Breakdown of Min søster læser meget for at bestå eksamenen.
min
my
søsteren
the sister
meget
very; much, a lot
bestå
to pass
Questions & Answers about Min søster læser meget for at bestå eksamenen.
Why do we need "for at" here instead of just "at"?
When you want to say "in order to" to express the purpose or reason for doing something, Danish requires for at before the infinitive verb. If you just used at bestå, it wouldn't clearly convey the meaning of "in order to pass".
Doesn't læser mean "reads"? Why is it translated as "studies"?
Yes, at læse generally means "to read". However, it is also the most common way to say "to study" in Danish, especially when talking about reading material for a class or an exam. You might also see studerer, but læser is very natural in this context.
Why does eksamenen end in a double "-en"? Is that a spelling mistake?
It looks a bit strange, but it is entirely correct! The base noun is en eksamen (an exam). Because it is an "en" word, you add -en to the end to make it definite, meaning "the exam". So, eksamen plus -en becomes eksamenen.
If I moved for at bestå eksamenen to the start of the sentence, how would the word order change?
You can definitely start the sentence with the "in order to" phrase! But if you do, you must remember the V2 rule, which says the main verb must be the second idea in the sentence. The subject and verb would swap places, making it: For at bestå eksamenen læser min søster meget.