Breakdown of I går måtte vi ikke larme.
vi
we
ikke
not
måtte
to be allowed to / must
i går
yesterday
larme
to make noise
Questions & Answers about I går måtte vi ikke larme.
Why does måtte ikke translate to 'were not allowed to' rather than 'didn't have to'?
The verb må can mean both 'must' and 'to be allowed to'. In the past tense, måtte means 'had to' or 'was allowed to'. However, when you add ikke, the meaning usually becomes 'must not' or 'not allowed to'. To say 'didn't have to', you would use behøvede ikke instead.
Why is the word order måtte vi instead of vi måtte?
Danish uses the V2 rule, meaning the verb must be the second idea in a main sentence. Because this sentence starts with the time phrase I går (yesterday), the verb måtte has to come right next to it to stay in the second position. The subject vi then gets pushed after the verb.
Why is ikke placed after the subject vi?
When the word order is flipped because something else started the sentence (like I går), the subject vi has to stick tightly to the verb måtte. This pushes the negative word ikke to the position right after the subject.
Why isn't the word 'at' used before larme?
Måtte is a modal verb. In Danish, modal verbs are followed directly by the infinitive (dictionary form) of the main verb without using the word at (to). So it is just måtte ... larme, similar to how we say 'must make noise' instead of 'must to make noise' in English.
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