Learn Danish: Spurgte hun om du kendte hemmeligheden? - Did she ask if you knew the secret?

In Danish, om means "whether" or "if" when you are asking an indirect yes/no question, like in this sentence (asking whether you knew the secret). You use hvis when setting up a condition, like "If it rains, we will stay inside." Since this sentence reports a question rather than a condition, om is the right choice.

Why do we use kendte for "knew" instead of vidste?

Danish has two verbs for "to know". The verb at kende (past tense: kendte) is used when you are familiar with a noun, like a person, a place, or in this case, a specific secret (hemmeligheden). The verb at vide (past tense: vidste) is used for knowing facts, usually followed by a question word or a whole new clause (like "I knew that she was there").

Why is the verb first in Spurgte hun but not in du kendte?

The main sentence is a direct question ("Did she ask?"), so the verb and subject swap places to put the verb first (Spurgte hun). However, the second part of the sentence starting with om is a subordinate clause. Subordinate clauses follow normal subject-verb word order, so the subject (du) stays right before the verb (kendte).

How do we get the ending on hemmeligheden?