Breakdown of Han havde allerede opdaget fejlen.
han
he
have
to have
fejlen
the mistake
allerede
already
opdage
to discover
Questions & Answers about Han havde allerede opdaget fejlen.
How do we form the past perfect tense in this sentence?
Just like in English, we use the past tense of at have (to have), which is havde, followed by the past participle of the main verb. Here, that gives us havde opdaget (had discovered).
Why is allerede placed right in the middle of the verbs?
In a Danish main clause, central adverbs like allerede (already), ikke (not), or aldrig (never) go immediately after the first, conjugated verb (havde). The second verb (opdaget) gets pushed to the other side of the adverb.
Why does opdaget end in a -t?
Opdaget is the past participle of the regular verb at opdage (to discover). To make the past participle for most regular verbs, you just add a -t to the infinitive form.
Why is it fejlen and not just fejl?
Fejl means a mistake. Because the sentence says 'the mistake', we take the common gender word en fejl and attach the -en to the end to make it definite: fejlen.
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