Læreren var streng, og vi måtte ikke snakke.
The teacher was strict, and we were not allowed to talk.
Breakdown of Læreren var streng, og vi måtte ikke snakke.
være
to be
og
and
vi
we
ikke
not
læreren
the teacher
måtte
to be allowed to / must
streng
strict
snakke
to talk
Questions & Answers about Læreren var streng, og vi måtte ikke snakke.
Why does måtte ikke mean 'were not allowed to' instead of 'didn't have to'?
The modal verb må usually means 'must' or 'may', and its past tense måtte means 'had to' or 'was allowed to'. But when you add ikke (not), it specifically means 'must not' or 'was not allowed to'. If you wanted to say 'we didn't have to talk', you would use a different phrase, like behøvede ikke.
Why is there no at (to) before snakke?
Måtte is a modal verb. In Danish, just like in English, modal verbs are followed directly by the dictionary form (infinitive) of the next verb without using at (to). So it is simply måtte ikke snakke.
Why does Læreren end in '-eren' instead of just '-en'?
The basic noun for 'teacher' is lærer, which already ends in -er. To make it 'the teacher' (the definite form), you just add -en to the end of the word. Together, they make læreren.
Why does ikke come after the verb måtte?
In a standard main sentence, the main verb always takes the second position. The subject (vi) is in position one, the verb (måtte) is in position two, and small adverbs like ikke generally come right after the first verb.
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