Questions & Answers about Hunden hopper ind i bilen.
Why do we use two words, ind i, to say into?
By combining the direction word ind (inward) with the preposition i (in), Danish creates a compound preposition showing movement from one place to another. Together, ind i means into. If the dog were already inside the car jumping up and down, you would only use i.
Could I use inde instead of ind in this sentence?
No, because the dog is actively moving from the outside to the inside of the car. You must use ind for motion toward a place. You only use inde to describe a static position when someone or something is already located there.
Does hopper mean jumps or is jumping?
It means both! Danish does not have a separate continuous tense like the English -ing form. Hunden hopper translates to either The dog jumps or The dog is jumping depending on the situation.
Why do both nouns in this sentence end in -en?
This is the Danish way of saying the. Both hund (dog) and bil (car) are common gender words, often called en-words. To make them definite, you attach that -en to the end of the noun, giving us hunden and bilen.