Breakdown of De skal lade være med at drille hinanden.
de
they
at
to
skulle
to have to / must / to be going to
hinanden
each other
lade være med
to stop (doing something)
drille
to tease
Questions & Answers about De skal lade være med at drille hinanden.
Why does this sentence use lade være med at instead of just a word for "stop"?
While you could use a verb like stoppe, the phrase lade være med (literally "let be with") is a very natural and common idiom in Danish used to say "stop doing that" or "refrain from doing that." When you want to specify the action to stop, you add at plus the infinitive verb, which is at drille here.
Why is the verb lade in its infinitive form instead of the present tense lader?
Because it comes directly after the modal verb skal (must). In Danish, just like in English, modal verbs are always followed by the dictionary form (infinitive) of the main verb, without the word at in between.
Is hinanden the only way to say "each other"?
Yes, hinanden is the standard word for "each other" in Danish. It is used exactly like in English when two or more subjects are performing an action on one another, like the mutual teasing in this sentence.
What happens if I want to say they must stop teasing a specific person, rather than each other?
You would simply replace hinanden with an object pronoun. For example, to say "They must stop teasing him," you would say De skal lade være med at drille ham.
Learn De skal lade være med at drille hinanden and more in Danish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free