Questions & Answers about Orkestret øver i to timer.
Why is the preposition i used here to mean "for"?
In Danish, i is used to express the duration of an action, meaning how long it lasts. Because the practice lasts for a duration of two hours, we use i to timer. If you wanted to say the rehearsal will start in two hours from now, you would use the future point preposition and say om to timer.
Wait, doesn't timer mean "times"?
No, it is a classic false friend! In Danish, en time means "an hour," so to timer translates to "two hours." If you wanted to say "two times" in the sense of occurrences, you would use the word gange instead (to gange).
Why is "the orchestra" spelled orkestret and not orkesteret?
The base word is et orkester (an orchestra). When a neuter word ends in -er, the final -e- usually drops out when you add the definite "the" ending -et. So, orkester plus -et shrinks down to orkestret to make it easier to pronounce.
How do I know if they "practice" generally or if they "are practicing" right now?
Danish does not have a separate "is doing" tense like English does. The single present tense verb øver covers both meanings! You just have to use the surrounding context to know if Orkestret øver means it is a regular habit or if they are in the middle of playing right now.