Breakdown of Hvem er medlemmet der taler med formanden?
være
to be
tale
to speak
hvem
who
med
with; by (bus, train) / of, to (the meaning or point of something)
der
who, which (relative, subject)
medlemmet
the member
formanden
the chairperson
Questions & Answers about Hvem er medlemmet der taler med formanden?
Why does this sentence use hvem at the beginning but der in the middle, if both translate to "who"?
Hvem is a question word used to ask "Who?" at the start of a question. Der is a relative pronoun used to connect parts of a sentence, like "the member who is speaking". In Danish, you cannot use hvem as a connector in the middle of a sentence like you can in English.
Could I use som instead of der in this sentence?
Yes! When the relative pronoun is the subject of the clause (the one doing the action, which is talking here), you can use either der or som. Both are perfectly correct for saying "who" or "that" in this specific context.
Why is there an extra "m" in medlemmet?
Medlem (member) is a neuter noun (an et word). To say "the member", we add -et to the end. However, because medlem ends in a single consonant after a short vowel sound, we must double the final consonant before adding the ending, making it medlemmet.
How do we know taler means "is speaking" rather than just "speaks"?
Danish does not have a separate continuous tense like English does with "is speaking" or "are walking". The present tense verb taler covers both "speaks" and "is speaking". You figure out which one it means purely from the context of the sentence!
Learn Hvem er medlemmet der taler med formanden and more in Danish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free