Breakdown of Vi vil gerne ansætte en kandidat til at løse problemet.
en
a / an (common)
vi
we
problemet
the problem
at
to
Questions & Answers about Vi vil gerne ansætte en kandidat til at løse problemet.
Why is there a til before at løse when the English translation is just 'to solve'?
In English, 'to solve' shows the purpose of hiring the candidate. In Danish, when you express purpose or function (meaning 'in order to'), you often need a preposition before at plus the infinitive verb. Here, til at løse acts like 'for solving' or 'in order to solve'.
What does gerne add to vil in this sentence?
By itself, vil means 'want to' or 'will'. Adding the adverb gerne makes it polite. Together, vil gerne translates to 'would like to', which is the standard way to politely express a wish or preference in Danish.
Why doesn't the sentence say vil ansætte gerne?
In a simple main clause, short adverbs like gerne are placed right after the first conjugated verb, which is vil here. The second verb, the infinitive ansætte (to hire), gets pushed after the adverb.
How does problemet get its 'the' meaning?
Danish attaches the definite article ('the') to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word in front. Because problem is a neuter noun (an et-word), it takes the suffix -et, becoming problemet ('the problem').