Breakdown of I dag gider jeg ikke stryge skjorten.
jeg
I
ikke
not
skjorten
the shirt
i dag
today
gide
to bother to
stryge
to iron
Questions & Answers about I dag gider jeg ikke stryge skjorten.
Why is there no at (to) before stryge?
In Danish, gider (to bother to) is one of the special verbs that takes a bare infinitive, similar to how modal verbs work. This means it is followed directly by the next verb without using at. That is why we say gider ... stryge instead of gider ... at stryge.
What exactly does gider mean here?
gider is a very common Danish verb used to express having the energy, motivation, or patience to do something. When paired with ikke (not), as in gider ... ikke, it translates perfectly to the English phrase 'cannot be bothered to' or 'do not feel like'.
Why is the word order gider jeg and not jeg gider?
This happens because of the V2 rule, which requires the conjugated verb to be the second element in a main clause. Since the sentence starts with the time phrase I dag (today), the verb gider must come immediately after it, pushing the subject jeg to the third position.
Why is it skjorten and not just skjorte?
skjorten means 'the shirt'. Because skjorte is an en-word, you add -n to the end to make it definite. If you used the basic form en skjorte, the sentence would mean you cannot be bothered to iron 'a shirt' rather than the specific one you are talking about.
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