Word
Hvis det regner, skal vi indenfor.
Meaning
If it rains, we must go inside.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hvis det regner, skal vi indenfor.
det
it (neuter)
vi
we
skulle
to have to / must / to be going to
regne
to rain
Questions & Answers about Hvis det regner, skal vi indenfor.
Where is the verb for 'go' in this sentence?
In Danish, when you use a modal verb like skal (must or have to) with a word that shows direction, like indenfor (inside), you can just leave out the verb of motion (like gå, to go). So skal vi indenfor literally translates to 'must we inside', but it means 'we must go inside'.
Why is it skal vi instead of vi skal after the comma?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action! Because the sentence starts with the 'if' clause (Hvis det regner), that entire clause counts as the first block of information. The main verb (skal) must come immediately after it in the second position, pushing the subject (vi) to the third position.
Why use indenfor here instead of just inde?
Inde means you are already located inside, while indenfor implies movement or crossing a boundary from outside to inside. Even though the actual motion verb is missing, the sentence is about the action of going inside, so we need the directional word indenfor.
Could I use om instead of hvis for the word 'if' here?
No, you need to use hvis. Hvis is used for a conditional 'if' (meaning: if X happens, then Y will happen). Om is used for 'if' or 'whether' when you are expressing doubt or asking an indirect question, like 'I do not know if it will rain'.