Breakdown of Tyven kravler ud af kassen.
kassen
the box
tyven
the thief
ud af
out of
kravle
to crawl; to climb
Questions & Answers about Tyven kravler ud af kassen.
Why are there two words, ud af, to mean out of?
In Danish, we combine a direction word like ud (out) with a preposition like af (of or from) to show movement out of a contained space. The word ud tells us the direction of the movement, and af kassen tells us where the movement is coming from.
Doesn't the verb kravler usually mean crawls? Why is it translated as climbs?
Yes, kravler often translates to crawls. However, in Danish, kravle is also used for climbing when you use your hands and knees in a scrambling way, like getting out of a box or up a tree. If you were climbing a mountain or a ladder, you would use the verb klatre instead.
Can I just say kravler ud kassen and skip the word af?
No, you need both words here. The word ud acts as a directional word showing the outward movement. To connect this movement to a specific object like kassen (the box), you must add the preposition af.
Why do both Tyven and kassen end with an n?
This is a quick reminder of how Danish makes nouns definite (saying the instead of a). Both tyv (thief) and kasse (box) are common gender words. To say the thief, you add -en to get tyven. To say the box, you add an -n to kasse because it already ends in an -e, giving you kassen.