygte, to flee) use var instead. So literally, Danish says the thief "was fled" rather than "had fled".
Why is the word order var tyven and not tyven var in the second half?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The first part of the sentence (Da politiet ankom) is a time clause that acts as the first block of information. To keep the main verb in the second position overall, the main clause must start immediately with the verb (var), followed by the subject (tyven).
Could I use når instead of da for "when" in this sentence?
No, you must use da. In Danish, da is used for a single, specific event that happened in the past (like the police arriving in this story). Når is used for things that happen repeatedly in the past ("whenever") or for future events. A classic Danish phrase to remember this is: "Da for dengang, når for hver gang" (da for back then, når for every time).
In English, "the police" is treated as a plural word. Is it plural in Danish too?