Breakdown of Det er lederen der styrer gruppen.
være
to be
det
it (neuter)
lederen
the leader
der
who, which (relative, subject)
styre
to manage / to control, to operate
gruppen
the group
Questions & Answers about Det er lederen der styrer gruppen.
Why does der mean "who" in this sentence instead of "there"?
While der often means "there" (as in der er for "there is"), here it is a relative pronoun. In Danish, der is used to mean "who", "which", or "that" when it acts as the subject of the phrase that follows. Since the leader is the one doing the managing (styrer), der is the perfect word to connect the two parts of the sentence.
Could I use hvem instead of der since it means "who"?
No, you cannot use hvem here. In Danish, hvem is mostly used as a question word like "Who is that?". When you want to say "the leader who..." to connect ideas in the middle of a sentence, you must use a relative pronoun like der (or som).
I thought the verb styrer meant to "steer" a vehicle?
It does! The verb at styre literally means to steer. But just like in English where a boss might "steer the ship", Danish uses styrer very commonly to mean "manage", "direct", or "control" a group, project, or situation.
Why do both lederen and gruppen end in -en?
This is a quick reminder of how definite articles work in Danish. Instead of a separate word for "the", you add -en to the end of common gender nouns. So en leder (a leader) becomes lederen (the leader), and en gruppe (a group) becomes gruppen (the group).
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