Breakdown of Hunden er skræmmende når den er vred.
være
to be
den
it (common)
hunden
the dog
vred
angry
når
when
skræmme
to scare
Questions & Answers about Hunden er skræmmende når den er vred.
How is skræmmende formed, and what does it literally mean?
Skræmmende is the present participle of the verb at skræmme (to scare). By adding -ende to the verb stem, it becomes an adjective meaning 'frightening' or 'scary'. This is just like adding '-ing' to verbs in English!
If we were talking about multiple dogs, would skræmmende change to match the plural?
No, it would not change. A great thing about Danish present participles ending in -ende is that they never change form when used as adjectives. Whether the noun is singular, plural, an en word, or an et word, it always stays skræmmende.
Why does the sentence use den for 'it' instead of det?
In Danish, the word for 'it' depends on the grammatical gender of the noun you are replacing. Because 'dog' is en hund (a common-gender noun), you must use den. If you were talking about an et word like et hus (a house), you would use det.
The word for 'when' here is når. Could I use da instead?
Not in this sentence! Når is used for things happening in the present or future, or for recurring events (meaning 'whenever the dog is angry'). You only use da for a specific event that happened once in the past.
Why is the word for angry vred and not vredt?
The adjective vred describes den (the dog). Since den refers back to an en word, the adjective takes its basic dictionary form without adding a -t at the end.
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